190 -200 Sierra MK for .308

[TackDriv3r]

Most of us use 168 -175 Sierra MK for target shooting for the .308, normally the 175 pills for further past 600 yards, but has anyone tried the 190-200 Sierra MK for better BC and wind resistance? The gun I am shooting is the Crusader .308 from GA Precision with a 26 inch barrel with 11.25 twist.

 

[Ned Ludd]

I've shot the 190s in a stock Crusader. They work, but if you roll your own there are much better choices out there, for example, Berger 185 Juggernauts, 168 Hybrids, 175 OTM. The 190 and 200 SMKs are very old designs. Nothing wrong with them and they are certainly a step up from the 175 SMK (also an old design), but better choices are available. The Sierra 175 TMK might also be worth looking into.

 

[Auto-X Fil]

The 185 Juggernaut is an amazing bullet, and reasonably priced at both Bullets.com and Mile High. The BC is excellent and it feed from a magazine and shoots well from pretty much any OAL. It also features the LRBT design (shallow angle boat tail), so it maintains excellent accuracy through the transonic region. This was originally intended for military use, to let them stretch the 300 WM past a mile, but it also lets .308 shooters go well past 1k.

In the 200gr class, the SMKs are also forgiving of jump and the 190 especially goes trans-sonic well, but neither combine those attributes with the shorter length and higher BC of the 185, which gives much less drop and drift, and allows more case capacity for extra velocity.

If your gun is throated for them, the Tipped Match King might be worth checking out. They aren't going to be as insensitive to jump, and are a bit longer for the BC, but in the right chamber will work well. This also applies to the AMAX and ELD from Hornady.

 

[jr600yd]

I think it depends on what you want to do. I shoot F class, mostly 3-5-600 yd matches and a few 1K matches a year. My rifle has a 12 twist 30" barrel. For the mid range matches I've found the SMK 190's to be excellent once driven to around 2700fps. True, their are Bullets in this weight class with higher BC's but they also have higher price tags. At 1K the 185 Jugs are hard to beat. If you can't call the wind neither one will make a difference.

 

[TackDriv3r]

Are you referring to the Juggernaut Target or the Juggernaut Tactical OTM ?

Thanks guys for the info, I'll look into the 185 Juggernauts.

 

[BOBC]

Most of us use 168 -175 Sierra MK for target shooting for the .308, normally the 175 pills for further past 600 yards, but has anyone tried the 190-200 Sierra MK for better BC and wind resistance? The gun I am shooting is the Crusader .308 from GA Precision with a 26 inch barrel with 11.25 twist.

I always used 190 & 200 gr both Sierra's and my own in my 308 10 twist barrels at 600 yds. and never looked back. Never had a barrel that did not like them.

 

[Ned Ludd]

Are you referring to the Juggernaut Target or the Juggernaut Tactical OTM ?

Thanks guys for the info, I'll look into the 185 Juggernauts.

The Juggernaut Target and Tactical OTM are the exact same bullet, they just have different Cat #s. This info has come directly from Berger. Other OTM bullets may not be exactly the same as a comparable weight counterpart, but the two Jugs are the same.

 

[TackDriv3r]

Thanks again. Hopefully I can find some Juggernauts.

 

[XTR]

Back in the day sling shooters were using the 190SMK for long range. Today Sierra has disappeared from the 30 caliber race. If fact other than some guys running custom makers (e.g., JLK) I can't think of a single person shooting anything but Berger bullets in F-TR or in a 30 cal Open rig.

When Berger introduced the 185 LRBT (which is now called the Juggernaut) they put everyone else out of theF-TR game in short order. For long range shooting the BCs on Bergers rule the game. now with the 200 Hybrid, the 215 Hybrid and the new 200-20X hybrid they own 30 caliber F class. With the exception stated above, anyone serious about the game loads out of a yellow box.

The only place people are running other than Bergers 30 cal bullets at long range are Full Bore sling shooters who are limited to 155gr bullets and who by and large run the [2156] 155SMK.