30 cal match bullets for deer

[TonyR]

I am loading some .308 Winchester rounds for a friend and he wants the best possible accuracy for deer. I understand that the Berger "thin" jacket VLDs are excellent hunting rounds but I would like to hear about experiences with the 155, 168 and 180 Sierra MatchKings for deer and similar game.
Thanks

 

[Mudcat]

We had every deer shot with an SMK go at least 50 yards this year, recovered all of them but they go into some really thick swamp before they expired. We had one doe hit thru the shoulder, perfect placement, at 412 yards, the bullet went thru and exited keyhole fashion on the other side. Bleed like a stuck pig but went almost 100 yards.

All 5 deer shot this year with Berger VLDs, both 6mm 90 BTs and 30 cal 185 VLDs dropped in their tracks, even when hit in the wrong locations. SMKs just punch holes unless they break up on hard bone, Bergers literally blow up like a grenade upon entry. I have used nothing like em and they are all I use now....you get the best accuracy and unreal terminal ballistics.

John

 

[sewwhat89]

I like the 175 SMKs for use on deer with my 300 SAUM. I shot the AMAX, but I like the SMKs better. I have not had the chance to take any critters with the Bergers.

 

[222Rem]

IMHO:
Match bullets are for paper!
Game bullets are for hunting!
Most likely.... Most of the game in the world was shot with every bullet and every rifle caliber, but that does not make it right.

 

[Mudcat]

222Rem said "IMHO:
Match bullets are for paper!
Game bullets are for hunting!
Most likely.... Most of the game in the world was shot with every bullet and every rifle caliber, but that does not make it right.
"

I agree with you in regards to SMK's, which is why Sierra doesnt recommend shooting game with them, but the Berger THIN jacket bullets are a different creature as the dont just punch a neat little hole, the punch a HUGE hole. I could post some pics of some exit holes on deer but it might gross out a few folks. Ever have a regular hunting bullet make a 6-8 inch exit hole in a deer? I havent, but the Bergers will do just that. If you havent been watching, Berger is selling the thin jacketed bullets for hunting....why? Cause the work...better than anything I have used prior. Not an issue of "whats right" but what works....the Bergers work. It aint my theory, but my experience, testing and use. They work on game. Period.

John

 

[2506]

Anybody use the Nosler Custom Competition bullets on deer? They are made on the same J4 jacket as the Berger's. I tried the 30 cal. 155 VLD Berger out on a doe this year. I shot her at 112 yards with my 30X47 HBR at 2750 fps. Bullet entered in the center of her front shoulder and when I shot I could see blood spray from her offside. The deer took off like a rocket out into a very think cut-over. I went to the spot where she was standing when shot and there was blood and lung tissue for 5 or so yards where the bullet had exited. There was absolutely NO blood trail to follow. I found the deer right at 50 yards from where I shot it. There was a perfect shot placement in the center of her onside front shoulder and when I rolled her over I could not believe my eyes. There was a hole in the offside shoulder that you could easy put a baseball through. She had no vitals left at all, they were pulp. How can a deer run this far when it is dead the moment that bullet hit it? But then I had a deer for the first time ever in over 150 deer shot with my 25-06 and a 117 Sierra get up off the ground, after laying there and seeing its back legs kicking a few times like usually, and run about 50 yards. It had a perfect center shoulder shot in it also. I just think they were taking tough pills or something this year.

 

[yat3b35]

I use the Sierra 165 gr hpbt for deer. It's not a target bullet,but it is darn near as accurate. I never had a deer walk away from one of them yet.You need to be sure of your shot placement as they will tear up some meat. Lung or heart shot,turns the insides to mush and drops them in their tracks.

 

[Klong]

I will second yat3b35's comment on the 165 hollow point experience. I will also say that I have shot deer with .22, 6mm, 6.5mm, 7mm, .308, 35 caliber, .338, .454, and 50 caliber bullets. Every deer, that wasn't hit in a major bone, ran a little, except the 35 caliber,35 Remington 14" contender). Most ran only a short distance, 10 to 50 yards. Most all the bullets provided what looked like good internal damage. Some bleed well and some didn't. Sierra match and Berger match bullets performed about the same as any of the hunting bullets for me.

BTW the 35 Remington was loaded with a 170 gr hollow point designed for the 357 magnum. That deer was only about 30 yards and was shot through both lungs and went straight down and didn't get up.

My worst bullet performance was from a 308 handloaded with a bullet I pulled from a 30-30 factory round. My dad had shot a deer with with the 30-30, with good results, and I thought the higher speed would improve the bullets performance. Shot a buck quartering toward me and the bullet went in just in front of the shoulder and exited the opposite ham with only a .308 hole all the way through the deer. The deer ran about 50 yards like it was not hurt so I bolted another round and happened to hit backbone right above the shoulder.

This year I shot three deer, 2 with SMK and both hit major bone and the deer dopped,and 1 with Berger VLD,lung shot) and the deer ran around 20 yards with about a 2 1/2" exit hole with plenty of blood.

I have decided I like bullets that pass through. They normally provide more blood.

I have not used the Nosler partion bullet, but may next year.

This is an interesting discussion.

 

[xdeano]

I've been using the 155g Lapua Scenar out of my 308win for several years and they work very well. I've shot deer from 60yds all the way out to 420yds. The two I took this last year went about 15yds and piled up, one at 200 and the other at 250yds. The buck I shot last year at 420yds might have walked, not ran, walked/staggered about 20ft and piled up. The hole is a pin hole going in just like every other bullet, but the exit is about the size of a silver dollar. This is also my primary coyote round, they just punch through and leave about a quarter size hole on exit.

xdeano

 

[TonyR]

xdeano, What are the overall length and base to ogive measurements on those bullets? I don't have any to measure, but Scenars have been excellent in my 6.5x284 so they might work for this very nicely.
Thanks

 

[kgcoker]

I shot a deer year before last,2007) with a 175 SMK. Did not find for 3 days. Finally found deer,obviously ruined). Perfect bullet placement.

Switched to Berger XXX Triple shock. I now have shot,in 2 years)
6 deer and everyone dropped in its tracks.

I have made a point to change rifles for each deer, however I have stuck with the XXX.

KG

 

[rem40x]

Berger VLDs have been excellent IMHO. Shooting 155gr in a 300WSM and I've only had 1 deer move out of a dozen and that one went less than 20 feet. Only get about 15-20" of penetration on straight on shots but that first 3-12" is pure heck.
HTH,
Greg

 

[xdeano]

TonyR,

The oal of the 155g Scenars is: 1.282"
The base to secant ogive is: .5795

My measuring tools aren't very exacting. But close enough to make a comparison on other bullets.

Sorry it took me so long to respond, it's been pretty busy lately.

Deano

 

[TonyR]

Deano, Thanks for the info. It is very helpful. The 155gr Scenar will be an excellent candidate for my purposes. I hope to find a match grade bullet that can be used for hunting that will just touch the lands when seated with the boattail junction at the case neck shoulder junction and still feed through his magazine. So far, the the Scenar seems to be the only bullet in the 150-160gr class that could meet that need. Thanks very much for making the effort.
Tony

 

[xdeano]

No problem Tony.

You won't be disappointed with this bullet. They are great. I've pinched a lot of animals with this bullet. They group the best at 2900fps+. They don't really care about jump at all. I've played around with factory OAL and jammed into the lands, just off the lands, it doesn't matter, they weren't picky, just keep them at 2900 and above and you'll be in good shape.

xdeano

 

[BradY]

Im about to give the nosler 0.224 69gr custom competition bullets a test for hunting. I know its not much of a comparative test to skin, flesh etc, but Im going to shoot them through a full 20L water container. We tried this at 100m with some standard winchester 55gr soft points which are very good on varmints, and it made them mushroom up very well. We know their terminal performance on foxes here and it seemed as though the test bullets expanded not the same but possibly similar to the ones used on foxes. If the nosler custom competition bullets mushroom im going to use them all my rabbit and fox shooting needs here. Im pushing them 0.3" at 100m doing about 3383fps with 31.8gr of varget, lapua brass and CCI BR2 primers in my 22BRX.

I really think the J4 jackets should be more than fine for these sorts of uses and if I had a 30 cal rifle, I would more than likely use them as well. Cheaper than ballistic tips here.

 

[FryeGuy]

my $0.02. if you are shooting match bullets in a .308, more that likely you are getting some great accuracy, correct? like 1/2" or 3/4"? I may get scolded for saying this, but just shoot them in the head! no meat loss, very clean field dress, etc. ,hardly any blood). If shooting them in the head i wouldn't think it would matter which bullet you used? I love head shots when i get the chance, no tracking, very quick kill., no suffering, ec. that being said, i have shot several deer a long time ago with 155 palma match bullets by sierra. neither deer ran, one high shoulder quartering away, the other a quartering to shot thru neck/shoulder. neither bullet exited, they both blew up. that was a 30-06 with an 18 1/2" barrel. in my 308's i use 165 hpbt sierra gamekings, and the other 125spt sierras, only traveling 2400FPS, and have had no problems killing deer with either, and those bullets in each gun will out-shoot match bullets.

 

[TonyR]

The Sierra 165gr GameKing is very high on my list of candidates. I have some samples and the measurements are perfect for my friend's chamber and magazine dimensions. I plan to test some in the next few weeks. His goals for accuracy are actually amusing. My friend is an avid hunter and likes nice equipment. So far, I have loaded for three of his rifles: a custom Win 70 in 416 Rem Mag, a second identical custom Win 70 in 375 H&H Mag, and this Ruger 77 in 308 Win. All three rifles were pillar bedded by a well respected custom gunsmith that specializes in hunting rifles. The 416 and 375 both have Lilja barrels. All three came with a nice sample target showing a sub-.75 MOA 3 shot 100 yard group. He seemed very pleased with all of this until he shot .50 MOA groups with some hand loads I developed for both the 416 and the 375. Now he wants .50 MOA from the 308. I had never handloaded for anything but my 6mm BR and 6.5X284 F-Class guns so this hunting stuff like crimping and fitting into magazines was all new to me. But I was amazed at the accuracy gains in those big bore rifles from just a few basic steps like weight sorting brass, cleaning up primer pockets and carefully weighing powder charges. It was also interesting to watch someone else shoot a 10.5 pound 416 Rem Mag off a bench even with a lead sled. I am looking forward to what we can do with the 308.