Hornady 68 gr BTHP Match vs Sierra 69 gr TMK

[SteveOak]

Hornady publishes a BC for their 68 gr BTHP Match as .355

Sierra gives BC's for their 69 gr TMK as .375 @ 2700 fps and above .365 between 2700 & 1950 fps .335 between 1950 & 1700 fps .305 @ 1700 fps and below

Does anyone have real world comparisons for these two bullets? Are they really that close?

MV of 2,650 fps. Mostly looking for wind deflection at 200 and 300 yards.

Bonus question; similar powder charge for the two bullets?

Thanks!

 

[jelenko]

To find out, you could use the trajectory calculator at JBM Ballistics and select the bullet with "Litz" beside the name. The ballistic coefficients for the bullets with "Litz" beside the name were verified by Litz. The bullets with just the brand name use the BC's claimed by the mfg.
IIRC, Hornady's BC for their 68HPBT is over stated a bit. And, as you mentioned, the BC varies with velocity => Hornady appears to be providing the BC at the high speed end.

 

[Ramem7mm]

What cartridge are you shooting? I just started shooting same bullets Sierra 69 BTHP and TMK in a 223 AI with a 26" barrel and while fire forming I have 26 Gr Varget right at 3,000 FPS. The 68 Gr Hornady BTHP load was same 26 gr of Varget around 3030 FPS. I have not had a chance to shoot past 100 yards yet to get any drop data. Trajectory calculators have both bullets pretty close though at range

 

[fkimble@charter.net]

You don't mention the intended use for these but for most things the difference in these two bullets at 200 and 300 is nil. I'd use the one my barrel likes best. If much difference, otherwise I'd go with the lowest priced one's.

Frank

 

[Liven The Dream]

In AR Target Shooting the 75 gr. Hornady may prove better?

 

[Stony]

In high power, either will clean an SR or SR1 target with ease.

 

[RegionRat]

First, the Hornady using the Litz data for this bullet, which I think tracks my observations much better.
Wind deflection for a 10 MPH full cross wind at 300 yards is 6.8"
Then the TMK for the same set up is 6.3" which is a whole 0.5" difference at 300 yards.

In so many words, unless you plan on shooting these much farther, it would take a lab grade experiment to see that small of a difference since the variation in wind and shot dispersion will swamp the 0.5" difference.

When I do shoot the TMK bullets to 600, the Litz data tracks much better than the Sierra (or Hornady) data.




Here are the same data fields for these bullets using the OEM data, where the deflection is as follows.
Hornady 6.5" and TMK 6.3" at 300 Yards. With these BC values, the difference for 10 MPH is even smaller, but I get a better match to their 600 yard drops with the Litz data.

In my opinion, if the TMK and Hornady are shot from the same gun at the same speed, the TMK has a better BC by a slight margin and in both cases I find the Litz data tracks better than the OEM's.
YMMV

 

[SteveOak]

Thank you @jelenko!

The Litz BC's for both bullets are listed.

I would pick up about .8"/10 MPH of wind deflection at 200 yards with the TMK.

I shoot at a 6" gong at 200 yards, standing. AR, 5.56, 16.5" barrel.

I use TAC for the Hornady's and have N540 for the TMK's so I expect to push them a bit faster.

Estimating the wind by looking at a piece of surveyers tape is imprecise. I am not as good at reading the mirage standing.

The Hornadys will be fine for most days.

Heavier/longer bullets would do better in the wind but might have too much case incursion when seated to mag length.

Thanks for all the replies!

 

[RegionRat]

Heavier/longer bullets would do better in the wind but might have too much case incursion when seated to mag length.

Try some 77 TMK when you have a chance if wind is your concern.
They load just fine at magazine length and they have a BC somewhere between a 77 MK and a 80 MK. Some folks just use them for all the way to 600. Roughly 24.0 gr RE-15 or 23.5 Varget, plus or minus gives a standard load for XTC Service Rifle. YMMV

 

[Beiruty]

I shoot the Hornady 68gr in AR because they are readily available at local Cabela's.
Sierras have better G7 BC as indicated above.

 

[Ned Ludd]

From Bryan Litz, "Ballistic Performance of Rifle Bullets", 3rd Ed., 2017:

Hornady 68 BTHP Avg G7 BC = 0.166
Sierra 69 Matchking Avg G7 BC = 0.169

 

[fkimble@charter.net]

Going to a 20-22 in barrel would probably make a bigger difference than the difference of the two bullets!

Frank

 

[CharlieNC]

I tried Hornady bthp for practice in my Ftr rifle but the accuracy was so inferior it was a waste. So I wouldn't care about the bc.

 

[SteveOak]

From Bryan Litz, "Ballistic Performance of Rifle Bullets", 3rd Ed., 2017:

Hornady 68 BTHP Avg G7 BC = 0.166
Sierra 69 Matchking Avg G7 BC = 0.169

I was looking at your BC numbers, thinking they were not what I saw. Easy enough, I am looking at the TMK, 0.182 G7.

 

[Ned Ludd]

Sorry about that, I missed the "TMK" part. The G7 BC is 0.182 per the same source, as you noted.

 

[Gary in MD]

Expansion wise, has anyone used these on live targets? Will they expand much if any?

 

[dantiff2]

Expansion wise, has anyone used these on live targets? Will they expand much if any?

The new version of Sierra 69 SMK's will not expand on groundhogs at 2850 fps. I had to stop using them after witnessing one blow through a hog and hit 10' behind, then heard the dreaded ricochet twang. It had too much energy after the impact to be a viable varmint bullet where I hunt. A good friend of mine harvested a white-tailed buck (heart shot) with a 69 smk and said there was no evidence of expansion inside and will not use them again. Buck didn't go far after hit, but still not ideal compared to an actual hunting bullet.
Dan

 

[RegionRat]

Agree with above. I use to take leftover XTC rounds with me to burn off hunting.
The TMK versions will do okay, but still not as good as a regular hunting bullet, and like in the above post, the background has to be risk free for pass through and ricochet like into a mountain or hillside.

The regular MK (OTM) is supposed to be a little better when used with the Tubb Ring Cut, but I am still on the fence on this in terms of eradication or hunting. I have only witnessed a few shots and don't have an opinion one way or the other yet.

 

[SteveOak]

Match bullets underperforming as hunting bullets? Who'da thunk?

 

[BradY]

I used the 69gr nosler CC’s for years for a hunting bullet. The jacket seemed a lot softer than Sierra and into a jug of water there was a lot of copper and leaf pieces vs almost none with the smk. Now I would probably choose the 75gr eld or amax if you could find them.