Sierra MatchKings for hunting

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The match king is an awesome hunting bullet for non dangerous game; assuming you are using a big enough bullet for the task.
Compare the Match King to the Berger Vld hunting. As far as that goes, compare the VLD hunting to the VLD match. Difference might shock many.

I have shot the match kings on deer from the .264 Win mag and the 7 Rem mag. They definitely do not behave like solids at those velocities. They behave like grenades. Massive destruction.
 
They definitely do not behave like solids at those velocities. They behave like grenades. Massive destruction.
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Even started at 3400 f/sec, they are not going fast enough by the time they get to 400 yards to reliably "grenade" like they would at 100 yards.
 
I'd like to hear the conspiracy theory on which the idea that Sierra would keep the Matchking's awesome big game performance a secret and recommend against using them is based.

They make more money off of Gamekings and they steer you to them out of "corporate greed"?

They have union engineers, and recommending a match bullet on big game is was "not in his job despcription"?

Admitting that the Matchking is a great big game bullet would make the enginners who designed the Gameking feel bad?

The Matchking's big game potential is kept as an exclusve secret, and is only divulged to favored company executives, politicians, and lobbyists to reward their support of the profitable corporate structure?

Sierra engineers really don't know all that much about the capabilities of the bullets they design, as we all know the good ones with the real expertise left their salaries behind to post it on internet forums for free out of social consciousness?
 
I can understand why the OP might want to gather real world experience with Match Kings, but that means he'll only get feedback from people who were ill-informed / bullheaded / contrary enough to use Match Kings on game in the first place.

Bullet makers spend a lot of time and effort to get their game bullets to expand properly and still hold together. Why anyone would want to use a bullet where the manufacturer didn't spend any effort at all on terminal performance and explicitly recommends against its use on game escapes me. It's not like there's a shortage of good game bullets out there. Any tiny improvement in accuracy a match bullet might offer is irrelevant to hunting and a poor trade off for reliable terminal performance.
 
Since I've had great success on game and I get tight groups from my benchrest, I've never even considered using MatchKings instead of GameKings. :)
 
Art, the reason I switched was because of a bullet failure. We are talking 30 years ago when there was not the proliferation of selection we have today. I shot a huge bodied buck on the shoulder blade, .264 Win Mag 120 grain spitzer. If I remember correctly, it was at that time called a pro hunter. The shot dead on the shoulder blade did not kill the deer. Three weeks later, I saw the same deer. No question about it, it was the same deer. The limp confirmed it. I killed him and when dressing, I discovered that he had a terrible case of gangrene from my shot. The bullet exploded on the shoulder bone. No part of the bullet went deeper than 3". I dug the jacket out and it literally had not a trace of lead left in it. It was in many pieces.
To make a long story short, I switched to Speer Grand Slams. Then a couple years later, at the advice of a very old, very experienced reloader-hunter, I switched to match kings. He told me, "they will explode, but they will penetrate several inches before they do." He was correct.
Now, I mainly use Berger VLD hunting and Ballistic silvertips. I still on occasion hunt with match kings.
 
We had a discussion here many years ago, and after I emailed Sierra, one of their tech guys contributed.

Some of their bullets can be over-driven. In 30-caliber, the 150-grain SPBT is one. Yeah, I had learned; had had a bullet blow up in a buck's neck. (Paralyzed him but no exit.) But, maybe 25 yards and a muzzle velocity around 3,100. Their flat-based SP most likely would have expanded properly and exited the neck as it's a bit more strongly constructed.

The SPBT works okay with a muzzle velocity of no more than around 2,800. Or, on out at 200+ yards. I had had a nice one-shot kill at 450 with that bullet.

Just offhand, I'd figure that a 120-grain bullet from a .264 needs to be a Tough Mother to NOT blow up. Anyhow, I'm not surprised at the problem. I messed around with a .264 for a while. Great cartridge, but bullet construction is a more critical issue than for other cartridges, IMO.
 
There has been terminal ballistic testing on the matchkings for tactical use, feel free to do your own research but the over ridding finding was jacket separation, at least in the 168gr 308. Generally that's not a good thing in a big game hunting bullet.

They would be fine for head shots if that's your cup of tea. Too unpredictable for heart shots, FMJs would be a better. They don't leave a big enough hole for a lung shot. As far as the should goes, its sketchy best, but I'm sure it would kill them most of the time. Personally, most of the time isn't good enough for me and I'm not sure how grenade like performance on something you want to eat is a good thing.

esides the fact that there are many, many better options for hunting that are much cheaper. There just isn't any reason to hunt big game with these bullets. Shooting varmints with them would probably be fine though.
 
Refer to my post on "the Hunt" forum, exotic bullets, I dumped a big ole Texas hog with a Sierra TNT 125 gr hp from my AAC Handi Rifle in 300 Blackout. One shot= one dead hog. I also use Game King bullets in this rifle with good short range success.
 
I can understand why the OP might want to gather real world experience with Match Kings, but that means he'll only get feedback from people who were ill-informed / bullheaded / contrary enough to use Match Kings on game in the first place.
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Natman, they work well. Calling people demeaning names who have actually tried them does not bolster your opinion.
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I see your point and perhaps I should have chosen the words more carefully.

So perhaps you can suggest a way to describe why someone would use a bullet for a purpose that the manufacturer specifically recommends against with words that are less offensive.

It seems to have obscured my actual point that only soliciting opinions from those who have done a foolish thing while excluding those who had the good sense not to do it skews the result.
 
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Another chronic issue with shooters:They will take one experience 3 decades ago and hang on to it for eternity.

About 1970 I utterly destroyed an antelope with a 160 gr Sierra boat tail.I had no chrono,but I was putting 70 gr of $1.60 a lb surplus 4831 behind it with a CCI mag primer.

DISCLAIMER!!That was a little over Max back then,and it was a totally different powder than the H4831 of today.That load would be very dangerous with today's H-4831.Don't even think about trying it.

Anyway,it was a zippy load,the bullet blew up,and fortunately the hindquarters were OK.

Silly me,I suspect,because Sierra still is in business,maybe they said "Well,maybe that 7mm design we cooked up for the 7mm Mauser is no longer cutting it with all the 7mm Mags.Perhaps e ought to toughen up those jackets a bit...harden the lead a touch"

Or whatever.

A failure experience decades ago is probably meaningless to a product that is still on the market.Without improvement,it likely would no longer be produced.

If you look to one of the load manuals where J.D.Jones writes the intro to the the 6.5 JDJ handgun cartridge..silhouette/hunting single shot round..he says the typical 6.5 hunting bullet of the day was designed to perform in the 6.5x 54 and 6.5 x55 velocity range.I chose 120 gr 6.5 Ballistic tips to shoot in my MOA in .260 for that reason.
The .264's were relatively specialized and not all that common.IIRC,there was something about a two diameter bore ride factory load bullet they were throated for.

30 yrs ago,the Nosler partition and the Grand Slam were the tougher bullets.They would be a terminal ballistic match.Unfortunately,the BC on them was probably lower than the MK.

But with bullets like the Long Range Accubond,some of the Hornady's,...why apply yesterday's mediocrity in lieu of today's excellence?

Makes no sense.
 
soliciting opinions from those who have done a foolish thing while excluding those who had the good sense not to do it skews the result.
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Well said. I'll never get the time back that I just spent on this thread.
 
Natman, I was using those bullets for hunting long before Sierra decided they were not good for hunting. I was told to use them by someone who had used them for many years with good success. Over the years, I have known many people use them with good success. If you called Sierra and asked them if the match king was intended to shoot people with, I bet they would tell you "no." The vast majority of sniper ammo is Match King. Why Sierra does not want to bill the Match king as a hunting bullet, I have no idea. The bullet is what it is, regardless of what Sierra says about it. Its shape and tiny hollow point allow it to penetrate deeply enough that the bullet will do massive damage when it does come apart.
 
Natman, I was using those bullets for hunting long before Sierra decided they were not good for hunting.
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You almost certainly were using bullets that performed differently in terms of terminal performance than the current MatchKings. That's one of the main points I keep trying to make. Because Sierra doesn't guarantee any particular standard of terminal performance, there is absolutely no guarantee (and no reason to believe) that the terminal performance of the MatchKing line has remained consistent or will remain consistent.
The vast majority of sniper ammo is Match King.
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Assuming that's true, why would it be relevant? The requirements for rifle bullet penetration and terminal performance on human targets are much less stringent than the typical requirements for penetration and terminal performance on big game.
Why Sierra does not want to bill the Match king as a hunting bullet, I have no idea.
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Because they don't want to have to characterize or guarantee consistent terminal performance. That costs money and they don't want to spend money that they don't have to spend nor do typical customers want to pay for testing that they will not ever use.
 
John, the Sierra does the same thing the Berger hunting bullet does except for the fact it penetrates a little deeper before it frags.
 
The ones you've tried may do that. The problem is that you can't say that they will all do that, nor can you even say that the next lot you try will perform the same. Sierra invests exactly zero time, effort and money into making sure that the MatchKings perform well and perform consistently in terms of terminal performance. As a result, they guarantee exactly nothing in terms of terminal performance--part of that is that they don't guarantee that the terminal performance will be the same from one lot to the next. That means that there's no way to know what you're getting unless you are working from a single lot and have thoroughly tested that specific bullet (weight, caliber, lot) to characterize its terminal performance.

Because Sierra guarantees nothing as far as terminal performance is concerned, there's nothing that says the next lot of MatchKings out of the factory will perform the same as the last lot.
 
Why Sierra does not want to bill the Match king as a hunting bullet, I have no idea.
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From the Sierra FAQ:

Can I use a MatchKing bullet for deer hunting? They shoot just great in my rifle, so they should be just super for hunting use, right?
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No, it's not recommended. The MatchKing bullets are designed for pinpoint accuracy; with no consideration given to what might happen after impact. If the bullet has arrived on target accurately, its job is done at that point. Hunting bullets must perform in a certain manner after impact. Penetrating ability, expansion characteristics, and even profile must be considered when designing a hunting bullet. Use MatchKings for matches, and game bullets for hunting.
http://www.sierrabullets.com/ask-sierra/faq/index.cfm
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I've explained it to you, JohnKSa has explained it in great detail, now Sierra has explained it.
 
Nat, I have read Sierra's comments about the bullet many years before you posted it.
Have you shot any game with a Match King?
Have you seen any game shot with a Match King?
If not, you are only pasting information with no knowledge of the actual facts.

The Match King in many different calibers and weights devesdates medium game. I personally do not care what anyone hunts with. The O.P. asked about the Match King, and I gave him real world information.
 
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