Terminal Performance of Match Hollowpoints

[banen]

 Is there anything about the construction of "match" hollowpoint bullets that would make them not expand rapidly like a varmint bullet? 

I think I am asking a rhetorical question here.  I have some .223, 52 grain, match hollow points, I assume they would work well on varmints?

[Lloyd Smale]

im no expert but from what i understand the jackets arent designed to expand. they colapse more then they expand into a mushroom. The jackets are also very thin an arent bonded to the core. Ive seen some deer shot with 300 and 7 mags using them and i have to admit ive seen some hammering kills. After dressing it apears that the bullets for the most part desinegrated like a explosive varmit bullet would. Pentration wasnt that good. But all that said venison was ate.

[Graybeard]

The thing is they just are not designed for use on game as a general rule. Some manufacturers are recommending them for such use these days. I assume those have been modified to expand properly.

A match bullet in general is designed for accuracy on paper and how it behaves once it reaches the target just doesn't matter. Since so many folks are trying to use them as game bullets these days some have been altered in design to work as such.

I'm of the opinion ya should use target bullets for targets and game bullets for game.

[stimpylu32]

I have shot a boat load ( 1000's ) of the Sierra 52g BTHP - Match bullets for varmints , mostly Groundhogs and P-dogs , they do a very good job , I have not tried them on anything larger though ( like coyotes ) so not much help there .
 
stimpy

[LanceR]

Hello Bannen

I'm guessing that you are asking about Sierra MatchKings or similar bullets.  The MK has a small air space above the lead core and below the HP.  It and the HP are both a function of product improvements.

 
They is there because match bullet makers have found that the process of closing the very thin jacket onto the lead core could distort a full length core when the harder gilding metal jacket was pressed into a closed point and that would result in a  bullet with dynamic instabilities as they spin.  The cure was to end the core a little bit below the point to insure consistency and to leave the little HP to prevent the jacket from distorting as it was closed.

The terminal result is that a match BTHP will tend to collapse back onto the core and then break up pretty quick.

I originally built  my AR-15 varmint rifle to shoot 69 and 77 grain MKs for service rifle competition and later switched it to a flat top for varmints here on the farm.  I shoot groundhogs, coyote and both red and gray foxes with the 77 grain MKS.  They make pretty ugly exit wound so don't use them if you want to sell the pelt.

Lance

[shot1]

My experience in both usage and observing others usage of match bullets for hunting is this. It depends on which match bullet you are using. The old Berger VLD which they now call their HUNTING bullet will go 2 to 3 inches into a deer even through the scapula and explodes liquefying the vitals and exit about the size of a base ball on broad side shots. The Hornady A-Max depending on velocity and distance of impact differs in expansion. Fast and close it explodes on impact. As the velocity drops off and the distance gets longer it starts to act about like any other  cup and core SP bullet. Bullets like the Sierra MK normally exhibit the nose crushing in on the core and really coming apart but then there have been those times that they don't come apart and just zip through like a FMJ. I have used the Sierra 52 gr MK in a 223 Rem Savage bolt rifle and now use the 69 gr Sierra MK in a Bushmaster 9 twist AR for ground hogs. I have not shot hundreds of them with these bullets like some have but the ones I do shoot get pretty messy.  The way I look at it if I am going after big game I am going to use a bullet that is designed for that use. If it is varmints that I don't care about recovering match bullets are OK for me.

[banen]

Thanks for the comments.  I am actually talking about speer 52 gainers. I got a bunch of them very cheap, most will just be used at the range on paper.  Based on what you guys are saying you confirmed my thoughts about them being suitable for small varmints / pests.  I am not worried about pelts or deep penetration, just about being ethical.  Seems to me that anything that expands rapidly will humanely dispatch these types of animals.  Thanks again!

[bulletstuffer]

I have used the hornady 52 or 53 grain match bullets on pds and they worked fine.  I just used them because I had a bunch loaded and they shot well. 
 
Good luck,
 
Bulletstuffer

[shot1]

I used to use the 52 gr Speer match bullets in a 220 Swift to shoot crows in the summer out in the peanut fields of NC. Get them going around 3700 fps or so and a crow don't get too far away if the wind is not up and it looks like you set a hand grenade off in them when it hits. Just a poof of feathers.

[mcwoodduck]

From what I understand about the design of the match bullets the hollow point is so the bullet will be longer.  The jacket is like a FMJ jacket and the hole is not large enough to allow tissue to enter and expand it like a pistol bullet.
The hollow cavity is just air and not very big, it does set the weight of the bullet back and that gives you better accuracy.
As others have said they work on small game and varmints.  but like any bullet you get it going fast enough and bad things happen when hitting an object.  Saw 40 grain bullets explode when hitting either bugs or rain drops one day on the range when Billy had them at warp speed.  Some bullets put holes in the paper others has a grey cloud of debris and as best I can explian it a debris field as a target hit.  We think the bullet hitting either a bug or rain drop destroyed the bullets in flight and created the strange holes in the target.
If you are looking to use them on Varmints then they will work as projectiles.  Much like FMJ kills.  If you are thinking of larger game and hoping the hollow point will mushroom, they will not.

[SHOOTALL]

The hollow point is to make the bullet fly better . Take a coffee can and throw a spiral with the closed end going forward first then turn it around and try . The open end first always flys better. I was told to try that by a bullet maker rep. He also said they were not intended for game ( bullets not coffee cans  ). They are harder so they won't be damaged if someone uses them in a mag feed weapon instead of loading one at a time. Since most new and improved hollowpoints for hunting  have a poly tip to protect the bullet from damage and lower bc it must be something to it. If they act like FMJ's then it could be a safety concern in many places also.

[huntducks]

I have shot a boat load ( 1000's ) of the Sierra 52g BTHP - Match bullets for varmints , mostly Groundhogs and P-dogs , they do a very good job , I have not tried them on anything larger though ( like coyotes ) so not much help there .
 
stimpy

I have shot and still have a bunch of Sierra 52gr match HP and the P-dogs and GS have no clue what they been kilt by. Dead is Dead.
 
I don't shoot any Accuracy bullets on anything other then little critters.

[Old Syko]

If you are lot king to use them on Varmints then they will work as projectiles.  Much like FMJ kills.  If you are thinking of larger game and hoping the hollow point will mushroom, they will not.

This is simply not true of the 52 grain Sierra.  I have in the past and will in the future shot thousands of them through 220 Swift, 22-250 and .223 and have never seen one that didn't fragment upon contact with even the smallest objects including rain drops, bugs, and that single blade of grass that your scope didn't allow you to see.  A much more accurate comparison of terminal performance is that of the SX bullets.  The Matchkings in larger calibers such as .284 and .308 are a different animal and to some extent will exhibit characteristics resembling a FMJ and for that reason should not be used as a hunting round, but not the 52 grain .224.  They are highly explosive on contact and a similar FMJ will either bore a hole and continue on or yaw and break in half before fragmenting.


The 52s work well in game up to and including coyotes especially when head shots are the norm.