sierra international 165gr heads
today i got a free box of 30 caliber 165gr "Sierra International" heads from a gun shop i do alot of business with. i am going to load up some 30-06 rounds with them. they are not made any more and they are in a old box. supposedly they are made only for target shooting becuase supposedly they do not expand on contact?? i am going to do a test of shooting a round into a bunch of phone books to see exactly what the bullet looks like and if it expands enough to hunt with. i was just wondering if anyone has had any dealing with these sierra international bullets.
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If these are the bullets that I'm thinking of, they are not suitable for hunting big game like deer or elk because of the lack of expansion you mentioned. They are meant strictly for Match target shooting and are a very fine bullet, but I would strongly suggest a better bullet for hunting. Sierra even mentions in their own loading manuals that BTHP Match bullets SHOULD NOT be used for hunting because expansion is unreliable.
A good controlled expansion hunting bullet would be a wiser choice. Save these for accuracy testing in your rifles and spend a few dollars more for premium bullets designed for hunting.
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rjv140,
I'll just represent the opposite side for a moment and comment that there are tons of competition shooters that use this style of bullet for hunting as well as target shooting without failures. This commentary of "not recommended" has been posted by Sierra for years and most civilians don't bother to even test them. That's O.K., it leaves more for those of us who do shoot them.
There is a terrific examination and commentary written by the General that organized the testing of these Sierra Match bullets for the military and reviewed the results for publication. What he observes is the opposite of what has been written by Sierra and posted all over the internet. But I have to locate the entire document and that may take me a bit of time.
This is NOT meant to be argumentative at all, merely the other side of a coin. Fair, accurate and reasonable reporting. Ask Justin the same question some time. We both shoot virtually the same bullets for competition and hunting.
Now, jumping back a bit, these bullets are no longer being made so I personally wouldn't waste a lot of time or effort in testing them. You can't replace them directly with another bullet. I would trade them to another shooter who might want them for some reason or barter them for something that would be more useful to you and your style of hunting.
Best.0 -
i just shot those 165s into a bunch of phone books and the bullets expand quite nicely i definately would not hesitate to use them on some deer 0 -
What are "heads" ?
Sierra "International" bullets [#2200] have always been 168 grain and they are now called "MatchKing" 168 gr HPBT Bullets. If the bullets bullets discussed are in fact 165 grain they are not "International" bullets. Sierra makes a GameKing 165 gr. SBT [#2145] and a GameKing 165 gr. HPBT [#2140]. Both of these bullets are less expensive to buy than the #2200 International/MatchKing bullets.0 -
I think they were some sort of pre-curser to the matchkings. I just went over to the shelf and opened up a few boxes of the old international 168gr HPBT's and a newer box of 168gr match kings. Here is something interesting, they look identical (to the eye) but when I used the sinclair comparator and calipers to measure the distance from the base to the ogive, they were NOT the same.
The older "internationals" were right at 1.540" for all 3 I mic'd but the newer match kings ran from 1.507" to 1.517" over the 3 I measured. It would appear that although their construction is almost identical, that at least from the bullets I have here, that the older internationals are more consistent in bearing surface length.
Anybody got any internationals they are trying to give away[;)][:D]
why chase the game when the bullet can get em from here?....
Got Balistics?0 -
JustC.....
If there are differences between the Internationals and MatchKings I'm curious why Sierra uses the same #2200 item/product number. I think I'll pose that question to Sierra. I have 10 boxes of International bullets from the olden days [70's]; what do you think they are worth ?0 -
I would say that they are worth the same as a matchking. I only ran that test on 3 random bullets from each box,..but the fact that I got to within .0005" of the exact same with the internationals and much more variance with the matchkings is something I would like to test more. I would say something in the $12-$14 /box plus shipping would be their value. They are usually $17 and change from the various wholesalers.
why chase the game when the bullet can get em from here?....
Got Balistics?0 -
quote:JustC.....
If there are differences between the Internationals and MatchKings I'm curious why Sierra uses the same #2200 item/product number. I think I'll pose that question to Sierra.
I just received an email from Paul at Sierra Bullets saying "These two bullets are one and the same. The only differences is in the name".0
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