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SMK's or Berger's ?
- Thread starter rebs
- Start date
"...most consistent..." Match grade bullets are virtually always consistent. S'why they're match grade bullets.
"...a better bullet choice? ..." For what purpose?
The only choice that matters is the one your rifle makes. Your rifle may like a Berger, not all of which are match bullets. Or it may prefer the match grade SMK.
Otherwise the whole thing is about your budget. A Berger 70 grain VLD HPBT starts at about $34 per 100, at Midway. A 69 grain SMK runs $25.99 per 100. And $10 is $10.
"...a better bullet choice? ..." For what purpose?
The only choice that matters is the one your rifle makes. Your rifle may like a Berger, not all of which are match bullets. Or it may prefer the match grade SMK.
Otherwise the whole thing is about your budget. A Berger 70 grain VLD HPBT starts at about $34 per 100, at Midway. A 69 grain SMK runs $25.99 per 100. And $10 is $10.
I'd say believe your rifle and targets. I will suggest two other options to consider.
The Nosler Custom Competition 77 gr,and the Hornady Match bthp 75 gr.
The Hornady's advertise a slightly better BC than the MK's and Noslers.
For that range of bullets in 5.56 I chose RE-15.
The point /tip on a MK is created in the jacket swaging process.I would not get too excited about a little variation. Sierra MK's have won a lot of competitions.
Shoot them and see what you get. Overthinking can be an obstacle.
If it really concerns you,Sinclair,at the Brownell's/Sinclair website ,I believe,makes a tool they will be happy to sell you. You can make them all "uniform"
I believe its called a "Meplat Uniformer" I don't have one.
It matters what you are trying to achieve. You mentioned 300 yds in another post.
I don't have the expertise to tell you absolutely. I have found its easier for me to get the 69 gr bullets to shoot very accurately. I like Varget and a 1 in 9 for them. At 300 yds,the 69's work pretty good.The initial velocity advantage evens things up.
If you are trying to win championships,0.1 MOA or less is a bg deal,maybe.
For just good,accurate performance,maybe PD's, factors like "cost per bullet" and "availability" enter in. I've found the 75 gr Hornady's in a 600 ct pkg can be pretty reasonably priced,especially on sale.
"Better" is hard to quantify
The Nosler Custom Competition 77 gr,and the Hornady Match bthp 75 gr.
The Hornady's advertise a slightly better BC than the MK's and Noslers.
For that range of bullets in 5.56 I chose RE-15.
The point /tip on a MK is created in the jacket swaging process.I would not get too excited about a little variation. Sierra MK's have won a lot of competitions.
Shoot them and see what you get. Overthinking can be an obstacle.
If it really concerns you,Sinclair,at the Brownell's/Sinclair website ,I believe,makes a tool they will be happy to sell you. You can make them all "uniform"
I believe its called a "Meplat Uniformer" I don't have one.
It matters what you are trying to achieve. You mentioned 300 yds in another post.
I don't have the expertise to tell you absolutely. I have found its easier for me to get the 69 gr bullets to shoot very accurately. I like Varget and a 1 in 9 for them. At 300 yds,the 69's work pretty good.The initial velocity advantage evens things up.
If you are trying to win championships,0.1 MOA or less is a bg deal,maybe.
For just good,accurate performance,maybe PD's, factors like "cost per bullet" and "availability" enter in. I've found the 75 gr Hornady's in a 600 ct pkg can be pretty reasonably priced,especially on sale.
"Better" is hard to quantify
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Rebs,
Bullet performance:
I have had great results with 69 SMKs and 69 TMKs with my two 1:9 twist .223s.
I have tried Berger 70 grain VLD Target bullets and haven't have the same good results, but I haven't found a good seating depth for them.
I load my Sierra SMKs out at 2.290 amd the TMKs out at 2.330 and have gotten great results.
I have loaded the Berger #22418 bullets out from 2.267 to 2.320 and had the best results with in the 2.315 to 2.320 range but no where near as good as the Sierras. I may not have found its jump preference yet.
Seating based on the ogive:
I measure all my reloads based on ogive measurements and I don't feel I have done a good job if a load of 25 rounds are all measuring +/- 0.002 at the ogive.
I regularly get +/- 0.001 variation for 25 loads, when I pay attention to the pressure I put on the reloading press rod.
Unexpected Recommendation:
I have recently begun shooting 77 grain Sierra SMKs and TMKs in my 1:9 twist .223s. The accuracy has been equal or better than the 69s. I know that 77s aren't supposed to stabilize in a 1:9 twist barrel but they do. I'm getting sub 0.3 inch 5-round groups at 100 yards with both the SMKs and TMKs but the TMKs are performing a bit better. I've been seating the SMKs from 2.290 to 2.310 and the TMKs from 2.340 to 2.350.
Bullet performance:
I have had great results with 69 SMKs and 69 TMKs with my two 1:9 twist .223s.
I have tried Berger 70 grain VLD Target bullets and haven't have the same good results, but I haven't found a good seating depth for them.
I load my Sierra SMKs out at 2.290 amd the TMKs out at 2.330 and have gotten great results.
I have loaded the Berger #22418 bullets out from 2.267 to 2.320 and had the best results with in the 2.315 to 2.320 range but no where near as good as the Sierras. I may not have found its jump preference yet.
Seating based on the ogive:
I measure all my reloads based on ogive measurements and I don't feel I have done a good job if a load of 25 rounds are all measuring +/- 0.002 at the ogive.
I regularly get +/- 0.001 variation for 25 loads, when I pay attention to the pressure I put on the reloading press rod.
Unexpected Recommendation:
I have recently begun shooting 77 grain Sierra SMKs and TMKs in my 1:9 twist .223s. The accuracy has been equal or better than the 69s. I know that 77s aren't supposed to stabilize in a 1:9 twist barrel but they do. I'm getting sub 0.3 inch 5-round groups at 100 yards with both the SMKs and TMKs but the TMKs are performing a bit better. I've been seating the SMKs from 2.290 to 2.310 and the TMKs from 2.340 to 2.350.
The ogive diameter that matters is .002" smaller than bullet or bore diameter. That's where the throat first touches the bullet.I use these bullets in F Class matches at our local club so I am looking for the most accurate. When seating bullets by the ogive how much variation is acceptable ?
If the bullet seater touches the bullet at any smaller diameter, the normal ogive shape tolerances may well end up with a .001" or more spread in bullet jump to the rifling.
Some folks soft seat bullets a couple hundredths long so those ogive tolerances don't matter. Bullets seat a smidgen deeper and center very repeatable that way with zero jump. Cut the charge a tenth grain if you're concerned about pressure.
FrankenMauser
New member
SMKs worked well for me when I was playing with heavy bullets in .223 Rem. I still have a few thousand 69 gr and a few hundred 77 gr SMKs that I'll eventually load.
But now that Sierra's owners have been slowly jacking up prices for a few years, to maximize profit, I probably won't be buying more.
They're good bullets, but not worth paying a premium when there's good competition from comparable (or better) bullets.
Other companies' product pricing has followed the commodities market increases. Sierra's has exceeded that, to the point of some products being double the price they were when Clarus bought the company two years ago.
But now that Sierra's owners have been slowly jacking up prices for a few years, to maximize profit, I probably won't be buying more.
They're good bullets, but not worth paying a premium when there's good competition from comparable (or better) bullets.
Other companies' product pricing has followed the commodities market increases. Sierra's has exceeded that, to the point of some products being double the price they were when Clarus bought the company two years ago.
That's common if you're measuring case head to bullet tip.I asked this question because the last batch of 77 gr SMK's I bought didn't seem to be very consistent. I was seating the 1.900 to the ogive and getting a variance between 1.895 and 1.907. Is this a normal spread or perhaps I got a poor batch ?
Does your seater touch bullets at about .222" diameter on their ogive?
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Maybe they're covering pay raises for employees. That's normal.But now that Sierra's owners have been slowly jacking up prices for a few years, to maximize profit, I probably won't be buying more..
Or cost of materials has gone up. That's also normal when the supplier's employees get pay raises.
Have you ever got a pay raise and kept your job?
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FrankenMauser
New member
Cost of materials was addressed in my initial statement.Or cost of materials has gone up. That's also normal when the supplier's employees get pay raises.
Have you ever got a pay raise and kept your job?
To account for the price increase of their products via employee raises, standard economics would require a 500-600% increase in employee pay rate.
I have never gotten a 500% raise at any job, and do not believe that Sierra has done such for their employees.