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> 155 grain Sierra TMK
155 grain Sierra TMK
@ 01:33 am (GMT) |
Jack DunrossDoes anyone have any experience with sierras 30 cal, 155 grain tipped match king?Specifically I'd be curious to know how they perform hunting and what kind of speeds they can tolerate without bullet blow up? They have a very similar BC to the hornady 168gr eld-m and I was thinking that they could be cool to load in my 30-06. I'm just worried it might be a bit too quick for them. Cheers! Jack |
Replies
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@ 01:55 am (GMT) |
Jack DunrossRe: 155 grain Sierra TMKAlso just to add to my original post; I have read all of Nathan's long range books and I am aware that these are match bullets and that they perform very similar to the hornady eld-m bullets, however they can tolerate higher velocity when hunting, without bullet blow up.I believe the 155 grain tmk's hadn't come out yet when the cartridges book was written, so I'd be curious to hear of any first hand experience. Cheers! Jack |
@ 02:44 am (GMT) |
Scott StruifRe: 155 grain Sierra TMKHi Jack. Good question. Did you see the brief discussion of the 175 gr. TMK a month ago? I remember, either somewhere on here or maybe in one of his weekend podcasts, Nathan said Sierra know their match bullets are good for long range hunting. But they refuse to market them as hunting bullets, because people would complain to them about bullet blow-up when attempting close-in shots. Seems like maybe you should consider dual-loading a tougher bullet for use in the woods, or when hiking in. |
@ 06:40 am (GMT) |
Nathan FosterRe: 155 grain Sierra TMKHi Jack, treat is as you would a typical 150gr regarding typical body weight limitations. Yes, I talked about the TMK in general, in the recent webinar (see youtube audio version). |
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@ 04:03 am (GMT) |
Jack DunrossRe: 155 grain Sierra TMKThanks Nathan and Scott, I hadn't listened to the webinar, but ive gotten onto it and I've just finished listening to the now, which was really good!So my take away from that was to be wary with game sizes, but to do some experimentation and adjust from there. I'm out at sea at the moment and don't have my books with me, but I've just been going over the body weights to projectile sizes in the 30-06 profile on the website. Nathan when you say to treat the 155gr tmk as a typical 150gr bullet, would you say 70-80kgs body weight is a pretty safe maximum for bush hunting? Then obviously being able to stretch out the distances as well. I'd pretty much just be hunting fallows, roos, emus and pigs. |
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@ 06:41 am (GMT) |
Nathan FosterRe: 155 grain Sierra TMKHi Jack, it is ideal for Fallow. Just be a bit careful with large mud encrusted boars at close ranges. Not much point in suggesting ideal bullets at this time of writing as components are not freely available. Instead, all I would suggest is that on larger boar in close, try if possible to aim for the neck at close ranges, avoiding both the head and shoulder. Shots may also be angled in from behind the shoulder.Its not so much the size of the boar but the size + wet or dried mud. |
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@ 07:25 am (GMT) |
Scott StruifRe: 155 grain Sierra TMKJack, the TMK 308 is available in 195, 175, 168, and 155 grain weights. Wouldn’t it make sense to start at the top and work down? In other words, if you can get the 195 to shoot well in your rifle, why not have the extra insurance of more mass on quartering shots? According to Nathan’s book, the jackets on the MatchKing and GameKing were the same. But it was published before the TGK was introduced. Now Sierra have the 165 and 180 TGK options. Their website says, “Optimal jacket wall thickness controls expansion and retains weight.” Perhaps they redesigned the jacket. |
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@ 06:13 pm (GMT) |
Jack DunrossRe: 155 grain Sierra TMKThanks Nathan, I might have to give them a crack! I don't think I would plan on using this rifle for pigs in the dense bush anyway. If I was going for pigs with it, it would likely be across a paddock. I've always got the 45-70 for heavy scrub work.I see what you're saying Scott about starting at the top and working down. I have a box of 208gr eld-ms that I'm yet to try so I will likely start with those as my heavies. I just don't think it would be suitable for Roos at longer ranges across paddocks, but I don't know yet. The thought with this lighter tmk load was that I could have the speed to bang flop kill fallows in the bush so they don't run into the forrest at all, but also be able to peg them and roos and smaller edible pigs across paddocks at longer ranges. The heavy load might do this just as well, I guess I just need to experiment. Roos have very light framed torsos though. I've had a look on sierras website and in the info section for the tipped game kings, it refers to them as game changers, which Nathan mentioned in the webinar. The website says that its a controlled expanding bullet and sounds similar to the eld-x or sst. |
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@ 05:58 am (GMT) |
Scott StruifRe: 155 grain Sierra TMKJack, As Nathan says, a 150 grain bullet out of a 30-06 is ideal for lighter medium game. However, I have seen them run out of steam past 400 yards. It’s difficult to figure out from Sierra’s published specs what their bullets will be doing at distance. However, they have a Windows program available with their bullets’ specs pre-populated. Might be worth it to decide where to start:https://www.sierrabullets.com/products/other-products/software/ |
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@ 10:57 pm (GMT) |
Jack DunrossRe: 155 grain Sierra TMKThanks Scott, I'll check it out 👍 I have been using hornadys calculator and the shooter app.The BC for the 155gr tmk is almost identical to the 168gr eld-m and much better than other 150gr projectiles that I've seen. Which is why I thought it could be a good load for what I need. I'll give them a crack at some point and let you know how I go 🤙 |
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@ 07:08 am (GMT) |
Scott StruifRe: 155 grain Sierra TMKHi Jack. 3 months ago I was trying to figure out how the average person is supposed to deal with Sierra’s published BC specs. The BC changes with the velocity. I also looked at the Hornady program. This is all described in a post entitled “Hornady ‘4DOFF’” under the “Precision long range hunting and shooting” section. I agree with your theory that a 150 grain bullet out of a 30-06 a deadly combination, due to the MV that is possible. However, I’m convinced that a heavier bullet, at a slightly slower velocity, provides an advantage at long range. This is based on one bad experience I had with a 150 grain projectile. |
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@ 12:19 am (GMT) |
Jack DunrossRe: 155 grain Sierra TMKThanks Scott, I'll be sure to check out that post! I'm going to do some experimenting with the 06 and I'll definitely be giving the heavier pills a crack |
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