69 gr. Nosler BTHP vs. 69 gr. SMK

[Mordamer]

I have not purchased any Sierra bullets yet and I was just wondering how close the 69 SMK's are to the 69 Nosler custom competition's. They seem to be almost identical. Has anyone compared the two?

Maybe someone could give me some basic measurements from a 69 gr. SMK they have and I could compare those to measurements on the Nosler bullets.

Thanks.

Top image is the nosler, bottom is the SMK. Got the images from midwayusa.

 

[Mordamer]

Re: 69 gr. Nosler BTHP vs. 69 gr. SMK

I have found the nosler to shoot incredibly well through my rifle, but I would rather buy the sierra bullets and they are cheaper.

 

[DocB]

Re: 69 gr. Nosler BTHP vs. 69 gr. SMK

Mordamer,

Buy 100 of each and see which one your rifle likes. Keep the rifle happy and you'll be happy.

HTH,
DocB

 

[427Cobra]

Re: 69 gr. Nosler BTHP vs. 69 gr. SMK

Let your wallet decide, but they both fly the same.

 

[Austan]

Re: 69 gr. Nosler BTHP vs. 69 gr. SMK

I thought they were identical due to some contract that Nosler took over from Sierra for a while and at the end of the contract just kept producing them for the public. That might be completely wrong as my memory fails me often. Either way, I'd buy whats cheaper.

 

[jrob300]

Re: 69 gr. Nosler BTHP vs. 69 gr. SMK

Mordamer,

I don't know about the 69's but I loaded some 77 Nosler's and 77 SMK's and there was a very definite difference in accuracy at every velocity. The Nosler's printed about 25% smaller than the SMK's consistently (and over 50% of the Hornady 75's!) This was in a 1:9 twist MP15. They may have been the same at one time, but they are NOT the same now.

John

 

[9H_Cracka]

Re: 69 gr. Nosler BTHP vs. 69 gr. SMK

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Considering that Nosler had the Mk 262 Mod 1 projectile contract for a while until Sierra agreed to put a cannelure on the 77 SMK and won it back, one could read between the lines and see that Nosler copied both bullets.

Your pics sure seem to point that out.

 

[EddieNFL]

Re: 69 gr. Nosler BTHP vs. 69 gr. SMK

I switched to Nosler 69s when Sierras entered the designer bullet price range. Same load same, POI and accuracy as with Sierras. Had to adjust to paying significantly less, though.

 

[rwlewis]

Re: 69 gr. Nosler BTHP vs. 69 gr. SMK

Ive interchanged the 69grs, along with the 52gr bthp's. No diff that I can tell. Same with the 168 and 175gr custom comps. They shoot the same as the SMK for me and there usually cheaper.

Just my opinion.

 

[MZ5]

Re: 69 gr. Nosler BTHP vs. 69 gr. SMK

I'll bet you the ogive is slightly to moderately different, but the base/tail shape is pretty much the same. I had hoped that Litz's book had measurements of each, but the Nosler 69 isn't in my copy.

 

[Mordamer]

Re: 69 gr. Nosler BTHP vs. 69 gr. SMK

I'm satisfied with all the answers that they are similar enough for me to buy whatever I can find cheaper and interchange them in the same load.

 

[Short Round]

Re: 69 gr. Nosler BTHP vs. 69 gr. SMK

I have used both and generally will buy the nosler's due to price. My AR15A4NM cannot tell the difference. I don't have a bolt gun with the right twist to run the heaviers.