Anyone have anything to say about 180gr SMK's

[jbputney]

Hello - i'm new to the site and reloading. I bought some 180 grain Sierra Match Kings for my .308.I could not find any 175gr SMK's locally and was impatient to use my new gear. So i loaded up the 180's - 41.3 RL-15,BR-2's and federal cases. I have heard federal cases arn't the best but being new to reloading and having a ton of once fired GMM cases i thought it would be ok. The load easily holds 1/2moa groups at 100y w/my savage 10fp 20" bbl. I'm interested in any info or feedback on this bullet.What is it's practical application and limitations. Why is it just sitting unsold on gunshop shelfs.
Any insights & recipes would be greately appreciated.

Putney

 

[longebow]

Re: Anyone have anything to say about 180gr SMK's

Sierra 180's are collecting dust because no one uses them. They were big back several decades ago. Kind of stuck in the middle, really. 168's for 200-600 yards, and 190's for 600-1000. Now, we have 175's which go all the way back, and many other options, like 155s and VLDs from 175-185 grains, which are all good bullets for the .308. Enjoy them, but start here at Sniper's Hide to research your next purchase.

 

[coldboremiracle]

Re: Anyone have anything to say about 180gr SMK's

I've always been tempted to try them, the 175's, 168's and the 190's fly off the shelf as soon as they arrive. I've often wondered why the 180's are always left there, I cant believe there is enough difference in them to not be worth trying. Its good to see that they work well for you, with the added benefit of being a low demand commodity, so you probably wont have trouble finding them.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: Anyone have anything to say about 180gr SMK's

I have used them, and 180SGK's, interchangeably, for short and medium range aplications, and found them to be most excellent bullets. As Sierra suggests, they worked quite well for me as a direct substitute with 175SMK load recipes.

By the time I was shooting at K distances, I had switched over to the 260.

It's not that the 180SMK doesn't shoot well, it's that the others also shoot well, and seem to do it with a small efficiency advantage (charge vs muzzle velocity).

One last thing, the SGK bullets appear to have softer jackets (to aid expansion) and appear to copper foul more rapidly than match jackets. I found they shot to the same POI, but accuracy over sustained fire courses tended to go away sooner.

Greg

 

[ChrisGarrett]

Re: Anyone have anything to say about 180gr SMK's

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Putney</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Hello - i'm new to the site and reloading. I bought some 180 grain Sierra Match Kings for my .308.I could not find any 175gr SMK's locally and was impatient to use my new gear. So i loaded up the 180's - 41.3 RL-15,BR-2's and federal cases. I have heard federal cases arn't the best but being new to reloading and having a ton of once fired GMM cases i thought it would be ok. The load easily holds 1/2moa groups at 100y w/my savage 10fp 20" bbl. I'm interested in any info or feedback on this bullet.What is it's practical application and limitations. Why is it just sitting unsold on gunshop shelfs.
Any insights & recipes would be greately appreciated.

Putney </div></div>

Like others have said, it's not that the 180 SMK is a bad bullet, it's just that there are other more efficient bullets in the Sierra stable to consider.

I call the 180 SMK the 'bastard stepchild' of the MK lineup. Some years back, they changed the taper of the boat tail from 13* to 9*, or something like that and I think it handicapped the bullet relative to the 155s (1k bullet), 168s (good to 800 yds and less thump) or the 175s.

If you can get them cheap, sure, go shoot them like I do, but I wouldn't go paying top dollar for them when there are better bullets.

Chris

 

[jbputney]

Re: Anyone have anything to say about 180gr SMK's

Good feedback - thank you!
I ordered a brick of 175's from Graf's this am. I will load some up and compare them next time i shoot @1K. Maybe they will dong a little louder or something. Thanks for the feedback on the federal cases, i actually shot up some 167 lapua scenars last weekend and i will reload those,that was my intent when i purchased them,figured if i'm gonna buy factory mights just as well buy good brass right? I'll take a look around the site for some load recipes. Sierra calls for 41.3 max with RL-15,anybody think that's a little light? Thanks for your time.

Putney

 

[BCP]

Re: Anyone have anything to say about 180gr SMK's

Check out the 178 AMAX or the 175 Nosler, both of those are supposed to be good alternatives to the 175 SMK. I am currently messing with 178 amax and am really impressed with them, good velocity and feed really well in my semi.

 

[Jerry m]

Re: Anyone have anything to say about 180gr SMK's

I say: Shoot them!!!