Ammo Spark has 6.5 142 SMK

[GBMaryland]

6.5 Creedmoor 142gr Sierra MatchKing

Match grade 6.5 Creedmoor using a 142 grain Sierra MatchKing bullet. Made in the USA! Technical InformationCaliber: 6.5 CreedmoorBullet Weight: 142 grains Bullet Style: Sierra MatchKing Case Type: New Ballistics Information: Muzzle 1/3 MOA at 100 yards out of a Savage 10 BA Stealth and a Ruger...

sparkmunitions.com

 

[Nik H]

6.5 Creedmoor 142gr Sierra MatchKing

Match grade 6.5 Creedmoor using a 142 grain Sierra MatchKing bullet. Made in the USA! Technical InformationCaliber: 6.5 CreedmoorBullet Weight: 142 grains Bullet Style: Sierra MatchKing Case Type: New Ballistics Information: Muzzle 1/3 MOA at 100 yards out of a Savage 10 BA Stealth and a Ruger...

sparkmunitions.com

Have you shot these and if yes, how do they compare to PRIME or Hornady?

 

[GBMaryland]

All of the ammo I've shot from Spark Munitions was VERY good... On par with Prime, better than Hornady.

 

[LibertyArms]

So i was able to test some of this as well as some of their other ammo. All of the stuff they are making has been solid and sub MOA accurate in multiple different rifles. I would tell you to at least try a box for sure. It will be better or on par with the other stuff for sure. Good group of guys there too.

 

[GBMaryland]

Example of the 135s I tested previously - rifle is HOT....

 

[Nik H]

I have shot several of SPARK's offerings and agree with the assessment of quality BUT I am unfamiliar with the 142 grain SMK bullet. My comment had more to do with how this particular cartridge performs against other cartridge/bullet combinations either by SPARK or other manufacturers

 

[Baron23]

Example of the 135s I tested previously - rifle is HOT....

View attachment 7628060

Hello my friend - Did you chrono the full box? I see just five shots in the set shown which kind of makes it hard to eval that this ES/SD as something you would get with a larger data set.

 

[GBMaryland]

I've chrono'ed with about 20 rounds at a time. Pretty much, it's consistent... On the Tikka, it gets much worse at the barrel gets very hot.

The LMT seems to be less sensitive to a hot barrel and ES / SD, though it still happens.

The Spark Munitions stuff tends to be hot, but the overall ES/SD is pretty great. The 121s had single digit SD, and the 135s shot really well even though the SD was low two digits.

Both were better than my Hornady 140s / 147s....

 

[GBMaryland]

Nik, here is an example of the 142SMK...

The bullet is plenty capable

 

[GBMaryland]

I tell you what… I’ll shoot a T3X A1 tac, a LMT MWS 24 SS, and a LMT with a 18 Bartlein (sp) SS.

And I’ll lab radar it all….

I really have no doubt that it’s gonna work well

 

[GBMaryland]

Tikka T3XA1

Total number of shots	10​
Units velocity	fps
Units distances	yd
Units kinetic energy	ft-lbf
Units weight	grain (gr)
Stats - Average	2707.49​	fps
Stats - Highest	2723.05​	fps
Stats - Lowest	2701.32​	fps
Stats - Ext. Spread	21.74​	fps
Stats - Std. Dev	7.47​	fps

 

[GBMaryland]

LMT MWS 18inch Bartline (sp) barrel

Total number of shots	10​
Units velocity	fps
Units distances	yd
Units kinetic energy	ft-lbf
Units weight	grain (gr)
Stats - Average	2707.37​	fps
Stats - Highest	2739.86​	fps
Stats - Lowest	2685.14​	fps
Stats - Ext. Spread	54.73​	fps
Stats - Std. Dev	16.36​	fps

 

[Zane1844]

They have the small rifle primer of this ammo as well. I’m not a reloader, so what’s the pro/ con for those vs the large rifle primer?

 

[GBMaryland]

Well, I'm not sure how my lower the SD was going to get with the SRP for this factor ammo. However, it's very consistent

At 7. 47 SD with 21.74ES in a bolt gun is pretty darned good!

 

[GBMaryland]

FWIW: I screwed up the 24 in LMT barrel and shot some other ammo in that string. However, it was actually doing better than the bartlein barrel on my other LMT! WOW.

It was something like 11SD and 26 ES.

 

[GBMaryland]

They have the small rifle primer of this ammo as well. I’m not a reloader, so what’s the pro/ con for those vs the large rifle primer?

well, I guess we’re about to find out… It appears that I bought another 250 of the small rifle primers version.

what I can tell you is that the velocity is lower. However, the SD should be significantly lower too.

of course, the first series of shots I did were so low to begin with I’m wondering how much lower the SD will really get with small rifle primers.

 

[Zane1844]

well, I guess we’re about to find out… It appears that I bought another 250 of the small rifle primers version.

what I can tell you is that the velocity is lower. However, the SD should be significantly lower too.

of course, the first series of shots I did were so low to begin with I’m wondering how much lower the SD will really get with small rifle primers.I chrono’d only 15 rounds of the 144gr for 3, 5 round groups. My SD was around 13-15 if I remember right.

I chrono’d 15rds of the 144’s for 3, 5 round groups and my SD was around 15 or so.

I shot a couple 3 round .3MOA groups with that ammo, 5-8 rds I get get up to .5-.7MOA, but that’s mostly my error.

I had great success this past weekend shooting out to 1265yds.

I wish I got 250rds of the 142’s though since they have better BC.

Overall, I think Spark loads great ammo.

 

[GBMaryland]

They do make good ammo. It tend to be on the hot side, which results in the bolt sticking on the Tikka T3X. However, it's not a safety concern or anything, and the ammo doesn't exhibit signs of pressure.

 

[GBMaryland]

This was the lab radar information for the LMT MWS 24in 6.5CM 1:8 barrel and the 142 Spark Munitions:

Series No	20​
Total number of shots	20​
Units velocity	fps
Units distances	yd
Units kinetic energy	ft-lbf
Units weight	grain (gr)
Stats - Average	2780.47​	fps
Stats - Highest	2801.14​	fps
Stats - Lowest	2754.83​	fps
Stats - Ext. Spread	46.31​	fps
Stats - Std. Dev	12.74​	fps

The box says 2775fps, and this is the only weapon that was getting that.

 

[Zane1844]

This was the lab radar information for the LMT MWS 24in 6.5CM 1:8 barrel and the 142 Spark Munitions:

Series No	20​
Total number of shots	20​
Units velocity	fps
Units distances	yd
Units kinetic energy	ft-lbf
Units weight	grain (gr)
Stats - Average	2780.47​	fps
Stats - Highest	2801.14​	fps
Stats - Lowest	2754.83​	fps
Stats - Ext. Spread	46.31​	fps
Stats - Std. Dev	12.74​	fps

The box says 2775fps, and this is the only weapon that was getting that.

Wow, I have a 26” Bartlein and I’m getting an average of 2674 with my 144’s. That’s fast for a 24” barrel.