Quote Originally Posted by charlie b View Post
As I stated, the point is that some of us are having better results with the 77gn SMK bullets (rather than 69gn SMKs) in our Savage barrels, at the distances and velocities we shoot at. Nothing more.

The only reason this has come up is because Sierra says they should not work, so the posts are more of an FYI to others who might not otherwise try them.

There is no claim of anything else. And they are not hunting bullets, just for paper. And no one is claiming they are a good choice out to 1000yd. I will be trying them at that range just for grins, but, I do not expect much.

And, yes, there was at least one person using these for 600yd informal competitiom shooting and doing well with it.


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Well fact is i shoot 69 gr SMK bullets in a factory Savage 9 twist barrel also.
But in a 22x250 AI, not a 223, and they shoot as well as i can shoot them.
Would it be worth my time seeing if 77 gr might shoot as well or better?
Well too each his own, but not in my opinion.
I can see myself using the real heavy 22 caliber bullets in a hot rod wildcat like a 22x243, but without the powder what’s the point?
As for SMKs not being a hunting bullet, don’t be betting anything you cant afford to lose on that, because you for sure will lose it.
Same goes for most if not all the other so called match bullets.
Another little secret as it pertains to (ahem) precision reloading, and factory guns like Savage.
All my SMK (match) bullets come to me in jars, like rinsed out empty large peanut butter jars.
Reason is they are all seconds, sold by the pound at the Sierra store.
Would you like to know what the Sierra employee shooters use?
I mean if they are seconds, are they still SMKs? Why not just trash them and start over?
So lets be sure we get the powder charge to the exact 1/10 of a grain here folks, and the velocity
cant vary by even 5 FPS if we want real accuracy. Lol
Much has to do with mind over matter, and it only matters to those of us who mind.
The main reason I make myself unpopular for saying these things other than it being what i think, is that it would be very easy for the new shooters who haven’t the experience level as yet to be convinced that all this is normal and necessary in the name of accuracy.
Fact is it isn’t, and far from it, at least for the vast majority of us.