Self Defense/Huntiing Bullets?

[alamo5000]

I have my reloads pretty much on the mark for my run of the mill shooting. My rifle likes the 69 gr SMK's quite a bit. It most definitely gets the job done for all of my target shooting and so forth.

That said which bullets (actual projectiles) make for better self defense/hunting rounds?

With my rifle it's been so long since I've shot anything other than 69gr... but the point of impact really changes a lot if I swap grain weights, pretty much to the point that I think I might need to rezero the rifle.

I don't know if I should go with a 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' mentality or if I should try to find another bullet that will be consistent with a particular load but that has a hunting/SD projectile, just in case we get overrun my zombies I guess.

If there is a different point of impact (and there will be) as long as it's consistent that's fine. I can work with that. I just want to be able to note it down and be able to adjust my optic for that load and be on it.

I was thinking about calling Rainier or Sierra and seeing if they could recommend a bullet that will be consistent for my barrel (1/8 twist RA Select Medcon).

Really though I am happy with what I have now so I am not sure if it's really worth it to hassle with having a hunting/SD round since I don't really hunt that often. That said they don't recommend doing anything except for targets with the 69gr SMK...but those zombies... not sure about them

[velocity2006]

Really depends on what your hunting. For deer/med-larger game I would use some kind of softpoint, varmits I prefer hornady a-max and v-max, nosler varmageddon are also good performers. For self defense I generally prefer some kind of bonded projectile.

[alamo5000]

Really depends on what your hunting. For deer/med-larger game I would use some kind of softpoint, varmits I prefer hornady a-max and v-max, nosler varmageddon are also good performers. For self defense I generally prefer some kind of bonded projectile.

That is exactly the kind of discussion I am looking to have. What kind of bullet for what kind of scenario etc etc, but also why you prefer one over the other (IE performance difference or whatever).

I just googled this after I read your post too... that's definitely a good start...

http://www.rifleshootermag.com/ammo/...onded-bullets/

[DutyUse]

I've used 60gr nosler partitions to great success

[Stone]

Gold dots,TSX,TTSX,T3,Accubond. All excellent SD/hunting rounds. Federal Fusions perform well too.

[DeviantLogic]

I'm not much of a hunter, so I can't speak on that front. For the self defense/zombie apocalypse, I go for accuracy over anything really. Inside of 50 yards, they should all get the job done. Go out past 200, and I'd rather have a round that can consistently give me MOA groups. So what I reload for target shooting is the same as what I'd use for the zombies. That said, the 77 gr SMK should work pretty well in that Rainier 1:8 barrel.

[tact]

Shot placement .....more important. All seem to work when you shoot them in the face/head.

[Former11B]

I've used two bullets, both of which would work great on deer, hogs, and humans.

64gr Winchester Power Point (shot my last deer at 150 yards using 26.5gr CFE223 and it dropped like a rock).

77gr Sierra Tipped MatchKing. They are also offered in 69gr weights.

Here are a couple ballistic gel tests using the 77gr TMKs offered by Black Hills (you can buy the bullets separately and load your own...I've got about 500 of them)

One simulates a 16" barrel, 315 yard shot with a bullet traveling 1900fps with the wound channel still being amazing.


Here's a BH 77gr from a 14.5" bbl:


77gr TMK vs Barnes TSX fragmentation:



Once I run out of the 64gr Power Points, I'll be using the Sierra Tipped Match Kings exclusively.

http://209.251.48.101/forums/t_3_16/...atch_king.html

That thread shows some wound cavities in critters.

Brownells has them on sale:
http://www.brownells.com/reloading/b...prod80584.aspx

24 cents per 69gr Sierra TMK is a great price....can't find it at the moment (At work) but I read another site where a guy did an accuracy test between the 69gr and 77gr TMKs and the 69 grain boolits gave him more accurate results. Both were great, don't get me wrong, but the 69s were slightly better.

ONE WORD OF WARNING. These bullets, due to the polymer tip, are slightly longer than a regular 69gr or 77gr SMK. Be careful and work your loads up. I'd buy an extra box of 100 just for load testing in addition to whatever else you get.

I am still in load development but I think my best group so far was with 23.1gr RE15, about .10" smaller than my best Varget group (22.6gr). I use CCI BR-4 primers for these.

With 69gr TMKs, RE15 did better than Varget again with 23.5gr RE15 out shooting the best group of Varget at 23.2gr, (.14" smaller group with RE15 over Varget)

With the 77grs, I used a 2.63 OAL (PMags allow for a little longer OAL), and 69grs I used 2.61"

These would also make a very good steel/paper punching round due to the Ballistic Coefficient.

[SINNER]

We have been dropping between 40-50 mature white tails a year fufiling crop damage permits for the past decade. The 70gr. Barnes TSX have been the most effective 5.56 rounds I have ever used. The bonded soft points are a close second and have been superior to almost every other "hunting round" we have used.

We went to the 5.56 on the farms we hunt in addition to the crop control permits 6-7 years ago after having pass thru's with .308's and larger calibers drop trophy bucks we wanted to keep in the gene pool. I have never seen a TSX pass through an animal but I have seen the soft points go through.

[Former11B]

The TSX bullets are good, but the TMKs are new to the market. Might be worth a shot

[SINNER]

I intend to try some out. Pretty impressive gel tests.

[alamo5000]

24 cents per 69gr Sierra TMK is a great price.....

If you buy em in bulk (2500 or more) I can tell you where to get em at the every day price of .22 cents a round for the 69 grain tipped SMK. That is including all shipping.

The 77 grain tipped matchkings would be 26 cents a round including all shipping.

[alamo5000]

That is very interesting Former11B.

I am going to come back to this thread and read more. I have 2500 rounds of SMKs on order now but I am wondering if I should give the tipped matchkings a try? I wonder just how much OAL length is gained or lost between the SMK and the tipped SMK? I also wonder if any ballistics gel tests have been done with regular 69 grain SMK?

I would like to see a ballistics gel comparison between the tipped and the regular SMK...

[alamo5000]

Here is a link that has some data on the regular SMK...

http://www.le.vistaoutdoor.com/downl...leDataBook.pdf

[Former11B]

The tipped MKs are longer. I can take a picture when I get home and some measurements if I have any 77gr SMKs left at the moment