Drilling out match HPs to get better expansion: does it work?

Hellgate

Hellgate

Member
One of the criticisms of using match grade bullets it that they don't open up reliably on varmints due to the heavier match jackets and small hollow points. Has anyone taken a drill press and drilled out their HP match bullets to get better expansion for use as a hunting bullet? I realize that it would reduce the ballistic coefficient of the bullet but if a 68gr HP shot real tight would it still open up OK on a coyote if drilled out to say, 5/64ths?. I'm concerned about shoot through (non expansion) mainly on coyotes with match bullets but also for lighter bullets like the 52 & 53gr match HPs for ground squirrels. I've drilled the Sierra 40gr HP and there is no significant difference in accuracy at 100 yds whether drilled or not and they are spectacularly effective on ground squirrels but they are not a match bullet. I'm not interested in hides. I want a bullet that goes all the way through but expands well in the process. Sometimes I get a running away shot and a bullet that is both accurate and expandable is needed.
 
Do you think varmint bullets shoot poorly?

The 600 yard light gun record was set last year with 88 gr varmint bullets, and there have been several high power championships won with them in the last fee years. They are also used daily in club level benchrest matches with excellent results. No need to waste time drilling holes in bullets. If you're gun won't shoot extremely well with one varmint bullet, try another one.
 
Match grade bullets work great. I have never had an issue with them. I think the stories about them come from people that dont use them. HP bullets dont just expand, they fragment.
 
I use the match bullets in 204, 223, 22-250 and my 7MM. I have not tried the Sierra 53 gr but have heard a lot of good about them. The 22 cal I use are Hornady 52 gr.
 
Berger made the 88s.

I would not recommend shooting any kind of game with a plain berger match bullet. I suppose if it were a 308 it may be marginal in an ok sort of way, because of the wound channel.

Sierra Matchkings do ok in all honesty, and the hornady a max used to be my favorite coyote bullet.

My SMK data comes from experience with a couple of 223s, AMax experience was in 243 and 22-250.

And a 243 taught me that the 95 grain VLD is way too hard for coyote hunting. Spent an entire weekend watching them run a couple hundred yards before even looking like they had been hit.
 
i have used sierra and hornady 52.gr.HPBT MATCH bullets for over fourty years they work great.and i have used berger match bullets also, years ago they weren't being made.i use 30gr match bergers in my 223,and 25.gr match bullets in my 17.rem that has killed hundreds of coyotes [one shot ] with very little fur damage.THEY WORK GREAT
 
Originally Posted By: CZ527
I would not recommend shooting any kind of game with a plain berger match bullet.


Why?? They work great. There are a lot of people using them for coyotes and they are amazing.
 
I did exclude the 25 grain berger match bullet, as it has been discontinued and is therefore not relevant to the conversation.

Try shooting a coyote with a 95 gr 6mm berger target bullet and report back.

A lot of guys think that when it says "match grade varmint bullet" that it's a match bullet.

"Match Grade" is the adjective there. "Varmint Bullet" is the noun.

Take a phrase like "68 gr match VLD". "Match VLD" is the noun, making it a match bullet in my book.

If you call Berger up, they will tell you "do not use our match bullets for hunting."



The old 25 grain berger match was definitely an exception to my own rule. I loaded a lot of them for a partners 17 Rem and they did a fine job. I discussed this at length in a previous thread.
 
Don't drill out the hornady 52 and 53 gr match bullets, they are just about perfect for yotes. The first person i heard doing this was a writer from shooting times - Rick Jamiseon big time shooter, experimiter and big on coyote hunting, he swore by hornady 53 and 52 match and serria match bullet's.He even worte a book on coyote hunting , good one too.
 
Well, I guess I'll lay off drilling the 53 grainers. I'm still thinking the 68grainers might not open up reliably. I'm using them in an 18" barreled .223.
 
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Originally Posted By: CZ527
If you call Berger up, they will tell you "do not use our match bullets for hunting."

You go ahead and follow their advice if you believe it. My real world experience with any match bullet I have used says that work great for hunting. In fact a lot of people use them with great results.
 
Originally Posted By: CZ527Do you think varmint bullets shoot poorly?

The 600 yard light gun record was set last year with 88 gr varmint bullets, and there have been several high power championships won with them in the last fee years. They are also used daily in club level benchrest matches with excellent results. No need to waste time drilling holes in bullets. If you're gun won't shoot extremely well with one varmint bullet, try another one.

Im using the 88's in a 1-12 twist douglas barrel on a 243 kimber montana. Crazy accurate. 5/8''x 1/4'' 4 shots @ 200 yards. Puts about a quarter size exit if you don't hit bone. If you hit bone, like I did yesterday, softball size exit on a neck shot @ 60 yards. The confidence these bullets give me is priceless. I would just go with a berger varmint and save the frustration for something like when kate upton does not return your call.
 
Originally Posted By: reb8600Originally Posted By: CZ527
If you call Berger up, they will tell you "do not use our match bullets for hunting."

You go ahead and follow their advice if you believe it. My real world experience with any match bullet I have used says that work great for hunting. In fact a lot of people use them with great results.

I can't imagine how I could, from experience, be so positive that they don't work... And yet you can say the same from the opposite side of the argument. It's just mind boggling that I have tried them with poor results, confirmed the outcome with the very people who make them... And yet there is clear and outspoken opposition.

Rather than to accuse someone of being untruthful, I have thought about this at great length today... And here is what I have come up with.

Smaller bullets with less energy are probably more likely to tumble upon entry, this greatly upping the damaged area and likely causing fatal wounds to the target. (Ex: 52 gr)

A larger bullet, like say the 243 95 gr, or 80.5 grain .224 bullet, is a more streamlined projectile. When shooting them out of a 243 or 22-250 ai (as in my experience) they are hitting with a heap more energy and are likely passing through in a direct line, causing less damage.

So, in short, little bullets may be tumbling, giving you good results. Heck, they may even be shattering on bone... I don't know how they are working but of you say they are then so be it.

As for the long for caliber bullets, which I have experience with, I am certain they are passing directly through when impacting at high velocity, which explains why my exit holes were indistinguishable from entrance holes.
 
I've shot the Sierra 52 gr match bullets from both 223 and 220 swift with great results on yotes to each his own I guess but never lost a dog to them that I hit like I should
 
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