53 gr. Sierra HP Matchking Performance?

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Loaded some of these up for my .22-250 about a month ago but haven't tested them out yet on coyotes. My 55gr. NBT load was causing extensive damage so I am looking for something I can shoot close to the max load and not blow up so much. I know some people do shoot these match bullets and I would like to hear of some field results on coyote. thanks for your help! Ryan
 
I've shot 2 with the HPBT Match Sierra's. The one I shot at about 100 broadside. It spun a few times and dropped. I shot it thru the lungs and it left a twoonie sized exit hole. I thought that was okay. The next one I shot was at 26 paces and was broadside facing me. I hit it farther back at the end of the ribcage. It spun alot & didn't die right away. The bullet left a nice big exit wound ( to big to sew properly). My bullets are flying at around 3800fps. I've been told to hit them in the shoulder ( ball joint )and that would kill them without a big exit wound, but I don't always have the luxury of being able to precisely plan where the bullet will hit. That's all I can tell you so far , I plan on going out the next 2 days with these bullets & I'll get back to you on how they do. I hope that helps.
 
Killed the last dozen with the 53 grain Sierra. Two today. Kills effectively but pelt damage is mixed. Some are perfect, some are deader than they need to be! They seem to consistantly have less damage than the 55 NBT. I have been hearing good things about the 40 gr Sierra HP, and have loaded some to try.
Dogleg
 
I do a lot of shooting from the bench so I always have Sierra 52gr. HPBTs and 53gr.HP bullets around. It all depends on where you hit the animal with these bullets. Sometimes it's tiny hole in, and tiny hole out. Other times the same bullet will lay the animal wide open. I guess it depends on what you hit. I prefer the 55gr. PSPs.
Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal
 
I used the 53 gr seirra match for several years before the bt's came out. I loaded it down to about 3300 in the 22-250 and generally had exits the size of a quarter on broadsides and no exits on frontal or quartering away shots. Broadside lung hits very seldom put them down quickly.
I am having very good luck with the 55nbt in 223 at 3200 fps. seldom exits. At 3700 in the 22-250 exits are on the large side.
 
I hit a coyote today with one . 250 yds out and broadside . I hit him farther back and it exited with a 3 inch hole. I'm not convinced these are all that great.
 
Sierras and handloads aside, if you are interested in saving pelts it is very hard to beat White-box Winchester factory loads.These are those el-cheapos that Walmart sells in 40 boxes. This is a 45 grain HP at around 4000 fps.Exits are very rare. All this is assuming that your rifle will shoot them; mine won't. A buddy has killed literally hundreds of coyotes with those Winchesters,and a local fur buyer is telling everyone to talk to him, and use whatever he is using.I've watched him shoot yotes with these things, and doubt that a coyote could die any faster, with good hits of course.
Dogleg
 
Dogleg,

The problem with them and any quick blowup bullet is that if you hit a shoulder, they will make a mess of the fur. That is not too big a deal since they will usually run off not to be found. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif The quick blowup bullets don't work very well at bad angles either because they lack penetration. The quick blowups work great on perfect broadsides or perfect frontal shoots.

Every bullet is a compromise and none work well for all conditions. For that matter none of them work for fringe shots. Fringe shots will always ruin fur and result in long distant runners that are rarely recovered.

Jack
 
I've been considering using the 60 grain Nosler Partitions out of my 22-250 Ackley Improved. I've used the 85's out of my .243 with very good success. They always exit, but usually only leave a quarter size hole. The only problem has been that accuracy has been less than great, almost never under 1" groups. Also would consider using the all copper Barnes X bullets. I've heard that the X bullet is very accurate. Anyone out there that has any experiance with them?
 
I only shoot prairie dogs, so my answer might not be what you want to hear. These bullets will make a pd pop very loud, and scatter them all over the place. You don't have to see the hit to know you scored. Good bullet for that use in my book.
 
Thanks for all the great replies. I'm new to handloading and relatively new to coyote hunting so all the advice helps. Now if I can only get the weather and work nsync so I can get out hunting on a decent day for a change I'll try those Sierra's out. ryan
 
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