Has anyone used Sierra Match King 168 grain hollow points on animals? I know that it is supposed to be a real accurate bullet for targets, but is it a good load for deer?
I bought a box of them in a garage sale in 308 caliber. Any advice is appreciated. I was planning to load IMR 4895 as I have quite a bit of it.

The people at Sierra who manufacture them say that they should not be used for hunting. I strongly suggest you follow their advice. You will hear from lots of people that will tell you they are great for hunting but I think that you should listen to the people who are smart enough to design and manufacture them and not some so self styled expert who's managed to kill a couple deer with them.
There a dozen's of extremely accurate, fine bullets that are designed for hunting use them for hunting and the match-kings for practice. - I found that the 165gr ballistic tip will shoot to almost the exact same point of impact out to 500 meters as the 168 MK. Use the same load for both and use the ballistic tips for hunting and the MK's for practice........DJ

I completely agree with DJ.
Sierra, Speer, Nosler, Hornady, Lapua, Norma, Swift, and Barnes, for starters, all make excellent hunting bullets in the 165 - 168 grain weight range. All, or nearly all, of them will give you good groups and decent velocity with 4895. At the velocities you will be shooting you can get the job done without using a "Premium" type bullet (unless you want to, which is a great reason to use one).
JCN

Normally, I'd weigh in on the other side of this match, but in this particular case...

Most of the people I know that use Match Kings for hunting are shooting longer distances than most people here on _this_ particular board would advocate on game. At those distances, the extra accuracy and consistency of match bullets comes into play, and they reportedly don't have much in the way of problems w/ over/under expanding. These people put in the time and effort to prepare for success under those conditions. Ballistically, the 168gr match bullet is the weak sister in almost any manufacturer's lineup, falling behind both the 155 and 175gr match bullets in downrange ballistics.

For the other 99% of the hunting world (myself included)... controlled expansion bullets are probably a better idea given the odds of less than optimal shots, lack of control of the precise set of circumstances under which you will be engaging the animal, etc. Also, most modern hunting bullets are more than accurate enough for the task at hand for most hunters.

Monte

The people who have the most experience with Siera HPBT Match Kings on deer sized game are military snipers. Many of them are into serious numbers in the CK (confirmed Kills) column, just from activities in the last three years.
If you are serious about using these projectiles I recommend that you talk to one of these guys (or girls if you are in the EU or Israel). Don't ask them (obviously) about any classified data or mission specifics. Just ask them "Dude (Dudette), Geneva convention aside, and purely from the standpoint of efficacy in acheiving quick kills, do you feel that HPBT match bullets or well constructed hunting bullets designed to expand would be more effective on 100-300# bipeds/quadripeds?"
Various sniper associations have annual, or biennial meetings. You could also post the question (in carefully worded form) on Snipercountry, or one of the other sniper forums.
This is an unpleasant topic for a lot of people, but that is where the experience is concentrated.
JCN

Back in my youth I had a 30-06 that just loved the 180 gr match king. Just LOVED it! 3" groups at 400 yards sort of thing. Anyway, since I was (and still am) a firm believer in hitting where you aim and using a combo you believe in, I shot a lot of animals with that bullet. Never lost one, whether it be a deer or a groundhog.....



That said, I passed up quite a few shots because that bullet just disintegrates when it goes in. You hit them in the lungs they'll drop like a sack of potatos, but I was never too certain what would happen if I hit one in the hams. So quartering away shots were out. If you see enough game where you don't have to shoot one even if it sees you first, and don't care how big the horns are on the animal running away from you, then the MK works good as any others.



I don't use them any more nowadays, I've found other bullets that are just as accurate and made for hunting.



However, even if I did hunt with them nowadays, there are 2 scenarios that I'd never, ever use them on-



Hunting anything larger than deer



Hunting when in unfamiliar terrain or when I am pressed for time. They will work for maybe 80% of the angles but not on the other 20% so if it is important that you NEED to take a shot when you see something they are definately not for you.



However, if they shoot well in your 308 and you are comfortable enough to aim for the heart/lung area (the neck is a good place too)and disciplined enough to pass up most anything tricky, then by all means try them if you so desire.

Please, do yourself a favor and do a search for "matchkings", and you will run across a VEEEERRRRY LOOOOOONG thread called something like "matchkings: not a hunting bullet" (yes, that is the title of the article) started a few years ago (do your search so it will go back a few years). I am a fence sitter on this topic since I have not used them on game (but I will try the 200 SMKs for 400 yard shots and more in open country on elk in my 300WM), but there are some conclusions that I have drawn from my extensive reading. You are MUCH better off going with the HPBT gameking that I believe is 168 grains (someone correct me if I'm wrong and it is 165 grains). SOOOOOO many people swear by this bullet for accuracy and reliable expansion. Also, most of the tried and true experienced hunters who use matchkings for hunting use the LONG bullets for hunting such as the 200 or 220 grain matchkings in the 30 caliber rifles (for example)for, of course the BC, but also, and most importantly, the sectional density. I have only talked to one guy that did not get good expansion from a matchking, and I have talked to a lot of users and have read more than I care to ever read again on the subject. You need the extra sectional density because matchking jackets are thinner and when that bullet expands, you need more material to make sure it passes through. That said, the guys who use the bigger matchkings absolutely swear by them and state they drop the game fast due to their fragmentation (yes fragmentation). Fragment they most likely will as well as mushroom. Is that bad? Well, you may loose some meat but you are dead certain to kill the animal humainly with the fragmentation. Again, out of all I have read, I only know one person who did not have one fragment and mushroom on the animal (pass through with a small hole), but in that case, the bullet still did a lot of internal damage (either because the bullet did indeed fragment or the bullet travelled sideways). Now, there is one guy I know that used the 168 grain SMKs on deer, and he said there is one time the bullet expanded too fast and barely reached the lungs, but again, the sectional density was way low. You really should use the big heavy stuff (again, like the 200 or 220 grain SMKs for the 30 calibers) if you're going to use them. Steve, who has had only great luck with them (correct me if I'm wrong Steve) uses the longer SMKs with the higher sectional densities for the rifles he uses them in. Go to www.longrangehunting.com and they will state something along these lines if you bring it up.



That said, better off going with the HPBT GAMEKING. It is an extremely accurate hunting bullet which will expand reliabley. I am not trying to persuade you to use the SMKs. You are better off going with something that will expand reliabley. In my 300WM, the 200 grain matchkings are for the very long shots on elk on wintering grounds in very open country. The 200 grain GAMEKINGS are for standard elk hunts. I use plain jane hornady interlocks in my other rifles as well as partitions.