This question might be more of preference than anything, but I'll ask anyway. Between two of the mass producers of bullets, Sierra and Hornady, which do you think produces a better bullet and why? Let's break it down into varmint and large game bullets.

I typically buy Sierra. No real scientific reason why, simply because they've done well for me and my reloading mentor (dad) always used them. What are your reasons?

Of all the handloaded bullets that I have shot over the last 50 years Sierra's must be 80% of the total. I always start a gun off with them as I want to elimate a variable. Most of my shooting is target shooting or group shooting anyway so Sierra's are the obvious choice there.

The bullet is the single most important thing about a rifle however and for certain applications a particular bullet would be better choice. In general for me it's shooting Sierra's in the summmer (all year long really) and Partitions in the fall.

If I had a wish for bullets it would be that a new company would start making "monolithic" bullets in the USA. I mean one of the big ones that have the know how and money to do it.

In their basic design I dont think theres really enough difference to bother with. However I have seen a recent published penetration test that made me think that the Hornadys must be made with tougher metal. It had the interlocks penetrating several inches past both sierras and Speer hot cores, they were only slightly less than a Speer grand slam. One other possible explanation for this is the spire point fluting which will make a smaller mushroom and hence less resistance. Also included were monolithics and partitions. If this was a credible test then, even though it was not done on animals, I find it hard to ignore those results.

Still, for what any of those bullets are suitable for they all do fine. The only other thing I would espress is that I believe that a standard boat tail will suffer core seperation much eaysier than a flat base.

Just about all my boxes are green and have "Sierra" printed on them. The exceptions are in calibers that Sierra does not manufacture, and handgun bullets.

Handgun bullets are split half-and-half between Hornady and Nosler.

Have had a lot of trouble with Hornady big game bullets, losing the jacket. Most of my traditional hunting bullets have been Speer and don't have the experiance with Sierra on big critters.

For Varmints; the fly-away bullet jacket is not a bad thing. This makes Hornady more viable.

But if I could only buy bullets from Sierra or Hornady...all my big game projectiles would be Sierra.

I've experenced it it the other way around.
Hornadys hold up MUCH better than Sierras.
Both make good bullets, but I've had Sierras come apart, even blow up, on small deer, while Hornadys hold togather and penatrate good on elk.
I think sierras are very good on varmits, but for anything over 50 lbs, I prefer Hornadys.

Depending on the intended use, I shoot either Sierra or Nosler.

I can't remember the last Hornady that I shot, and can't say that I miss using them either.

I guess I have to take an opposite stance here

Day in and day out, give me the Hornadys.

Sierra's shoot better groups, but Hornadys do a better job on game.

I have found them to be very much the same, both brake up easily when velocity get too high

Shame on you! Don't you know that starting this topic is likely to explode into a multi-page, emotional debate??? :-)

I think that Sierra, Hornady, and Speer all make very good bullets. I think Sierras are a bit more accurate, and that Hornady Interlocks and Speer HotCors tend to hang together a bit better, especially as compared with Sierra boat-tails, which have a reputation for easily breaking up.

Hornady has a slightly different geometry that tends to lead to shorter maximum COLs, and slightly less room for powder. However, they do make an Interlock boat-tail, if you like that combination.

I shoot all three brands, usually flat based, quite happily, for 99% of what I do. Given a choice, I'll often take the Speer HotCor as my first choice. My only exception is when I have an elk tag. Then I switch to Nosler Partitions. One box of 50 will probably last for my entire hunting career, and I think they give a useful advantage.

For match shooting? I find myself shooting Sierras. For Varmints? Seems like Sierra, Hornady & Nosler make great bullets. For Deer? Give me Remington Core Lokts or Speer HotCors or MagTips. I don't need fancy bullets for deer.
If I had the chance to hunt Elk or something larger than deer or if I shot a magnum, then I would probably look at Nosler Partitions or some other premium bullet.

You know, that's king of what i expected from that topic--a mixed bag for sure. In my experience every gun prefers something different.