OK guys, i was looking to order a box of Sierra Matchkings from Midway, but i see that they have nearly identical offerings. My question is, which one to go with? I am shooting them out of a 1:14" twist barrel (700VLS) in .22-250. Also, will these bullets suffice for groundhogs? Looking to wring every bit of accuracy out of my rifle.
Thanks
Simon

52s are boat tails, 53s are flat base. Try them both and see which shoots the best in your rifle. 52s work best in my rifle. They should work fine for groundhogs but not as explosive as some of the dedicated varmint bullets. ...ol blue

now that i look back, i see that the 52's are BT's....so far my rifle has liked BT's fairly good so i guess i'll order a pack of them. thanks blue, for clarifying it up!
ruck

I shoot the 53's out of almost any 22 caliber rifle I own. They are wonderfully accurate.

"In general", a flat base "should" be slightly more accurate than a boattail. You better have a good rifle to be able to tell the difference though...

RUCK, I shoot the 52 and 53MKs out of my VS in 223, and they give identical size groups out to 300yds., although the 52s hit a bit higher at 300 with the same load of 24.5grs. Benchmark, haven't shot them enough out of my son's 22-250 VSSF to give a fair evaluation, but the groups I've shot, they both shoot in the 1/2moa range. Jay

I use quite a few in both 52 and 53gr. For whatever reason the 52's shoot considerably better in my rifles. I had always been under the impression that flat base bullets were better at the shorter distances like 100yds., and the boat-tails excelled at longer ranges. That does not seem to be true. At 100yds. the Sierra boat-tails out perform the flat bases in my rifles in .222Rem. .222Rem. Mag. and .22-250Rem. I don't know why. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

I shoot the 53 out of my .22-250 and they are accurate, as everyone else above attests to. I have also shot them on gophers, prairie dogs, and rock chucks. On critters, they are unpredictable. One will act exactly as a FMJ and the next will explode and perform as a VMAX... for what it is worth...

The HPBT designed bullets tend to disintegrate on impact by virtue of their shape. The HPFB bullet should retain it's shape better than the HPBT design. Those special thin jacketed bullets like the Speer TNT bullet will explode on impact. The 52 or 53 grain bullet will have almost no noticable velocity difference in a cartridge like the 22-250 or 220 swift. Use the one that gives you the accuracy your after.

Since accuracy is your game, go to one of those fine benchrest HP bullets. They will do the job on small game and give you better accuracy at the same time. My most accurate hunting bullet in my 243 is the Watson 65 grain HP benchrest target bullet, I buy them by the thousand. It is hard to imagine the HP benchrest bullet would not group well in any rifle.

thanks guys, i believe i'm going to try out some 52's to start things off! thanks for all the help!
Simon