Sierra .224" 69gr HPBT for varmints

[TonyH]

I have little experience with pure target bullets, though I like the Hornady A-Max 52gr and plenty of people say it works just fine on varmints. But how about this Sierra? Does it just zip through, or is there any fragmentation?

Thanks, TonyH

[sir-slots-alot]

I have little experience with pure target bullets, though I like the Hornady A-Max 52gr and plenty of people say it works just fine on varmints. But how about this Sierra? Does it just zip through, or is there any fragmentation?

Thanks, TonyH

 

 

I have tried these bullets in my 223.

 

They tend to drill , rather than fragment on impact.

 

Alan

[Alycidon]

Sierra 1370 is a 63 ? grain soft point bullet that does a tidy effective job. Got a friend who shoots very long fox s who uses the 1360 (55gr) exclusively. He showed me a target shot at 600 yards that indicted significantly less drop than plastic tipped bullets, personally I would want to prove that one myself though.

 

A

[CliveWard]

Tony,

 

I've used these on a few bunnies when I ran out of my usual load one night. Instead of the usual 'bop' you get from the bullet setting up you get more of a 'fft' as it zips through. Bought a hundred PPU match on a whim, they weren't brilliant in my rifle, but good enough. Burnt them off at the field firing range yesterday.

 

I usually run the 36grn Varmnint Grenades at nigh on 3700 fps and 1/2MOA, happy days.

 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

Clive

[TonyH]

Sierra 1370 is a 63 ? grain soft point bullet that does a tidy effective job. Got a friend who shoots very long fox s who uses the 1360 (55gr) exclusively. He showed me a target shot at 600 yards that indicted significantly less drop than plastic tipped bullets, personally I would want to prove that one myself though.

 

A

Hello A - I'm puzzled by your friend's experience! I don't use Sierra myself but just checked their site, and while the #1360 (traditional softpoint spitzer) has a BC of .237, the BlitzKing polymer-tip of the same weight is listed as having a BC of .271.... Certainly, my own 20-year experience of using polymer tipped bullets by Nosler and Hornady has made me almost wholly reluctant to use any other kind of bullet. But in the heavier 60-80 gr range, there isn't a huge variety of bullets in .224" which is why I was curious about that Sierra HPBT target bullet. Thanks for your input.

Tony

[TonyH]

Tony,

 

I've used these on a few bunnies when I ran out of my usual load one night. Instead of the usual 'bop' you get from the bullet setting up you get more of a 'fft' as it zips through. Bought a hundred PPU match on a whim, they weren't brilliant in my rifle, but good enough. Burnt them off at the field firing range yesterday.

 

I usually run the 36grn Varmnint Grenades at nigh on 3700 fps and 1/2MOA, happy days.

Cheers

Clive

Thanks Clive, interesting and useful. What you report sounds entirely logical. I must admit, I've never shot rabbits with target bullets, except for the Lapua Super Club in my rimfire - and those are close-range head shots where bullet construction makes no difference. How do the rabbits react to the 69gr HPBT? I imagine there'd be sufficient knockdown power for a quick kill, albeit without the massive destruction caused by varmint bullets; but my main concern would be ricochet. I have never once observed any indication at all of polymer-tipped bullets ricocheting, since their design causes instant blow-up whatever they hit.

Varmint grenades? Some report great success but my initial trials did not give acceptable accuracy in .223, using ither N130 or N120, though the MV was spectacular, producing near 4000fps without even trying. Maybe I was pushing them too fast?

Tony

[CliveWard]

Hi Tony,

 

They just dropped. No evidence of riccochets but this was on a wet grass rising field so a decent angle into the backdrop.

 

I was worried about the VGs but bought some just to try. I found some good reports of N120 and also mention of overall length being a big factor.

 

My rifle is a 1-9 twist steyr tactical elite with a 17" barrel.

 

I dont have the load data to hand but IIRC its 24 grains of N120 with an overall length of 2.190 as per Barnes load data (for the length, not the propellant).

 

Hope that helps.

 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

Clive

[Alycidon]

Hello A - I'm puzzled by your friend's experience! I don't use Sierra myself but just checked their site, and while the #1360 (traditional softpoint spitzer) has a BC of .237, the BlitzKing polymer-tip of the same weight is listed as having a BC of .271.... Certainly, my own 20-year experience of using polymer tipped bullets by Nosler and Hornady has made me almost wholly reluctant to use any other kind of bullet. But in the heavier 60-80 gr range, there isn't a huge variety of bullets in .224" which is why I was curious about that Sierra HPBT target bullet. Thanks for your input.

Tony

 

 

I also am very dubious, the guy has been building and shooting centerfires at foxes for over 50 years and is a bit died in the wool in his ways. He limits himself to a fox season of harvest to xmas but in that time regularly kills foxes at 400 yards plus, the target he showed me indicted about an extra 3 inches of drop at 600 yards. My thougths are that he has got the groups the wrong way round.

 

Speaking of Sierra I found the 20 cal 39gr Blitzkings lovelly bullets, accurate, and pack a hell of a wallop.

 

A

[Alycidon]

Thanks Clive, interesting and useful. What you report sounds entirely logical. I must admit, I've never shot rabbits with target bullets, except for the Lapua Super Club in my rimfire - and those are close-range head shots where bullet construction makes no difference. How do the rabbits react to the 69gr HPBT? I imagine there'd be sufficient knockdown power for a quick kill, albeit without the massive destruction caused by varmint bullets; but my main concern would be ricochet. I have never once observed any indication at all of polymer-tipped bullets ricocheting, since their design causes instant blow-up whatever they hit.

Varmint grenades? Some report great success but my initial trials did not give acceptable accuracy in .223, using ither N130 or N120, though the MV was spectacular, producing near 4000fps without even trying. Maybe I was pushing them too fast?

Tony

 

 

Vermincinerator and I were trying to nail crows and pigeons at about 600 yards last Autumn and were getting occasional ricochets off drilled soil. I was using 6mm 68gr match bullets and Verm Berger .22 52s. Note I am not in the 500 yard club !!.

 

A

[ejg223]

52 gr Nos BTHP custom match work excellent on fox.

Even the 69gr Nos BTHP expand well on bunnies out of a 223.

Both very accurate and cheap.

edi

[sir-slots-alot]

"Nosler"and "Cheap" Dont often appear in the same sentence.

 

Excellent bullets , but pricey , at least in my neck of the woods

 

 

 

Alan

[ejg223]

I thought 15 - 16 Euro per 100 wasn't too bad.

...and they shot more accurate out of my rifles than 52gr a-max.

 

edi