Just got off the phone with the tech from Sierra and he suggested the 75g HP for the .243 Winchester build that I am about to finish. It Remington 700 with a 1:8 twist Bartlein barrel that will be cut to 24". I wanted to move up a little bit from the 60g I was shooting in my .223 bolt gun. Does anyone have any experience with the 75g HP from Sierra? The tech said that with the increased RPM they should be explosive on coyotes. Any experience?
6mm Sierra Bullets
- Thread starter UncleDoc
- Start date
Dirty Hippie
New member
I have never killed a coyote with that bullet, but I have shot a couple hundred prairie dogs with it. It is a very accurate bullet, and is very explosive on that size critter. I imagine it would be a fine bullet for coyotes, but I wouldn't think it would be fur friendly. The 2 6mm bullets that I used for coyotes were the 95 SST, and my favorite the 87 Vmax.
The V-Max is also a consideration and Hornady says that those bullets will stay together with a 1:8 twist. Seems that the jacket thickness is the issue as they are somewhat thin on "varmint" bullets. The only pelts I keep are the ones from locations where the weather is a bit colder than here in North Carolina. Thanks for the info.....
Acronin
New member
Best coyote bullet in the 6mm is the 55gr blitz king, hands down. Drops them in their tracks and DOES NOT EXIT! The 85gr SMK's pil up coyotes too and shoots fantastic out of my .243's. If you want dead, the 75's should do the job. I don't have personal experience, but sierra makes a [beeep] fine bullet.
We shot a lot of coyotes with the sierra 75g hp out of our Rem 700's:
Case full of H4831, win primer
39.5g of IMR 4064-work up to that load
44.0-45g of H414 or 460, fed 210 primer, this is the load that I shot the most of
Seat the bullet to touch the lands if you can
Uncle Doc, did your gunsmith tell you how much leade is on the reamer he used?
Check this site also for loads reported by shooters:
http://centerfirecentral.com/MDB/Categor...bmit=Search+Now
The 70g and 80g Nosler ballistic tips would also be great coyote bullets for that 8Twist. The 8T will facilitate the jacket shredding a tad faster than slower twists, so I would want a tad tougher bullet than the 75g V max. The 87g V max should work very well, and R#19 with a win primer will get you some good velocity and accuracy. If you find that you have .105 freebore, this would be a good bullet for you to start off with, and so would the 75g Sierra due to it's shape.
Case full of H4831, win primer
39.5g of IMR 4064-work up to that load
44.0-45g of H414 or 460, fed 210 primer, this is the load that I shot the most of
Seat the bullet to touch the lands if you can
Uncle Doc, did your gunsmith tell you how much leade is on the reamer he used?
Check this site also for loads reported by shooters:
http://centerfirecentral.com/MDB/Categor...bmit=Search+Now
The 70g and 80g Nosler ballistic tips would also be great coyote bullets for that 8Twist. The 8T will facilitate the jacket shredding a tad faster than slower twists, so I would want a tad tougher bullet than the 75g V max. The 87g V max should work very well, and R#19 with a win primer will get you some good velocity and accuracy. If you find that you have .105 freebore, this would be a good bullet for you to start off with, and so would the 75g Sierra due to it's shape.
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Not sure about how much leade is on the reamer we are using but I will check. I have shot the 70g Nosler BT before on coyotes and results were quite acceptable. However, that was with a Remington factory barrel which I believe was a 9 twist. Loaded the H414 and 4064 and was very satisfied with both. I will verify the freebore and I appreciate your comment on the Sierra shape. Not like a Berger ice pick at all is it? Thanks a bunch to everyone who provided input.
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CalCoyote
Member
Reading through the posts on this thread arouses old and bitter feelings that I still haven't recovered from. Hornady used to make the 75g flat base hollow point. It had a higher BC that the Sierra 75g and was arguably the best coyote bullet ever made (at least in my opinion). It was very explosive like a Ballistic Tip but just a hair tougher and regularly shot sub MOA. I could load up 40g of IMR 4064 and it was pure magic in just about any 243. My Savage 243 had an average muzzle velocity of 3410 fps and my Tikka 243 was a touch slower but still very accurate. Hornady discontinued that bullet and I have never forgiven them and don't know if I ever will.
CalCoyote, I think that the jacket quality was hit and miss on the Hornady 75g HP. On a competitive hunt, we lost 3 coyotes with that bullet, penciled straight through. They would spin around and we could see the blood spot on them as they were running off. We shot 40-41g of IMR 4064, what ever the barrel liked. We were shocked in how the bullet would react differently from different lot#'s.
We then went to the Sierra 80g Single shot pistol bullet that is no longer made with 41g-41.5g of IMR 4064 with a fed 210 primer. Now shoot a 80g Sierra Blitz BT, same load. You will love the 80g Sierra Blitz if you try it, loudest PLOP sound of any bullet I have ever shot.
The 75g Sierra HP is an old school bullet, works very well with barrels with long leade. I would NOT consider a 75g Sierra a good hide saving bullet, not even close.
I am tempted to point up some of the Sierra 75's with the Whidden point up die to see how they expand with a HP like the old Hornady 75g HP.
We then went to the Sierra 80g Single shot pistol bullet that is no longer made with 41g-41.5g of IMR 4064 with a fed 210 primer. Now shoot a 80g Sierra Blitz BT, same load. You will love the 80g Sierra Blitz if you try it, loudest PLOP sound of any bullet I have ever shot.
The 75g Sierra HP is an old school bullet, works very well with barrels with long leade. I would NOT consider a 75g Sierra a good hide saving bullet, not even close.
I am tempted to point up some of the Sierra 75's with the Whidden point up die to see how they expand with a HP like the old Hornady 75g HP.
CalCoyote
Member
Ackley,
Wow. That is the first that I heard of this. I have read your posts on this forum for years and even exchanged a few PMs with you so I do NOT doubt what you are saying but it comes as a surprise. I have had such good luck with this bullet and known of others that did as well. I wonder if you just got a bad lot... The only real gripe that I had with the 75g Hornady was that it hit about 1.5 inches higher on the paper at 100 yards than my 90g bullets that I use for deer hunting which means I would have to re-adjust the elevation on my scope when I switched back and forth between them. But then again, I have the same issue with the 70 Nosler BT.
I caught some 85g Nosler Partitions on sale over SPS and bought a bunch of them. I realize these are a hunting bullet and not a varmint style but I am going to give them a try and see how the yotes like them.
Briar,
I called Hornady a couple of times asking them to reconsider and was told that my words would be passed to management. The first time I called, the tech I spoke with did not know that it had been discontinued. He was also a 243 coyote hunter and this was his favorite bullet. He put me on hold to confirm that the 75g FBHP was gone and when he came back on the phone he was VERY let down and told me that was his "go-to" bullet for predators. When I asked him for a suggestion for a replacement he sighed and sadly said, "there is none". Obviously, there are other bullets that will work great but that 75g will be missed. I only have about 50-60 left.
Wow. That is the first that I heard of this. I have read your posts on this forum for years and even exchanged a few PMs with you so I do NOT doubt what you are saying but it comes as a surprise. I have had such good luck with this bullet and known of others that did as well. I wonder if you just got a bad lot... The only real gripe that I had with the 75g Hornady was that it hit about 1.5 inches higher on the paper at 100 yards than my 90g bullets that I use for deer hunting which means I would have to re-adjust the elevation on my scope when I switched back and forth between them. But then again, I have the same issue with the 70 Nosler BT.
I caught some 85g Nosler Partitions on sale over SPS and bought a bunch of them. I realize these are a hunting bullet and not a varmint style but I am going to give them a try and see how the yotes like them.
Briar,
I called Hornady a couple of times asking them to reconsider and was told that my words would be passed to management. The first time I called, the tech I spoke with did not know that it had been discontinued. He was also a 243 coyote hunter and this was his favorite bullet. He put me on hold to confirm that the 75g FBHP was gone and when he came back on the phone he was VERY let down and told me that was his "go-to" bullet for predators. When I asked him for a suggestion for a replacement he sighed and sadly said, "there is none". Obviously, there are other bullets that will work great but that 75g will be missed. I only have about 50-60 left.
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CalCoyote, I also loved that bullet. I killed I don't know how many ground hogs- hogs and even deer with it. hogs and deer were head shots for the most part. It was unbelievable out of my encore... started loading varget. I may have a few left. If I remember when I get home tonight I'll look for them and see. I don't reload for that one anymore... yet. If I find them I will shoot(sorry for the pun) a PM to you.
CalCoyote, there are often lot to lot variations in bullet jackets or core hardness that is beyond the control of the company. The bad lot that I was using was between 1987-1990, and they had a very, very tiny HP. We were shooting them out of a custom 243 at 3600fps.
I do believe that you can switch to a 68g Berger and the 69g Berger to get about the same results as those great 75g Hornady's. I hope you will try at least one box of the 80g Sierra blitz, holy cow...what a bullet for coyotes. My load in several Remingtons is 41--41.5g of IM R4064 with a fed 210 in Win brass, this is a max load so work up to it.
I do believe that you can switch to a 68g Berger and the 69g Berger to get about the same results as those great 75g Hornady's. I hope you will try at least one box of the 80g Sierra blitz, holy cow...what a bullet for coyotes. My load in several Remingtons is 41--41.5g of IM R4064 with a fed 210 in Win brass, this is a max load so work up to it.
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yotehunter243
New member
I shot the 68 berger out of my 243wssm Dtech and it was deadly on dogs. IV considered goin back to it for my 6x6.8
I just picked up 3 boxes of the hornady 75 hp for $12.00 a box.
I was going to try working up a load for a 6x45 bolt gun I just finished. The gentleman I bought them from has 5 more boxes 2 sell. Now your stories have me debating that bullet. The sierra 75 hp shoots lights out in this gun so all is not lost
I was going to try working up a load for a 6x45 bolt gun I just finished. The gentleman I bought them from has 5 more boxes 2 sell. Now your stories have me debating that bullet. The sierra 75 hp shoots lights out in this gun so all is not lost