Sierra, or Hornady

B

burris

New member
I have been reloading Nosler 70gr. B-Tip for my .243 and want a change so I was thinking about loading up either some Sierra or Hornady BTHP's. I was also considering shooting a heavier bullet, say 90gr.-110gr. My .243 is a 9 and 1/8 twist Rem. 700VLS. Will a heavier bullet work better, worse, or about the same as the 70gr. I have been reloading? One more question, which brand of hollow points do you favor Sierra or Hornady and why? Thanks. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
Sierra 85 grain BTHP GameKing. Accurate with excellent terminal performance on critters from coyote size to reasonable shots on deer/antelope class big game.
 
burris, need more info on what you wont the bullet to do. How far are you shooting? At paper or live game? And what size game.
 
Burris, I will restrict my answer to where I have had experience. I dont load light bullets in my 243. My 243 is a deer rifle for my boys and I have allways loaded partitions in it. cant answer about the lighter bullets. I can answer about the Sierra vs the Hornady. In MY experience I have allways had better accuracy with the sierra brand of bullets.
 
I will second the Sierra fan club. I do not have any experience with .243 but the Sierra's work better in all my stuff, and are renowned for there accuracy.

For game ----gameking/prohunter

For paper----matchking/gamking (they shoot just about as good)

Lots of guys are shooting critters with the matchking, but it is intended as a paper-cutting bullet. Once it hits the target... it's work is done. There is no afterthought or design for terminal performance.
 
I tell ya for the price and quality Sierra bullets are top shelf in my book.
I churned up to favorite recipies with the 70gr. Blitzking and the 85gr. Gameking. Thing is the poi difference is about 1" @ 100 yards, plus neither powder is extreme. So while still quite accurate I get a different poi when it's below say 30 degrees. I was thinking about trying some H-4895 but that burns faster then Varget and I'd have to start developing a new recipie all over again. Sounds like fun but seasons start to open up in October. Plus I don't know if the Gamekings would take to a faster powder. So when the temp is down, guess I'll just hit the range and check zero.
burris; what powder(s) are you working with? I haven't tried any Hornady bullets yet, but I do know some shooters that swear by the V-max. And in .243 they have one at 87gr.
 
Like another poster said, it depends on what you're doing. For paper punching, Sierra bullets are hard to beat. They're varmint bullets are also quite good (the 90 grain HP in .277 is a great bullet). However, I've had ho-hum experiences with them on bigger game. If you're planning on some mixed bag type stuff (paper, little game, coyotes) I heartily recommend the 75 grain V-max. You can get great velocity out of it, and in my experience it is very accurate and performs well on game up to coyotes. I've also heard great things about the 87 grain V-max. If bigger game is on the menu, I would recommend a more premium bullet like the Nosler Partition, Barnes TSX, etc.
 
I have had better accuracy and groups with Sierra 55gr Blitz and 55gr Blitzking. I am currently working up a load in 50gr Blitz. I was not able to get any good groups with the VMax bullets. But, these results are just with MY barrel. My dad swears by VMax bullets in his 243 and 22 hornet.
 
To answer a few questions, I am using the .243 for coyote, hogs, deer, cats, fox, and pretty much anything that comes to the call. It is my longer distance day hunting gun, because I mainly use my Bushy for night calling and close range calling. I have been using Varget with my Nosler loads, loaded pretty hot. I dont want to reload any V-Maxes, they are iffy on shoulder shots (expectually on hogs and deer). What gr. bullet will a 9 and 1/8 twist stabilize best?
 
What a great but tough question to answer...it's like asking if you like steak or lobster...I like both Sierra's and Hornady products...both perform very well and are well worth the money...I am a loyal Hornady user...their factory ammo is excellent and when I reload...I use Hornady for almost everything. I wouldn't use the Vmax on deer...try their SST line or the interbond bullets.
 
Quote:
I have been reloading Nosler 70gr. B-Tip for my .243 and want a change so I was thinking about loading up either some Sierra or Hornady BTHP's.

I haven't seen any difference in accuacy between the three mentioned. I also have used the Sierra Blitz Kings which is a B-tip and is just as accurate.

Quote:
I was also considering shooting a heavier bullet, say 90gr.-110gr. My .243 is a 9 and 1/8 twist Rem. 700VLS. Will a heavier bullet work better, worse, or about the same as the 70gr. I have been reloading? One more question, which brand of hollow points do you favor Sierra or Hornady and why? Thanks. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif

In my rifle the 70 grainers are more accurate then the heavier bullets but the 70 grainers aren't any good for deer size animals.

The Sierra 85gr HPBT vs the Hornady 87gr HPBT.

Shooting both bullets with a muzzle velocity of 3450 fps.

At 500 yds
BC: Sierra .282, Hornady .376
Energy: Sierra 642, Hornady 923.
Velocity: Sierra 1849, Hornady 2185.

The Sierra is slightly more accurate at 100 yards while the Hornady is considerably more accurate at 200 yards.

I have always considered the Sierras more accurate but lately Hornadys seem to be doing as good or better.
 
i like em both. have had very good luck with hornadys and shot a whole lot more of them than sierras. im not gonna knock any of them. i have so many different loads for different guns and they all work very well for the application. i wouldnt go from a ballistic tip to a hollowpoint. try a 65 vmax or a 75 vmax or a 70 blitzking in the 243. heavier shoot a 87 vmax or a 95 ballistic tip.
 
In my opinion they are the 2 best factory bullet makers today. I use lots of bullets from both. I am partial to Sierra for competition bullets because I and many others have won many matches with them. Sierra also makes many excellent hunting bullets.

That said; the terminal performace of the V-max is great, and more accurate in all my rifles than the Noslers.

Jack
 
You know, in my Savage 110 in .243Win. I use all three, Nosler 70gr Bal.Tip, Sierra 70gr. HPBT and Hornady 70gr. PSP and honestly don't see much if any difference between them so far as accuracy is concerned. It is however slightly different in my Remington VLS in 6mm Rem. which of course uses the same bullets. The Sierra 70gr. HPBT does a good bit better than the others, grouping in the low .3"s.
Evem this isn't conclusive as I've only been testing them for a few months. There are currently a lot of good bullets in .243. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal
 
I use Sierra and Hornady bullets in the light weights since all I shoot is prairie dogs. I haven't found one of them to be really better than the other, but then again, I am just killing pd's and not doing bullet test. I think they both work equally the same. As far as blowing up prairie dogs, they both make'em pop real loud!

My suggestion would be to buy some of each and load em up, and make your own decisions.
 
I think that using the same load for everything from cats to hogs and deer might be too much of a stretch for any bullet. Get one tough enough to hold together on an old boar, and it might not open up fast enough for the smaller cats and foxes.
Something like a partition or TSX might work, but they are pricey for general shooting. I've just started working with a .243 and in my Win. Featherweight, the Speer 70 gr. TNT and Barnse 85 gr. TSX are within an inch of each other at 200 yards with the loads I'm using. That should cover the spectrum pretty well in my rifle.
 
I believe your twist is fast enough to stabilize bullets from 70-105 grains. The most accurate 243 load I've ever come up with to date uses 100gr Sierra game kings. It shoots one hole groups if I'm up to it that day(which definitely isn't always). It will drop a deer right now. Like a dummy, I just sold the rifle and gave away the handloads to my buddy with it, to build a custom 6mm-06. I will be trying out 90gr Swift sciroccos in the new 6-06---2MG
 
fwiw,
I've found the Nosler Ballistic Tip to be the toughest of the polymer bullets followed Sierra's Blitzking, and Hornady's V-Max being the most frangible of all. Accuracy is typically superb with both the Ballistic Tip and the V-max with the Blitzking bringing up the rear in my rifles. That said I'd not hesitate to use a V-Max instead of a Ballistic Tip on most predators. Though I prefer the Ballistic Tip for Coyotes...

Regards, Matt.
 
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