Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles 77 grain SMK vs Hornady 75 BTHP?

Considering buying some of these should they ever get back in stock, and wondered how accurate each might be along with which might be a better bullet to shoot pigs with?

Id be looking at the TMK instead of either of those 2

The SMK has been more accurate out of the lot, (75 BTHP's and NCC's), and performs well enough. That said any of them will perform well enough on pigs.

I've not been that happy with the accuracy of the 73 grain TMK's but haven't tried real hard either. I should order some 80's to try in my 22-250AI but that's another deal.

Wouldn't some of the hunting bullets such as the 60gr NP work well too? I'm just saying this because some people get caught up with what the military is using. You have to remember that they are limited to what they can use due to the Hague Accords. Civilians can use whatever they want.

are the 77's fairly reliable on coyote's?

I haven't shot any coyotes with them but in my guns the 77SMKs were more accurate than the Hornady 68s.
Having said that, I won't be buying anymore 500 round boxes of the SMKs. The last box I bought was obviously a mix of at least 3 lots with bullet B to O varying by up to .030".

Yes they kill coyotes very well.

But I've also killed hogs with the 55 grain NBT's.

It's much easier to get the SMK's to shoot well.

Agreed. Since he mentioned pigs, I didn't think that long range accuracy was that important.

In the purest sense of accuracy, the 77 SMK's are really hard to beat, day in, day out.

Some people say the 77 TMK's don't shoot at well, but in cursory tests that I've done, there's not a lot of meaningful difference...........I'm not splitting hairs on a tenth of an inch.

And they generally get their accuracy are velocities higher than the sweet(est) spot for the Hornady's.

And I think the 69 gr TMK's are really accurate as well, they just don't carry the LR ballistics of the 77's but still damn good.

I don't think any game that those bullets are suitable for would know much difference in what bullet they got hit with.

MM

The only reason I mentioned the 77 TMK is because it penetrates so well. It passes the FBI penetration tests, where other bullets dont. Also formid says good things about them. I started using them and they are very accurate in all of my ar's.

How do those Sierras stabilize in 1-9's? I'm playing with JBM now and it looks like the MK will but always good to get people's experience.

I couldn't get the 75 grain Hornady HPBT to shoot real well in a pair of AR's. So I tried some of the 77 TMK's which have been real good in the past and they shot better. I'd try a 100 of both before you decide, just cause either is a great bullet, seen both the 75 Hornady and 77 TMK work on coyotes up to deer pretty well. The Hornady is a pile less expensive, but if it doesn't shoot, it doesn't do you any good.

Hornady 75 HPBT





77 TMK's

For me the 75gr HPBT doesn't do as well when pushed too fast. Try 23.5gr of Benchmark; that does about 2650-2680 fps in my 16" 223 Wylde barrel, and is more accurate than any of the 77gr SMK loads I found for the same barrel. With that said, the 69gr SMK was easy to find a good load for - a max charge (per Western Powders 6.0 5.56 load data) of XTerminator & seat to 2.255"; that one and the 65gr SGK shot consistently better than any of the 75/77gr stuff in that barrel, and considerably faster too. I did not have very good luck with the 69gr TMK, although I was hopeful. That's a 1:8 barrel, which is enough twist for all of the above, but the tipped bullets end up with so much jump to the lands that I think that's the problem.

I've never tried the 77 SMK but have shot many of the 69 MK and 69 TMK in ARs and a fast twist CZ bolt-action. I've also tried a few boxes of the Hdy. 68 & 75 Match bullets. Never could get the Hornadys to shoot quite as accurately as the 69 Sierras. Another that will shoot as accurately as the 69 MK (to 200 yards anyway, about as far as I'll ever shoot an AR ) is the Sierra 65 GK boat tail soft point, and it's a hunting bullet. I was hoping the Hornadys would shoot well as they are considerably cheaper than the Sierras. Best powder I've found for any of these bullets has been H4895, with TAC being a fairly close second.

Try Switching to a WSR primer..

Roger that. Will grab a brick the next time I see them. Thank you for the heads up.

I've always had slightly better accuracy with the Sierra 77's than the 75. But, the 75's still shoot good in my rifles and are a good bit cheaper, so that's usually what I keep mags filled with. 24gr of TAC and LC brass has never been a bad load for me.

If I were looking for a dedicated hunting bullet though, I'd probably go with the 77TMK.

Good intel WE. Thank you.

the 75's are a good bit cheaper, a lot of good information here.