Quick note to one and all regarding the 168 SMK and 165 GK bullets; they DO NOT have the same ogive, and are not merely three grains different. The hunting bullets use substantially thicker jackets, and have a harder core material, along with a blunter (shorter) ogive. Seated to the same OAL, in many rifles you'll wind up with the hunting bullets jamming the rifling quite hard. This, combined with the harder core material and heavier jackets can (will) cause significant increases in pressure if loads are used interchangeably. Different bullets, different load work ups, and ultimately different loads.
I have to disagree 100% with this post, it does not stand up to fact. You state, "The hunting bullets use substantially thicker jackets, and have a harder core material". This is wrong. The Sierra Match King bullets are known for their very hard cores, as this helps with their world class accuracy, the soft core would be far better suited to a hunting bullet, as the bullet would expand more readily than a hard core. You've mixed up quite a few variables. Regarding jackets, thick or thin, isn't as important as the material or the concentricity of the jacket. The Match King bullets hold the highest tolerance for jacket concentricity, the "hardness" or the ease by which a jacket is engraved and then deformed is greatly dependent upon the type of material it is mfg. out of. Regardless, no matter how soft the jacket is, the core does the work, AP rounds are a good example-the jacket allows for normal firing, gas sealing etc, normal barrel wear etc.etc., but the core does the armor piercing. Match King Bullets have very hard cores, hunting bullets soft to very soft cores depending on type. In fact, the SMK's cores are so hard, the US has a legal ruling allowing them to be used in combat, even though they have an open tip (hollow point), as the hollow point is only there to aid in accuracy, and not expansion.
The following is from a memo, Commander U.S. Army Special Forces Command:
As previously described, the MatchKing is a boat tail, ogival spitzer tip
bullet with open tip. The "open tip" is a shallow aperture (approximately the
diameter of the wire in a standard size straight pin or paper clip) in the
nose of the bullet. While sometimes described as a "hollow point," this is a
mischaracterization in law of war terms. Generally a "hollow point" bullet is
thought of in terms of its ability to expand on impact with soft tissue.
Physical examination of the MatchKing "open tip" bullet reveals that its
opening is extremely small in comparison to the aperture in comparable hollow
point hunting bullets; for example, the 165-grain GameKing is a true hollow
point boat tail bullet with an aperture substantially greater than the
MatchKing, and skiving (serrations cut into the jacket) to insure expansion.
In the MatchKing, the open tip is closed as much as possible to provide better
aerodynamics, and contains no skiving. The lead core of the MatchKing bullet
is entirely covered by the bullet jacket. While the GameKing bullet is
designed to bring the ballistic advantages of a match bullet to long range
hunting, the manufacturer expressly recommends against the use of the
MatchKing for hunting game of any size because it does not have the expansion
characteristics of a hunting bullet.
Some of the custom bullets, such a Berger, have a heavier jacket than their standard VLD's, but both their match and hunting bullets tend to fragment upon entry into a game animal, or jell block, but this is, in no way, similar to a MatchKing vs Game King.
