my shop was out of 168GR SMK 30.cal bullets ( 168gr HPBT )    ( i use these in my M1 and M1A )

so i picked up 250 NOSLER 168Gr HPBTs

am i going to be as happy ( 1/2" groups ) with the noslers as i am the sierras ??

They are different. They may group the same, better, or worse depending on your gun.

It all depends on how your gun likes them. You can try different powders and/or charge weights if it doesn't like what you start out with. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. If it doesn't work out I doubt you would have a hard time getting rid of the remainder.

yea i know each gun has its own appetite. but im hoping someone here has had the same experience and has info to share

I tried them. They shot worse in my LTR.

Yeah that was YOUR experience!  


The Noslers Custom Competion bullets are a viable alternative to the SMK's.....I love the 69gr CC from Nosler.  And, it seems to me the USMC loves the 45cal 185gr CC for punching paper......in reality the 30cal 168gr SMK bullet was designed for shooting 300 Meter Matches....but it can get out to 1K if stays supersonic at 1K with decent accuracy.

There are better options than the 168 for 1000 yard use out of the .308.

Specifically the new Sierra Palma bullet, Lapua's 155 Scenar, Berger's Fullbore and VLD 155.

Yeah that was MY experience. Are we still in second grade? I thought we were adults.

918V you have your opinions, and I have mine I gotcha with the BHA deal!  And, HATECA gotcha about rifle builing etc.....

OK, to stay on topic here.....

I have shot 168 Nosler's with some success, but more attention to seating distance from the lands was necessary, my guess being that the J4 jackets are thinner.  The Nosler's weren't as tight grouping, but still showed quite acceptable accuracy.
I did fare better with their 80gr bullets in 223.

I've used both. When working up loads (.308) for a couple of rifles, (AR10 and Rem. 700VS) I started with SMKs, as they seem to be "the standard." I later tried the Noslers. In my rifles, the Nosler shot well, but not as well as the SMKs in either rifle. I tried 4895, 748, and 4064. I then decided it would have been cheaper to just stay with the SMKs, and not waste so much time and $$ to save a couple bucks on bullets.

Like I said, the Noslers shot well, they are good bullets, but I couldn't get quite the accuracy I had with the SMKs. That being said, now-a-days, if you can find bullets that work, grab em. I got them to sub MOA in my rifles. They should work fine.

By the way, I got Nosler 150 BT to go a hair over .5" in my AR10 @100 yds using a moderate charge of 4064 while working up a load for whitetails.

Back on subject,

The Nosler 77 gr. hpbts shoot very close to what the Sierras do in my 26" varmint barrel.
My advice: try them, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Nope!  Just stating facts!  Some people think they know every thing!  Truth usually prevails to squelch mistruths by some posters!  LOL!

What mistruths???

That Noslers are different than Sierrs? That they may shoot worse, better, or the same depending on your gun? Did you even read this thread???

Sir,, that's Post Toasties
'Borg