Sierra Bullets, world renown for producing some of the most accurate bullets that can be fired, has announced the addition of six new ballistically tipped MatchKing bullets to their wide offerings. Ballistic tipped, or polymer tipped, bullets are not a new concept, with the first versions arriving on the market over 30 years ago.  However, in the early years of availability standard metal tipped bullets were by far the most popular bullet selection.

The new Sierra ballistic tipped bullets are being marketed as “Six Tips to Better Accuracy”. Having some of the most accurate bullets available, that is a pretty bold statement. I’m sure many shooters will be testing that claim throughout 2015. Sierra has designated the bullets as TMK, for Tipped MatchKing, and the new ballistic tipped bullets add to the company’s .224 caliber (5.69mm) and .308 caliber (7.62mm) offerings:

New .224 Caliber Ballistic Tipped Bullets

1. 69gr TMK, with a B.C. of .375 (for 7-10 inch twist rate barrels)
2. 77gr TMK, with a B.C. of .420 (for 7-8 inch twist rate barrels)

The Sierra TMK 69gr .224 Caliber Bullet

Sierra TMK 77gr .224 Caliber Bullet.

New .308 Caliber Ballistic Tipped Bullets

1. 125gr TMK, with a B.C. of 343
2. 155gr TMK, with a B.C. of .519
3. 168gr TMK, with a B.C. of .535
4. 175gr TMK, with a B.C. of .545

The Sierra TMK 125gr. .308 Caliber Bullet.

The Sierra TMK 155gr .308 Caliber Bullet.

The Sierra TMK 168gr .308 Caliber Bullet.

The Sierra TMK 175gr .308 Caliber Bullet.

In the last 5-6 years more and more ballistic tipped bullets have started arriving on the shooting market. With new advancements in CCC manufacturing, and the constant pursuit of the ideal ogive curve, manufacturers began to see a simple way to improve both trajectory and terminal ballistics of some of their most popular bullet offerings, with the inclusion of a polymer tip. The polymer tip is sturdy enough to maintain shape during flight, but soft enough to assist with greater bullet expansion upon impact.

The Sierra 168gr .308 boat tail hollow point bullet has been considered by many in the military, law enforcement, and competition shooting world to be the standard when it comes to long range rifle precision bullets. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, along with the majority of American law enforcement snipers, still use this bullet in the form of the Federal Gold Medal Match series.

I have used ballistic tipped bullets in hunting and target shooting, and have found their accuracy to be outstanding and the terminal ballistics on whitetail deer to be amazing.