6.5 130 TMK terminal report

[JakeM51]

Just saw this on Midway...checked Sierra's website and they still only show 130 as the heaviest. Anyone heard of these/tried them? View attachment 238554

Law Enforcement has had great results with those in .30 cal.
Much better than the regular SMK, and they shoot just as good in the federal ammo as the FGMM 168gr SMK.

 

[woods89]

My thoughts on this have evolved a bit over time. I'm pretty happy with the 130s in 6.5, and I think I'd rather just see consistent production of them. If they are going heavier I'd rather see it in the 145-150 gr range.

 

[Mike Islander]

Law Enforcement has had great results with those in .30 cal.
Much better than the regular SMK, and they shoot just as good in the federal ammo as the FGMM 168gr SMK.

Anyone know if the 77 grain .223 version is the same bullet as the "hunting" TMK? I grabbed a few boxes of both but haven't been home to pull, split, and polish a bullet from each to compare.

VVisually the only difference is the color of the tip.

 

[BjornF16]

Anyone know if the 77 grain .223 version is the same bullet as the "hunting" TMK? I grabbed a few boxes of both but haven't been home to pull, split, and polish a bullet from each to compare.

VVisually the only difference is the color of the tip.

Same.

I bought the 140's for my 6.5 CM

 

[JakeM51]

Anyone know if the 77 grain .223 version is the same bullet as the "hunting" TMK? I grabbed a few boxes of both but haven't been home to pull, split, and polish a bullet from each to compare.

VVisually the only difference is the color of the tip.

I don't know.
I do know that what LEO is using isn't a regular TMK, it has a blue tip not a green one, and it performs better on soft targets, at least in .30 cal.

 

[HandgunHTR]

I just picked up 500 of the 6.5mm 140 grain TGKs.

I plan to section one to see how the jacket tapers. If it ends up being a bit too thick, I will use them for practice bullets and continue to use the 139 grain Secnars. If they look good I will shoot a few critters with my 260 or 6.5 Creed to gauge terminal performance.

 

[Unckebob]

I just picked up 500 of the 6.5mm 140 grain TGKs.

I plan to section one to see how the jacket tapers. If it ends up being a bit too thick, I will use them for practice bullets and continue to use the 139 grain Secnars. If they look good I will shoot a few critters with my 260 or 6.5 Creed to gauge terminal performance.

I have a sample of 1, but I took a doe with a 140g TGK in 6.5. Deer DRT. It passed through so I could not recover it. Quarter sized exit wound with a lot of damage inside the deer.

I would load some more, but I am out of them.

 

[Formidilosus]

I just picked up 500 of the 6.5mm 140 grain TGKs.

I plan to section one to see how the jacket tapers. If it ends up being a bit too thick, I will use them for practice bullets and continue to use the 139 grain Secnars. If they look good I will shoot a few critters with my 260 or 6.5 Creed to gauge terminal performance.

Tipped Game Kings create relatively narrow, deep wounds. They are a “harder” bullet closer in performance to a standard mono such as Barnes TTSX’s, than the Tipped Matchkings.

 

[Formidilosus]

I don't know.
I do know that what LEO is using isn't a regular TMK, it has a blue tip not a green one, and it performs better on soft targets, at least in .30 cal.

What makes you believe the Federal Loaded TMK is terminally different than regular TMK’s?

 

[HandgunHTR]

Tipped Game Kings create relatively narrow, deep wounds. They are a “harder” bullet closer in performance to a standard mono such as Barnes TTSX’s, than the Tipped Matchkings.

Good to know. That isn't necessarily a bad thing for me as I can use them to take meat animals where less damage is preferable. The scenars put a whollop on the animals but they do mess up some meat.

 

[eoperator]

I just picked up 500 of the 6.5mm 140 grain TGKs.

I plan to section one to see how the jacket tapers. If it ends up being a bit too thick, I will use them for practice bullets and continue to use the 139 grain Secnars. If they look good I will shoot a few critters with my 260 or 6.5 Creed to gauge terminal performance.

I had good luck with the 6mm 100g tgk 6cm this year took 3wt with them 2drt and 1 made it 15yrds before expiring 150-300yrds. Terminal results similar to accubond with smaller entry and 1.5" exit. YouTube balistic gel tests show they need 22-2300fps for proper expansion so they will not be the best long range bullet. I think they will be my preferred bullet for those hunts where shots past 400yrds are not likely.

 

[JakeM51]

What makes you believe the Federal Loaded TMK is terminally different than regular TMK’s?

It depends on what you mean by that.
I'm not saying that federal has anything to do with it, I'm saying that I was told by LEO that tested the green tip TMK and the blue tip TMK said there was a difference between the green tipped one and the blue tipped one.
It was the performance on tissue and barriers, and the ogive design that is different and allows it to shoot across lots of rifles in factory ammo a bit easier than the green TMK.
You probably wouldn't see to much of a difference shooting animals between the green tip and the blue one, but the jacket was tweaked.
This is only in .30 cal as far as I know at the moment. T308T

 

[Formidilosus]

It depends on what you mean by that.
I'm not saying that federal has anything to do with it, I'm saying that I was told by LEO that tested the green tip TMK and the blue tip TMK said there was a difference between the green tipped one and the blue tipped one.
It was the performance on tissue and barriers, and the ogive design that is different and allows it to shoot across lots of rifles in factory ammo a bit easier than the green TMK.
You probably wouldn't see to much of a difference shooting animals between the green tip and the blue one, but the jacket was tweaked.
This is only in .30 cal as far as I know at the moment. T308T

Thank you.

Terminally the green and blue tipped TMK’s are identical. The bullet shape on the 308 Federal TMK is slightly different to more mimic the 168gr SMK’s- however, terminally they perform identically through barriers and open air.

 

[Mtnmilsurp]

Has anyone got 130 TMKs to shoot in a 9 twist barrel?

 

[Nomosendero]

I'm rolling my own. Lapua brass, CCI BR-4, Varget. About 2830 fps.

I just ordered some from Midway for my 6.6 PRC. I suspect they will be running 3150 or so. Might be a little messy, we shall see!

 

[MT-nuffgun]

I just ordered some from Midway for my 6.6 PRC. I suspect they will be running 3150 or so. Might be a little messy, we shall see!

Well, how did they perform out of the prc?

 

[Nomosendero]

I won't know until next year, using 124 Hammers already loaded. I ran out of time to reload this fall.

 

[Nmaybe13]

Tipped Game Kings create relatively narrow, deep wounds. They are a “harder” bullet closer in performance to a standard mono such as Barnes TTSX’s, than the Tipped Matchkings.

I see a ton of mentions of the TMK, and I'm getting very interested in hunting with a "smaller caliber." I have quite a few boxes of 140gr SMK hpbt, am I losing a lot of terminal performance with a lack of a ballistic tip or would these be fairly similar?

 

[Formidilosus]

I see a ton of mentions of the TMK, and I'm getting very interested in hunting with a "smaller caliber." I have quite a few boxes of 140gr SMK hpbt, am I losing a lot of terminal performance with a lack of a ballistic tip or would these be fairly similar?

No, the SMK is not similar.

 

[Nmaybe13]

No, the SMK is not similar.

Fair enough. Just a completely different bullet construction? Would this move SMKs out of a bullet type you'd suggest then?

Really appreciate any advice!

Although I've now had to change plans entirely on the next rifle setup lol. The 7prc/most hot new caliber marketing really gets me.