Black Hills tipped SMK's 77 and 175

[Onyx Z]

The pics in that review show that they don't have too much crimp on the round. It would be feasible to pull these down. The idea of paying over a buck per round to do this is a little repulsive however.

The few rounds of Mk262 I have doesn't appear to have much of a crimp on them either. I pulled one down a while back for shyts and giggles. It had ~26.5gr of ball powder (puke) in it.

I ordered a box of the TMK's. I'll see about posting some pics, reviewing, etc.

[markm]

I ordered a box of the TMK's. I'll see about posting some pics, reviewing, etc.

Cool. It'll be nice to get an objective (non-fanboy) review.

[bowietx]

I am interested in the results as well. The test referenced above does not seem to indicate that there is an improvement over the OTM, but perhaps a custom load will deliver better accuracy.

[markm]

I am interested in the results as well. The test referenced above does not seem to indicate that there is an improvement over the OTM, but perhaps a custom load will deliver better accuracy.

The improvement, would be on long range shooting. With a Higher BC bullet, it should shoot a little flatter and buck the wind a little better. There's not much room for accuracy improvement on the 77 gr SMK.

[Sierraeight]

All,
My name is Jeff Hoffman. My wife and I own Black Hills Ammunition. I have something to get off my chest. This site has a great deal of knowledge on it, however I note that there is also a distinct tendency to negativity for the sake of self-aggrandizement, rather than a desire to spread information and solve problems. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but if the goal in berating vendors as universally greedy and incompetent oafs who scum up your pond is simply to make the poster feel good about himself, I think you need to reevaluate whom it is that requires fan boys.
Kristi and I have invested over 30 years of our lives into the goal of producing the best ammunition value possible. We have developed over 10 different NSNs for the US military. I mention that as one example of something that is not possible to do without innovation, quality and attention to detail. Our attitude is to make ammunition as good as it can be, and treat everyone fairly. This includes customers, vendors and even competitors. We guarantee customer satisfaction. If a customer even buys a case of ammunition and decides for any reason he doesn’t like it, we take it back and refund his money. If a customer (anyone with Black Hills Ammunition, whether he bought it from us or even from a dealer 20 years ago) has a concern or needs advice we take the time to assist him any way we can. (And yes, we have on several occasions, replaced ammunition purchased over 20 years ago.)
I mostly just watch, but am ready if someone actually has a question or a concern. If someone is just bitching, with no goal of solving anything, you probably aren’t going to hear anything from me. If my position stated here is offensive to the members of this forum, I will excuse myself and you won’t hear squat from me here again. Thanks for the opportunity offered to me so far to participate in your forum. Jeff Hoffman, Black Hills Ammunition.

[Digital_Damage]

All,
My name is Jeff Hoffman. My wife and I own Black Hills Ammunition. I have something to get off my chest. This site has a great deal of knowledge on it, however I note that there is also a distinct tendency to negativity for the sake of self-aggrandizement, rather than a desire to spread information and solve problems. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but if the goal in berating vendors as universally greedy and incompetent oafs who scum up your pond is simply to make the poster feel good about himself, I think you need to reevaluate whom it is that requires fan boys.
Kristi and I have invested over 30 years of our lives into the goal of producing the best ammunition value possible. We have developed over 10 different NSNs for the US military. I mention that as one example of something that is not possible to do without innovation, quality and attention to detail. Our attitude is to make ammunition as good as it can be, and treat everyone fairly. This includes customers, vendors and even competitors. We guarantee customer satisfaction. If a customer even buys a case of ammunition and decides for any reason he doesn’t like it, we take it back and refund his money. If a customer (anyone with Black Hills Ammunition, whether he bought it from us or even from a dealer 20 years ago) has a concern or needs advice we take the time to assist him any way we can. (And yes, we have on several occasions, replaced ammunition purchased over 20 years ago.)
I mostly just watch, but am ready if someone actually has a question or a concern. If someone is just bitching, with no goal of solving anything, you probably aren’t going to hear anything from me. If my position stated here is offensive to the members of this forum, I will excuse myself and you won’t hear squat from me here again. Thanks for the opportunity offered to me so far to participate in your forum. Jeff Hoffman, Black Hills Ammunition.

I must have missed something that warranted this response. I think most have responded to the announcement with genuine curiosity and optimistic expectations. My only gripe is I can't buy the bullets to reload

[markm]

I think we simply have a handful of handloaders who'd like to shoot this bullet in their/our own processes. Many of us do NOT want to burn ball powder in our barrels.

At no point do think Black Hills has ever made false claims or anything along those lines... And Black Hills ammo is clearly better than most commonly available stuff.

All that said.... I've quantified all of my complaints with BH ammo over the years. I've measured everything I'm capable with the instrumentation I have, including: Weighing cases, measuring bullet runout, measuring case length, and general characteristics of brass cases used... primer pocket serviceability, etc.

I've found not one thing that I've measured to be acceptable for a "match"/Target load. I do keep in mind that mass producing ammo at the level I like is probably cost prohibitive. If it were easy or cost effective to do, none of us would handload.

[markm]

My only gripe is I can't buy the bullets to reload

I look at it no different than some of the bonded bullets that are in factory loads... The first thing that us control freaks will ask is.... "can I get the bullet component"?

[vicious_cb]

All,
My name is Jeff Hoffman. My wife and I own Black Hills Ammunition. I have something to get off my chest. This site has a great deal of knowledge on it, however I note that there is also a distinct tendency to negativity for the sake of self-aggrandizement, rather than a desire to spread information and solve problems. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but if the goal in berating vendors as universally greedy and incompetent oafs who scum up your pond is simply to make the poster feel good about himself, I think you need to reevaluate whom it is that requires fan boys.
Kristi and I have invested over 30 years of our lives into the goal of producing the best ammunition value possible. We have developed over 10 different NSNs for the US military. I mention that as one example of something that is not possible to do without innovation, quality and attention to detail. Our attitude is to make ammunition as good as it can be, and treat everyone fairly. This includes customers, vendors and even competitors. We guarantee customer satisfaction. If a customer even buys a case of ammunition and decides for any reason he doesn’t like it, we take it back and refund his money. If a customer (anyone with Black Hills Ammunition, whether he bought it from us or even from a dealer 20 years ago) has a concern or needs advice we take the time to assist him any way we can. (And yes, we have on several occasions, replaced ammunition purchased over 20 years ago.)
I mostly just watch, but am ready if someone actually has a question or a concern. If someone is just bitching, with no goal of solving anything, you probably aren’t going to hear anything from me. If my position stated here is offensive to the members of this forum, I will excuse myself and you won’t hear squat from me here again. Thanks for the opportunity offered to me so far to participate in your forum. Jeff Hoffman, Black Hills Ammunition.

Jeff there is only 1 guy in this thread that has a problem with your ammo, unfortunately he's also the loudest and generally hates everything. Posts like this are the reason I continue to purchase from your company. While I dont shoot at the ragged edge of the effective range of 5.56 the terminal ballistics of the bullet alone has me excited.

Ive been looking for a quality 5.56 pressured round that rivals the quality of hornady 5.56 TAP T2 as I do prefer the "OTM" type fragmenting rounds. Ive used your .223 75gr load in my self defense mags for years, and while hornady 5.56 TAP T2 fits my needs better their hate towards the civilian market alone makes me steer clear of them while you guys made mk262 available to the public. That alone will keep me as a loyal customer for years to come.

[markm]

Jeff there is only 1 guy in this thread that has a problem with your ammo, unfortunately he's also the loudest and generally hates everything. Posts like this are the reason I continue to purchase from your company.

I don't generally hate everything. And I don't have any issue with Black Hills the company since they make no false claims. The only time I'll go off on a company is when they outright lie or falsely fluff their product with fake user accounts.

I simply stated quantifiable facts about the ammo. I have ZERO emotional stake or personal contact with anyone related to Black Hills. I've made clear cut, factual measurements and posted NOTHING but facts. Black Hills ammo is certainly a premium to shooting Ball/XM type ammos. And not everyone requires the kind of ammo I like to shoot.

Where I get irritated is when you have people who know dog balls about good ammo blindly recommending products based on God knows what. If you chose to buy a product based on internut posts, so be it. That is absolutely your choice.