Match Grade Accuracy: More Than a Clever Sales Pitch?

We have all seen the term “Match Grade” on boxes of ammunition, bullets, barrels, triggers and so on. Most of us assume this means it's the best of the best and used by “Match” shooters to compete at the highest level. In most cases this holds true but what makes one box of ammo match grade over the other stuff from the same manufacturer? Does the same apply to barrels, chambers and all the other components made with the match grade title? Is it really that much better and if so, why the extra cost?

Tolerances and Thresholds

Early rifle competitions or “matches” consisted of rifle shooters showing off their ability to shoot the smallest group at a given distance for titles and bragging rights. Most factory-available ammo at the time was not made to exacting standards compared to today's ammunition. Leaving shooters to handloading their own ammunition, using balance beams to make each charge identical and just flat out shooting the competition. This forced manufacturers to tighten up their standards and begin producing ammunition that could compete with handloaded ammunition. They accomplished this by using premium components with better tolerances (i.e. bullets and brass were sorted to be more consistent) and revamping their processes in quality control. During this time ammunition was being pressed out in WWII presses designed to spit out volumes of 5.56 and 7.62 ammunition for war. The factory ammunition manufacturers began tightening up tolerances in the machines and began increasing specifications for each cartridge to have more consistency from round to round. This operation was often labor intensive and included stricter quality control requiring a higher cost, hence the ammunition was labeled match grade to separate it from the rest of the ammunition on the shelf and warrant the higher price.

Over time factory ammunition continued to evolve and become more and more accurate and it's safe to say that even non-match-grade ammunition of today is far more consistent than yesteryear's best match grade ammunition. Match ammunition today, comes in a variety of names varying from manufacturer to manufacturer but the end result is the same. A higher quality control sorting the ammunition and a higher cost of premium materials in bullet design and propellant means a higher cost to the end user. This ammunition normally produces better accuracy down range, but does not guarantee better performance in every rifle.

Match Grade Chambers and Barrels

With ammunition quality control improving to make more consistent ammunition, another factor comes into play to ensure the ammunition performs as designed. When manufacturers begin developing a new match load, they use larger diameter proofing barrels to shoot the ammunition for accuracy testing. These barrels are stiff and very accurate allowing them to tune a load to their specifications for pressure, velocity and accuracy. The chambers of these barrels are precision cut by a carbide reamer to exact tolerances for a match chamber. The dimensions of a match chamber are tighter than most traditional reamers, having tighter tolerances keeps the brass expansion to a minimum and removes variability when the chamber is uniform in shape and finish.

Many factory rifles get their chamber cut in an assembly line where a reamer may cut 30-50 or more chambers before it gets sharpened. While they are all cut with the same reamer, the first chamber cut is the cleanest and usually the best as each chamber after gets cut with a duller and duller reamer. So the chamber gets rougher and less dimensionally sound compared to the first chamber. This is where many factory rifles tend to have the variability of shooting well or not. In recent processes, manufacturers are replacing reamers more often and keeping tighter specifications on the chambers and bore dimensions to ensure the best possible accuracy. Custom rifle makers use a reamer maybe 6-8 times before they send it back to be sharpened. This ensures they are getting the most accurate chamber specs based on the reamer design for the intended cartridge. This would be classified as a match-grade chamber due to the extra time spent ensuring the product is of the highest quality. The extra sharpening or replacing of reamers more frequently increases the cost of the chamber work and ultimately the price of the rifle but yields a superior product.

Barrels are no different and require the extra attention in the bore drilling, reaming, cutting and lapping process required to make a quality barrel. Early match grade barrels were barrels pulled off the line and hand lapped and inspected by a person to ensure they were to specification. Today most quality barrel manufacturers such as PROOF Research, Kreiger, Bartlein and Benchmark all have different processes unique to each manufacturer and produce great barrels that qualify as match grade but 95% of the process is all done by machines capable of holding better tolerances than a person running a manual machine or hand lapping the barrel. These barrels when cut with a proper chamber shoot incredibly well with a variety of ammunition as the barrel and chamber are cut properly and void of errors.

Match Grade Hunting

While shooting match ammunition on steel can be a lot of fun, proceed cautiously when trying to transition your rifle's favorite Match ammunition as a hunting round. Many long-range shooters have begun using this ammunition for hunting with various results depending on the cartridge and application. The thin jackets found on most match bullets lead to over-expansion of the projectile upon contacting an animal. For thin-skinned, smaller-sized game animals these bullets can have great results in terminal performance and give quick, clean kills. Match bullets tend to expand better at lower impact velocity, lending themselves to better performance compared to traditional hunting bullets at distances beyond 600 yards. While this may sound great, the reality is performance can be unreliable on match bullets, especially ones with a hole point tip. These bullets can “pencil” or punch a hole through an animal at distance when muzzle velocity reaches lower speeds and the tip clogs with tissue. I have personally seen several very popular match bullets fail to expand and wound game, cleanly shot through the lungs at 400-600 yards with magnum cartridges.

Bullet Construction and Jacket-Wall Thickness

When using match bullets for hunting be cautious of taking shots inside 200 yards and avoid aiming for the shoulder as the heavy bone, even on a deer can lead to over-expansion of the bullet. This over-expansion can lead to the bullet failing to enter the chest cavity and entering the lungs at all depending on the angle and size of the animal. Proceed cautiously with using these bullets and know exactly what distance the bullet drops below 2,000fps for impact velocity. Keeping your bullet impact speed above this speed will ensure reliable expansion on most bullets regardless of them being a match bullet for hunting bullets by design. Utilizing a tipped, match bullet when possible will help ensure reliable expansion on game as the tip will drive back into the bullet at impact and initiate expansion. Hollow point match bullets do not peel back and mushroom like you imagine they do, most actually tumble and tear the bullet to pieces. This leads to really inconsistent performance on game.

When it comes to match-grade performance, you often get a product that is worth the added cost in performance down range. While many ammunition manufacturers offer Match ammo for target use, the same brand's hunting ammunition is also held to exact tolerances and goes through similar QC to ensure each round meets the standard. The biggest difference is the bullet loaded up front, one for supreme accuracy and the other one for optimum terminal performance on game. Both are capable of shooting small groups on paper, but ultimately it's up to you to find the right bullet for your intended application that shoots the best in your rifle.

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