Sierra Game King

HIGHLANDBEAGLES

HIGHLANDBEAGLES

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Hello all
I have mainly used Hornady bullets through out my 38 years of reloading. Having said that I am hoping to draw on the experience of others who have used the Sierra Game King bullets. My main focus is on 30 cal 180gr but will welcome any and all calibers and bullet weights. Sierra claims they are tough bullets and preform best when run hot ? I am particularly interested in weight retention and penetration when used on big game. I have a mix of different bullets to test in a 300 Win Mag and would like to throw in some 180gr Sierra's for comparison.
I thank everyone in advance for their comments.

Lloyd.
 
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In my experience, weight retention is not their thing. While they hold together better than a cheaper cup-and-core bullet (think Winchester Power Point), they are still subject to the same laws of physics. Back in the 1990's I settled on Hornady spire points as a better hunting bullet over the game kings. The Sierras consistently shot better, but the Hornady bullets shot well enough -- and I have yet to have a spire point come unglued in an animal. I have, however, retrieved a couple game king jackets that were missing their lead cores. That said, I certainly did not shoot enough game animals with the game king bullets to have a statistically valid opinion on this.
 
Neo said:
In my experience, weight retention is not their thing. While they hold together better than a cheaper cup-and-core bullet (think Winchester Power Point), they are still subject to the same laws of physics. Back in the 1990's I settled on Hornady spire points as a better hunting bullet over the game kings. The Sierras consistently shot better, but the Hornady bullets shot well enough -- and I have yet to have a spire point come unglued in an animal. I have, however, retrieved a couple game king jackets that were missing their lead cores. That said, I certainly did not shoot enough game animals with the game king bullets to have a statistically valid opinion on this.
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Neo said:
In my experience, weight retention is not their thing. While they hold together better than a cheaper cup-and-core bullet (think Winchester Power Point), they are still subject to the same laws of physics. Back in the 1990's I settled on Hornady spire points as a better hunting bullet over the game kings. The Sierras consistently shot better, but the Hornady bullets shot well enough -- and I have yet to have a spire point come unglued in an animal. I have, however, retrieved a couple game king jackets that were missing their lead cores. That said, I certainly did not shoot enough game animals with the game king bullets to have a statistically valid opinion on this.
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That’s a 140 grain game king out of a 6.5cm on a decent size whitetail doe
 

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I've used 140 gn in 6.5 swede and 6.5 Creedmoor to hunt whitetails. They have always been more than adequate - in one side out the other. The only time they didn't exit was when I put it through both shoulder blades at about 50 yards - then I found it under the hide on the off side.

If you keep MV under 2900 and aren't expecting it to go through a moose lengthwise, I think you will be ok - they are conventional bullets after all

While some of my rifles may like other bullets better, SGKs have never shot badly in any of my rifles
 
I have shot a good number of animals with Gamekings in 308. Whitetails, chammy , tahr, red stag, goats, pigs. Switched to Partition on moose though. I would not fancy Gamekings on large animals like bears, moose or bison. Nothing beats a true bonded bullet for these critters.
A Terminal Ascent or a Trophy bonded ( non copper) bullet would fit your bill.
 
I’ve only shot them out of a 30-06, mostly at around 250 yards, at whitetail. At that range around factory velocities they don't expand at all.
One single deer shot at around 50 yards and it did expand but never shattered, passed through and never recovered as it enlarged and blew out the off-side.
My personal experience doesn’t match most of what I’ve read online. I’d stick to using them on thicker game, or with a higher impact velocity (closer shots) on smaller “big” game such as whitetail.
 
Sierra Game King, Match Kings, original, or X are very accurate bullets.

They are "old school" cup and core design and should be loaded within those parameters.

Many folks today do not realize "why" cartridges such as the 300 Win Mag and 300 H&H, etc. were designed.

Quite simply, they were designed to push "heavy bullets" safely, at the same velocities lighter bullets were pushed in "standard" cartridges.

In that era, powders were temperature sensitive and were mostly fast burning.

The idea was to get as much weight as possible into a bullet jacket that would still hold together as well as lighter bullets, at the same velocities or a bit more. NOT MUCH MORE.

The Sierra Game King bullets will do the job they were designed to do very well, as long as you don't push the performance envelope.

If you want to push the performance envelope, which is now more possible than ever before, with components made to withstand such performance, as well as achieve it, I would seriously suggest you purchase different bullets.

Go a bit lighter and use "monolithic" bullets, such as Hornady GMX, Barnes TTSX, or TSX, Nosler Partitions, or similar "H" mantle type bullets.

The monolithic types may be lighter, but they perform very well on game animals, as they are very long for weight, penetrate deeply, expand well, while still retaining most of their original weight.

The new tech bullets may be a bit more expensive, but when compared to the cost of the hunt, still a bargain.
 
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I loaded 165 grain ..30 Game kings for lots of friends for years and they killed over 100 animals with them. None had an issue flattening animals with them until they were talking with others and worried about what the bullet looked like and weight retention on the internet!
I used them extensively in my various 6.5 wildcats with great results even at extreme distances ..
Probably the most accurate game bullet I have ever shot .
Cat
 
bearhunter said:
Sierra Game King, Match Kings, original, or X are very accurate bullets.

They are "old school" cup and core design and should be loaded within those parameters.

Many folks today do not realize "why" cartridges such as the 300 Win Mag and 300 H&H, etc. were designed.

Quite simply, they were designed to push "heavy bullets" safely, at the same velocities lighter bullets were pushed in "standard" cartridges.

In that era, powders weren't temperature sensitive and were mostly fast burning.

The idea was to get as much weight as possible into a bullet jacket that would still hold together as well as lighter bullets, at the same velocities or a bit more. NOT MUCH MORE.

The Sierra Game King bullets will do the job they were designed to do very well, as long as you don't push the performance envelope.

If you want to push the performance envelope, which is now more possible than ever before, with components made to withstand such performance, as well as achieve it, I would seriously suggest you purchase different bullets.

Go a bit lighter and use "monolithic" bullets, such as Hornady GMX, Barnes TTSX, or TSX, Nosler Partitions, or similar "H" mantle type bullets.

The monolithic types may be lighter, but they perform very well on game animals, as they are very long for weight, penetrate deeply, expand well, while still retaining most of their original weight.

The new tech bullets may be a bit more expensive, but when compared to the cost of the hunt, still a bargain.
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In that era, powders weren't temperature sensitive ? You must of meant were ? and wrote weren't by mistake ? I agree with everything else you said.
 
I mainly use sierra gamekings. I always use heavy for caliber bullets and push them as fast as I can while maintaining accuracy. They drop animals with no problems, In 30 caliber I generally use 200 grain bullets, If I go lighter I usually skip over the 180 and go to the 165. It isnt uncommon to have a core separation, but when the animal is dead with one shot I dont see why it matters. The penetrate just fine. I have used them on everything from deer to Elk and Moose.
 
I was looking at 7mm Sierra Game Changer 165gr for my 7x57 thinking that the lower velocities will facilitate weight retention.

Anyone with thoughts on this?
 
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