Sierra Bullets for Hunting

dragoon7214

dragoon7214

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Does anyone use Sierra bullets for hunting? Out of all the major makers they really don't seem to offer anything with controlled expanison. The Gameking and Pro Hunter seem to be a pretty standard cup and core bullets. I used a .277 130 gr BTSP on a mule deer last year and it took three shots to drop it. They all hit where I was aiming , but at least one of them went to pieces on the hide, and one other only penetrated three to four inches into muscle.

I got a hold of some 7mm 170 grain round nose Pro Hunters, just wondering if these would be a good bullet for hunting.
 
shot 3 animals with 150gr Gamekings from a 270win at ranges from 60 to 270yrds. all preformed very poorly.

will not use gamekings again unless it is a slow for caliber loading.
 
I've used 50 gr HP TNT.s for gopher and coyote in .223.....great performance. Have also loaded 165gr sp in 30-06 and taken deer and moose....never a problem.....generally all one shot kills from ranges varying from 15M to 300+M.....
 
I use the 200 gr Gameking in my .300 Win Mag.I've shot a pile of moose and numerous elk,bears,goats,caribou and the likes and have been pleased with the performance.My two partners who shoot 7MM Rem Mags use the 175 grain bullet exclusively.Lots of record book animals and none of us have any reason to change.I've also used the 150 grain Gameking in my .270 for Black Bear hunting.Pleased with its performance as well.
Amphibious,
When you say that your bullets performed poorly,just what do you mean?
Dave
 
I have had no problems with Sierra bullets. I use them in my .300WSM, the .270WSM, the .243.
I have heard of other guys complain about the terminal ballistics of Sierra products before, but have yet to encounter any problems myself.

Can you tell us the range you were shooting at? I am very curious as to why the bullet would only penetrate 3-4 inches. I have the Sierra software, and they say that the bullet you used is intended for small and medium game out to 400yds, with excellent accuracy. I dont understand why the bullet would come apart on the hide of a mule deer.. hmmmm...
 
I use gamekings for my 270 have shot moose, deer and elk with know problems.150 grain is what i use.
 
I have handloaded and recommended Seirras for more years than I can remember.

I also know people who have had bad experiences withh them .
I have myself seen animals killed with Barnes X , the bullet usually prefered by thoose who are anti Game King, that had stupendous (technical term) meat damage.

Every year the guys I load for bring me back bullets that are were taken from animals with one shot kills, there are also a few that have stories about the animal "getting away" annd those " who made aq lousy shot".
I use them and like them.
I have also used almost every other brand of bullet out there, and have sent thousands of Alberta Wildcat bullets downrange for the last few years.

I am going to hhunt with them this year, after deciding that they are an excellant bullet.
And , when I say thousands, I mean that literally!
Cat
 
I have not shot anything BUT Sierra GameKing 160 grain Spitzer Boat Tails out of my Win M70 in 7mm Rem Mag for a decade at least. Since switching to the Sierras, all of my big game kills have been one shot kills except for one Whitetail. I gave him a coup de grace in the neck to finish him off, although it was not neccessary.
 
the sierras should be fine as long as you don't go light for calibre/high velocity. hornadys and speer conventioal all work within these rules.
 
Good thread!

I've been loading 220 gr. Prohunter round nose for my 30-06s recently and find them to be extremely accurate. I haven't shot anything with them yet, and I've been wondering what to expect....I admit to a bias for Nosler Partitions, but these Sierras shoot so well...
 
The range to last years mule deer was from 280 to a final shot at 320 yards (approximately). The shot was taken at a downward angle (I was on a cliff well above him). The three bullets impacted, one in the ribs, and passed through a lung, one on the top of his back in the muscle running parallel to the spine and made a very supreficial flesh wound (really just messed up his hair and gouged about a one inch divot out of his back), and one went in the same top loin about three inches further back near the diaphragm, and made a wound about three to four inches deep. I recovered this last bullet, and it had a core separation, the jacket was in several small pieces, and the largest chunk of lead was only about 35 grains, with lots of smaller peices in the wound. The load was 48.5 grains of IMR 4064, so not a really high velocity load, but very accurate (1/2 moa). I'm not saying Sierras aren't accurate, I find them to be the most accurate in several of my rifles, just not impressed with performance on animals.

The .284 170 grain Round Nose Pro-Hunters I found look like they should perform well, and since they are discontinued, I was wondering if I should stock up, or are they going to go to pieces too. I don't think I'd use a Game King again at a live animal, but the Pro-Hunters might be a little better. Any thoughts?
 
I shot my first deer with a 30-30 170 gr Sierra ProHunter, worked well.

the second time I used Sierra's on game, was 7 years later, a 6.5mm 140 gr. SBT. Poor weight retention and penetration to say the least. Wont probably be using them again.
​
 
I use 140gr GKs in my 264 Win Mag and 215gr in my 338 Lapua with great accuracy and they kill just fine. I've shot antelope to moose and everything in between(except elk) with them and for the money you can't go wrong.

I would recommend them to anyone.
 
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