Sierra Gamekings in General.

Shot two deer with them they did not do very much damage to the meat ,one shot top of the heart went 5o yards the other shot in the spine dropped on the spot.They shot about 1.12 inch at 100yds with my .270 win. they were the 150 gr.
 
Sierra Gameking..............the jekyl/hyde bullet? some guys have them blow apart, other guys say they dont


hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
 
There does appear to be a wide variation of the performance results on game, using the Sierra SBT and GameKing bullets. Using the 117gr in my 25-06 while admittedly I haven't used them on game yet, accuracy wise, they've been second to none.

Using the 180gr on Moose, Deer and Black Bear in my 30-06 and in reloading for my buddys, with one odd exception, they've mushroomed well and without too much loss in weight, have put the animals down. Using the 200gr in my 308NM, the same end result. With some lead fragmentation and excessive meat loss I've mentioned in previous posts, is the reason I'm switching to Barnes. Past experience using Nosler partitions, fragmentation and resulting meat loss was comparable.

Probably the greatest variation in performance I've come across is in the reloads I've made up for my sons 338WM. With hits in similar areas on a number of animals using the 250gr, one bullet 'seems' to punch a FMJ like wound channel right through. The next, on a decent sized Black Bear, through penetration, minimal if any and the wound channel looked like it was hit with SSG. :confused:

In one of my last orders of components from Henry Nierychlo on this site, my next reload gift to him will be a batch loaded with Barnes 225gr TSX.
 
todbartell said:
Sierra Gameking..............the jekyl/hyde bullet? some guys have them blow apart, other guys say they dont


hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
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I think there may be a bit of confusion between the GK, and the MK.

(remember the endless MK thread? at Accurate Reloading?)

The GK (GAME KING) is an excellent traditional hunting bullet, and I've taken moose with it. Count on good traditional cup/core bullet performance, great accuracy, and nothing more.

The MK, (MATCH KING) is a very frangible target bullet. Designed bottom up for accuracy, and breaks up easily.
It has been used effectively on deer sized game, but the results are inconsistent, at least with the lighter MK's. Tissue destruction can be massive, or non-existent. I rate it POOR as an edible game hunting bullet.
Better limited to 'yotes, and lighter game.
 
lonely_wolf said:
I tried the 165 GK SBT in my 308. They shot alright. Nothing amazing, but fine for hunting. I prefer the Hornady SST's. They are still pretty cheap, but I found them to be far more accurate and consistent. As with everything bullet/rifle related- You have to experiment and find what works best in your rifle.
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Yep.....what Wolf said. Been playing with the 165 GK's and Hornady SST's all summer in my Savage 99....the Hornady's win
 
I use game kings below 2500fps, pro-Hunters above. So if I want to really reach out, then the Pro-hunters. If under 200yds, then I use the gamekings.

EDIT: Sorry reversed them. (smacks head) Check data before yipping off. The gamekings for when I want to reach out. I load them hotter and they perform better over 400yds. Since they are below the 2500fps threshold by then, they don't break up.
 
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The last mule deer I shot was at about 40m with a 250gr 338 SGK leaving the barrel at just over 2700fps. I did more damage than I usually see with this bullet but a lot less than I've seen with other bullets at this range.
 
I shot a good sized black bear with a 338 Win mag and 215 gr game king, the bear collapsed on the spot and a cloud of dust rose. Mind you, that was a 35 yd shot with a 338 win mag, so i am sure most any bullet would have worked.

2007BlackBear.jpg
 
I think maybe a bit of info on the calibers of the bullets we are talking about would help.
I know from experience, that the 165gr 308, and the 250gr 338 GK bullets work very well on larger game, but it may be that the smaller bores are directed more towards varmint class.
I know Todd likes Yote hunting, is that where you are seeing the blow ups?
 
went to their site for a look
sierra said:
greengameking.gif
View ALL GameKing Bullets

GameKing® bullets are designed for hunting at long range, where their extra margin of performance can make the critical difference. GameKing® bullets feature a boat tail design to bring hunters the ballistic advantage of match bullets.
ramhead.gif

165SBT.jpg
The streamlined tapered base of the boat tail bullet greatly reduces drag, which results in higher retained velocity, greater striking energy, a flatter trajectory and less wind drift than comparable flat base bullets.
Click to expand...

Sierra said:
Bullets

Rifle

greenprohunter.gif
View ALL Pro-Hunter Bullets

The traditional, flat base design of the Pro-Hunter® has been skillfully blended with Sierra's world-famous accuracy. Our custom-tapered Pro-Hunter® jacket design helps assure maximum expansion, optimum weight retention and deep penetration for game-stopping, one-shot performance.
elk.gif
150SPT.jpg
150FN.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Looking at the cut away bullets, one can see that they are likely to have explosive results, in a high speed ie: varmint rifle, or close up shot situation.
Both, are traditional cup and core bullets.
That explosive performance is not a bad thing, if the shot is well placed. Bang flop is guaranteed, however, if it's not.....
 
My personal preference is the Hornady Interlock. You can see that it has a bit tougher construction.
Hornady said:
InterLock®

bullets-interlock-cutaway.jpg
Features:


  • Aerodynamic secant ogive delivers flat trajectories and great accuracy.
  • Tapered jacket for deep penetration and controlled expansion.
  • InterLock ring locks core and jacket together.
  • Lead alloy core is tough enough for any game.
Click to expand...
 
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todbartell said:
nope, 6.5mm 140gr BTSP @ 2600 fps. came apart on a broadside lung shot on a mulie @ 250 yards. impact 2200 fps? turned me off of them right there
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Makes you wonder if they aimed that bore size at varmints. Dumb move if they did. But then, the 6.5 isn't very popular south of the border.
I agree that the speed is slow enough it should not have come apart.
I'll be sticking with the Hornady.
 
I was shooting a variety of weights and brands to find what shot best from my Savage 12bvss in .223. Many disappointments but a squeezed 55 gr FMJ seemed the best so far. Bought them in bulk and just enjoyed the shooting.

At our local range near Winnipeg, I was shooting the norm and a fellow, Now one of my best friends, walked up and offered to let me try a trio of SMKs 69 gr. that he had. The three shots fired at a target 100 yards away touched each other and ended up a .187 inch group. I found some of these wonder bullets, developed a load for this gun and am so pleased at every outings results. they explode gophers and varmints, literally no movement after the hit. Paper results are astounding as it is difficult to tell how many have passed thru the hole.
 
Winnipeg Toymaker said:
I was shooting a variety of weights and brands to find what shot best from my Savage 12bvss in .223. Many disappointments but a squeezed 55 gr FMJ seemed the best so far. Bought them in bulk and just enjoyed the shooting.

At our local range near Winnipeg, I was shooting the norm and a fellow, Now one of my best friends, walked up and offered to let me try a trio of SMKs 69 gr. that he had. The three shots fired at a target 100 yards away touched each other and ended up a .187 inch group. I found some of these wonder bullets, developed a load for this gun and am so pleased at every outings results. they explode gophers and varmints, literally no movement after the hit. Paper results are astounding as it is difficult to tell how many have passed thru the hole.
Click to expand...
That seems to be typical of Match king performance.
Today, I took my wife to the range, and we were shooting SMK's out of her BLR. Very impressive groups for a BLR, running an inch or so.
But the Hornady's will be her deer hunt bullet, and the groups from them were not that much bigger.
 
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