This issue has been hashed and rehashed many, MANY times here, but I guess not everybody reads all the threads, or chooses to learn from them. So here it is again, from me and everyone else, for better or worse.
Sierra GameKings are "soft" bullets, relative to many other kinds of bullets. Soft bullets are more frangible than hard bullets, and tend to penetrate less reliably as velocity increases or target hardness increases. If we shoot soft bullets, we need to either shoot them at lower velocity, or keep them in soft spots on the target to ensure sufficient penetration. The 7mm RM is not a low velocity round, so if we use soft bullets in it, we must place the bullets in softer spots on game. That means broadside ribcage shots. Bullets placed in the ribcage of a whitetail deer only have to penetrate about one inch to reach vital organs and kill the animal. IME, a 160gr Sierra GameKing will definitely penetrate the ribcage of a deer and kill it quickly. The high velocity of the 7mm RM and rapid bullet expansion will turn everything in the ribcage to mush. Mush can't breath air or pump blood, so the deer will die quickly. The bullet may or may not exit, but it doesn't matter because the killing damage is done.
OTOH, if you shoot a soft bullet at high velocity and place it in a hard spot, like a shoulder joint or at a severe raking angle, you risk not reaching the vitals due to insufficient penetration of the soft bullet and wounding an animal that may run for miles and be lost.
I recommend you take your 7 mag and Sierra bullets doe hunting. There are usually a lot of does and usually more shot opportunities and time to wait for a broadside shot than when hunting bucks. The does will die and you will reap copius venison.
