Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Sierra... Why no premium bonded bullets?

My experience is similar, and I've seen MD and WT both show similar reactions to like shot placement and bullet performance.

Then again, I also saw a smallish WT buck take a 195gr Berger Hybrid broadside this last fall, absolutely smashing the vitals, the bullet retaining something like 30% of its original weight, recovered under the offside hide, and the deer still ran about 85-100 yards, or so. That's not supposed to happen. Weird things happen with critters, regardless of what bullet we shoot at them.

Speaking heart shots, I hit a fallow deer spiker a little low through the chest cavity with a 150g SST out of my 270 Win at 70 odd yards. Bullet hit the fore-leg bone before travelling through the chest.

It ran about 50y before falling down. It was still sitting upright looking at me when I head shot it to finish. I'm convinced it was the broken leg as much as anything that caused it to fall.

When dressing the animal the bottom of the chest was blown apart and the heart and lungs were OUTSIDE the deer and in a mess (ie shredded), yet it still ran that 50y and lived another 60 seconds until I got in position to head shoot it from around 40y.

This just goes to show that any bullet can produce strange results on occasion and shouldn't be judged by a single incident. But judge we will and sometimes the fewer facts the better.

I shot a small eight pointer on the shoulder (front shoulder) with a .375 260 grain Ballistic tip and the bullet didn't even make it into the chest cavity. Bone fragments did the deed.

At almost the exact same location I did a right left shot on a doe and a buck with a 25gr 17 Remington factory load the older ones that were bonded and both dropped on the spot.

So the .375 is not adequate for deer but the 17 Rem. is skookum?

Sierras are good just choose the right one.

Same with the early ballistic tips. I was in a tree stand and shooting downwards on a doe and tried to slip one in between the last ribs. Hit the spine instead and totally destroyed the back strap. You just don't know how badly this affects a Texan when you deprive them of their chicken fried back strap, made me swear off BT for a long time.

LOL, my first BT was my BILs 270, 130. Hit a doe in the head, and we picked up both pieces. Literally. Head here, laying on the ground and the rest of the deer.

I never bought a BT after that unless I was after varmints...

What do people expect from a bullet when you shoot a deer in the head?

I really have no trust in Sierra bullets in anything over 2,000 fps except for using a on prairie dogs and other varmints.
There bullets tend to be explosive.

I think you're being a little too cautious there.

Just my thought on the matter but I think it all depends on whether the heart has just pumped a load of fresh blood to the brain to is just getting ready to when struck by a bullet. If the brain has just received a fresh load of oxygenated blood and it send the signal to the body to run, run it will and how far is anyone's guess. However if the heart has just filled up with blood but has not yet pumped it and the bullets hits, the brain lacks the oxygen or whatever it needs to trigger off much of any kind of response, maybe a DRT to a very short wobbly walk and drop. I'm sure there are other factors involve including will to live but I do think that what I stated is a big part of the equation.
Paul B.

Eat up to the hole?

Good ol' "Sierra stalk"..............................

I've always liked the Sierra Gameking 85 GR. BTHP in my .243 for whitetails. Super accurate and kills the shyt out of them with never a problem. Interestingly, Nathan Foster recommends it as one of the most effective .243" bullets there is for medium game.

Does he "anneal" them?

I don't think so. I know I haven't.

NO I never implied the 215 was designed for the 338/06. But have killed a buutload of elk with it and Sierra confirmed the selection ...Your ex[erience is what?

My experience is what? None.

I have seen Sierra's used on elk plenty of times,but wouldn't consider using them myself. Elk hunts are too important. I couldn't be bothered with either Sierra bullets nor the 338/06 for elk hunting.

After seeing the results too many times I am reminded why I never use them on my elk hunts since there are FAR better bullets for the purpose. They suck.

You use what you want.

The things that shape our beliefs are interesting. The only deer I ever lost I lost to Nosler Ballistic Tip 165 fired from a 30-06. That deer literally sprayed blood all over surrounding vegetation as it ran off. We tracked it some 1/4 mile back into the woods and found where it had laid down. There was a pool of drying blood there. I shot another deer with a 115 BT 257 Roberts. That deer just walked around like it was confused for a moment then trotted and fell over perhaps 50 yards away. There was almost no blood at all. The bullet lodged under the far side hide. The lungs showed moderate damage. I am not a BT fan based on those two experiences. Plenty others have had near 100% DRT success with BTs.

I am a Partition man. I typically hunt thick stuff in fading light. I do my best to involve at least one of the shoulders. Based on my experience, that anchors them better than any other method. The Partition gives me the confidence to plow through a shoulder and take out vitals on the other side or to plow through vitals and take out a shoulder on the other side. Confidence counts. Should I ever have a trophy in my sights it'll be a Partition I launch at it.

I am like a lot of folks here. I have always considered Sierra to be an accuracy bullet first and a hunting bullet second. I have plenty of reason to trust Sierra accuracy. They have always served me well. I have never used a Sierra on larger game, and I never will. That decision based on zero experience. So many of us simply dance with the one we brung.

Sig-line material there.....

We trap hundreds of wild pigs. That gives the opportunity to shoot them from ten feet to 300 yards. We use 270's, 264 Win, 7 mags, 300 Win mags, 30 06's. We load 140 to 150 grain bullets. We have always used ballistic tips and partitions by Nosler. Ballistic tips will blow right through the shoulders of 200 lb pigs. Partitions will go through two or three. When bullets became hard to find we ended with a few boxes of Sierra GameKings. We tried them on pigs. They worked just as well. So since they are cheaper we have switched to Sierra. More bang for your buck. If a bullet will punch through a pig, it will go through a deer easy. I always used partitions or bear claws on Elk. We tried Bergers. If you shoot in the heart lung area he won't go far. If you hit in the shoot an animal in the shoulder it will not go through. I shot several that got back up and went right back to eating corn. I shoot big bucks in the shoulders. I don't like looking for them in the cactus and rattle snakes. I know I'm going to get flack for that, but I make hamburger out of all of it anyway.

Best sig line

And then there is Barnes, the solution for any problem. LOL.

Just what I like on an animal that weighs 200# and under. Tends to anchor them RFT!