Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting question about sierra gameking performance on deer

do these tend to fragment inside deer? on a gel test they said the bullet fragmented pretty bad. that it wouldnt be a good bullet for those who dont want lead in their meat. talked to a couple friends who say all they shoot is gamekings but was just wondering if anyones had this issue? was wanting to try some in my 308 and 270

I wont shoot a Sierra at anything I have any respect for.

[quote=ingwe]I wont shoot a Sierra at anything I have any respect for. [/quote

because of fragmentation?

I've killed about 20 deer with 165gr. Sierra Gameking BTSP's out of my '06 and have never had one break up yet. 'Certainly can't speak for others, but I've been very satisfied with their performance.

I used the gameking in everything I owned up until 2008 when I switched to Accubonds

The reason?

Opposite shoulder meat damage

Sierra's are pretty soft, but I have used the in my .243, 25-06, ,270, 7mags. and various .300's. They have been use on game from p. dogs thru caribou, moose, and elk. They work better in the larger calibers. For deer I have no problem with them.. But care must be used when shooting larger game..

Most Sierras in the common hunting cals are ideal for deer. Some are really hard. The hpbt gamekings are designed to be a bit tougher jacketed than the spbt. A few of the heavies, such as the 200gr 30 cal and 160 7mm are stout and designed for use in magnums.

They will fragment. Any cup&core will fragment to some degree. Even the mono-metal bullets can fragment a bit. It isn't a problem, as deer are soft and each fragment enlarges the wound channel. Softer bullets transfer energy more quickly through fragmentation an rapid expansion. All good stuff when the goal is to put down a thin-skinned animal.

I killed 4deer with the 130 btsp gameking out of a 270 when I was young. They worked but were explosive. Shot several with 150btsp gameking in 308 and they worked great. Wouldn't hesitate to shoot a whitetail with either again but I do like the accubonds these days.

I've never had a problem with deer and the 165 BTHP GameKing in .308 or .300WSM. That's all I've ever used in my .308. I've shot deer from 15yds to 300+ and never had an issue. I practice the dreaded broad side shoulder shot and have gotten mostly bang flops.
All that being said, there is a lot of damage to the opposite shoulder but that's part of taking that particular shot.

Last B. bear I shot was w/a Sierra 130 BT in a 270 win HVA, 85 yds,60 gr H-4831 through heart in and out, no steps taken. However I am very careful when shooting bears and am a big fan of fast opening bullets with heart/lung shots. If I am specifically targeting B. bears I use Nosler PT's and any angle through the chest works fine in any caliber that is legal, I've used most. just don't use a bullet that only makes a hole without some "frag" spray, especially if not over 2300 FPS. Following a 1/2 dead bear in the dark is one of life's exciting but not fun things BTDT more than once.-Muddy

One I do like is the 165 HPBT in .308, shot at .308 and .30-06 velocity.

It seems to behave fairly well, so far all of them have gone through. One was a stem-to-stern, going in the chest, coming out of the left hindquarter. It was started at 2690 fps.

Same thing here Vic, shot a bunch of Mississippi deer with .30/06 165HPBTs. Never a problem..

They are the most erratic performing bullet I've ever used over the years.

Doesn't mean I won't fall back to them at times, and if in a hurry, they generally are easy to make shoot well.

RE lead in the meat? Quit drinking the coolaid....

Last thing I'd worry about is a few chips of lead, especially if you trim your meat well and know where to look.

Oh yeah, Barnes will solve your worries and be much more consistent on performance.

I have shot a lot of deer, pronghorn and elk with them. Just like any C&C bullet, push them too fast and they come apart. Either slow them down or step up in bullet weight if you experience it.

They certainly are not a magnum velocity bullet

I've used the 165 HPBT .308 on several deer with always an exit hole and total devastation of the chest cavity. I've also taken 1 or 2 with the 130 gr 270 a while back. Just keep 'em out of the eatin' meat if possible, but that applies to most HV loads anyway.

If that was the case with us we could have worked it all out. The bad thing is that X times they would work fine. Then the next they would barely expand. Then maybe the next thye would blow up and not penetrate.

Anything from 30-30ish, to 243 to mags...

I had a run on a 7mag, 160 sierras, where 3 shots were fine. The next almost took the head completely off. And literally the next at same range, was caliber in, caliber out. And a few more good shots in there, to have one blow up on a shoat, probably 200ish yards, shot in the back of the neck as it ran away, and thats where the bullet stopped in pieces... it never even completely severed the spine and exited, it just came apart most of the mass sitting against the spine.

I've had more luck with ballistic tips being consistent and then driving them slower than normal to get the controlled expansion that I desire rather than destrcution.

Yeah the 30 cal 180 and 200gr are garbage. Don't buy anymore. Tell your friends....

In my house my wife shoots 180 BTSP out of her 300wsm. I shoot the 200 gr BTSP out of my 300 Weatherby. The 225 BTSP is my bullet of choice out of my 350 Rem Mag.

Yes, I think Sierra's come a part a little more than other bullets I've shot. But, I know they come a part because 9 out of 10 times the animal is laying there stone cold dead where it was standing so I have ample time to inspect the wound. They are also accurate as all get out, out of our rifles anyways.

At low MVs(Heavy for cal in std carts) they do fine on WT size game. I like the HPBT GK variety the best.

Steer clear of boatail bullets and you will slow the expansion of most cup and core designs. On the other hand, most any jacketed bullets will kill whitetails...

I used the BTSP gamekings in my 270 a few years back, they were very accurate and both exited. The first was on a doe at 60 yards, entered in front of the shoulder exited just behind the opposite, DRT. The second I hit a 150# midway up in the lungs, heart and lungs were pudding but he still made it 75 yards with out spilling much blood even with an exit. I attribute the lack of blood to my shot though not the bullet, the heart wasn't working anymore so there wasn't any pressure to push the blood out, and the entrance and exit holes where high and the chest cavity would have to fill with blood before gravity could cause a blood trail.

Sierra GameKings were my bullet of choice in the .30-06 for many years because of their accuracy and impressive performance. I loaded them down to mid-range velocities to limit their explosive effect and got sterling results- a necessity if your like me and only hunt the thick stuff where a 100 yard shot is a long one, for a bullet designed to perform at longer ranges (loaded to the max they are almost explosive on 40 yard targets). Even though I switched to cast bullets for the bulk of my shooting long ago, I still keep a couple boxes of 165 HPBT's on hand for one particular '06. They have never let me down.

My hunting buddy has been shooting the 100 grain btsp Gamekings in his 6mm (now rebarreled to 243) for over 30 years. It's the only bullet he will use and he swears by it. If he shoots lungs he gets an exit, if he shoots shoulders he gets a dead deer on the ground. It's pretty much that simple.

I have a new 243 I am going to use this year. I already purchased some Sierra 85 grain HPBT and some Nosler 95's so I am going to stick with those for the time being. That 85 Sierra has a reputatiion of being a wicked deer killer.

100 or 105 gr C&C bullets out of a 243 or 6mm have proven to be effective deer killers. I think you will be dissatisfied with the lighter bullets you mentioned.

I'd rather go with the 100 gr that your buddy has proven to be effective than to rely on rumors of this or that bullet being wicked deer killers.

Saddlesore,

You think I will be dissatisfied with the 95 grain ballistic tip? It's probably the most highly recommended 6mm hunting bullet on this forum? Lots of folks on this site use the 85hpbt as well and I don't really consider their advice rumors. But, I do understand what you are saying, why not go with what my friend has been using for years? I may very well do that, but since I have already purchased the bullets I mentioned and I have no-limit on deer here in South Carolina I am sure I will have an opporutnity to try them out if the other bullets I purchased are not up to my expectations. In the end, as long as I hit them well, I doubt it's really going to matter.

That is your problem. Recommendations on this forum are not the most reliable. Actual experience trumps advice any time.

Based on a couple of deer taken with Gamekings, I think they work fine at moderate launch/impact speeds on deer, and kill very well. But out of a warm loaded .270 the 130 pretty much blew up inside the deer. The kill was instant - the buck was 100 yards off, quartering away, and the shot landed as planned just behind the near shoulder. I found the jacket under the offside hide, in front of the off shoulder, but no exit, nor any core found. Lungs were soup.

I would use the Gamekings again on deer, but I wouldn't launch them over ~2800 fps - unless I was sure the shot would be very long. The .300 Savage is an ideal platform - don' think I would use them in an '06 sized or larger case.

I'm using them in an -06 at 2,800 fps.

Everything from DRT anchor hits, to complete pass through, with a decent blood trail, short track.

I've had 1 doe that didn't leave a blood trail, but had a clear exit and soup inside, but still went about 50 yards. Freak.

In order to GET experience, one has to start somewhere.

And with the number and amplitude of variables in hunting, very few will ever get enough experience to reach a statistically supported conclusion.

"Literature search" is a perfectly acceptable research technique. Granted one must apply some common sense when drawing data from the inter web. But I would agree with slidellkid, that there have been enough positive comments, by folks whose opinion I have learned, over time, to trust, regarding the 95gr BT, that I would try it with confidence. And I am not a BT fan.

Was the 95 grqin Ballistic Tip meant to be included in your reference to lighter bullets? I know 95 is less than 100, but the 95 Bal Tip is "more bullet" than the typical 100 & 105 cup and cores.

The 95's would be the very lightest I would go. Launching a light weight bullet out of a .243 is going to be in the 3Kfps realm. A 50 yard shot into a deer is going to be very explosive.

The 95 gr nosler maybe a better bullet, but it is still risky IMO

Ive shot 150 grain gamekings and pro hunters out of a .308 for years. No problems. They shoot accurately. Never recovered a bullet in a deer. They are a bit much for antelope though. I also shoot 200 gr spitzer boattails out of a .30-06 at elk. No recoveries yet, and most elk drop quickly.

I have had good luck with sierras for a lot of years for deer in rounds including the 223 and 22-250, 243 and 6mm, 270 win, 308 and 30-40 krag. all were gamekings except for the excellent 63 grain smp for the 22s and all have resulted in quickly killed deer from 30 to 400 yards. Some have opened up pretty violently but the result was a dead deer.

The above posts make me feel like I need to defend the 6mm 95 grain nosler BT. I think this is one of the best big game bullets ever designed and it would be my choice for any animal I would feel comfortable hunting with a 6mm caliber rifle. I have never seen a more well balanced big game than it in my opinion.

Did the Sierras exit? If they didn't, you probably didn't really kill anything. You just thought you did. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news....

Another victim of Not-Barnes.

Man I Hate to hear that. Let me survey the freezer and mounts on the wall to make sure they aren't just playing possum. Clever rascals.

Yep,
I have yet to have an elk crawl out of the freezer that was killed with a Sierra

My experience with the game kings is they are more predictable than ballistic tips. This is limited to 25, 7mm and 30 caliber.

I have been loading the 165 gr GameKing HP's in my Dads 300 RSAUM for the last couple years.. when I hear him shoot.. I usually have a deer laying in front of his stand or a blood trail Ray Charles could follow! They have done better on our South Arkansas whitetails for him than Accubonds. I had some 150 Hornady SST's blow up and not exit in this caliber. I killed 2 deer last year with the same bullet out of a 308 and both deer had two holes in em.. not much tracking either. I have been loading 120 gr GK's in my nieces 16" 7-30 Waters G2 carbine and she has been getting bang flops on most deer she has shot with it. I shot a 300lb sow hog from end to snout once with 140gr GK HP's out of my 270 at 75 yds. I was surprised it exited!!!

Sierra makes the hpbt Gamekings tougher than the spire point versions. I actually prefer the softer bullets, as I don't care about the exits, and I want internal destruction.

Worrying about lead in your venison seems silly, considering all the upland birds consumed across the country. I'd be willing to bet every birdhunter has found some shot in their quail/pheasant supper which they missed during dressing their birds. Haven't heard of rampant lead poisoning in those areas. Just my two cents.

I still use 160 gr RN in my 6.5x55 and they hold together well. I also use the 140 gr SP in my 6.5x50, but sometimes they seem to tumble end over end on frontal shots. I don't know if I like that or not, but I always got the deer.