Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles 65 Grain Sierra Game King

Folks,
I loaded 10 rounds of theses bullets using both Varget and CFE 223 with 24.5 grains and 25 grains for a total of 40 rounds .

I want to try them in a 20" Krieger Varmatch 7.7 twist with a .223 Wylde AR chamber .

Wondering if anyone else is using them with that twist or an 8 twist and what their results were . I plan to use them on coyotes / fox .

Thank you in advance for your time and help .

Semper Fi

Soup

I've used them in a Colt 6920 and a Colt Expanse, each with 1 in 7" twist. The 65 GK and the 69 MK (untipped version) are tied for best accuracy in my guns.

I never used Varget with either bullet. I did some limited work with CFE223, but never really gave it a fair shake with these bullets as H4895 produced very good accuracy, followed closely by TAC.

If I had to pick one best bullet for my guns, it would be the 65 GK. I'm sure it would be a better coyote bullet than the MK.

They work well especially in my Tikka T3. Hornady 60gr's are more accurate in my two AR's. One AR is 1 in 9" the other 1 in 8".

I use the 65 SGK in a 1:8 223 Wylde; it's a very accurate bullet and a good "all around" choice IMO.

I don't recommend bothering with Varget though unless you want to give up a bunch of velocity for no reason. My best loads are at max 5.56 pressure with X-Terminator or AA2460. TAC follows close behind for accuracy and velocity.

TTT

How much faster are the others than varget?

IIRC Varget always got close to 3000 fps in 20 inch tube with 69s...

I think that bullet is meant for deer hunting. I personally have found the 50 grain 1330 a bit too hard at 20" 223 speeds. It's the same bullet just lighter and faster. I shot 50 grain blitz kings all last season. Best dog bullet yet I think. But my criteria is mainly a dead coyote that doesn't move very far. Sierras have about twice as thick of jackets than most other bullets. I would shoot a 50 grain blitz king or 52 grain match. With 27 grains of 8208 behind it.

I have wondered how the 45 sierra soft points would do. But you have a lot of twist for that bullet

Looks like it will be my bullet of choice in my 1 in 9 CZ bolt gun, one more range session will cinch it. CFE223, 25.5 gr IIRC. Would like to use it in a 1 in 7 AR but that will require more range time.

From what I've read it should be tough enough for our OK whitetails and the occasional pronghorn.

Ive killed a bunch of hogs with the 65gr SGK in a 18" 223 loaded with TAC.
They might tear up a fox pretty bad if your planning on saving pelts.

I've never seen anywhere close to 3,000 fps with Varget and 65's or 69's, although I'm mostly using a 16". More like ~2650 when pressure signs show up. XTerminator and AA2460 both will do 2900-2950 with this 65 SGK in mine, and both deliver best accuracy at top velocity.

In my experience with the 5.56 in mid-60 to mid-70 gr bullets, Varget generally gives up 250-300 fps over the better ball powders. I haven't found better accuracy with it either, so I rarely use it any more.

From the 16" barrel?

MM

Yes, all of the above from 16".

H335 and a 65 SGK is the most accurate I've tried in my Colt 6920 and my bushmaster varmint. 62 TSX beats it in my Montana though. Killed a few pigs with it in the colt. Worked well.

That's smokin'.

MM

I killed a spike with one a couple years ago, out of a DD Mk12 - 18" 1 in 7" twist. Charge was 24gr Varget, IIRC.



The deer was about 90 yards away, broadside. The bullet broke the onside humerus, and went through heart & lungs. The deer went 30 yards & piled up. The core & jacket separated, but were stuck together in the offside hide.

The bullet is about as accurate as anything I have tried in the DD. The barrel is CHF and nitrided. It doesn't shoot as well as it should, for what it costs.

For smallish deer sized game, with careful placement, the 65 GMK seems fine. It penetrated adequately, even after breaking a good sized bone

Used varget a LOT before N540. The joy of Varget is temp insensitivity, and accuracy.

I've never much cared for ball generally, dirty, and seemed to wear barrels a bit faster, and some was very temp sensitive, 335 and 748 especially.

Still mostly refuse AA powders these days. Due to old issues of batch to batch variation and temp sensitivity, 2230 and 2520.

TAC was one I was trying when we quit shooitng 20K rounds a year. I really liked that one.

Good info all around. I'll have to dig up my old varget info, but since we were running 80s at about 2800 fps with varget, I"m pretty dang sure we were easily in the 2900 range with 69s and never had any pressure signs show up.

But while going over 20 inches doesn't gain much at times, going down to 16 sure seems to loose quite a bit of speed at times.

The 65 grain GK works well for yotes and I have killed one deer with it, I use a full load of varget and it is very accurate in my bolt savage, no exit on the deer I shot but it did bust a rib going in and travel through alot of deer before stopping. Last yote I shot was low and right behind the shoulder and it exited with a half inch hole on the other side. It is my carry around load of choice for yotes and chucks.

I would have to look up the exact figures, but velocities chronographed in a 16" Colt AR, depending on the load, were anywhere from 100-150 fps less than those chronographed in a 20" Colt AR.

In 16"-barreled guns, loads with 65-69 grain bullets in the 2,700 -2,750 fps range are about max. for me using H4895 and TAC. Perhaps there is better speed with other powders.

I have killed one whitetail button-buck and one 175# hog with a 65gr SGK over 25.5gr of Varget.

The whitetail was a high shoulder shot that dropped it where it stood. The hog was ~85 yards, broadside. High shoulder shot dropped it, head shot finished it.

Both out of a 1:8 twist Wylde chambered 16" AR. This is a consistent <1 MOA load for me in two different 1:8 twist rifles.

Ed

That's pretty weak for TAC.

Ramshot/Western has good 5.56 data, you don't have to use 223 data. Some of Sierra's loads for TAC and X-Terminator are pretty anemic for AR 5.56 chambers.