Well, I had a volunteer blacktail spike buck this afternoon...shot was about 150 yds, on a flat spot on a mountain side....
Sure would like to report it performed perfect... but sadly I can't... We're talking 90 grain 6mm version.
The buck staggered around a bit.. the does with him, started heading uphill into the trees and vegetation.
He tried to follow and couldn't make it up the bank...so he staggered around a little more and then headed down hill, thru fallen trees and brush ( this was on old forest fire burn).. staggering all the way... this was one of these Oregon mountainsides that was easily at more than a 45 degree angle...
I cranked the scope power up from 4 to 10, as he staggered thru the thick brush and fallen trees, but was not able to get a clear shot...I did see several times of him having a bleeding hole just behind this left shoulder..
He finally went into a thick spot of undergrowth, and didn't leave.. he made it about 200 to 250 yds down the hillside....I looked thru the 12 power binocs, and couldn't see him move which that thick underbrush where he went.
I got the rifle and tried to head down the hillside toward where he went down... it was too steep and I could see breaking and ankle or leg is short order.. I watched the brush pile for about 30 minutes thru the binocs.. to no avail... if he would have gone further down hill, the brush thinned out enough I could have gotten another shot.. but that didn't happen...
Once I got out to near I 5, I finally got cell service...and called Sierra...it would have been 7 PM Missouri time. I told the customer service rep my experience with the product, the load and the caliber... 243...load 33 grains of 3031. He went on to tell me that the bullet is suppose to open up down to 1800 fps....but impact should have been a couple hundred FPS over that... and visual looking thru the scope on 10 power it was evident it was a good hit, in a critical place....
Sierra Rep, then told me the tip helped with opening up, but admitted that the bullet had a much tougher core than people think.... he said it was best used in something like a 240 Weatherby...My load was running about 2500 to 2550 fps out of my 22 inch barrel on my ADL/Rem...
I'm going to disassemble my ammo and spike the power charge up to give me more along the lines of 3000 to 3100 fps......Accuracy was there with my tests..... but testing it into local manzanita branch or two...say going thru 5 to 8 inches of wood... it never failed to penetrate, but the exit damage left something to be desired... more along the lines of just penciling thru... and on this blacktail, I am anticipating that is exactly what happened....
So if anyone is going to try out the Game Changer line, I'd recommend a good stiff load and MV...
Then their tech, tried to talk me into the old 85 grain HP... a bullet I've never been impressed with due to the amount of blood shot meat, I've experienced.....
That is my result of ONE....hence why I'll give it a try with faster velocity.... but none of this was mentioned when I spoke with Sierra BEFORE deer season....
anyone else planning on trying it, Best of Luck on your results...
nice bullet, but its going to be back to the Tried and Trued Ballistic Tips to me..
