Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Sierra Game King 165g in a .30-06 on Texas whitetails ??

I just acquired some SGKs from a friend and tested some loads at the range yesterday. My Remington 700 .30-06 seemed to prefer 45.1g IMR 4064 versus larger loadings. I used 150g AccuBonds w/ 51.4g 4064 previously.

What's the Good, Bad, and Ugly on using these on Texas whitetail--personal experiences? These things look pretty vicious. Max shot distance is 250 yards. My Accubonds enter/exit w/ minimal damage.

I don't think theTX whitetails are any differnt than an average CO mule der, and I have shot quite a few, of them, but out ofa .308, not an .06.
The good , they will usually shot very acccurately, are are about 1/2 the price of other " premium bullets" The bad is that at velocities over 2800 fps, they will usually come apart. I have nerver had one fail from lack of penetration, but many times have found the core and jacket separated, I wouldn't call it bullet failure,because I have never lost an animal to them, but some hunters don't like that

Great bullet, you will have no problems on Tx whitetails or hogs with it. The ugly will be getting them in the truck and doing the gutting.

Have you run that load over a chronograph? It looks pretty mild to me. According to several loading manuals you might be getting something in the neighborhood of 2500 fps. That's 300 Savage territory, not a bad place to be (I use one myself) but is it what you were expecting?

When you say larger loadings, what charges do you mean? What brass are you using?

mathman

Thank you for the responses. Here is more information.

All loaded w/ once-fired Remington, neck-sized only, and CCI Large Rifle primers. I use CCI Magnum primers in my 150g Accubond load.

45.1g IMR 4064 Most accurate (sub-MOA)
46.9g IMR 4064 1-2 MOA
48.7g IMR 4064 1-2 MOA

46.9 and 48.7 shot practically the same, but opened up more than the 45.1. If the recoil is less and the groups are better, I'll take it. I know there is quite a span b/w different loads, but these were my first loads w/ this bullet, so I spread it out quite a bit. I could increment quite a few times up to 46.9 and find an even better load--who knows, but I probably can't shoot that well anyway, so it would probably be an effort in futility and wasted components. I think the 2500fps and the corresponding ft/pounds will take the wind out of a deer. I may have gotten lucky on the first try.

My max shooting range will be ~250 yards, so the lower velocity is okay. I don't have a chronograph, so I've only got what the reloading manuals print.

I'd stick with the standard primers for now. Since you're using commercial brass I'll point you toward something from my late father's loading notes, namely 50 grains of 4064. It's right at or just below max in a half dozen manuals I just checked, and it's a recommended accuracy load in two of them. This agrees with pop's notes. Work up carefully and see what you get accuracy wise. You'll probably end up around 2750 fps which is well within reason for a cup-and-core bullet on deer.

mathman

57-58 grs. of 4350 is the classic recipie for 165-gr. bullets. Any good 30-06 seems to shoot it well.


Okie John

I have shot a few deer and quite a few pigs with that bullet over 58grs of 4350 from my 06. They do not penetrate very deep because they spew the core. Your load sounds mild so they might do better. With careful shot placement they will take out the lungs no problem.
-Doc-

A friend uses them as his go-to load for his 30-06. He gets about 2800fps w/58gn of H4350. We normaly shoot Texas W/Ts, but he killed a 200lb Missouri buck last year. He it shot at less than 50yds behind the shoulder. It had about a quarter size exit hole and ran about 30yds, if I recall. Of course it is anecdotal, but that seems great performance at close range. capt david <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

i shot this bullet ( .308 165 grains) in my old 308. Target: LARGE cow elk very big elk! Range: 75 yards shot placement: right behind the shoulder, put a baseball size whole in her heart. results: DEAD COW!!!! she did a back flip, found the bullet on the other side, right under her hide. i was extremly impressed with the bullet performance, it held together well and laid her out! on the other hand, the accubond is my go to bullet for all my rifles

How big is a TX deer, and does it have tungsten carbide shoulders? Most of the southern deer I have seen look like golden retrievers with horns.

My wife and daughter are using a 30-06, 150 gr partition with 46 gr of 3031, and killing some of our larger N. Ont whitetails. Plan on using one on a bull moose starting next weekend.

I've shot several several feral hogs and whitetails ranging in size from about 85 pounds to close to 250. In my estimation, this is NOT a particulary soft bullet. I've gotten exits in every deer I've shot and all but one of the pigs (a big boar weighing about 225 pounds). One of the pigs weighed right at 200 and that GameKing exited the off shoulder at 62 yards.

This bullet in a .30-06 is as deadly a combination as I've tried for deer and hogs.

I use 46gr of IMR4064 with 165 sierra game king in my 760 , 30-06 pump, and have no problem with deer in Pa.

I've used quite a few 165 Gamekings on deer out of an '06 and they do a good job of killing. They also do an excellent job of blood shooting meat. I like Federal Gold Medal large rifle primers and RL19: 61 grains if memory serves. That's max or nearly so, so work up to that recipe if you choose to try it. It's a fast load but I haven't had any issues with the bullets coming apart as evidenced by one large exit would, but I can't remember taking out a shoulder either.

Only killed 1 deer with the 06 using 165 GK, 4064 and it dropped like a stone (almost 300yds)! On the other hand have killed more pigs than I can count with it until it was retired and is now a 6.5 x 284 sporter that Speedy built. It was a 700 Mountain Rifle out of the custom shop that I could never get to shoot less than 1 MOA and I worked with it for many years.

+1

I always had very good results from my BAR with IMR4350 and 165 Grn bullets.

firstshot
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Make your first shot count!

Well, my "classic" '06 load is 165gr Sierra Pro hunter, 50.5gr IMR4064, Win case and primer. Pretty simple and very deadly. 2900'/sec. My Sako prefers the flat base bullet (.35 in groups), however, the Game king works just fine. Regards, Rick.