Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Sierra Tipped Matchking On Deer

its a good thing I didn't know I shouldn't shoot deer with match kings, way back when.
it was all I had, and I would have been hungry for venison for some time without them.
honestly, didn't see a lot of difference in the performance, either,

The folks that keep claiming that ballistic hollow points blow up really need to get down to looking at what a ballistic hollow point is designed to do.

They shoot very well, but must have heavier jackets so they don't go poof at high speeds.

If anything the bullet will fail to open rather than open to much. Typically.

For those that keep harping on use a designed hunting bullet as a must...

How well do lead bullets kill? How about rimfires killing deer? How about subsonics killing with less than 500 foot pounds of energy.

How about shooting varmints with a load I just found has 4 foot pounds of energy at the muzzle?

You can use what you want, but in the end, its the indian and not the arrow.
Personally, I can kill with anything you give me.

All good points, Jeff.

In the past I have pointed out that a number of bullets have been "designed" for hunting big game that didn't work worth a hoot, because the designers apparently didn't actually test them on game. Instead they only shot them into test media that tends to produce perfect "mushrooms," no matter how the bullet's designed.

The design of some other bullets was pretty good, yet due to problems with materials or mass-production compromises the bullets didn't work very well in the real world.

There have also been several bullets designed for hitting targets that turned out to work better on big game than many supposedly "designed" for the job.

in all my years of shooting a bullet thats been pushed at designed for game, the sierra game king, has over number of yeras, given some of the most erratic performance...

And while you know I don't much care for destruction, the berger that we poked many thousands at mid range 600 yard targets has been an extremely reliable performer on game. Entry the same, exit the same from the first one I shot into game to one about 3 weeks ago...

In my experience GameKings do OK when impact velocity is pretty modest. I still use them in some cartridges but keep muzzle velocity below 2700 fps. Many years ago had one leave its jacket at the entrance hole on a mule deer only 100 yards away, but that bullet was started at over 3000 fps.

Had the same thing happen with a 105-grain Speer Hot-Cor started at around 2800 from a .243 Winchester--at 250 yards. Yet some people insist Hot-Cors are bonded-core bullets, something they could easily disprove by cutting one in half lengthwise with a hacksaw. Like any standard "hunting" bullet, I've had my best luck with Hot-Cors when starting them at modest velocities.

Another bullet "designed" for big game I've seen fail miserably has been the Winchester Silvertip. On one occasion a 150-grain from a .30-06 factory load broke up on the shoulder joint of an eating-size mule deer at 200 yards. Luckily, it was open sagebrush country and I was able to track the buck down within half a mile and put another in the ribs, which made it inside. Found the empty jacket from the first Silvertip flattened against the ribs behind the shoulder. Have never seen Bergers do that, despite having seen quite a few hit shoulder bone on deer and other deer-sized animals!

Also once saw, in the span of a few minutes, several bonded 300-grain "super-premium" bullets fail to penetrate the chest cavity of a bull water buffalo. The first broke a shoulder joint, and (like the empty jacket of that Silvertip) was found against the ribs behind the shoulder, looking like a thick nickel and retaining less than half its original weight. Several more did similar things, so the problem wasn't just one defective bullet.

Makes sense on the game kings.... everything I've shot them in has been around 2900 to 3200 fps....

They do everything under the sun that I"ve ever seen. Including started at 3200 fps, 7mm 160, at almost 200 yards be stopped by a 60 pound pigs neck.... not blown up but expanded and stopped by about #4 vertebrae... that was the very last time I've shot them...

Hi John are you referring to the Winchester Combined technology bullets that you experienced failures?

Yes, GameKings, Hot Cores, and other CnC Bullets will fail when used outside their design parameters.

Perhaps I could clarify my opinion by rephrasing to: IMO, it's prudent to use a bullet, or any product within its design parameters. Partitions, Accubonds, and other bullet designs, may, due to their construction, operate well over a wider velocity range.

And, yes, any bullet design can and will fail. But the failure rate, given a sufficient sample size, will be less for the product that is used as it's designed.

Sakohunter264,

Which Combined Technology bullet are you referring to? There have been several in a wide variety of designs?

Sakohunter264

I think MD was referring to the old Winchester silver tip with the big exposed metal "silver" tip.

The CT ballistic Silvertip is just a coated nosler BT

Any new experiences? The 155 TMK shoots great in my 308.

Have killed quite a few with the 77gr TMK out of a 223. The last one being a busted up Mule deer at 303 yards.

d

Quartering too- bullet entered about a 1/3rd of the way up behind the left leg and stopped poking out of the skin behind the ribs on the right side. Around 18-20 inches of penetration. He went about ten feet. It was the first TMK that hasn't exited.


Entrance-






Exit and you can see the bullet sticking out-







Have killed 75-80 deer with the 223 using Barnes TSX's, Federal Fusions and the identically constructed Speer Gold Dots, 77gr SMK's, Amax's, 77gr TMK's, etc, etc. All have worked fine, with the "tougher" bullets creating a smaller wound channel and consequently causing longer runs and less blood. or deer I prefer the terminal ballistics of the 77gr TMK and 75gr Amax.

I use a lot if GameKings. They work well in 308's and 30-06's.

Another.






Entrance on the shoulder. This is behind the blade.






Exit. Caught under the skin. You can see the base of the bullet.

nothing wrong with that.. Head is bigger target than neck.

But why worry? I"ve shot a lot with non tipped... in lungs with no issues.

People still use sierra game kings which have the wildest track record of all kinds of performance that I've ever seen.

Uh-uh. Only small deer can be killed with 223's. And only by women and children.

I can't like it when bullets who may carry the same name, like SGK, get all lumped together as if they were all the same bullet of the same exact design, just in different calibers. That is because they are not, nor close. Even bullets of same caliber are listed as SGKs, but still all very different. So when one says SGKs have been erratic, unless you are talking about one specific offering, it really means nothing. You may as well be talking of 2 or more different brands.......

142 smk @ 742yds on a bull elk. Pencil in the onside scapula and the farside one is demolished. MV was 2875.

They work well if you don't speed them too hard.

Thanks for the great photos Form.

I didn't do as well with the camera this weekend, but I did shoot a fat doe with a 69 grain Tipped Matchking with my AR this weekend and it dropped her like a bad habit.

Shot was a deliberate, high shoulder shot at about 90 yards.

Color me impressed.

Dave