Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 165 gr GameKings in .30-06.

I recently received 2 boxes of .30-06 Federal Premium 165 gr Sierra GameKings due to seller’s error. I have only taken game with 165 gr TSXs with that rifle. Any experience with that load on deer and elk? Thanks in advance for your thoughtful responses. S

Got a friend that swears by them.

I swear at them.

Have used Federal 165 Sierra Gamekings for 35 years in a .308 for whitetail. Dozens of high shoulder DRT shots under 100 yards. Most accurate load for this rifle. Has never failed me. Elk may be a bit different.

I’ve killed lots of hogs and whitail with the game kings in .308 and 30-06. They worked for me.

Use them in my sako 30.06 for years now on elk, caribou, bear and whitetail. All have been one shot kills for the most part. I have used TSX's too and the critters can't tell the difference. Try them in yours and see how they shoot as some rifles like certain flavors.

I have never been a fan of Sierra bullets on game. That being said, they are always very accurate and that trumps some durability. I have personally had them perform poorly from a .308 and also saw my father-in-law shoot a huge cow elk with the 180 version from an 06, and the bullet completely came apart. It did, however, kill the elk at least.

I'd use them on deer with no problems.

I've filled the freezer on more than one occasion with em. (but in a 308 tho) No complaints here.

A long time ago I shot two bucks with a early production M700 "carbine" in 30-06 with those Sierra's. I swore at them, too.

Poor penetration, all three bullets lost their core. Maybe they have improved....

I use the 150’s in my 308’s, no deer or hogs have gotten up and complained yet!

They have been around for a long long time for a reason....never used them myself but sure wouldn't be afraid to..

The heavier 30 cal versions are a bit tougher due to cores that contain more antimony, but I'd not be afraid to use them on deer, and I'd not be afraid to have them in the gun on an elk hunt, as long as I understood that the bullet has a couple likely limitations. The 30-06 runs at ideal speeds for most cup & core bullets.

I found the 165 gr. BTSP from Sierra to be an accurate and quick killing bullet. Some broke up but always gave good penetration exiting most of the time on deer. I killed a number of hefty feral hogs with it also generally shooting high shoulder or neck I got many one shot drops. I pushed it to 2700 fps in my 30-06. I stopped using it when I found the Pro shop and started buying Ballistic Tips. I have the same opinion of the 160 grain .284 Gameking.

Been using the 150's in my 30-06's for 43 years. Deer and hogs don't like them one bit. Me I love um.

You don't mention which version you have.
The hollow point was very destructive from the 308.
Instant kills, usually got exits.


However.
It wasn't unusual to see a cloud of hair and mist fly out the offside.
With double fist plus sized exit holes.
Pure rib shots, they were great.
Get a little shoulder, especially off side.
Throw away that shoulder.

I have used the 165 BTSP Gameking out of the 308 winchester. It is like arsenic on whitetail deer. Would not hesitate to use that bullet from a 308 case again.

I was able to buy 5 boxes of that same ammo when I bought my first .30/06. I mostly used it for the brass, but I did kill a few deer with it. It worked well enough, but one deer I hit dead square in the spine, from the back, could have been field dressed from the top. Not too happy with it at that point. The brass lasted me until I swapped off the rifle (for some reason

The first deer I shot with it was a broadside shot at 300 yards, and you could see the red mist behind the deer when it zipped thru both lungs. It sucked out a lot of lung matter out of that hole. The deer ran around in a circle before he decided to fall over. Luckily, it was in a wheat field, and I never lost sight of him. Nice easy drag to the truck.

This, in fact I've totally written off game kings. I don't like the old BTs, the new ones are better they claim, but at least I knew what to expect.

Gks in various forms and speeds, within and without the speed ranges, and have had any kind of result you could guess. From kaboom to FMJ and with absolutely NO rhyme or reason in between.

165 soft point GK in 06, with some amount of varget has been the only one I've seen go through both lungs of a buck, leave pieces of lung on the ground, and never found the buck, only to have him killed 3 or so weeks later neck shot on purpose, so we could see the healed up holes in each lung.

I've taken antelope, mule deer, and elk with them - no problem.
The closest thing to a problem was a coyote, of all things
~ 85 yards, caught a bit of bone in the shoulder, and left a soft-ball sized crater on the back side. Good thing I wasn't hide hunting !

I’ve used them for years on deer, and can testify that they’re devastating. They’ll turn a deer’s lungs to mush and penetration has never been an issue.
Up close, they will make a mess if you hit a shoulder bone. But if you’re looking for a bullet that will most assuredly put a buck down quickly, I doubt you could do better.