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

Got a friend that swears by them.

I swear at them.

I have 3 boxes of 150 grain Federal Premium sitting at home . I know they shoot like a house on fire out of my Tikka 30-06. After reading this stuff skeered to use them on deer.

You should be skeered I take them off your hands. All you have to do is meet me half way.

Central NC around Burlington. And you?

First day in Wyoming,went into the barn with Bill, and saw the head and cape of a good 6x6 bull elk on the floor.

I nudged it with my boot and said to Bill, "Yours?".

"Yup",he responded.

"Nice Bull", I said."270?"

"Yup".

"Partition?"

"Nope, Sierra", he replied.

I said, "You gotta stop doing that...one of those things will bust up on you one of these days."

"Yup..........maybe".

A bud of mine shot two 8 pointers in NC this year using 150 grain Sierra Game Kings out of a 30-06. Both bullets passed thru on rib shots, massive damage and both deer went about 75 yards. He was shooting a Jap Weatherby Mark V and it shot 3/4" with these bullets! My next dilemma is do I use 150's or 165's!

Out of a 30-06 for deer hunting I’d consider them almost ideal. The 30-06 is a bit of ‘overkill’ for deer much of the time. Yes, I’ve hunted MS and GA a bit.


I went on a CO elk hunt two years back, went though bullet evaluation beforehand. I did have some 180 partitions loaded for my 300WSM but actually took the 165 grain gamekings out hunting. The gamekings shot a better. I took a 30 yard neck shot in a 5X5 and my hunt was over, one shot. OBTW, brush covered the larger boiler room.

Yes, where that bullet is placed is paramount.

I don't consider deer to be "big game".....most dress out under 160 pounds and the total amount of meat on a typical deer (boned out) is well under 50 pounds.....and yes.....some are considerably larger.

Deer are more like large varmints than big game and with proper bullet placement (necessary regardless of what you are shooting) just about any bullet will put them in the freezer.....if you like Sierra then use them.

I spent several years shooting bonded bullets and finally have changed to Barnes TTSX and won't go back.....that said, if all you want is dead deer the 165 s in a .30-06 will certainly provide it.

They will come apart on impact the majority of the time, even when they hit small deer---- but from a 308 or 30-06 it won't matter all that much on deer (unless you object to the meat loss)

I would advise AGAINST their use on elk.

Their breaking up inhibits their penetration, and there are a LOT of other choices that don't come apart as badly, so why take the chance?

My experience with game kills and game bullets is that the closer you get to the low end of the power scale when hunting any game animal, the more important bullet design becomes. To clarify, there is a wide variance in performance of 150 grain bullets which you can load into a 30-06 but I think you would have trouble finding many that would not kill small deer well.
If however we were talking about shooting deer with a 223 I lean HARD toward the use of premium bullets that hold 70% or more of their weight. Reason: a 30-06 has a lot of power to spare for deer hunting. A 223 doesn't.

It is also not the best policy to assume a good deer load is going to be as good on an elk. Many are. Some are not. And there are only 2 ways to know which ones are not.

#1 is make your own mistakes.

#2 is to ask others that have made them, or seen them made.

I fall into both categories, but as someone with a LOT of experience in using (and seeing used) good and bad bullets on elk for about 50 years, my counsel is to avoid them for elk.

Not that you can't kill elk with them, but I can promise you many better choices exist.

What is wrong with you?
Reason! Sense?


You shoot TSX, and you will concede that something else will do a good job?

You must be trolling.

Based on my experience with180 SGK this year - I wouldn't use them. I shot 5 animals this year - 4 deer, 1 elk. Not an exit, even on broadside deer. Running these 2630 from my 308. I'm in search of a new hunting bullet for my 308...............

To all those who decry the disruptive action and lack of complete penetration of GK's on deer-sized game- did said animals die quickly or did they scamper off before dying somewhere on the back 40 or worse yet get away Scot-free?

Sierra .30 GameKings have been my go-to's for deer out of various .30-06's for 40 years now. Excessive meat damage? Sometimes. Quick deaths? Always. Personally I like a bullet that disrupts to hell and gone inside the animal and murders it right there, finito. I place a higher value on a quick death than any concern for a couple pounds of inedible bloodshot meat. Were I to engage a larger tougher animal, sure, I would switch out to a TSX or Partition but that's not likely to happen for me ever again so for me it's a moot point.

Match the bullet to its target and try not to over think it too much.

They work great for windmills too.

To all those who decry the disruptive action and lack of complete penetration of GK's on deer-sized game- did said animals die quickly or did they scamper off before dying somewhere on the back 40 or worse yet get away Scot-free?

I'm not starting a fight or calling anyone a liar. I just can't reconcile this with my experience with even lighter Sierras on deer, particularly the .308" 150 Game King.

Feel free to believe whatever you choose. At least you were polite in doubting my post which I do appreciate.