Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 35 225 SGK reviews

I am looking for experiences with the above mentioned bullet, either good or bad. I will be shooting them out of a 358 Win at speeds 2400-2500 fps. This is one bullet heavier than 200 grain that seem like it should perform well in the 358, yet not as expensive as the Noslers. I will be (hopefully) using them on Pa deer, 140-200 lbs. I expect they will do fine, but am a bit worried about angle shots having enough penetration. I did stumble across what Terminal Ballistics Research had to say about the bullet, and from what I read, I should be fine for deer. If I were gong for hogs, I would probably load up Barnes 200 grain TSX as I have some on hand, but not really wanting to use them on deer. Here is the article I referred to:

Understanding the 225 grain Sierra Gameking

Sierra make two styles of hunting bullet, the frangible Gameking and the controlled expanding Prohunter. The Gameking has a boattail and either soft point or to promote even greater fragmentation, a wide and weakened hollow point. This bullet is designed to deliver maximum energy transfer and trauma within the target. The Gameking is a deliberate design.

The Prohunter is designed to give deeper penetration. It has a flat heel and a soft nose which may be either round or pointed. This bullet performs as it was designed, but is somewhat more reliant on high impact velocities if it is to render a wound as wide as the Gameking.

Throughout my research the reader will find comments on the performance of the Gameking. At times I have cited this as producing less than desirable penetration. As a younger hunter I lost both pigs and deer when using light weight Gameking bullets. The reader must however understand that while I may write about penetration limitations, this is not necessarily reflective of a bad bullet design. Matching bullet weights to game weights is a key factor of which I have taken a great deal of time to study and pass on to readers over these past years. To be successful, hunters must have realistic expectations. As a young hunter I had no realistic expectations. I hunted with a 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser rifle and expected the Gameking to penetrate extremely well because people had told me that the 6.5 could tackle Moose. I did not look closely enough at bullet design.

The .358 caliber 225 grain Gameking is a wonderful bullet. Its frangible nature enables it to deliver vast amounts of energy and create huger trauma at mild impact velocities. This bullet carries great weight but with a low sectional density. If its sectional density or weight were higher, the jacket would have to be thinner in order to retain its versatility.

The Gameking can be used on a wide range of game. Some even use it for Moose without issues. But again, expectations are key. On light to medium game, the Gameking may ‘appear’ as being controlled expanding due to very gradual weight loss and on raking shots it is at times possible to recover a nicely mushroomed projectile. If this bullet strikes major bone on the same light to mid weight game, it may come apart, however the remaining fragments carry great weight and the bullet will perform – again as it was designed and to the letter.

On heavy game, the Gameking will shed a great amount of weight either gradually or rapidly. As long as this bullet does not arrest within round ball joints, the core and its cluster fragments can render a wide internal wound. This bullet is not ideal for bovines but can be used to take head or neck shots. If chest shots are taken, I would suggest an immediate follow up shot before ‘waiting it out’.

With this understanding, I hope the reader can set realistic expectations and not send letters of complaint to Sierra when their bullets perform exactly as designed. If anything, we need more heavy projectiles of this type which are ideally suited to mild impact velocities. We already have enough tough premium bullets to choose from including some designs which in the absence of very high velocity or high body weight resistance, pencil through game, resulting in very slow kills. So please, try to understand - before passing judgement. With realistic expectations we can make the most of each individual bullet design and also, retain the ability to choose various bullet designs to suit our needs.

I’ve used it to take several elk, both Rocky and Roosevelt, in my .358.
Unless it encountered a lot of bone, I got complete penetration and good terminal performance.
On deer or black bear, it should be more than you need.
Use it with confidence.

Judman will be along soon to tell you how well it works.

Not much more to add... they’re a damn good whelen/358 win bullet

I’ve used the 225 Sierra BT on deer in both the 35 Whelen and the 350 Mag at around 2600 fps +/- and found them to be anything but “frangible”. Blood trails a blind man could follow.

Plus they're super accurate. Use them over Re-15 often but the best group came from Re-12 (unfortunately discontinued)

Killed whitetail with them from my .358 at a little over 2500 fps mv up to 125 yards. Usually leaves a spray of blood and tissue about a foot wide for 5 to 8 yards.

They are the most accurate bullet I've fired in my 35 Whelen, though I only ever hunted them once, for pronghorn. I shot a buck at about 150 yards and he dropped like pole-axed.
I have also shot them in the .358 Win but have not hunted with them. I think they are a great bullet for the .358.
Cheers,
Rex

Great bullet! Deer don't stand a chance.

Thanks, Dinny

ETA: I take everything I read on Ballistic Research with a grain of salt. It should be a standard disclaimer on the site that YMMV.

The 225 SGK is a near perfect match to a 358. My 84 year old buddy has used it in several 358's, a Ruger, multiple Savage 99's, thru a serious custom rifle he had built. He piled up whitetails and a few black bears in NYS, PA and Canada.
The bullet was/is consistently accurate in every one of those rifles.

The most accurate bullet in my .35 Whelen when paired with IMR 4064.