Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Speer BT vs Sierra GK

I have been planning this test just hadn't gotten around to it, part of the reason I had both bullets already loaded. In my rifle the Speer bullet shoots best with I4350 and the Sierra with AA3100.

I agree with BSA.

Haven't used Speer much, but love Sierra.

No secret, it's age old knowledge.
Good, soft, heavier bullets work great.
Pro-hunter, but 180's are the bomb in my '06.
Deer don't move much after a decent hit.
Meat damage is reasonable.

Tried the 165gr hp in the 308.
It was the most deadly thing I ever shot deer with.
Pull the trigger, often see a cloud go out the other side,
see the deer collapse.
But, meat damage was horrible. Hit a shoulder, throw most of it away.

The most spectacular result I ever saw was from a whitetail buck I shot at about 40 yards with a Remington 725 in .280 Remington. I was using Remington factory 140 grain bullets and I shot it through the ribs from the left side while it was standing almost perpendicular to me. The bullet went through from side to side and blew lung tissue and blood out the far side, painting a tree that was about 4 feet to the other side of the deer from ground level up to almost the 4 foot level.

That deer still ran about 150 yards before piling up. But I didn't recover any of the bullet, so I can't say for sure how well it expanded. However, dead is dead.

I'll shoot medium game with Speer bullets, but only paper and varmints with anything made by Sierra.

Four (4) bullet failures, all virtual disintegrated on contact, with Sierra products soured me on them for shooting game.

Sam H "hit the nail on the head" - most recent bullets use 1800 fps as the MINIMUM impact velocity for terminal (killing) performance. Everything these days seem to revolve around long distance accuracy; however, if you are shooting for distance - even medium distances - check your ballistic charts to see what your residual velocity is at that range. I feel there are many great shooters these days but I feel many think only as shooters and not as hunters - the point being that just because a bullet is ballistically 'viable' (super-sonic or approximately 1300fps) does not mean that it will still kill effectively versus simply wounding the animal. Not only do I want to recover the animal, but neither do I want it suffer needlessly.

Another point to consider in terminal ballistics is impact resistance. For instance, most think that shooting a smaller deer with a high velocity round will do much more damage compared to a much larger deer shot with the same round. Much of the time the larger animal having much more mass - and resistance - is dropped on the spot with a perfectly performing bullet while the same projectile going through the small deer results only in small entry and exit wounds, and it runs off to bleed out. Sure you'll have a blood trail, but any velocity passed through the animal - versus spent in the animal - can be looked at as wasted.

So my take-away impression from this is that compared to Sierra, the Speer will probably perform terminally better at longer distances but less so at short distances involving higher velocities.

PS. I also check out a bullet's given MAXIMUM velocity - many modern bullets are limited to 3200 fps or less.

Maybe these thoughts help - if not just ignore the Old Fart rambling . . .

If I know I will be shooting at less than 200 yards I usually find a load that shoot good in the 2800 fps range. The Speer seems tailor made for this.

That has NOT been my experience with Sierra big game bullets, either the GameKing or ProHunter models. Have taken dozens of big game animals, both in North America and Africa, without a real problem--in partilcular the 160-grain 7mm GK at around 2700 fps.

But mostly I start them at less than 3000 fps. The one "failure" I've had was with a 130 .270 GK at around 3000 fps, from a .270 Winchester. Have written about this before (both here and in print) but I put it into the left rear of the ribcage of an eating-size mule deer buck as it bounced up a hill away from me at just about 100 yards. The buck collapsed instantly, and never moved again.

But when I skinned him a few hours later, I found the expanded jacket just inside the entrance hole. What killed him was the core, which continued on into the right shoulder, where I found it while butchering the deer.

As far as Sierra vs. Speer, had almost exactly the same thing happen with a 105-grain 6mm Hot-Cor, the animal a similar-sized whitetail buck at around 200 yards. The buck was almost broadside, and also dropped instantly, despite the jacket (again) leaving at the entrance hole. The core went into the spine. Muzzle velocity with that load was around 2850 fps.

Those are the ONLY instances of bullets leaving their jacket on impact in around 700 big game animals I've seen killed.

I recall your more detailed recitation of these events. Even so, in this present post you are painting with too broad a brush in more than one way.

The bullets that disintegrated were Sierra BTHP 85 grain 0.243" and 90 grain 0.257" that were probably going faster than 3,000 fps when they hit the whitetails behind the shoulder.

I still shoot them at varmints, but not at medium game.

The only Speer bullets that I shoot in any quantity are 87 grain TNTs and HotCores in 1-14" ROT 0.257" bore rifles.

I prefer to shoot game with bullets that I have confidence in, so I mostly shoot Noslers if there is a weight and style in the diameter that I'm loading for.

Different people, different rifles, different situations, different outcomes. Not surprising.

The only cartridge I have used Speer BT's and Sierra Game Kings in enough to have an opinion is .308 Winchester. I used the 165 grain versions of both for several years in the 80's on deer. I also used the Sierra on elk.

I found the Speers to be very soft and pretty explosive even at 2700fps muzzle velocities I was used to the way 180 Hot Cores worked in an '06 and was pretty disappointed.

The Sierras worked much more to my liking. nice expansion less bloodshot. The Sierra's did stay in the three elk I used them on, they stayed uner the hide on the far side. Even so, none made it more than 60 yards and that one was moving when I shot it.

I did eventually go to Hornady 165 grain BT's only because they were less expensive. They are a fine bullet.

I've had Nosler Ballistic Tips fail too, once on a spike white tail buck at about 60 yards. 150 grain NBT coming out of the muzzle at about 2990 FPS. It must have blown up on the skin because there was blood everywhere. He got up and jumped the fence onto private land. I'm not proud of that shot. It was with my .280 Remington which is usually a done deal proposition. But in all fairness that was one of the older Ballistic Tips that were known to do that on occasion. But I've never had a SGK fail me with my .270 Win.

I had an older Nosler Ballistic Tip 150 grain 270 Win. do almost the exact same thing! I also didn't care for the older 130 grain 270 Win. Now, I use Accubonds in most of my hunting loads and so far they have done a great job without a single failure. I also use Barnes TSX and TTSX in some rifles with equal satisfaction.

Funny about the old BT's.

I shoot some of the last 100.count box 165 308's.
They have been perfect (for me) in 308 and 300win.
Always open, quick kills, acceptable meat damage, almost always exit.
They may be an evolutionary step from the very first ones to the ones
we have today. I do know guy used the same era ones from magnums
on elk and didn't do well. Especially a 270WBY. But I always figured that
was almost to be expected in that chambering back then. Bullets are designed
to an application somewhat. When 90%+ of 277 guns are a Winchester, the bullets
probably aren't going to be designed with the Bee in mind. Speciality stuff asid.

Still have a box or two, they are my hunting/zeroing only bullets.
When they are gone, they will probably be replaced by a lighter version in the 308,
The 300 is really just ballast in the safe anymore.