Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 130 gr. Sierra Game King

I have some handloads for my 270 weatherby Mark V that give me 3600 FPS and was wondering if these bullets are good enough for elk or should I go with a bonded bullet.........Thanks

I loaded some of these for my daughter for practice.. I loaded 130 Nosler Part. for elk.. I have shot a lot of elk with Sierra bullets.. Not .270 but .30 cal. 150 and 165.. I shoot for the lungs with this one.. I chose Part, for her because her game shooting is limited.. I want her to be successful and if the best shot is a shoulder shot I want her to be ready.. If you hunt elk every year I guess the Sierra will do.. I have gone to Part. or Accubonds in my .30 caliber..

At 3600fps no way I’d run game kings and I’m a fan of those bullets. They do much better at non magnum speeds.

My hunting buddy doesn't hand load for his 270. He has a supply of Federal Premium ammo loaded with the Sierra 130 grain boat-tail bullet. That bullet is Sierra part number 1820, the Game King.

I have seen him shoot three bucks with this ammo, and none of those bullets exited. They all blew up inside the buck, never encountering any bone heavier than a rib. That's OK for a deer, but not for an elk, in my opinion.

I shoot a 270Wby as my main elk rifle and I don’t think I’ve ever used a bullet other than a 130 of some description. But those Gamekings are pretty tender, especially at the kinds of speeds you’re talking. They’ll kill like a bolt of lightning on broadside lung shots where no bone is encountered but it’s likely to result in a rodeo if you hit a shoulder or a hard quartering angle. 130 Partitions, Etips, and Sciroccos have all worked great feom any angle for me. Pick something stouter and use up the Sierras for practice.

The 150’s came apart out of my .270 Win on a mule deer buck’s shoulder.

They were exiting the muzzle at 2850 and the shot was about 125 yards.

Draw your conclusions from there I guess.

I have some custom loads 140 gr A frame by Superior Ballisticts not as accurate as the Sierras I load but close.Thanks for the info sounds like you guys would prefer a better bullet would hold together for elk.

There are much better bullets, use them eh?

THIS

I run 150 grain Hornady SP at 3150 in my 270 wthby they allways exit antelope and deer. Never shot an elk with it . The 160 npt it did not like . I know more than a few people who use the 150 npt on elk..mb

nope not even on a dare. I would use barnes TTSX ,Accubonds or Partitions. 3600 is about 200 fps faster then normal loads would indicate.

Is the brass any good after firing those loads ? Mb

Partition, Bear Claw, or Barnes TTSX

Magnum Bob you are correct it is more like 3500,loading 76 grains of IMR 7828.I really like the game king in my 2506 but the FPS is a hair over 3000 very accurate bullets but will take the advice of people here on the forum and use the bonded 140 gr.
A Frame in my 270 weatherby mag.
I have the older west German mark 5 and it never shot that good I free floated the barrel and fully glass bedded the action and the load above gave my best 5 shot groups 1 1/4 at 100. If anyone has a pet load please let me know........Thanks

Cos iirc I was using wthby brass, fed 215's max dose 7828 and 150 gr Hornady flat base spire points. At a 100 yes you could cover 3 shots with a quarter coin. Start low work up good luck...mb

Bonded, Partition, or Mono, 130 SGK.....never! memtb

130gr Game Kings are too frangible at 3600fps. I'd move to Partitions or Accubonds. Good luck.

I personally would never use 130g GK on elk at even 270 win velocities. They are deadly on broadside deer 3100fps or so. I’d personally choose partitions if you can get them to shoot. I have a growing understanding of why some folks refer to accubonds as accubombs. Not only was penetration a disappointment on my last 2 large deer at 300+yds, but the both bullets took radical turns after impacting shoulders (I was shooting 140g Accubonds at 3200fps out of a 270wsm). I’ve seen all kinds of bullets do crazy things on impact….but after dozens of kills with partitions, I can say I never saw that kind reaction 2 shots in a row.

Some guys claim that the 130gr Hornady inter-bond is hard to get to shoot, but I’ve had good luck with them. They hold together good and have picture perfect mushrooms on the couple I have recovered.

I shoot the 130 TGK out of my 6.5 CM with great results on paper. No game yet. From what I’ve seen and heard, I have to agree with others.
I did shoot a cow this year at 75 yards using the 180 gr game kings out of 06 at 2800+. The bullet was found on the other side under hide and retained 122.7 grains and .opened to .76”. Would have though it would have made it through.

Personally I’d be looking at TTSX or LRX if I was pushing 3600 FPS