Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Sierra Gamechanger

Since I've been loading I've found the market
kinda shakey. ( no real internet like today when
I started)
The bullets everybody had were Speers, so that's
what I worked up loads with. Then, the Speers
started getting scarce and the green boxes of
Sierras were in abundance. Now with the local
gun shops about gone here the ones that are
left have mostly Hornady.
One lesson I have learned is to stock up as
much as you think a lifetime supply of whatever
powder and primer and bullet you have perfected
in your loads, because you'll look up and whatever
you need for your pet load will be discontinued.
It's happened to me several times with bullets
and powders

Are any of you using these bullets? I’ve heard the accuracy is awesome, just wonder how they perform on game?

I have some hard data to share on the 175 gr .270 TGK. Just killed a nice mule deer with it last Sunday in Montana.

Fired in a 1:8 twist 270 WSM. Loaded to a little more than the 6.8 Western (2850 FPS - probably leaving 75 FPS on the table, but it shoots really well in my rifle at that speed). The buck was at 400 yards even, quartering towards me, across a canyon, with a strong direct right crosswind blowing. I held 2 MOA for the wind and should have held 3. The first round was intended for the point of the near shoulder but actually hit aft center of the right ribs, got some of the right lung, penetrated the diaphragm and went through the liver. This bullet happily did not open the stomach or guts and lodged in the left ham, with 2.5 to 3 feet of penetration. The core and the jacket were lying next to each other but had separated when the round came to a stop.

The piece of core fit right into the jacket and you could see how the long chunk of core and jacket were aligned until they separated in the ham.


Retained weight of the jacket and core was 107.7 grains, 61.5% weight retention.
I heard the bullet hit and the buck trotted/walked downhill maybe 20 yards then stopped on the rimrock just short of a thick patch of junipers. He looked pretty wobbly but I'm a "shoot 'till they're down" guy, and I didn't want to lose him in the junipers, so I sent another one - this time broadside and "schooled" a little on the wind. This one fully penetrated and he dropped right there. Here's the exit wound:

Don't reckon I can complain though I would really like it if the core and jacket were bonded, if that could be done without sacrificing accuracy. I have always been a Nosler or Barnes guy so spoiled on bullet integrity.
Overall, I have a nice skull for the wall and meat for the freezer! Hope this review helps somebody.

Cheers,
Rex

A misplaced shot, which you did your best, can’t be used for your take on a bullet failure. It would’ve done the job if placed where it needed to be. Cup and cores have been doing it on thin skinned, and heavier game too, for decades.

A misplaced shot, which you did your best, can’t be used for your take on a bullet failure. It would’ve done the job if placed where it needed to be. Cup and cores have been doing it on thin skinned, and heavier game too, for decades.

I'd say it worked great as the outcome was .....the deer died and went home with the hunter.

You gots any huntin' pics with dead critters? Or just critique of how everyone else does it.
Or to say it another way....you sure talk a lot of [bleep].

ETA Nice TRexF16 Congrats.