Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Sierra TGK/game changer

Anyone have on game experiences to pass on?
The .284/165gr are really accurate in my .7-08AI, ordered some .308/165gr to try in .308/.30-06, probably try some this coming fall.

I used the 130 out of 6.5cm. Killed deer just fine. Acted like a lead bullet with a tip.

I've shot 7 or 8 elk with the 165 out of a 284. Good number of deer and pronghorn as well. No complaints. I'd rate it tougher than the ELD bullets in similar weights. Bullets I've recovered were about 60% weight retention. Never caught one in a deer or ph though.

SGK 165 gr. is my go to bullet in .30-06, kills whitetails with authority accuracy is superb too !

Looks like a ballistic tip

Yep. I’d like to try some 150’s in my 308 if they make them


Nope, no 150’s

I have several friends I have hunted with who have used them. 69 gr from a 223 on deer and antelope. 130 gr 6.5MM in 6.5 Creedmoor. 165 grain 30s from a 308 Winchester and 180 grain 30 caliber from a 300 Win Mag.

Having gutted and helped with the butchering, I have to say so far I am not all that impressed. No better then any other tipped hollow point made, and in comparison to the Nosler Ballistic Tip Hunting, not as good.

They have plastic tips and the jackets are only .001" thicker then the "standard" game king. 1 thousandth = 1/2 a thousandth per side all-around--------- which is nothing at all in the real world.
They are no better then the standard Game King and may not actually be as good. Compared to the old Pro Hunters made in the 60s and 70s they are not as good.

Now my witness to their effect is not huge, but so far I have seen nothing to impress me much.

4 deer and 1 antelope with the 223
6 deer with the 6.5 Creedmoor and a 6.5X55
2 deer and 1 antelope with the 308
1 elk with the 300 mag.

As you can see, it's not a huge sampling but most didn't exit and all I recovered shed their jackets and fragmented completely.

Yes all kills remained dead. But we are comparing bullets to bullets. Those shot with good bullets that didn't come apart are also still dead and speaking only for myself, I like all my bullets to exit in straight lines and leave good exit wounds. Other may disagree. My prejudice comes from having guided hunters for about 1/2 century, so dealing with my own kills as a young boy (Starting around 1964) and about 7-10 times more with other hunters kills, I am strongly in favor of bullet that hold together and exit. Any bullet will kill. Including a liver shot from a 22 LR or a lung shot with a 3" 38 special revolver, if we don't care about the length of time from the shot to the gut pile. So when comparing bullets I stick to comparing BULLETS!

I love Sierra for their accuracy, but their Pro-Hunter line was the best they made for hunting and sadly most of that line is now discontinued. I started using those in the 60s and so I have seen them go bit by bit (nearly all the RN bullets as well as some of their spritzers)

I used the 90gr 6mm and the 130 6.5 quite a bit and have no complaints.

Fairly stout compared to typical cup and cores. Perfect for deer.

The 90 grain 6mm is stout, ideal for shoulders and angling shots, not ideal for through the ribs double lung shots....but they still die, after running a little.

Stout and small animals don't play well together. This is part of the reason I nevertried the Tipped GK, a regular soft point GK works too well.

I would say they are tougher than a lead tipped gameking but no more so than a hornady interlock or a nosler BT, from what I've seen

Sample of 2: I bought a bunch of the now-discontinued 125 gr .308's and loaded them to 3220+ fps with TAC. Shot a pronghorn buck thru the ribs at about 150 yds, he ran about 50 or 60 yds and fell over. Bullet exited, but didn't leave a huge hole, plenty of damage inside. Then shot a WT buck thru the ribs at about 125 yds, he ran 50 or 60 yds and fell over. No exit, bullet got past the off side ribs and plenty of damage inside.

I'll keep using them.

The 140s have worked great on whitetails from my 6.5 CM. Used the ammo loaded by HSM.

Expat

I’ve got two 500 ct. boxes of 140 gr. In 6.5. So far three bucks from 100-230 yds the farthest has went 20’. A bunch of coyotes out to 520 all drt. I caught one that separated from the jacket but who cares the buck never got out of his bed and the core was on the outside of the off shoulder.

I have used the 150gr gamechanger that comes loaded in Sako factory 7mm08 ammunition on a few pigs and no complaints

I just ordered (300 )140 gr for my 270 since I can't find the 140 hpbt game kings. My 270 loves them with H4831SC

I several one shot kills on rams with a 140gr TGK in 270 WSM. Closest was 65 yards and farthest was 468 yards. All have exited so haven't found a bullet yet.

It's a very accurate bullet.

Can you find them? I was looking at Sierra’s website last week. Any tipped GK bullet of relevance was “out of stock”.

Used them before on pronghorn and deer. Got accuracy comparable to a Ballistic Tip. Terminal performance was as expected for a bullet that has been toughened up. About like an Accubond in that respect.

Yes. Midsouth Shooters Supply has them in several different diameters and weights. Quite a few are shown out-of-stock too though.

Guy

Speaking of .30 cal Tipped Gamekings, I noticed something interesting on the Sierra Bullets website the other day...

It looks like there are now TWO different versions of the 180g .308 TGK.


The original version is this one with shorter Secant ogive nose and long bearing surface (which to me looks more like a 1950's Hornady Spire point than a modern Sierra).
Apparently, that shorter nose was done to better fit .300 Win Mags with standard '06 length mag boxes.

https://www.sierrabullets.com/product/30-cal-180-gr-tgk/

This is the new 2024 alternative design with a longer more streamlined nose and about a 5% higher B.C.than the origional-

https://www.sierrabullets.com/product/30-cal-180-gr-tgk-2/

I wonder if it was designed for lower impact velocities (.308 and .30-06) as well?

I’ve been looking at them (180’s) for a decent deer bullet in my 300 Win Mag and was wondering if they would hold together enough without damaging too much meat. Guessing slowing them down would help some but still want a quick kill. Either design works for me as I have a magnum length action so 3.560” is my normal COAL sweet spot. Funny how Sierra’s are a cheaper alternative now compared to Nosler ballistic tips.

I doubt the basic internal design was changed. Just the bearing surface/ ogive length to better suit the .308 & 06

If folks want a plastic tipped Sierra made slug that opens up more quickly, they can just use the Tipped Matchkings- and many do.

Actually, now that you mention it, I'm thinking of using the 6mm 95 TMK but not sure how they perform on game. I've been using the 90 TGK and would prefer to go up to 95 grain. I don't want to jump to the 100 TGK just yet.

That is the single most variable bullet I've ever shot in 06. you never knew if it would pencil, act right or blow up. The 160 7mm game king was next in line. Both very accurate. But very unreliable as to repeatable performance.

Maybe now they will be reliable. of course if the expand too much like the first ballistic tips that won't be good either.

So far, the after-action reports from users of the Tipped Game Kings indicate that they consistently hold together and penetrate well. And, like almost all tough bullets , they are not lighting bolt fast killers with broadside lung shots.

Looking at the cutaway pic comparing it to the regular Gameking, you can see why.


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