Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Sierra GameKing 140 gr bullet in 270 WSM?

Doc: You're welcome.The wry comment about "ass-backward logic" was not directed at you,but was a generic comment concerning the thought process itself,which a lot of shooters seem to adopt.IMHO there are bullets for shooting small groups,and bullets for shooting game,and they are not always the same bullets

BobinNH... no offense taken, and I second your motion against "ass-backward logic" of that kind.

I was just curious... why would Sierra name its hunting bullet "Game King", unless it was a hunting bullet? And if it truly is a hunting bullet, why is nobody using it? I think the answers have come out nicely in this thread.

Nothing wrong with the Game Kings as hunting bullet, unless you load it to higher velocities like in anything with the name Magnum attached to it.Sierra found a niche in the bullet sales department for users of sedate velocties of the 2400-2900 fps realm and has chosen not to enter the super bullet fray . No sense to it unless they could tie up a big part of the market sales

I like Sierra bullets. Over the years I've used them often and I will continue to do so, but not for elk. There are just better bullets for animals that large. My choice for elk is the excellent Nosler Partition. Using Noslers just gives me one less thing to worry about. By the way, some of the resent Nos. Partitions have been very accurate out of my rifles, generally as good as Sierras. As an example, my favorite load in a .280AI consisting of IMR7828 and 160gn. Nos. Part. will hold 3-4" at 300yrs for five shots. That's a dog that hunts.

No experience with Sierras on elk with the 270WSM. On elk-size animals however, (zebra, wildebeest, hartebeest, gemsbok), I saw`my son shoot his 270WSM loaded with 140 grain TSXs at about 3150 fps (IIRC) with complete success. Ranges were 80 to 200 yards, angles from broadside to steep quartering away. No bullets recovered, all animals dead. I agree that for a long-awaited high stakes hunt for large, tough animals a proven controlled expansion bullet makes a lot of sense.

I have used a Gameking on a average size black bear, 225 gr. from a .35 Whelen at 2600 fps and the range was 75 yards. Separated jacket and core, but the bear was DRT, never took a step. Now only use them on paper and deer sized game from the Whelen. I use a Partition or TBBC for the bigger stuff.

DocRoc-I spose I'll just have to go against the grain a bit here. I have quite a few elk, well lets say quite a few plus taken with Sierra's out of .270's/06's/7's/300's and 340's. To date I've not seen any issues whatsoever.

Fact is I just shot some of the 160 Sierra HPBT's out of my 7 Mashburn Super tonight and may just use those to take out a couple of elk a month from now.

My one elk bud has taken I think 17 elk with 18 shots with his .270 with 130 Sierra BT's at ranges from close to 650 yds.

Personally I feel they do a lot better job on elk and the big critters than most give them credit for. But then again I feel the same about NBT's. But then again, I've been there, done that and bought the t-shirt and that might be why I feel good in using them and don't fret it.

Bottom line, if you wish to use them then Powder River let er buck and get after it.

See I told you I'd be going against the grain and swimming up stream on this one...

Dober

Dober,
There's a picture down in this post that might make ya grin a bit!;)

When it comes to the 140 grain .277 Sierra GameKings, you have a choice of two distinctly different bullet designs, the (SBT) Spitzer Boat tail, Which is designed&recomended for long range hunting.

Then you have the much Tougher 140 grain HPBT which has a heavier jacket and harder 3%antimony/lead alloy core, designed with 270 Weatherby velocities in mind, exhibiting controlled expansion properties.
If you look very closely at the HPBT, it has 4 skives cut into the heavier jacket to aide expansion/exposure of the harder core at that nano-second after impact.

When guys look at drop charts, they tend to overlook how fast the bullet is losing velocity - shooting a medium to medium-heavy bullet-for-caliber, a rough average is that you're losing approximately 200fps every 100 yards for the first 300 yards as it travels down range. If you're shooting a light-for-caliber bullet (Much the Rage right now) you'll find that they peter out pretty fast.

270Winchester 130gr Sierra Spitzer Boat Tail
Recovered from 6X6 bull Elk just under the skin on the far side.
MV a shade over 3100fps estimated Impact vel 2700-2800fps.(Guestimated @ 200yds)
The Bull wheeled around 180 degrees and collapsed.



Recovered weight = 104gr.

With results like this above this might be crazy but I don't shoot the 130's anymore, in either of my 270 Win's or 270 WSM, the 140gr just makes so much more sense.
Because in the 270 Win I can drive the 140 nearly as fast as the 130gr which give me so much more down range.
And when it comes to the 270WSM I can actually drive the 140 Gameking faster than a 130 should I desire to.

Some of my fav bullets are the Sierra HPBT's, in both the 270 with the 140 and the 30's with the 165 and in my 7 the 160's. I've never had an issue nor do I worry about them.

Thx for sharing

Dober

Doc:My experience with Sierra's on game is not the same as that of others, as you can see from some of the above posts.I kinda like a bullet to stay more or less in one piece,like a bonded bullet,or have some means of weight retention,like the mechanical"block" of a partition,which loses weight, but at least has some means of holding a portion of the bullet together.

Standard cup/cores,like the Sierra,do what you want most of the time,and I'm sure Sierra would not market a bullet that does not do as intended.But I use high velocity cartridges and just prefer the added insurance of something that will hang together reliably.Cup/cores don't always do this.Apparently some Sierra's are pretty tough, but I don't know which one's they are ,so just prefer a bullet I know to be tough.

That said, I DO buy and shoot a LOT of Sierra bullets.

Dober and Sandman... thanks for sharing, guys, never mind That's good dope to know about. It's good to know some people are willing to swim upstream.

FWIW, the boolits I tried were the HPBT variety, 140 gr.

It's tough to make a case for either the Accubond or the GameKing 140's in my rifle based on my range results... both give sub-M.O.A. accuracy, BC's are very close, velocities nearly identical.