Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Sierra Game-King Lovers...

I've been shooting factory loaded Federal Premium 165 gr. Sierra Game King BTSP loads through my 30-06 Mauser for well over a decade now. They were the most accurate during extensive testing of various factory offerings. They're scary accurate, consistent, and I have yet to have a deer travel more that 10 feet when hit by one of these loads. Longest shot was a doe at 343 yards broadside. Bullet went through and through, the deer was dead before she even hit the ground. They're an expensive load, but with hunting time being so limited, and the opportunities few and fleeting, I don't mind spending a little more. The proof should be sitting in my freezer in a few weeks here.

I have seen a 150 Sierra BT come apart at 150 yards on the shoulder of an antelope buck. The jacket was found on the hide in the entrance wound and the rest of the core disintagrated inside the buck. This was launched from a 308 Winchester Savage 99. Did the buck die? Oh yes. Right there. Was my buddy pissed? He never used Sierra again. That and a few other examples were enough evidence for me. I do not want to take any chances. Additionally when I talked to the "Ballistic Team" they sound like their stuff does not smell and they do not need to upgrade their bullets, like everybody else is doing in the industry. They are a company in denial using yesteryear's technology. I have no use for them. Great target bullets and great varmint bullets. Everything else they make are made for breaking in barrels or fireforming brass. Again that is my opinion. One man's trash is another man's treasure.

I've recently been trying the 65 gn .224 Game Kings out of my Tikka T3 .223 on deer.

4 shots, 4 Fallow deer, all DRT, all complete pass throughs with chest shots.

I reckon that they work OK

WOW...Thanks a million for all you folks sharing your experiences!!! Very helpful indeed!!!

With the few folks who don't find them working too well in their experiences, do folks think if that they tend to work better in some calibers more than others because they're too frangible at excess speeds and lower weights, read grains???

I don't know?

I tend to believe they perform better in the slower cartridges, read 30-30, 30-40, 250 & 300 Sav, .243, .257 Rob, 6.5-55, the Mousers series, .308 Win, .303 Brit and so on and so forth. Had a .225 gr. SGK in a .338 Win blow up on the side of a Doe muley about 20-22 yrs ago that blew a 9' circle of hair around the deer and it just ran off. The shot was to the Rt rib cage from about 75 yds. My pard saw it further down a ridge and dispatched it with a 180gr Colorado custom (know known as Barnes) from a .308 Norma. After further inspection, we noticed the hit from the .225gr SGK and the flesh wound it did. I was horrified and came to the conclusion I still have today. This is why I use the bullets I do. I feel it's my responsibility as a responsible hunter to make every effort in making a honorable, quick & humane dispatch of the quarry stalked and hunted. This was just my experiences and in no way to start a war.

It is what it is.

I'm a pretty big fan of GK's, especially the HPBT version.

I say load them up in whatever you want, shoot the deer right, and fill out your tag.I've yet to have one let me down.

I agree that they seem to perform better at lower velocities.

I suspect that the 65 gn .224 Game Kings would show a lot less penetration and a lot more 'blow up' if they were launched out of a 22/250 or 220 Swift for example and the target was close.

So far the my results with them on deer from a standard .223 have been very good. At this stage I'd rate them better than the 63 gn Sierra (and I've shot a lot of deer with that bullet)

I used to use them for everything in my 30-06s. I took several elk using Federal Premium 150 grain Sierra Game Kings until one day it took four shots in the lungs at 30 yards to down a cow elk. So I switched to Federal Premium High Energy 180 grain Nosler Partitions and have taken a bunch more elk using those, with no problems.

I still use 150 grain Game Kings for deer and smaller game. I just got back from an antelope hunt in Wyoming and got two bucks, both one-shot kills, using them.

They are very accurate and I love to use them for practice because I get such small groups. Pumps my ego.

Sierra Game Kings are a great bullet when used within their design parameters.

KC

I shoot 150gr factory loads through my 30-06. They shoot around 1 inch consistently, which is good enough for my hunting. The performance is great. Good expansion and dead deer.

SS

I've shot a half dozen deer and one hog with them. 175 grain 7mm, 165 and 180 grain 30 cals.

I concur with those who say they are exceptionally accurate. However, they have a very narrow envelope of performance. A 175 7mm bullet is too hard for deer even at 3000 fps, where a 165 30 cal is great on deer when it impacts at 2400 fps. I had a 30 180 grainer (MV of 2900 fps and impact distances of 50-60 yds) fail to expand on a broadside shot on a small buck, and had that bullet fail to penetrate fully on a lengthwise shot on a small doe.

I wish Sierra would emerge out of the dark ages of hunting bullets and offer a bonded Gameking.

They won't do it Blaine. I asked them about making a premium bullet and the ballistic Nazi said we already make premiums.

Totally in denial.

Well I used the 200 Gr in my 300 Weatherby at a hair over 3000 fps an Elk quartering away from me at 150 yards right to left. Hit it at about forth rib from the rear and the bullet lodged under the right shoulder 70 in tact and did not loose the jacket as some claim. Don't know what to say that's always been my result. I'm thinking you just have bad Carma because this wasn't a one time thing.

Agreed. Even if it had a more generously tapered thickness jacket (easy to make even if they insist on using lead inside) and would help alot of folks and they would be better suited for a wider range of FPS which would work even better for the close and longer shots (within responsible reasoning).

The fact of the matter is this. There are questionable and bad results with others experiences with them, so there is room for improvement here. Its not just a random thing either. It's a very mixed bag. Not good. For those that have had good luck,,,,count your blessings and hope that when the time of truth comes again, they perform as required.

Im not a huge fan but I shoot them in a couple of rifles. I recover them on occasion but have never had a blow up or lost animal. I think they are onto something with their core composition and jacket thickness. They just need to figure out how to keep them together consistently.

My swede loves them at 2500 fps. I get jacket seperatiom about half the time outa dead critters. They are just too accurate to quit.

Joseph

Used Federal Premium 117 Sierra GameKing BTSP for years in my 25.06.

Had a consecutive run over several seasons of 8 one shot kills on muleys and whitetails. Most DRT, none ran more than 40 yds.

My Rem 700 Varminter would consistently tuck them into 3 shot groups of 3/4" or less.

...but then again, I was shooting a 25.06, eh?

I've used the SBT & HPBT versions of the Game King in .243 Winchester (85 gr.@ 3,100 fps), .308 Winchester (165 gr. @ 2,600 fps), and .30-06 (180 gr. @ 2,734 fps) for a very long time with no problems whatever. I've always managed to put the GK where it is supposed to go and stuff dies very quickly for me.

I've used the 100 grainers at about 3300 fps out of my 25-06 on deer. Everything has dropped in it's tracks from 30 yards to 200. The same bullet also works wonders in my 250 savage. Maybe it's just the 25 cal that's any good.

Anyone used their 220 grainer in the 06'. I really like the Federal Classic load using the 220 grain 06' out of my #1 RSI. Great walking gun load combo for black bear.

Everytime I think of using a Sierra Game King, I remember a deer hunt with a friend about 20 years ago in which a 165 GK launched at about 2850 fps spined a small mule deer at 225 yards. The bullet came unglued and literally blew the top half of the deer off (it left at least a basketball sized hole). I can't say the bullet failed in that the deer died pretty much instantly, but It just seemed a bullet loaded at .30-06 velocities shouldn't do that much destruction at 225 yards

If they did, they would probably dominate the category of bonded hunting bullets.