I never hear much about good old Sierra Game Kings. How are these as a bear bullet? Are they bonded or old fashion cup and core?

Old fashion cup and core boattail.They're usually always scary accurate.Imagine a heavier GameKing moving at modest speed would work on a bear.But wouldn't be my 1st pick...Prolly the last I'd use.

For bear I would not use them in my 270 or 300WM, but would, with confidence, in my 35 Whelen.

I loaded some up for grins, 180's out of a 30-06 with 55 grns of 4831, scarry accurate like you say. I was hoping they were a bonded bullet.

You're probably thinking black bears I suppose and the 180 would likely work out fine for most (average) blackies. I have shot brown bear with the 300 grainer in a 375. It wasn't a giant of a bear either so it was probably no surprise that the animal didn't stop the bullet.

Wish Sierra would enter the Bonded and Lead Free bullet market.

Not a big Sierra fan....
But as with all things, its subjective, got a buddy who swears by them...
They ARE accurate...I just havent seen consistent terminal performance out of them....
Ingwe

My best whitetail and speed goat both fell to a 130gr. Game King out of a Win. M70 in 270. That said, I haven't used a Game King in almost 9 years.

+1 on that, there are dam accurate out of my gun.

I would welcome that as well!

168 gr. GameKings loaded atop IMR4831 in my 30-06 knocks 'em floppen. Have taken a few deer and one elk with this load and no complaints from the game about not being dead enuf!

I had to use them for years, back then Sierra and cup and core Hornadys were just about all the reloader had..

Sierra's are not my choice, but they work Ok if you don't push them beyond their velocity capability. I "think" you could pretty well say anything over 2800 FPS will cause failure in any cup and core bullet without some kind or retention such as a partition, interlock, weld core, or whatever..

I much prefer the pro hunter to the GameKing however, its a tougher bullet.

I second that. I prefer the Pro Hunters also. I've gotten better accuracy and shot a lot of deer with them.

180's in the '06 will do fine on black bear.

The Pro Hunter is crazy-accurate too. Sierras are my go-to bullet for practice and accuracy testing. I'm skeert of them for hunting though. Might find that perfect buck/bull/bear at 40 yards and have to do the "Sierra stalk".

Not if you can shoot under hunting conditions. You place a properly chosen (ie. 180/30-06 for example) bullet in the correct place on your elk and it will dispatch him easily. Of course, if placing said bullet properly in a target moving 25 mph is something you are not up for the challenge of, something better may help some. (Then again, it might not.)

I lament the demise of many of Sierra's excellent hunting bullets, their round and semi-pointed Pro-Hunters. I may have put more meat in the freezer with the 100 semi-pointed 6mm than any other single bullet. And of course there is no more 160 .264 or 170 .284 either. Clearly the market was ignorant in failing to support them.

I use heavy for caliber. I've found them to be a bit softer than I like, but the animal still dies. 180's out of a .30-06 should work well.

+1 on the 160 .264 Semi-point. I found a box a few years ago at Sportsmans Warehouse and it was on clearance and so I bought the last box. It was quite accurate out of my gun. I was disappointed to find out the reason they were on clearance was because they had been discontinued. I still have about 50-60 left though.

The 160g Gameking is also the first bullet I've been able to get to group worth a darn in my 7mm RM. Although I'm working up a load with the 162g Hornady BTSP that looks promising.

Sierra doesn't have the reputation for being a bullet that holds together well when things go south (hit heavy bone, animal is severely quartering away, etc). But man, they ARE accurate bullets aren't they?

I use Sierra Game Kings all the time the 150gr SBT. Only one Deer has ever ran and that was about 30 yrds. The five i shot last year all of them dropped like a rock. I did recover one of the bullets and it mushroomed nicely. I can understand why different hunters like different bullets i just prefer what works for me.

Bob Hagel used to write that if you are using cup and core go heavy for caliber.
IE 160-175 grs for 7mm or 200 gr. 30 caliber.
The 160 gr 7mm bullet is very accurate in my 7mm Magnum.
I would trust it on Black Bear and just might use it on an oats field hunt next week. My son thinks I should bring it along, in case I see one to far away for the 35 Whelen.
Does anyone hunt with two rifles at once in the looney rank and file?
whelennut

Shot an average size black bear a few years ago with a .35 Whelen, shooting 225 gr. Gamekings. That bear was DRT at a range of about 80 yards. The bullet did shed its core, but the bear didn't know the difference. If I was going for game over 350 lbs or so, I might use something heavier.

Might be a reason they are accurate...

If Sierra would toughen up the SGK, it would probably be all I used, as they are very accurate for me.

As they are right now, they are bombs. So many better choices for bear. Fine for deer if you go lungs, otherwise you're losing some major meat.

Funny, back in the seventies Elmer Keith bitched about them not opening up well enough.

I wish I had a picture of the pure carnage inside of a buck that I hit with a 140gr SGK out of my 280. It wasn't pretty....

I hear ya. Last year I shot a buck with a 130 gr. from my 270 and the carnage was impresive to say the least. Many people talk about lungs turning to jelly this guy didn't have but a few scraps of lungs left.

I have gone to the 140 GK's in my 260. My load is middle of the road and man do they drop deer. In my 270 I use Hornady though. Just seem to get faster kills with the 260.

Elmer was quite contradictory to his own statements and theories of the years, much like a drunk giving a lecture during a black-out phase. He seemed to prefer cartridges with velocities just slightly faster than a sling-shot, so he didn't get a lot of bullet expansion. He knew his stuff, but he was also quite stubborn. I have read a few of his publications, and I have concluded that he was just a crotchety old fart with a single track mind. I'm pretty sure he felt that everyone was entitled to his opinion.

While the Sierra Gamekings don't always end up looking like the deadliest mushroom in the woods they sure seem to kill quickly. Very good bullets out of my 7x57, the 150 and 160 gr. Gamekings.

I have probablly tried ten different factory ammo in my 700 30-06, the Federal with game kings shoot the best so far.

I had a few long talks with them a couple of times. I asked them about making a premium bullet and they declared, " We do make a premium bullet. The Gameking."

Well they are still in denial I guess, if they think their Gameking is a premium.....

I used 150 grain Sierra Gamekings from my .30-06 for several years and had no problems with them on deer. I pretty much got a bang flop every time and the few that ran left a pile of blood on the ground. The only reason I quit using them was because they became hard to find in my area and I found other bullets that worked just as well.

I have used the cup and core Sierra GameKings in several of my rifles over the years, and found accuracy and performance on game to be exceptional.

I would still be shooting those 160 SGK's Federal loaded today in my 7 STW, if it was still available, having taken several head of game with them. Moose, elk, deer, mountain goat and bighorn sheep, from ranges of 30 yards out to 475.

It is the 215 gr bullet that I am currently using in my 338-06, getting 2750 fps and shooting 1/2" groups.

150 gr Sierra GK , '06, on yearling caribou @70yards, 8/13/09. Book ballistics about 3K, but probably not thru a 17 inch barrel. 20 plus year old reloads. Entry wound.

Exit wound at base of neck opposite side about the same diameter. Lots of "blood shot", thru membranes, etc. Mostly trimmed out during processing (self, not commercial! - they will hack and throw!). 'bou ran 30 yards and fell over.

'bou are generally too stupid to die easy, which is not to say they are easy enough to get close enough to kill.

I tried a box of federal 100 grain game kings in my .243 last year. shot a spike at 40 yards with a side shot to the shoulder. The bullet blew up. It messed up the shoulder, mushed the lungs and pieces of the bullet went back and cut the gut bag which oozed into the meat in the shoulder. The deer ran 30 yards and died. what a mess. It killed it but I was less than impressed with the bullet. I used my 30-30 for the rest of the season. maybe the larger game king bullets won't do that.

My understanding of GK bullets is that they are highly accurate (certainly in my rifles) but they are designed to open quickly, at reduced velocities- ie -long ranges. If this is true, then they perform exactly as designed.

At shorter ranges, they will perform as they did on my son's caribou. = open quickly and explosively on contact. But they do seem to"punch through" as well, retaining about the same diameter all the way thru (I've never recovered one, even on moose).

Can't fault the bullet for performing within it's design parameters, can we?

That said, a GK is not my first second, or even third choice of bullets,generally. But I inherited a pile of them,so I will be using them for a few years, in at least two calibers.

For equitable quality and price, I'd choose Hornady Interlocks.. They may not be quite as accurate (what's a half inch, under field conditions?), but they perform as well or better at the terminal end, with out as much "bloodshot' thing,.

Sierra GK are my staple bullets for most of my hunting calibers. In over 3 decades of big game hunting, I only recovered 3 of them, and all from frontal shots with close to full length penetration.


L to R :
7x64 on Muntjac at 80 m, 160 BTSP found in ham, 181% expansion and 48% retained weight.
.300 Win Mag on Red Stag at 250 m, 165 BTSP recovered from hide pouch on opposing flank, 204% exp. & 78% ret. w.
.30-06 on Roebuck at 180 m, 165 BTSP also in hide pouch on flank, 256% exp. & 59% ret. w.

I never had a problem with the GK bullets, knowing and taking into account that :

* GK BTSP = fast expanding bullets meant to be shot at standard velocities from standard calibers ;

* GK HPBT = contrary to popular belief associating all HP bullets to soft & fast expanding projectiles, Sierra's HP are harder magnum bullets destined for heavier game and/or magnum velocities.

The nice thing about them is that, their ogive being the same, you load them the same and they shoot as accurately and to the same POI. I regularly carry both SP and HP when hunting were both light and heavier game are present.

My son used some handloads that I worked up with the 140 gr. HPBT Sierra to take his first deer last year. Deer went about 4 steps from a distance of 110 yards. The handload was pretty mild at about 2750 fps from a .270 Winchester. Complete pass through at that range.

i hear the term "DRT" and i think of 2 bullets that, when driven at higher speeds have almost always given me that kind of performance...

the first, and the one that i have by far the most experience with, is the game king... it has routinely given me lightning like performance on deer, hogs and medium game...
they are explosive, though... and i occasionally destroy a little more than i intend to given good shot placement through the lungs...

the second bullet that gives me that kind of performance is the partition... i'm convinced that the front core of those bullets are designed to come apart with explosive performance... they are every bit as destructive as the game king, IME/IMO....

i've used both bullets on bear, although they were in different cartridges... the game king in a .243, the partition in 30-06... both very effective, giving one shot kills...

more to the point, when fired from the same cartridge, i see no difference in the destructiveness of the 85 gr game king or the 100 partition, on deer or hogs...

Use heavy for caliber, 180s in .30, 150s in .270, 160s in 7mm, etc., no more than 2700 fps mv.

The oft forgotten rule for standard bullets which was quite commonly known before there were so many choices in fancier, more expensive bullets types. Know thy bullets.

I wouldnt lose any sleep using them over 2700 fps.......