The 270 Win is the weapon. Deer to 400 yards are the game. What will it be? 150 grain Gameking or Speer boat tail? Thoughts,opinions.

Sierra has only one bullet I like for game, and that aint it....

Between those two I don't think there's enough difference to discuss. I'd shoot whichever one grouped better in my rifle.

Sierra would be my choice. Since 400 yards is your max, B.C. isn't king - I would also give Sierra's BTHP Gameking a look. They shoot really good in my rifles and are killers!!!

I'd use the Sierra. In my experience they usually trump Speers in the accuracy department.

Many hunters don't realize the Speer boattails are NOT Hot-Cors. Instead they're swaged around a cold core, and the cores are pretty soft.

Sierra GameKings work fine as long as they're not started much faster than 2800 fps, but of course many handloaders try to push any bullet as fast as they can--and with the 150 .270 GK that can easily be 3000+ fps with Reloder 26.

As others have noted, the slightly higher BC of softpoint boattails doesn't mean squat at ranges out to 400. If you want a noticeably higher BC, for whatever reason, try one of the newer .270 bullets like the 140 Berger Classic Hunter, 145 Hornady ELD-X or Nosler 150 AccuBond Long Range. If you want a 150-grain softpoint spitzer that's reliable both near and far, even at 3000+ fps, the Hornady Interlock Spire Point is hard to beat.

JB,

Might the .277" Sierras have been engineered around a bit more speed since the 270 Winchester has been the primary cartridge for that diameter? My late father had no problems on deer with 130 grain Sierras launched from a 26" barreled Ruger No.1.

m

Anti-Hornady?

Me? Certainly not. I've loaded and used a bunch of Hornady bullets for a long time.

That said, I am a bit miffed because I can't get newer production 150 and 165 grain .308" Interlocks to shoot like the older ones. They've made changes in shape and location to the ogive/shank transition area and my rifles don't like it.

I have used both on deer. .270 Win (130g GK) and .257 Roberts (100g Speer). The .270 was used on several deer and one antelope. The Speer on one deer.

The GK was totally unreliable inside 200 yards. The only animal shot beyond 200 yards was an antelope at 360 yards. That was the only GK that exited and in fact the only one that hit the ribs of the offside. Every other one came apart even on smallish deer before hitting the offside ribs. This led to dramatic kills or deer that needed to be shot again because the bullet failed to penetrate enough when heavy bone like shoulder was hit. It has proven very accurate however. I have decided if I use them again for deer I would go with the 150g as you are asking about to see if they would give better penetration.

I only shot one deer with the Speer. It hit just in front of the shoulder causing a big entrance hole and no exit, killing the deer. Speer does say the boatail is softer than the "Hot-core" and is meant for long range shots.

No not at all. I was curious what the concenus here was between the two bullets listed. Neither advertises any prevention from separation. Gamekings have a bad rep pertaining to core loss. I've personally never recovered either from a deer. My T3 drills the prettiest little groups with Gameking 150s. Considered picking up a box of Speer b-tails to see if they would do the same. The only other non-premium boat tail Id consider is the Hornady. Currently out of them. Ballistic tips for whatever reason,don't give the accuracy I'd expected.

I wouldn't pick either one!

Speer BT's is the reason I switched to flat base a long time ago. But with other manufacturers' bullets BT's work out fine. For some reason I get better accuracy with FB over BT's in Hornady bullets in general.

If I were to go with Speer I'd choose their hot core bullets (I.E - FB). If I were to choose Sierras I would stick with paper at the speeds from a 270. However, if you kept your bullets from hitting the shoulder, the Sierras 'may' work. They have failed for me.

If FB Speer bullets are not to your liking, try Interlock Hornady's.

My first choice for a non-premium bullet for the 270 is Hornady Interlock and I'd try FB and BT's or and I don't have experience with Hornady Interbond bullets, but I'd think they would be good bullets too.

I have used mono-lithic bullets in the 270 and I think that if you wanted a bullet for anything a 270 is good for the monolithic bullets work well.

Having said that if there were only Nosler Partitions available for the 270 - they might be tied, but they can't be beat.

4 seasons ago I loaded some Speer 150 gr boattails I had in "inventory" for my hunting partner's .270. I used H4831 and added powder until the velocity reached 2800 fps. At last count, if I remember correctly, he is 17/17 on deer, coyotes and feral dogs. In the past I have shot the Speer 160 gr boattail in my .280 at the same velocity and killed several deer from 60 to 200 yards. Performance was all you could ask with massive internal destruction and golf ball sized exits on broadside shots. Only shot ribs not shoulders though.

In my own .270 I use the old Nosler 150 gr Solid Base and it always worked well on deer and antelope. I stocked up on those before the supply dried up and I probably have 9 or 10 boxes left on the shelf. Another good deer bullet I loaded for a couple of friends was the Hornady 140 spire point boattail.

Back in the 80's I lent my .280 to a local warden in Idaho when his rifle went screwy and he killed two elk with it using the Speer 160. He killed a cow with one shot from above and behind that took out a foot of spine and a spike broadside that he shot high through the spine. Both were one shot kills. Based on this experience my vote is for the Speer.

Speer 130 gr Hotcore

Gameking

I would choose GK over Speer.

The 2 different Speers I've killed with didn't impress me at all. One was a 145 and the other was a 140.

I have only used Speer bullets in my .338 Winchester Magnum, the long discontinued 275 gr. RN which worked well on elk and mule deer. My preference is for Sierra Game King and they have performed well on whitetail out of my .35 Whelen.

I've noticed the same thing. Sucks. They are still good performers,but seem finicky.

I've noticed the HPBT Game King has something of a following. Is there any difference in them beside the hollow point?

I've read someplace, that the HPBT Gamekings have a harder core in them, so they penetrate better. The HP is so the nose won't deform, as can happen in some magazines. So I've been told, anyway.

Personally, I'd just use a 130 ProHunter and be happy.

I’ve killed a bunch of deer with Sierra Pro Hunters and Game Kings. 243, 260, 7-08, 270, 308 and 7mag. They all worked, no failures. Although I shoot more Nosler Ballistic Tips than anything else now for deer, consider me in the Sierra camp between your choices.

Sierra's description, which I have found to be true across several calibers for this design...

".270 CALIBER (.277) 140 GR. HPBT
The 140 grain #1835 Hollow Point Boat Tail bullet is intended for medium and heavier game at shorter ranges. It is a tough bullet, allowing higher impact velocities with good expansion at shorter ranges. It also delivers good long-range performance on heavier game from the 270 Winchester and magnum rifles in 270 caliber and is highly accurate."
https://www.sierrabullets.com/store/product.cfm/sn/1835/277-dia-140-gr-HPBT

I know you asked about speer vs sierra. but............going at 270 win velos I'd personally look at nosler partition or hornady interlock. but, there again,i'm a fan of an entry and an exit.
good luck,
Big Ed

The 150 GameKing in a 270 will get through about any deer out there. It is a fairly stout bullet. That is all a buddy of mine shot in a 7400 he had when he hunted in the woods. He killed a lot of deer with that gun and said it was DRT on timber whitetails with complete penetration.

Was a Barnes or Partition fan for most everything else but he said that combo of 270 and 150 GameKing was as good as he could ask for.

Same here as far as shooting more Ballistic Tips for deer. As far as the OP’s choices go, Sierra would be my choice, but I prefer the Pro-Hunter flat base over the Gameking due to more consistent accuracy at the distances I shoot at big game. (300 yds or less) The Pro-Hunter, in my experience anyway, seems to be a little tougher bullet than the Gameking. For whatever the reason, I’ve never gotten the same accuracy with Speer bullets. Also, I have tried and tried to use the often recommended Hornady Interlock in several calibers without the results that others seem to have with that bullet.

I have killed lots of elk and deer with Sierra bullets in 270 and 30-06, but would not worry too much about the Speer bullets either. Last year I shot an elk and a deer with the new wiz bang eld x bullets in 6.5 creed. and thought they were way too soft and explosive. Shot another elk with the 6.5 140 gr Sierra GK and had better penetration and less meat damage. The best answer I can give you is witch ever one shoots best out of your gun will be fine for deer.

I hear you there. It seems the more they screw with bullets,the more job specific they get. Sst, Eld-X, LR- ACCU bond. Pages and pages of not so glowing reviews. Go figure.

I don't think there is any real difference between the 2 bullets the OP asked about. If those 2 are the only options choose which ever your rifle seems to like best.

And as Bugger pointed out, there are better choices. Quite a few of them.

Bench-rest accuracy is wonderful but is FAR less important then other factors for a big game hunt. If bullet (a) shoots 1/4MOA and Bullet (B) shoots 1 MOA and you don't have a bench rest, you will not be able to tell the difference in accuracy when you are hunting. But a bullet that balls up and holds together is a lot better then one that break apart.

Being brain washed into thinking that a 1/4MOA bullet is "better" then a 1 MOA bullet for big game hunting is similar to believing that the faster time of one car in the 1/4 mile makes it a "better car" then the pick-up truck, when the specific job is to haul block to a construction site.

Sure, both will kill a deer very quickly if the shot is broadside and placed where it should be.

When you see the difference is when you hit a bone that you didn't expect to hit, or when the deer is quartering strongly.

The good tough bullets don't care.

The bullets that turn into a charge of snake-shot often don't do as well with those shots.

Of the two for deer I can't see one being better than the other. I like both Speer and Sierra bullets though with Speer I have always used the flat based bullets with excellent results. The Sierra GK 150 is a fine bullet too flip a coin.

I regularly use 165 grain Game Kings out if a .30-06, at moderate velocities. They have always performed very well. I would imagine that the Speer would behave pretty comparably to the Sierra. Speer bullets shoot pretty well out of my .30-06, so maybe I will give them a try this season.

While I would not personally pick either one of these bullets, I have shot deer in the past with Sierra 130 grain and the deer seemed very dead when I was field dressing them. That said, I can't imagine not to able to put one down with either one of the bullets suggested. I would load them up in the 2800 fps neighborhood until I got the best accuracy and then go shoot something. The 270 is my all time favorite and while I have killed 9 elk and quite a few deer with that caliber I have only scratched the surface compared to MuleDeer, so I'd take his advice on the Hornady spire point

I don't use 150 grain bullets in the 270, but killed a truck load of whitetails with the 130 grain Sierra Gamekings. One shot.....one deer.

I'd shoot the Gameking and be done with it. 150 is heavy for caliber in 270 and has sectional density on par with a 180 grain 30 caliber bullet so that should mitigate bullet "failures". If I had to bet, I'd say if you shoot behind the shoulder you will never recover one unless the distance is measured in feet. If you shoot the shoulder you might occasionally get one or a piece of one on the offside hide from a very dead animal.

Can’t speak to 400 yards, but I used the Speer 150 BT in my old mod70 for a little bit. The three deer I killed were all at 40 yards or less and expansion was explosive. 1 hit a rib going in and produced 4 exit wounds, 1 did not exit and produced a 4” entry wound. The third hit the neck and nearly severed the head from the body.. Safe to say they were a bit soft for that application. They were more accurate in my gun than the Sierra.

Old70

I have used both brands in 130gr. and both seem to work fine as the deer I shot at went down.
Try them both and see which one your rifle likes, mine also shot better with the speer flat base.

Isn't that one of the mysteries of shooting,loading? Over the years,I've had rifles,of the same make and model,prefer one or the other. Never have figured it out. My wife piloted a m700 270 for 25 years. I too had the same rifle of slightly different vintage. Hers wouldn't group a boat tail of any flavor. Mine loved them.

When I started hand loading in the mid 70s, my bench was pretty much all yellow bullet boxes. The old Speer flat base was where I started with a new or different rifle. Sierra was a staple with one of my buddies at the time. We both did well with our respective bullet choices. My future father in law at the time was a Hornady men. He turned be onto them. It was all very simple then. Now it's about covering ALL the bases. Close shots. Long shots. Hard angles or broadside. I think it boils down to wringing out every ounce of potential from the rig. If it was cut and dried,I bet a lot of us would hang it up. It's what keeps it interesting.

I dumped all the 130 and 150g bullets in my 270's for deer. My nephew was hunting with the 110g tipped tripple shock and I saw him dump half a dozen deer at some range in one year with the bullet MV of 3350 fps with H4350.

I tried the 110g tipped tripple shock in a Ruger 77 MII and a Rem 700, holy cow...extremely accurate, bullet seated .050 off the lands. All the deer and hogs that I have shot died on the spot, complete penetration from any and all angles.

Hard to believe just how flat shooting a 110g bullet is with a muzzle velocity of nearly 3400 fps, 300 yards is a chip shot these rifles are so accurate.

Less recoil is a plus also.

I am not sure that all Barnes tipped X 's work like the 270, but the 110g is a hands down winner in flat shooting and killing ability.

Those two bullets on deer...six of one, half a dozen of the other. I don't think you'd be able to tell the difference in their performance on animals. I do think the Speer will be a bit softer, more prone to throwing fragments. I like and use both for deer in various calibers from 243 to 30.

150 grain in either flavor will do well enough on deer.

The Speer BT will be slightly softer at long range/low velocity.

Sierra's perforate nicely-

I'm sure either will kill deer. I've found it tough to find bullets in any caliber from .22 on up that won't. We even used 55 grain "accelerators" out of a .30-06 on a couple back in the 80's. Killed them dead as a stone.

Hey Keith , right on. 6.5 with the Barnes 100gr TTSX, 270 110gr. 7mm 120gr & 30 cal 130gr. They all work

I wouldn't touch another Gameking when it comes to hunting bullets. Sierra's .224 63 grain SMP is the only Sierra I consider "good" for critters....Gamekings may as well be varmint bullets: what a mess they make at normal ranges and velocities.....

The Speer 105 grain .243 BTSP has been a good deer/antelope/elk bullet for me but that's my only experience with that bullet.

I'd seriously take the advice from others on this thread and find other options. Do you not like the .277" 150 grain hot-cor? That's been a damn good hunting bullet for me, out of my .270 Win.

Didn't know Speer offered a 105 BTSP. Their website apparently doesn't either. Do you mean the old 105 Hot-Cor?

I apologize....I meant the 100 BTSP.



I think I had the 105 Hornady BTHP on my brain...

No Hot Cor prejudice here. Some of my first bullet boxes were yellow. Just looking for the local consensus of the two bullets listed. There is a partial box of 150 grain 277 Hot Cor on the bench at present. This Tikka seems to have a thing for boat tails.

I regularly hunt with Game kings. 225 gn 35 cal. I caught one a couple of years ago from a buck I shot in the chest.it was in the back edge of the ham and was a perfect mushroom..
The biggest deer I ever killed was with a 180 gn 30 cal GK in a 300 Weatherby Federal factory load. Shot the deer in the shoulder bullet hung just under the hide in the offside ham. Core was loose in the cup but they had stayed together. Range was 35 yards. I was watching a long field and the deer came out right behind the stand.That bullet held together well for the bones it broke and speed it started. I trust them on deer.

130 gr Federal trophy bonded tip bullets.

Otter6,

As I stated in my first post on this thread, the Speer BTSP rifle bullets are NOT Hot-Cors. Instead they're swaged, like most other bullets, and have softer lead cores than many other cup-and-core bullets. The 150 Speer .270 bullets on your bench are either flat-base Hot-Cors or boattail swaged bullets. They can't be both.

Will also note that I've had both Sierra GameKings and Speer Hot-Cors leave their jackets at the ENTRANCE hole on deer.

"Will also note that I've had both Sierra GameKings and Speer Hot-Cors leave their jackets at the ENTRANCE hole on deer."

Yup, I have seen the same.

Boat tails have a tendency to do it more then flat bases bullets, but I have seen this several times from both flat base and boat tail bullets. A thicker jacket helps more on the flat base then the Boat Tail.

Boat tail bonded bullets do not shed their jackets any more then bonded core flat bases bullets, and of course, solid expanding bullet have no problems with boat tail design at all.

About 30 years ago I did a lot of experimenting with bullet design and I feel I came up with a simple formula that fits the bill for hunting bullets of the cup and core type that worked quite well no mater what the bullet weight or diameter is.

The formula is as follows.

(#1
At any given diameter the ratio of jacket to core should be 50% of the diameter of the bullet. In other words a 30 caliber bullet should have 15 caliber worth of jacket and 15 caliber worth of lead. The jacket used as the cup when starting out is .075" thick strip. Therefore .075" X2 for the total of .150". (+ or - about 2% is fine) That means you have a .075 jacket formed into a cup.

That's far too thick to expand much. Yup....it is! That's the idea in fact.

So, step #2 is to measure the length of the ogive. Any Ogive. Now taper that from it's base thickness , (in this case .075") to .006" at the nose.

The taper is done with a swedging punch from the inside so the outside sill looks like a cylindrical cup, but the mouth is thin. A male/female die set is used for this, so the outside cannot become any larger. The taper is made from the point on the inside of the jacket that is even with where the shank and the ogive of the bullet depart. Next a core is swedged in, and the ogive formed. Putting a cannelure into the jacket at 33% from the base and another at 66% from the base makes "waists" inside the jacket that help hold the core, just like the old Remington Core-Lokts did, but 2 instead of one. There are not made for crimping the brass case, but only as locks for the core.

The thin nose will expand at fairly low impact velocities, down to about 1650 FPS but the heavy jacket keeps the bullet from breaking up even if heavy bone is hit, or impact velocities are high. This is not fool proof, but it works in the large majority of cases, If the bullet turns sideways and bends a bit it can still "squirt out" he core, but it does so on thinner jackets too, so that is not an argument against the design.

Bullets generally mushroom at the nose to about 50% larger then unfired size, so a 30 stops expanding at about 45 cal, a 22 expands to about 31 cal, a .375 stops at about 56 cal, and so on.

I did this with hand made bullets from 22 cal to 45 cal and found it was pretty universal no mater what diameter they bullets were and no mater what weight (length) I made them.

I believe this is the best formula to follow for cup and core bullets. But I can't seem to get any of the big boys to listen. Some of the older Remington Core-Lokts and a few of the WW Power Points were close however. So did some of the old Kynoch bullets from the 20s.

Production with factory available strip sold by Kennecott and Anaconda seems to be the factor.
The machines are all set to use it, so changing over to other thicknesses will cause problems (I am guessing anyway) plus the factories would have to make their own rolling mills to form the jacket strip for each caliber.

Anyway, just information from 30-35 years ago.
Interesting to some, but perhaps not relevant. I seriously doubt any bullet manufacturer is going to take it to heart.

Otter 6, I have fed my .270 a steady diet of Sierra 140 gr. HPBT since I got it 7 or so years ago.. Coyotes, deer, antelope,& hogs have all been killed with this bullet.. The one elk was with a 140 SST, but I have shot many elk with 165 HPBT 30 cal. and 160 HPBT in 7mm,, I have had those shoot though the lungs, but it is not something to break shoulders with.. Both the .30 and 7mm have also killed moose for me.. When I still traveled to the east to hunt whitetails, I took a big doe at 400 yards with the .270 and 140 Sierra... For deer size game, I have had great success with these bullets.. That is what you ask about..

Yes,I've known that for years. They are 150 grain Hot Core flat base.

my favorite deer bullets are either Barnes bullets or Swift bullets both are better big deer bullets ,in the old days Nosler partition was a great bullet and still are good

I'm with Pete on this, but it has nothing to do at all with the question.

I have killed a pile of critters with the Game kings. The reason I went with them is because almost every rifle I tried them in grouped better with the Sierra. I have been using the 165 gr. HPBT in my 30-06 and it does perform better on game and it shoots like a match grade bullet as well. I have never lost an animal with the Game kings but have had several jacket-core separations happen. I think that is to be expected with cup and core at the top speeds they are now being used at.

I don't shoot any version of Sierra bullets at game animals any longer, four bullet failures will do that to you, and there are only a couple of Speer bullets that I use, mostly the 87 grain .257" Hotcores in 1-14" ROT 250-3000s.

After shooting a lot of different 130, 140, and 150 grain .277" bullets from a few different 270s, I've settled on the 140 grain AB as my preferred deer and elk bullet in that caliber.

The Gameking will most likely be more accurate. Deer aren't hard to kill but limited to just Speer or Sierra, I'd take the Hot Cor or Pro Hunter over either .

For 20+ years a Speer 160g Grand Slam was my choice in my 7mm RM, deer and elk. Worked near and far. Stopped using them around 2004 when I went to true bonded bullets. Took my last elk with one three years ago, at 411 yards, quartering away.

Not the sleekest bullet, but out to 400 yards that isn't a problem. No problem in my experience getting MOA accuracy in a rifle capable of such.

That said, I now use and recommend Barnes TTSX and AccuBond to my family and extended family members for big game.

I've had a couple of failures with 130gr Sierra SBT on deer where the bullet came apart on the shoulder and failed to penetrate all the way through in one piece, but only within 100 yards where velocity was still very high. (I've not had that problem with Speer, or Hornady in that weight and caliber and believe their jackets either stay together better with their "flat bases" or their jackets are a bit thicker.) I've not had the same trouble with 150SBT or 150Spt (Speer) but always considered them for larger game than deer in that caliber whether "boat-tail" or flat base. (My "go-to-around-bullet" that seems to always work, "long or short", is the 150gr Nosler Partition; and IMO worth the extra cost for their consistent performance to use on any game where I would use a .270 Win.)

All the way through the deer, or just the shoulder?

A good shot with any hunting bullet will kill a Whitetail or Hog. They aren’t tough game animals. A poor shot with a partition will mean a lost animal.

The Trophy Bonded tipped Federal’s should be awesome. I have some loaded, hoping to try them on pigs soon. The old Bear Claws were good, the new ones should be better!!

Regarding the 130gr SBT Sierra bullet, in each case, the bullet and jacket did not stay together after hitting the shoulder bone and "take out the plumbing" and neither of the bullets exited (not a "game changer" if the internal organs were shut down). If I had I shot the deer behind the shoulder and taken out both lungs, I probably would not have had to track them as far as I did and would have had a much easier blood trail to follow (IMO). I, in recent years, prefer to shoot medium and big game in the shoulder when possible for "quick kills"; and I prefer a bullet that will at least drive through the chest cavity from most "reasonable" angles and penetrate the heart/lung area. I don't use Partitions in every caliber I own, but if they are accurate, I've found them to work well in some of the worst of circumstances or shooting angles on animals big and small; and on bone and "soft tissue". I particularly like how they seem to make the smaller caliber rifles more effective on the "bigger" animals of the "species". I agree that a "good shot" can kill deer with just about any hunting bullet or caliber and I know there are those on this site that are just that good - I readily admit that I am not and have to keep shooting almost weekly to come "close" to my "betters" (load, load, load and practice, practice, practice!). Of all the Sierra bullets I've owned and shot, the 130gr (.277) spitzer boattail has been my only failures on deer where the shot was "called". Consider that I've loaded and used "Game Kings" in .243, .257, .264, .284, .308, .323, and .358 diameters for nearly 40 years (I live close to the factory) - I'd call those two "failures" were probably "anomalies"; however, I've had a "bias" against that particular diameter bullet ever since (my bad). I also developed a "bias" for the 150gr Partition in the .270 caliber because my rifle likes them so well and they have always worked for me (go figure!). There are some great bullets out there, like the Trophy Bonded and such, that work just as well as the Partitions and most of the times any "Red, Green, or Yellow" box works fine if your gun shoot them accurately and they are designed and marketed for the game you are after. Isn't it great that we Americans have so many choices provided by our "Capitalistic" society! Fortunately, we all have many different opinions on what constitutes the "Best", so we can keep those great companies researching and turning out better products for the future generation of hunters/shooters at reasonable prices.

Sierra for me all day. I use both game kings and pro hunters and the deer never complained. I prefer fast expanding bullets in the ribs but have put game kings through shoulders near and far on occasion.

I use Speer 120gr Hot-Cors in my 25.06 the are very accurate and work excellent on deer. My daughter uses the Sierra 120gr Pro Hunter in her .260 with equal results. I tried the Speer 120gr in her .260 but couldn't get the accuracy that the Sierra gave in her rifle so we went with the Sierra for her.

I have used the 130 and 150 grain Sierra boat tails and the 140 grain HPBT. All have worked on deer sized game. The 140 is much tougher and is my favorite. The BC is lower but that's not a factor at the ranges I shoot. I have been using Barnes bullets for the last several years.

i like both of them

I find them both to be good when shooting medium-to-heavy weights for caliber at moderate speeds in typical deer rifles like 7mm-08.270/30-06 etc. They are very effective. I am not a fan of such soft cup/cores in 6mm/257 chamberings, as exits are not as reliable as I'd like.

I’ve had good luck with Speer 7mm 145 gr BTSP on deer. Only Sierra I ever ran were 25 cal 100 grain BTSP at about 3300 FPS out of a 25-06. Killed deer but blew to hell if it hit bone.

That sums it up