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After 20 some years, I stopped using Sierra bullets for big game this year. They always shot good out of my rifles, but they consistently came apart when shot from an '06, 7 Rem mag, and .300 Jarrett. On shots over 250-300 yards they have performed fine, meaning that they didn't completely fragment, and, with the magnum rifles, left exit holes. They always killed fine on broadside shots. This year I used Nosler Accubonds with satisfactory results, in my .300. I do still use them for varmints, and I shoot a lot of their Matchkings out of all my rifles. And as for 200 yds being sniping  maybe in Texas, but not where I come from.  | ||
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I always hit where I am aiming... | |||
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Hell of a shot Steve...but why opt for such a small target at such long range. I would have gone for the lungs myself. | |||
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Quote: Yeah, but were you AIMING for the neck, or did that Montana wind blow your bullet off course?  George | |||
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Hmmmmmm, Neck Shot on purpose at 425 yds???????????????????????? Jeff | |||
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I always go for a neck shot when it is available, except when I am hunting with either .357 or a .44 handgun. When gasoline is $2.18 per gallon, and they charge $60 and up to process an animal around here, I want as much meat as I can get. Besides, that rifle and load will shoot 5-shot groups at 400 yards all day long of under 1". Why not take advantage of it? | |||
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Quote: Oh my! | |||
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Man, I'm SUCH an under-achiever. Here I thought 1" groups@ 100 yards and shoulder shots at 300 was something to be proud of. jorge | |||
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"A man has got to know his limitations." (Dirty Harry) | |||
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I love Sierra bullet within their capabilities. American deer shot thru the lungs, antelope, sheep, but I have to go with some of the fellows, dangerous or big bodied animals, get a "premium" game bullet. Sierras are wonderfully accurate, but with the state of development, premium bullets are giving them a run for their money in the accuracy department. When I have recovered Sierra bullets I always find the core and jacket separated. I'll still use them for target shooting, varmits, and the lighter animals I mentioned, but for anything other than smaller animals, I'll spend the extra money for the extra terminal performance. IMHO. | |||
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"capable" is an accurate statement as evidenced by your clean kill and supported by your caveat of correct bullet selection, caliber, etc. Are there better suited bullets that give you an edge if things aren't quite right? You bet there are. For example, a Gameking out of a 300 Weatehrby and that same scenario you presented, a Partition, A Frame, Barnes, TBCC would be a wiser choice. I think that's a fair statement. jorge | |||
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The .277" 130 grain Sierra SBT pictured below, left the barrel at 3100+fps, impacted 6x6 bull Elk in full rut, at approximately 200 yards. Bullet entered at the base of the neck, breaking part of a vertebre coming to rest about one inch shy of the hide on the offside. Bang... Ka-Wop, Bull pivits 180 degrees, then collapses, stone Dead! (Neck and head were all that was exposed to a clear shot)  The Sierra Gamekings are very capable of taking anything that walks on the North American Continent, using proper caliber and weight bullet for game sought. | |||
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Better to keep quiet lest one might say (or write)something foolish than to speak up and remove all doubt. {sic} "I never miss" perfect. jorge | |||
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Quote: Ultramag, welcome to the fourms... you just perfectly described a bullet failure... if you like that "performance" more power (and powder) to yah jeffe | |||
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Ultramag, Welcome to the forums! At least we agree on one thing---but you trust Mr. Kerry way more than I do. I have not lost a game animal due to the performance of the Sierra bullets. I've just witnessed erratic performance--some blow up and some penetrate completely with little expansion. I guess that just proves that putting the bullet in the right anatomic location is more important than bullet construction or caliber. Much of my hunting is done in rather open areas interspersed with tangled brush so thick it can be nearly impossible to get through. So I want blood on the ground whether the animal drops in it's tracks or runs 100 yards before piling up. Maybe I'm still mad at Sierra for stopping the 101 bullets per box thing! Thanks for your reply. | |||
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When it gets down to the nitty-gritty (read that as putting meat in the freezer with one-shot kills) here is what I use: .220 Swift Sierra 50 Grain Spitzer .22-250 Remington Sierra 52 Grain Hollow Point Boat Tail .22-250 Remington Sierra 55 Grain Spitzer Boat Tail .243 Winchester Sierra 85 Grain Hollow Point Boat Tail .25-06 Remington Sierra 120 Grain Hollow Point Boat Tail .264 Winchester Magnum 140 Grain Sierra Hollow Point Boat Tail .270 Winchester Sierra 140 Grain Hollow Point Boat Tail .300 Winchester Magnum Sierra 200 Grain Hollow Point Boat Tail .30-06 Springfield Sierra 168 Grain Hollow Point Boat Tail .375 H&H Magnum Sierra 300 Grain Spitzer Boat Tail .357 Magnum Sierra 158 Grain Jacketed Hollow Cavity .44 Remington Magnum Sierra 240 Grain Jacketed Hollow Cavity .45-70 Government Hornady 500 Grain Round Nose .458 Winchester Magnum Hornady 500 Grain FMJ-RN 6MM Remington Sierra 85 Grain Hollow Point Boat Tail 7MM Remington Magnum Sierra 168 Grain Hollow Point Boat Tail 8MM Remington Magnum Sierra 220 Grain Spitzer Boat Tail I have never had any complaints with any of these bullets... | |||
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Limited use here, but I took two nice bucks last year with 6.5mm 140 grain Gamekings. One at about 40 yards left a one inch exit hole and totally destroyed both lungs. The animal went about 40 yards before crashing and leaving a one foot wide pool of blood by the nostrils. The other at 110 yards destroyed the spine above the sholders and exited leaving a wide channel after expanding on the spine. Obviously the deer dropped where he stood. My $.02 | |||
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I use Sierra's exclusively in everything,handguns included, with the exception of .17 caliber and thats only because Sierra doesn't make them. Never had to track one either! Stepchild | |||
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Hi Well, back in the day...60's.. Sierra's were the bullet everything else was compared to. I remember as a very young lad listening in on those ol' powder keg conferences at a very popular gun shop my dad and I frequented, where the old timers, and whoever else that wanted to join in, would shoot the .... for hours. One of the many topics were how good Sierra bullets were on game. I started out reloading in the mid 60's and one of the first things I did was to take a box of Sierra, Speer and Hornady bullets home and weigh each one and record what I found. The Sierra's never varied more than 0.2grs. The others would vary as much as 1.5 grs. Ok, today we have so many choices, especially with premium bullets and technology is better. But over the many years of hunting and talking with other hunters after a kill, I would usually ask as a matter of conversation, what they were using. Many times it would be some factory load, but in the cases where they were handloaders, I never saw an instance where a Sierra bullet didn't do the job well, given good shot placement.. I have seen some awfully ugly kills by individuals that should be staying home and watching football, but with competent hunters, Sierra's always made a good kill. I have experienced and have seen more bullet failures with the other brands than I ever did with Sierra's. Bottom line is, excluding the premium bullets, Sierra's in my opinion, are still the bullets that will get the job done for you in just about any situation, given that they are a basically constructed bullet having some limitations, as opposed to the premium bullets. | |||
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 I guess it's what you desire! That sounds like the bullet performance that I want! capt david | |||
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sputster, I have only used Sierra 200 gr GK BTSP for hunting in my 300 Weatherby (now long gone) and my 300 Win mag. Both worked well on elk, (as well as a 308 bore does). I recovered 4 bullets and they all exhibited textbook mushrooms and were found well inbedded in the offside skin. Ranges were in the 150 to 250 yards bracket, never used one "in close". Muzzle velocity in the Weatherby was ~ 2960 fps and in the Winchester ~ 2920 fps. I have only punched paper with the 180 gr GK HP, so I have no idea if it really is tougher or not than the older GK BTSP. ASS_CLOWN | |||
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Quote: scotty, you know, i am seeing a SNIPER pattern here.... do you know the difference in a HUNTER and a SHOOTER? do ya, SHOOTER? jeffe | |||
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I wouldn't consider using a Sierra on game..They are soft and sooner or later you will get a failure, always been that way as far back as 1949.... So Ultra-Mag, if the bullet blew up in a deer chest then it certainly would have been a poor bullet on a going away shot would it not?...so lets call it bullet failure wheather it killed the deer or not, its bullet failure when a bullet comes apart like a bomb. If you shoot an animal standing perfectly broadside, then most bullets work fine as far as killing even if they explode, in which case they tend to kill like lightening..but thats not the performance I am looking for in a bullet. Besides a premium bullet only costs about 25 cents more to kill a deer, thats pretty good insurance and beats losing a deer that you shoot. | |||
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I have killed several deer and antelope with the 165gr. Sierra HPBT in the 308 Win. I have shot these animals from very close to very far, with excellent results. This is one of my favorite bullets in the 308. I used 39.5 grains of IMR 3031, which is a relatively light load that has shot very good in bolt, lever and semi-auto 308's. However for larger game, and/or magnum rifles I use premium bullets. It is money well spent. | |||
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I like em for mild loads in my 308 and 7x57, the 165 and 160 respectivly. I had an early version of the .338 250 GK fail to expand at long range (450 yards) and this caused a long tough recovery on that elk. I as a rule don't take shots that require especially deep penetration and have found for my use almost any bullet will work for me. I also no longer take shots over 350 yards with any bullet. | |||
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Quote: If you wouldn't consider using Sierra on game what do you use/recommend? | |||
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Sweede, I use Nosler partitions, Northforks, Woodleigh, Swift, GS Customs, Hornadys, all premium bullets... I have seen Sierras fail on many ocassions, more than any other bullet..they are simply old timey bullets, outdated for hunting...great on targets...I used them for years when nothing else was available for handloaders and many of them blew up, some didn't open up...I suspect I shot as much game with them as anyone has before better bullets came along, but I will spare you the list as some have posted on kills, I'd be here for a month.... I think we as hunters owe it to the game to use new modern premium bullets, I see no reason not to. | |||
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Quote: this was exactly my experience with SGKs, except on a doe at 60 yards. the bullet perfomred perfectly but my aim was off. | |||
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sputster - you probably already know this, but be sure not to confuse the sierra HPBTs with matchkings. | |||
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jeffe - since when is 150-200 yards a "sniper pattern?" | |||
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Quote:I certainly consider Sierra a modern company putting out 'good' modern premium bullets. I have had no complaint in using them for over 40 years. I don't look for a blow out on the other side. My thoughts are that the bullet should play billy heck with the innards and not take out the other side of the animal. Also mentioned, there are some people using some of the HPBT bullets for hunting and they are not hunting bullets....even though they are HPs. You think you have had two failures. How many have not failed to work for you? THANKS, TC & GB, Cliff | |||
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tasunkawitko constant shots at unmolested game at hundreds of yards is a shooter's game jeffe | |||
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Cowboyace, The Sierra bullet is not considered a "premium bullet" even Sierra will tell you that....A premium denotes a bullet that has a partition, soldered core, or some means other than jacket thickness to control expansion... The only bullets I know, not counting factory bullets, that have continued to make bullets as they did in the 1930s is Sierra and Hawk...both tend to come apart from time to time, like it or not and if you don't think thats right its simply because you have not shot enough game with them to find out... | |||
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Ray, I would think any bullet and components that a loader has selected carefully to perform in the selected firearm should be considered premium. If a person assembling loads does not believe he put his best effort and components into the assembled cartridge then it would be advisable to trudge on down to Wally World and purchase whatever is cheapest. No, I do not dispute your advice on bullets, but the term premium does rub me a little on the sore side. | |||
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I live up here in Alaska and have used 300 grain gamekings for awhile. They just shoot so great it's a confidence thing. Of course that's in a 375 improved. Shot moose this fall at 385 yards by the gps (could have been shorter actually) they performed great. But I am going to kodiak this Nov and am loading some barnes XLC's for them big bears. They are shooting just as tight but I had to go to 270 grains. the 300's weren't shooting worth a damn. I just figured that is no time to have a bullet come apart. I'm still going to take some gamekings with me though, Deer and elk are open at the same time. I do use x bullets in all my "smaller guns" (6.5'2 and 30's) But matchkings in the "tiny" guns (22) just a thought  | |||
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150-200 yards is not sniping. have you ever hunted out here? i will agree that any hunter should be able to get closer than say, 350-400 yards, but i certainly wouldn't chastise one for a 200-yard shot. | |||
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Sputster, I use the HP Gameking in my AR-15. I wanted something tougher than varmint bullets for coyotes (pelt damage is not a concern) and for self defense. The major reason is I wanted no lead tip exposed to foul semi-auto feeding. | |||
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Y'all hunt with the bullet of your choice! That's what handloading is about. For my choice I choose Nosler partitions and North Forks. I know that ANY bullet can fail so I want to do everything I can to minimize the chances of failure. If the Sierras are working for you, then great. In general they are good bullets. My hunting time is too precious and short to use less than the best bullets I can find. I have too much regard for the animals I pursue to risk a premature blowup, a wounded & suffering animal, and the possiblility of turning a magnificent animal into coyote, wolf, and buzzard bait before their time. This philosophy was developed over 40 years of hunting and applies to me only. I own it and don't expect anything from other hunters except to do everything they can to be sportsmen/sportswomen, obey the laws, and hunt safely & responsibly. These expectations undoubtedly will be defined differently by different individuals so I agree with you/them to disagree and continue to love our sport. | |||
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Quarter Round, Like it or not, a standard has been set that determines the term "premium bullets" and "super premium bullets", one should familurize himself with these terms in order to converse in the world of handloading and shooting...I only broght this point up so as to be helpfull...It is simply the nomenclature of the gunworld and is used constantly in all your shooting magazines to describe bullet construction.... | |||
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