Does anyone have any experience with the 300 grain Sierra on game.. Does it hold together well enough for elk, etc?

thanks

Welcome aboard Rancher.
No, havn't shot any game to date but they accurate in my Rem.700. Have heard they are a little soft on the big stuff. One of these years if I'm lucky I'll stick one in an elk.

Hello Rancher,

I think the Sierra .375 300gr is one of the most accurate .375 bullets I have shot. I can't answer your question in regards to Elk, but performance for me has been excellent on larger whitetails.

B

Rancher I am considering this bullet to for my impending .375 M70 ss but in Australia I can buy woodleigh's for the same price as the sierra's so I am feeling that if I can use a premium bullet for the same price I might as well go that way. Therefore I am thinking about the 270 gr woodleigh's.

I just finished reading Boddingtons "Safari Rifles" (I loved that book) and as another poster said he reviewed the bullet favourably.

Rancher , I can't say how good the Sierra is on game, in any chambering. Since I use all rifles basicly for hunting, and little for punching paper, I quit useing anything from Sierra many years ago. I found Sierra bullets to be too fragile accross the broad range of sizes, and wts. This could well have been remidied in the enterveneing years, and they may well be OK today. If I wanted to use them, I would run some expansion tests on them before I used them for Elk!

PC , your discription of the Sierra as a premium bullet, over the Woodliegh, frankly puzzels me! There is hardly a better jacketed bullet for hunting than a Woodliegh, and unless Sierra has made some sweeping improvements in their bullets in the last few years, the Sierra certainly isn't better!It may be a little more accurate, because Sierra has always been more of a target bullet maker. Feel lucky you live in Aussie Land where you can pay local prices for Woodliegh bullets. I can buy Sierra here for less than half what Woodieghs cost, but I use Woodliegh anyway, simply because they are very good hunting bullets!

Rancher;

Bear in mind, experiance is 15 years old and my not be relevant, as I've been told that they were improved ( I'll NEVER find out for myself). Shot from a 24" barrel .375 H&H,every bullet " came from untogether", whether it be a test or game. No exits from relatively small animals, only recovered jacket fragments (one complete jacket-empty}.-memtb

Mac,

You've got it backwards. PC is referring to the Sierras costing as much as the locally-produced Woodleighs. Therefore, he'd rather use the premium Woodleighs rather than the conventional Sierras.

George

I really apprecitate everyone's reply. My take on it is to look for a more approite bullet for hunting. I hear a couple of you saying the Woodleighs are very good, what about Swifts, Barnes X, etc. Looking for something that expands well but will hang together on game. It would be nice if the chosen bullets also grouped well...

Thanks again

Rancher,
I used a 300 grain Sierra GameKing at 2860 fps MV from a 378 Weatherby to shoot a Black Hawaiian ram, once upon a time, at about 150 yards. This is a small critter, and the GameKing did exit. And the ram went flat on his belly instantaneously, as all four legs kind of flew out from under him. He did not suffer.

I also used a 250 grain Sierra GameKing to take a 350# 6'4" squared Prince William Sound black bear, once upon a time. This was from a 375 H&H at 2700 fps MV. The bear was struck in the boiler room and he died instantly, 200 yards away, just crumpled and rolled down the hill. The bullet exited this time too. The taxidermist had to sew up two holes on that bear's chest rug.

Sierra bullets have always been very accurate in my guns. Though they may be a bit soft for large/thick skinned dangerous game (though surely o.k. for leopard and lion), if applied at the right bullet weight and velocity of impact, I would not hesitate to use them on elk.

I think they are plenty tough enough for elk in the 300 grain weight at 375 H&H velocities (2500 to 2600 fps MV), and their great BC can stretch out their useful range.

I would hesitate to use the 250 grainer on elk, but they sure work well on critters up to 400 lbs, IMHO. I believe I have heard of many elk hunters doing well with the 250 grainers out of their 375 H&H rifles, however.

If your rifle prefers the 300 grain GameKings, well, you could do worse. Your ability to precisely place the shot has something to do with it, after all.

If you want to be prepared for the "Portuguese Heart Shot," you might want to chose a tougher bullet.

I think the newer Sierra GameKings are tougher than they used to be.

My hunting has so far excluded elk, mainly because their price is over-inflated, and I have been spoiled by taking some bigger and tougher game. I would happily go after one with a 300 grain Sierra GameKing, if I ever get drawn for a reasonable elk permit. Meanwhile, I can go back to Africa for less money than I would be charged for the kind of elk hunt I desire.

Macd37,

I would never consider the sierra to be a premium bullet and that is why I will use a woodleigh as for me there the same price. Have you read my post wrong

The sierra in my opinion is not half the bullet a woodleigh is.

Macd37 I realise now how you interpreted it my stuff up what I meant to say is that as the American regular sierra bullets in Australia are the same price as the premium woodleigh's I would be mad not to use the premium woodleigh's.

I�ve only used the Sierras for paper punching with my .375, but from what I hear from those who have used it on game is that when it works it does, when it doesn�t it doesn�t, meaning: they are not predictable like a premium hunting bullet. One lot is great, the next sh...not so great. It�s the same with any bullet that doesn�t have any form of expansion control, like a partition, bonded core etc. The woodleighs are great, by the way. I�m getting great accuracy/velocity with the barnes 235 gr XLC right now, so I will try this bullet next season (red deer, moose)
Tron

Boddington uses the 300 gr. Sierra and likes it very much....It is pretty hard to make a 300 gr. anything fail on deer or elk unless you shoot them going south, then maybe...

I would much prefer a North Fork, Nosler or Woodleigh...I am a great fan of the heavy for caliber Woodleighs like the 350 gr. 375, 300 gr. 338, 320 gr. 9.3x62, all of which I have used on a lot of big stuff....the 350 gr. 375 is limited in my experience as it has not been out long, but what little I have used it, I am very impressed and the 9.3 and 338 bullets are just plain awesome....

My latest bullet to play with is the 450 gr. 416, it is very accurate, penitrates like the dickens and knocks big holes in stacked paper, doesn't come apart even in dirt and kicks like a 458....I worked up a final load of 77 grs. of RL-15 and it is surprisingly mild in my gun but has to be about max, albiet no signs of pressure at all..I will chronograph it this summer when its warm....

Ray,

I think the African hunters will fall in love with the .416 450 gr woodleigh, the big Rigby case still has capacity to drive it to 2300-2400 fps and it should penetrate better than the orginal offering making the .416 Rigby a little closer to the .458 offerings.

Sierras' 300 Gameking is their best hunting bullet ever, IMHO and was initially recommended for use on heavy game, up to and including cape buffalo. Early on, in response to reports of the very occasional core separation, it was further beefed up. In present form, it's super flat shooting and as DaggaRon said, plenty tough enough for elk or any large African plainsgame.

Nickudu,

then the 300 .375 sierra is at the opposite end of the scale from there .458 HPFN prohunter, even small roo's can cause full jacket seperations in these.

PC,
Don't know. But I have taken my share of game with Sierra boatails over the years, mostly with .270/130's, 7mm/150's and .264/140's and while they all killed cleanly, anyone could see they were prone to lose cores, sometimes right down to the base cup. No, "BS", I found core material lying with, but apart, from the jacket in a muledeer buck shot at 500 yards so, even at the greatly reduced impact velocity, the 130 SBT came apart. I have not seen any such tendency with the .375/300's, even on shoulders shots on heavier game at less than 35 yards. As I said, Sierra had all-round .375 H&H application in mind when they designed their 300 grain SBT and I think it's a good bullet. Sure, I use "X" bullets these days but that certainly doesn't mean that all conventional bullets are to be ignored.

[ 12-06-2002, 08:59: Message edited by: Nickudu ]

PC,
If you are talking about the .458 caliber 300 grain Sierra hollow point ProHunter designed for the 45-70, then yes indeed it is a pantywaist bullet meant for barking squirrels at 50 yards or less. It is in no way comparable to the .375 caliber 300 grain Sierra GameKing.

Daggaron,

That "pantywaistbullet" is the one I am talking about. When you get a core/jacket seperation when hitting bone in a roo I think you can safely say you have a shitouse bullet

Is there a better 300 gr 45/70 bullet out there ?? or are they all soft ??

I imagine they would have beefed the .375 cal sierra's up if there to be used in a .375 H&H. With there good BC they would make good long range bullets from your .378 weatherby's on thin skinned stuff !!

Nickudu & Daggaron it is however woodleigh's for me !!

PC,
Nosler has a 300 grain Partition in .458 caliber for use in 45-70.

Yep, Woodleighs are great bullets. I have them on hand to feed double rifles in:
.338 caliber 250 grain Weldcore and FMJ
.474 caliber 500 grain Weldcore and FMJ
They are a must-have for double rifles, and could serve most any other rifle as well.

Just for curiosity sake, I wish I could find the explanation for the bonded core process. Are there different techniques? Trade secrets? Sumbuddy who know?

For example, Swift and Woodleigh, how do they bond the lead core to the copper jacket? Is the Woodleigh a copper jacket or "gilding metal?"

Imagine the Sierra with bonded core.

How much more would the Sierra bullets cost if bonded core? Maybe Swift will make their Scirocco in 300 grain .375 someday?

Now all the .375 bullets are obsolete, since GSC is making .375 caliber 300 grain HV and FN bullets, as well as the 265 grain HV and 270 grain FN.

I could make do with HV's and FN's in every rifle I own, even the doubles, I do believe.

[ 12-07-2002, 18:59: Message edited by: DaggaRon ]

I've used the 300 Sierras in my M70 .375 H&H on several elk and a few deer as well. My shooting is in open country and tends to be on the long side. All yardages were lasered. Most shots were into the heart/lung area.

I have recovered several bullets and maybe 50% have seperated cores. Most of the bullets that stayed together went out the off side, or if the yardage was 200+ yds generally were found under the hide on the off side.

I shot a big rag horn at 325 through the lungs. He was headed OVER a ridge so I hit him twice more, but all into the ribs through lungs and no bones hit. He dropped from blood loss and I found two of the slugs, both intact, .800" in diameter and little loss of weight.

Next year shot a spike at 90 yds in heart lungs, dead on the spot, 1"+ exit, no bullet found.

Shot a wounded raghorn, head on at 350 yds. Into the chest fairly centered and found the slug under the rump hide!! Do the math on the amount of penetration! Bullet came apart but it had hit the rear leg/hip bone.

Shot a 5x5 bull at 250 yds that was about as large as a mature bull body wise. First shot was into the shoulders, found it on the off side flat but intact. Broke the off shoulder and dropped him. He struggled to his feet and I hit him too far back and at an angle. Destroyed the liver and then broke a rib on the off side but was found in the chest cavity. Total core seperation with a small amount of lead also found. You should have seen the liver!

I've shot three or four muley bucks and does and they go in ANY end and out the other. NO slugs recovered. BUT..especially at 200 yds or more.......one can eat right up to the bullet hole. Minimal meat loss. Same thing in elk too.

The 300 Sierras are my accuracy bullet when I test ANY .375 H&H. With WW760 its so accurate I hate to post any group sizes for fear of someone crying foul or BS. Suffice it to say that in my M70 its VERY accurate.

What have I learned about the 300 Sierras?? They are generally VERY accurate and shoot the flattest of any of the 300 grain slugs. Not a huge difference at 300 yds between the Sierra and a 300 partition but they do have a very high BC rating.

They DO occasionally come apart on big game. Then again one can easily ascertain the seperation as anything I've shot with them has DIED, and generally QUICKLY. They are cheap enough to use in practice ammo. Unlike Swift A-Frames, TBBC's,etc.

There are surely tougher bullet, with partitions or X-bullets coming to mind immediately. I would not use them on eland or cape buffalo as I consider premiums as very cheap insurance. I'm not a wealthy man and my occasional RSA trips are real cash outlays for me. So I do not take ANY risks.

If they shoot well in your rifle and YOU can place them well....I'd use them for elk with no hesitation.

FN in MT

Daggaron woodleigh call there process "weldcore" how it's done I have no idea, I have about as much mettarlurgical know how as a ferret.

One day I would like to do a tour of the woodleigh factory, it's about 4 hours from were I live I think.

This is close to the subject. ... Want to know the basics of core bonding? Go to www.corbins.com and look for how to's and core bonding chemicals. It is a form of soldering the core to the jacket, in the presence of a flux, under heat. The core and jacket are swaged as a normal bullet after being cleaned in a solution which neutralizes the flux. You have , as a result, what is probably a "Weldcore" bullet. Anyone with more knowledge is welcome to correct me on any discrepancies. Pak

I doubt that there is such a thing as 300 grs. of failure from a 375 H&H irregardless of the bullets reaction, unless one takes a rear end shot....

Would I use a 300 gr. Sierra on Buffalo? No I would not and noone in their right mind would..

That said, any bullet that will shoot lenthwise through the game being hunted is a proper bullet and that is my criteria for hunting big game, and Sierras will not do that every time....so I choose premium bullets for hunting...I owe the game that much...

If one restricts himself to broadside shots or slightly angling shots on elk, deer, etc. then the standard bullets are fine. I don't do that, I take the shot that is offered and use enough gun and bullet to do the job.

packrattusnongratus,
Thanks for the link. The "Corbin Core Bond" stuff looks simple, just labor intensive to make the bonded core bullets, hence the expense of the premium bonded core bullets. No big secrets here, eh? Thanks again.