375 Bullets Question

[Alaska Luke]

I have always been happy with Nosler Partitions in my short barrel 375 Ruger. Good accuracy and performance on game. The problem is they have not grouped well lately.

I'm trying to run down the problem but in the meantime I have a load that works just fine. 250 grain Sierra Gamekings at 2450 fps were my sub MOA practice round. They still work fine.

So my thought is this. What if I use the practice round for hunting? I know GKs have a reputation for being soft. But at lower impact velocity I wonder if they'd hold together? We're not talking Africa yet. I'm about to start bear hunting here. Think a slow GK would punch through a grizzly?

Before anyone asks yes I am double checking my Partition loads. But if they don't work I need a backup. Also need to try a box of 300 gr GKs to see how they shoot.

 

[sgt_zim]

no idea on the SGKs, but I just bought a box of 175 gr for my 280 AI to do some LD. I await info as eagerly as you.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

The late Bruce Moulds spoke very highly of the 300 grain SGKs. If the 250s are similar, I would expect good things.

 

[Lyleedward]

I have had limited use with 285 gr SGK in my 375hh. Found them a bit hard and brittle. Maybe not enough use to say all results would be the same though.

 

[Alaska Luke]

I did not think there was a 285 grain SGK. Is it possible you are referring to a different bullet?

At any rate I reloaded another batch of 260 gr Partitions and they are shooting better now. I'll stick with them for now, at least on bears.

 

[112Savage]

I will tell you the Gamekings get a bad wrap. In my experience, though the 175gr started at 2900fps is very deadly. I have loaded the 250gr 375 in my 375 Ruger but have no animals to it’s credit yet. Ray Atkinson a guide in AK and in western US says he has seen and heard of great monotonous performance from 250gr SGK’s on elk.

in every caliber and cartridge I have used the sierras shoot well and have killed game and performed well in all but two instances. Those two were 100gr and 117gr SGK from a 26” 25-06 run very hard

 

[1dirthawker]

i have used the 175 GK sierras in my 7mm rem mag. not a fan, they are pretty soft, jacket separation was common.

i would want a bullet that is bonded if i was shooting a grizzly with it.

they shot really well in my gun, just did not like their performance.

 

[Phil Giordano]

I have always been happy with Nosler Partitions in my short barrel 375 Ruger. Good accuracy and performance on game. The problem is they have not grouped well lately.

I'm trying to run down the problem but in the meantime I have a load that works just fine. 250 grain Sierra Gamekings at 2450 fps were my sub MOA practice round. They still work fine.

So my thought is this. What if I use the practice round for hunting? I know GKs have a reputation for being soft. But at lower impact velocity I wonder if they'd hold together? We're not talking Africa yet. I'm about to start bear hunting here. Think a slow GK would punch through a grizzly?

Before anyone asks yes I am double checking my Partition loads. But if they don't work I need a backup. Also need to try a box of 300 gr GKs to see how they shoot.

Well, I would say yes, probably the GK will hold together fine at that low velocity and still strike quite hard...
I guess it depends "what" kind of Griz you are after. Some big Alaskan Costal Grizzlyes can be as big as Brown Bears, but in the Interior Yukon, a good Griz is 7' an a half... both are stout built and very tough, but in my opinion, quite different animals. So for the former I consider the GK very marginal and I will not use it, for the latter it could be very good.

 

[Lyleedward]

I did not think there was a 285 grain SGK. Is it possible you are referring to a different bullet?

At any rate I reloaded another batch of 260 gr Partitions and they are shooting better now. I'll stick with them for now, at least on bears.

Sorry my mistake. Was a while ago. Just checked old box it’s a 285 gr Speer grand slam. With My dyslexia Sierra game king abbreviated SGK was spear grand-slam. Haha. Oops

 

[Alaska Luke]

Phil you make a good point on size. A friend of my broke his 300 Westherby scope on a moose hunt so he grabbed his wife's 308. He then discovered it was a single shot because the mag was messed up by the 4 wheeler ride. No worries, he started moose calling. A 6 foot grizzly came charging in. My friend gut shot it, reloaded and finished it with a shoulder shot. The crazy thing was he got an exit wound with a 178 grain Hornady ELD loaded hot. I would not have expected that but it wasn't a huge bear.

My 260 grain Partition punched through a 6.5 foot grizzly and stopped under the hide. A bit more would have been nice but good enough. It did plenty of internal damage. Another Partition went through the skull of an 8 foot grizzly. Good enough for me and I was happy with the big hole left in the shoulder by the first shot. I THINK if velocity was low enough a GK would penetrate about as well as a Partition. In that case I suspect pentration would stop when the bullet lost speed/energy not when it came apart. But I still feel safer with the Partitions.

Anyway I'm happy to get the Partitions working. I'll push them a bit faster and hunt with confidence. A-Frames might punch a bit farther but I don't think the difference will matter (and I can't find A Frames anyway).

LyleeWood I have heard of a few failures with the Grand Slam. Maybe your observation is correct, too brittle for some situations. The Partitions seem soft and I think that is actually good because ideally I'll take a safe broadside shot, blow a big hole in the bear and put it down fast. If that fails and I have a charge I think the Partitions can get through a shoulder into the vitals and I've already proved they can go through a skull.

 

[Lyleedward]

Phil you make a good point on size. A friend of my broke his 300 Westherby scope on a moose hunt so he grabbed his wife's 308. He then discovered it was a single shot because the mag was messed up by the 4 wheeler ride. No worries, he started moose calling. A 6 foot grizzly came charging in. My friend gut shot it, reloaded and finished it with a shoulder shot. The crazy thing was he got an exit wound with a 178 grain Hornady ELD loaded hot. I would not have expected that but it wasn't a huge bear.

My 260 grain Partition punched through a 6.5 foot grizzly and stopped under the hide. A bit more would have been nice but good enough. It did plenty of internal damage. Another Partition went through the skull of an 8 foot grizzly. Good enough for me and I was happy with the big hole left in the shoulder by the first shot. I THINK if velocity was low enough a GK would penetrate about as well as a Partition. In that case I suspect pentration would stop when the bullet lost speed/energy not when it came apart. But I still feel safer with the Partitions.

Anyway I'm happy to get the Partitions working. I'll push them a bit faster and hunt with confidence. A-Frames might punch a bit farther but I don't think the difference will matter (and I can't find A Frames anyway).

LyleeWood I have heard of a few failures with the Grand Slam. Maybe your observation is correct, too brittle for some situations. The Partitions seem soft and I think that is actually good because ideally I'll take a safe broadside shot, blow a big hole in the bear and put it down fast. If that fails and I have a charge I think the Partitions can get through a shoulder into the vitals and I've already proved they can go through a skull.

I like them as well. My wife use’s a 308 win with partitions for all her game up to red deer always works.

 

[meigsbucks]

I’ve had mixed results with GK’s. The 250gr .338, which is according to Sierra, is constructed like the 300gr .375, went to pieces on a mule deer (60 yds). Yet I’ve had great results with the 160gr in a 7 mag (black bear and mule deer) the 200gr in a .30/06 (hogs and white tail) and 117gr in the .25/06 (Antelope and mule deer).
The 130gr in the .270 has worked well past 100yds, but closer ranges often resulted in separation.

 

[Berettaco]

I have always been happy with Nosler Partitions in my short barrel 375 Ruger. Good accuracy and performance on game. The problem is they have not grouped well lately.

I'm trying to run down the problem but in the meantime I have a load that works just fine. 250 grain Sierra Gamekings at 2450 fps were my sub MOA practice round. They still work fine.

So my thought is this. What if I use the practice round for hunting? I know GKs have a reputation for being soft. But at lower impact velocity I wonder if they'd hold together? We're not talking Africa yet. I'm about to start bear hunting here. Think a slow GK would punch through a grizzly?

Before anyone asks yes I am double checking my Partition loads. But if they don't work I need a backup. Also need to try a box of 300 gr GKs to see how they shoot.

@Alaska Luke - I’ve ran into problems like this before and it was due to copper build up. Have you tried cleaning the copper out of your barrel?

 

[MarkB]

Moose hunted many years ago with a partner who loaded some GK in a 3006. After 4 shots moose went down. Penetration was almost nothing. Even years later I will not use a GK.

I also used to use Partitions, then switched to accubonds. All problems went away, hit right, accurate, penetrate awesome and this equals short recovery and dead animal. Shot 2 interior grizzlies with 338, 225 accubonds and 2 coastal grizzlies with 375 and 260gr accubonds.

Partitions worked, they just created more sewing/repairs especially on thin skinned game.

MB

 

[Alaska Luke]

@Alaska Luke - I’ve ran into problems like this before and it was due to copper build up. Have you tried cleaning the copper out of your barrel?

Honestly I can't remember if I cleaned it between range sessions. I did notice that some of the cases might not have been properly trimmed evenly. I fixed that and found the original seating depth that had worked well in the past. Maybe that helped.

 

[sgt_zim]

i have used the 175 GK sierras in my 7mm rem mag. not a fan, they are pretty soft, jacket separation was common.

i would want a bullet that is bonded if i was shooting a grizzly with it.

they shot really well in my gun, just did not like their performance.

Do you happen to know the MV you were getting, and at what distances the animals were?

If I end up going with them in my 280AI, the fastest I imagine I'll get will be 2750, and more likely in the 2650 to 2700 range. With that high BC, that's still north of 2K fps at 500 yards, which is probably 100 yards further than I'm willing to shoot at a game animal.

Also working up loads with NP 175 gr, SAF 160 gr, and Oryx 156 gr.