New Sierra Bullet - Field Test Report

[Ruraldoc]

Sierra Game Kings are cup and core bullets whether tipped or not.

Tipped cup and core bullets are typically built with heavier jackets than their non tipped counterparts.

This lesson was learned by Nosler with early ballistic tips being too fragile and was repeated by Hornady with early SSTs being too soft as well. Both manufacturers introduced heavier jackets and or tougher core after early failures.

Sierra wisely introduced their tipped bullet with a tougher construction from the onset.

Any cup and core bullet can have core jacket separation upon impact and this tendency is exasperated by boat tails designs.

The longer parallel jacket walls of flat base bullets have more mechanical retention than boat tails if all else is equal.

So if a bullet has a boat tail and you want it to stay in one piece, bonding is a good idea.

I have killed bull elk with Nosler Accubonds and Swift Scirocco bullets with good results.

 

[Ruraldoc]

I also killed a bull elk with a Nosler Ballistic Tip in which the core and jacket did separate although it penetrated well enough.

The core had exited and the jacket was in the offside hide on a broadside shot. It just makes me more comfortable when bullets stay in one piece and penetrate in a straight path.

 

[ftrovato]

I did exactly the same thing after losing an elk I shot in the point of the shoulder on a quartering frontal shot with the Game King and I haven't looked back, I'm hooked on TSX when I want to kill something

I too have had great experience with Barnes Coppers and then Nosler Partitions & Swift A-Frames.

They all penetrate very reliably no matter what they hit.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I used to shoot 180 grain Game Kings out of a 30-06. I personally observed complete core separation of jacket & core out to 200 yards in dead animals. So they did penetrate enough to be lethal but this was around the time that Barnes released their first solid coppers so I moved away from Sierra.

@ftrovato
I have found that some of the game kings were explosive inside 200yards when driven hard but seemed to stay together and penetrate better after that when velocity had dropped off.
That's why I switched to the SST. Seems to hold tot better at shorter and longer ranges.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

To your point, In this day and age, why accept good when you can easily buy great bullets....Sierra needs to pursue bonding.

@ftrovato
For hunting thin skinned Australian game like pigs,goats and deer good is fine and dandy. Great may be better but here they are a lot more expensive and not really needed on our game.
The old cup and core still work well here , just match the bullet to the game. Still the same results, dead animal.
Why would I shot one goat with a Barnes when I can shoot 4 goats for the same price with 4 cup and core and have 4 dead goats.
Bob

 

[Tgood1]

And to add to bob Nelson post. All those separated cup and core bullets were pulled from deceased animals. Yes im a fan of sierra gk, on deer sized game they just work. But I do not think I would use on a dedicated elk, moose hunt

 

[Flbt]

I was looking into them for my 243. If you look at a bullet design the tipped game king is very different than the original game king. They have a much thicker jacket.

What weight were you looking at for the 243?
It sounds interesting for the 6mm

 

[Flbt]

And to add to bob Nelson post. All those separated cup and core bullets were pulled from deceased animals. Yes im a fan of sierra gk, on deer sized game they just work. But I do not think I would use on a dedicated elk, moose hunt

I use some sierra bullets.
Mater of fact there 185gr +p is what’s in my 45 acp right now.
True there better bullets than cup and core now.
But cup core have been working for me and my wife nearly 30 years with the 6mm Remington with what and where we shoot.
For what we are doing with those rifles I see no reason to change.
If I get a bear permit if I was to us the 6 I would look for a better bullet. But I want be using the 6. And the cup core 45-70 or dubble tap 358w
Should be fine

 

[ftrovato]

@ftrovato
For hunting thin skinned Australian game like pigs,goats and deer good is fine and dandy. Great may be better but here they are a lot more expensive and not really needed on our game.
The old cup and core still work well here , just match the bullet to the game. Still the same results, dead animal.
Why would I shot one goat with a Barnes when I can shoot 4 goats for the same price with 4 cup and core and have 4 dead goats.
Bob

Then in this case I'll vote for Hornady Interlocks or Remington Core Lotks.

I used to assist in butchering 100's of deer every year. I witnessed that these 'common production bullets' work better than what is discussed here.

To each their own...

 

[Nkawu]

I used the 140 grain .277 TGK’s on some deer in the UK last year. I developed a reduced load of 2550 fps for use on the smaller species (Roe and Muntjac) with my 270 Win. All the deer dropped, but I was pulling bullet fragments out of my meat. I dread to think what would have happened if there were going at 2900 fps. I have since moved to Accubonds.