Sierra Game King bullets

[sestoppelman]

Hey Velo, When are you going to be in Namibia? I will be there next year in late July into August with Elandpro Safaris.

 

[Pheroze]

Sestoppelman, Waimahana and others,

There is at least one PH member of this forum (Philip Hennings of "Khomas Highland Hunting Safaris" in Namibia), who uses Sierra 250 grain bullets in his scoped Brno 602 / .375 H&H.
I figure these bullets must work very well for him, pretty much every time or, he would not continue to use them.
He does not load them very fast at all (2600 fps) and no doubt, keeping impact velocity down a bit is a major component to success with any old fashioned lead core expanding bullet, with guilding metal jacket, type of design.
As soft points go, I definitely do prefer the old "cup & core" design bullets, based on the fact that I have never lost any animal hit properly with them, over my lifetime so far (and I am pretty close to being fossilized).

Yours truly after many years of pinching pennies and going without, is booked for a 14 day hunt with Philip, set for next year and I will be renting the above described rifle / ammunition for same.
Afterward, I will have something more to say about this specific bullet.
I hope to write a report on how the 250 gr Sierra / .375 H&H bullet performed for me on common / cape eland, as well as Hartman's zebra, Cape kudu, black & blue guldang willderbeests and smaller critters as well.
I have 100% confidence, that my triumphant return to Namibia in 2017, while using the above mentioned ballistics / bullet, will conclude with heads and skins in the salt, no worries about failed penetration and such.
My Brno 602 is identical to Philip's in every way, except for our difference in scopes - close enough though.
Now, I have mine zeroed at 200 meters with 250 gr Sierras at 2600 fps and have been training-up with same, for this safari.
So, the transition from my rifle / ammunition at home, to that rented one will be just about unnoticeable.
According to the book, I hold 10" over the bull's-eye at 300 and 30" over at 400 meters.
On the rifle range here, I have found the trajectory to be pretty much spot-on with my reloading manual / book.

I do not prefer shooting animals way out at 400 yds / meters but, I have done so perhaps a half dozen times in my life.
Philip assures me that 300 yds is a rather long shot, in the hilly geography of his truly massive hunting area so, that is welcome news.
Having to wait for many months until I can go is killing me.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

Having to wait many months for the report is killing me! Looking forward to hearing how the bullets served you!

 

[Velo Dog]

Hey Velo, When are you going to be in Namibia? I will be there next year in late July into August with Elandpro Safaris.

PM sent.

 

[Waimahana]

I'm also keen to hear how you get on with the Sierra 250 grain projectiles. The option of borrowing a similar rifle to the one you use is indeed fortunate as traveling with a rifle and ammunition has become increasingly difficult. Enjoy.

 

[MarkCZ]

Both my son and I use them in our 243,s . he takes over a hundred head of game every year and never uses anything else, I have used the Gameking for fox, Roe, Muntjac, fallow and red hind. Very accurate and drops game fast.
I will be loading them for my 30-06 and 308 in the new year.
Markcz

 

[Ridgewalker]

Interested to see how the 250 gr 375 works.
I've used a 243 Win with 85 gr Sierras on many antelope out to 435yds. Put in the "boiler room" and they're down. Works well on mulies and coyotes as well.
My 1950 Winny in 30-06 using 165 and 180 Sierras has worked well also on deer and elk mostly within 250 yards.
If I did my part, they did theirs.
Good hunting!

 

[pacific]

I have used 250gr sierra game kings in both a sako long ranger 338 Lapua as well as a Steyr mannlicher 375 h&h. Most accurate bullets I have ever used in either rifle. I managed to get them to shoot at 2900 fps in the 338 and 2850 in the 375. In the lapua I found that once they hit bone they would fragment and lose all of the lead right to the core. A lot of meat damage as well. Even though they did fragment I never once lost a single animal. Using the lapua I have gone as far as taking buffalo at 150m. They performed flawlessly but as I said earlier the projectile exploded once it hammered on to the shoulder bone of the buffalo. It has happened with eland wildebeest and kudu as well at shots over 300m. But all animals were found dead within 50 meters of where they were shot.

With the 375 they performed flawlessly. I have taken sable, waterbuck as well as long range shots on puku, impala and eland. I recovered the bullets out of the eland and waterbuck and were perfect mushrooms. Didn't notice any fragmentation in any of them.

I have started using nosler accubonds in the lapua as they are a lot harder then the sierras. Accuracy is just as good but with lesser speed.

In my opinion sierras are great value for money. Half the money as other premium bullets and even though they fragmented in some cases I never have lost one animals with those bullets.

 

[Bsto270]

I hunted with 130 gr boat tailed game kings out of my .270 for a few years. I can clearly recall the one buck I shot with them having a tremendous wound cavity as the bullet struck a part of the shoulder and blew it. It dropped the buck quite dead, lost a lot of meat. On whitetail sized game I think they have some good potential but have found a good medium between damage and a quick humane kill with an accurate load in the Hornady SST superformance

 

[dchamp]

I like the Sierra Game Kings a lot. I've taken Pronghorn with 100gr in 6mm Remington, Red Stag with 165gr in 300WM and Mule deer with 220gr in 8mm Rem Mag. I have found them accurate, easy to load for and never had a failure.

 

[Peter Larsson]

Shot two roebucks and a little pig with game king this year with my 7x65R.
Didn't get an exit on the 25 kg pig. Shot a quarter front shot at about 30meter.
Good bullets for roes but I will load a harder bullet for pigs.

 

[GuttormG]

I have shot a number of red deer, from 30 to 120kgs butchered weight, using a 35whelen and 225grs Gameking at a moderate speed, ranges have been 40 to 150 meters. Every bullet passed through and one shot was did the job every time.

I have shot one small boar, 30kgs butchered weight, using a 30-06 and 180grs Prohunter, again moderate speed and short range. Piggy died on the spot, but... The bullet had barely entered the boiler room before it disintegrated. Those pigs are though on the bullets!

 

[Rule 303]

I have not used Sierra bullets for a long time, lost confidence in them, 130 grn .270 when hinting pigs close up angling shot from the rear. Stopped the pig but required second shot to finish the job. Went to the Rem corelokt and never regretted it. Looking back I was using the game kings and the BT never seemed to work as well as a flat base.

For the last 10 or so years I have been using Sierra 110grin Pro Hunters in my 6.8SPC. Exceptional. Feral dogs to large pigs( for my area probably 75kg max weight) not a problem. Would not hesitate to use them on Red Deer under 150 mts from slightly quartering on to going away.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Scott,

I have two buddies that use the Pro-Hunter and swear by them.One uses the 180gr spt in his .308,and the other uses the 225gr spt in his .338 win mag.They're both 'happy hunters'.Both hand-load and,much like myself, both have tested many different types of bullet.

Doc.

@Doc404
I don't like the pro hunter. I've found the game king being a boat tail has a Howa tendency to slip jackets not long after impact. Over normal hunting ranges I find the flat base prohunter to be just as accurate and seems to hold together better.
Bob

 

[sestoppelman]

@Doc404
I don't like the pro hunter. I've found the game king being a boat tail has a Howa tendency to slip jackets not long after impact. Over normal hunting ranges I find the flat base prohunter to be just as accurate and seems to hold together better.
Bob

Proof read my down under friend, proof read,,, LOL.

 

[ve7poi]

I used 225spitzer boat tail in 350 Rem mag awesome results on black bear and Mule deer + whitetail no tracking

 

[curtism1234]

I have said it before but it bears repeating again since this is a dedicated thread...

I have shot a number of thin skinned medium game with the 308 win 165gr. The bullets mushroom perfectly and retain virtually all their weight as I've found a few on the opposite hide, but the animals don't bleed. I had a perfect heart shot and it ran about 150 yards dead sprint and it bled 1 drop. Luckily I knew where he ran and found him with minimal issues.

Personally I think the 165's are too tough of a bullet for the 308 velocities and medium game. I am switching to 165 sst hornady super performance this year.

 

[Alistair]

Based on my experience the Sierra Gameking is an exceptional bullet. Accurate, a decisive killer, easy to load for, decent BCs, good value. The whole package.

That said, it has applications it is good for, and those that it isn't.

I'd use it with complete confidence on any light or medium build animal of any size (depending on calibre). Varmints, deer, feral pigs, elk, any and all PG (assuming at least .308 for the bigger stuff, preferably .338 or .375), smaller bears, big cats. It's a great choice with impressive terminal performance.

However, I wouldn't use it (in almost any calibre) for anything that's tough, thick skinned or especially heavily built. Not Euro Boar, maybe not larger bears, 100% not Buffalo or any other non-carnivorous DG. The .375 version is reputedly slightly heavier constructed and would possibly cut it for Boar and large bears, but fundamentally, these are fairly soft, fairly frangible non-bonded bullets. Use them as designed and they're great. Use them like a monolithic or a tough bonded bullet and you'll have a sad hunt.

Al.

 

[Foxi]

Thanks Phil, Thats the kind of stuff I am looking for. I have never hunted with them before but find of late that they shoot so well in a couple of rifles its tempting.

Anybody have Africa experience with the Sierra?

One fellow years ago got a little huffy with me when I opined that Sierra's were maybe not built well enough for buffalo in .375 caliber. He strongly defended them for such activity.

i shot some pigs in .308 with it -perfect.
Good friends of mine, one is currently down in Namibia,shot hundreds of heads
for culling with this bullet.
Game King 250 gn in the .338 Lapua Magnum
Wildebeest+ Zebras up to 700m for meat supply of parts of Windhoek.
Both marksmen are infatuated with the bullet (and the calibre)

I wouldn't take it for buffalo, it would be too soft for that.
Think the border is round 300kg lifeweight.
Foxi

 

[Foxi]

i shot some pigs in .308 with it -perfect.
Good friends of mine, one is currently down in Namibia,shot hundreds of heads
for culling with this bullet.
Game King 250 gn in the .338 Lapua Magnum
Wildebeest+ Zebras up to 700m for meat supply of parts of Windhoek.
Both marksmen are infatuated with the bullet (and the calibre)

I wouldn't take it for buffalo, it would be too soft for that.
Think the border is round 300kg lifeweight.
Foxi

Exit hole only on a shoulder from 350 /400 m up.
Loses a lot of speed and therefore acts like a solid on this long distance.
For us hunters these distances are uninteresting.
Culler mostly go on head and neck.
(I've heared from culler 500 m on the head of springbock.
Just a marginal note.)

 

[Scrumbag]

I have had good success with the following

65gr SBT in 223 Rem
117gr SBT in 257 Rob
160 gr SBT in 7x64

I really like them!