.30 Cal 165 gr Sierra Gamekings

oldelkhunter · 06-29-2005, 05:53 PM

Who uses them in a .308 for Deer and how is the performance on them. I know how they shoot on paper(extremely well) how do they perform on flesh. I have been using IMR 4064 and it seems to be an ideal powder for this gun as well.

charlie brown · 06-29-2005, 06:05 PM

I have shot deer with them in my .30-06, at about 2770 FPS. They kill just fine, but we have found pieces of bullet in ground meat, and even found the bullet jacket in the grinder one time. If they hit any amount of bone, they come apart. I have since been working with the Nosler Partition in 165 grain, as I want something that will hold together a little better.

oldelkhunter · 06-29-2005, 06:10 PM

Charlie, you were using them on Mulies Correct? I too have some doubts about them working on game but they sure do shoot well at the range. The deer I will be using these on will range from 150 -200 lbs no more then that

06-29-2005, 06:42 PM

I use em on deer but use varget kicking at 2750fps. They work great. I have hit em in the shoulder with a quartering to me shot and it went all the way thru. Hit em broadside with a massive exit would. I put them in the class of Ballistic tips. Its my favorite bullet for velocitieys under 2850fps.

Can't say I ever had a failure. Never recovered a bullet, and never found any bullet parts in meat. But then again, I have never had a failure on coreloks and ballistic tips either. Haven't hit anything bigger than a 140lb deer with them.

I am rather picky on my shots. I usually only take broadsided shots thru the boiler room.

Carpmaster · 06-29-2005, 07:43 PM

They have worked fine on our Michigan whitetails out to 200 yds with a 308 and 30-06 up to 2750 fps....

Mark whiz · 06-29-2005, 08:10 PM

I've taken about a half dozen hogs using a .270 and the gamekings. All but 1 of them stopped dead in their tracks and the lone "getaway" only went 10yds.
And these were on shoulder shots on boar..............so the bullet had to be tough to get the job done.
I recovered 2 bullets I think in that time - the cores did separate from the jackets before passing thru........but the jackets expanded to 3/4".

I'd trust gamekings before I would the Nosler ballistic tips - I've had the ballistic tips explode on contact with hogs of similiar size.

charlie brown · 06-29-2005, 09:51 PM

Yes, the deer was a mule deer where we found bullet pieces in the grinder. That was a very sharp raking shot that entered the left shoulder and the bullet went all the way into the left hip, breaking up the whole way through. I had one bullet not penetrate completely through on a 150 pound mule deer at about 300 yards. The other failure was a Winchester 165 grain factory load. The bullet hit a 150 pound doe at 125 yards, hit a rib, and barely made it to the heart. The other two deer I have killed were head and neck shots. (My dad's deer was the one with the raking shot).

rick_reno · 06-30-2005, 08:35 AM

I've been using the Nosler 165 BT's for the past 6 years (found some Federal ammo on sale that had them in it). They work great on deer.

Highpower · 06-30-2005, 08:45 AM

I've been loading these bullets and singing their praises for years. IMHO, they are one of the best .30 cal bullets onthe market today. I've never seen they NOT shoot thru a deer at any reasonable range. A good friend of my took his elk this year with this bullet loaded in a 300 Wby with one shot at 100+ yards. It's all I'll carry for deer in either my .308 or my 30.06. Even my .243 loves the 85 grainers for deer.

ejpaul1 · 06-30-2005, 01:08 PM

Do these come in boat tail?