What to expect of legendary Gameking

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TheSwede

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The store had a great offer so I just had to buy 180 grain sierra gamekings for my .30-06. Im used with bonded premium bullets for my moose, deer, and wild boar hunts. This is the first time I'll go with soft points. What I already like about the bullet is the awesome BC and wind resistance.

Becouse its a soft point should I always try to go behind shoulder on Moose and deers? or can the bullet handle a big shoulder hit?
 
Used SGK's until bullet failure. I now use them exclusively for target practice, until I shoot the last one. My go to bullet at present is the 180gr. Accubond.

Yes go for behind the shoulder and not on the shoulder, I would not trust the bullet on larger bones. IMO they work better at lower velocities so if hunting close keep them slower, 2500fps if hunting up to say 150m.

Also busy shooting out my 6.5mm 120 and 140gr. SPH's and SGK's, I have found the 130gr. Accubond to perform significantly better.

In both cases meat damage is limited with the Accubonds.

You will have no problems with accuracy though.
 
Ok thats pretty much what I expected then. I was thinking to load them at 2700fps. I'll hunt with them for now, im going to load ttsx later this season.
 
If the 15-grain Sierra SPBT is driven to, say, 3,100, it can blow up at short range. Works just fine from 2,800 on down. No problem with the flat base.

I just got done posting this over at TFL, a few minutes ago:

Call it a "penetration test comparison", sorta, from a 26" '06. All Sierra bulllets, on steel at 500 yards. My home range.

150-grain SPBT: A very slight dimple.
165-grain HPBT: A wee bit more dimple, maybe 1/16" deep.
180-grain SPBT: A 1/8" dimple with the beginning of a crater's splashback.

All I have to go by is the Sierra Handbook charts, but my trajectory indicated a muzzle velocity of right at 3,100 for the 150-grain load. All three loads, with no sight adjustment, hit within four of five inches of a single point of aim. Ergo, about the same trajectory for the three bullets.

I loaned the rifle to Justin; he killed an elk with it, using the 180s.

I've been using Sierras for over thirty years, now, and have always had sub-MOA groups and mostly one-shot DRT kills on Bambi with the 150s.
 
Sierras are one of the most accurate bullets you can find. Don't get caught up in the marketing tactics of some of the other company's designs. Whenever people claim to have had problems and blame the bullet, they are just being dishonest with themselves and not owning the bad shot.
 
Put the Sierra gameking any where on the shoulder or just behind, as long as you connect with vitals its going down fast. It will break and smash any deer or moose bone along the way.
 
The store had a great offer so I just had to buy 180 grain sierra gamekings for my .30-06. Im used with bonded premium bullets for my moose, deer, and wild boar hunts. This is the first time I'll go with soft points. What I already like about the bullet is the awesome BC and wind resistance.

Becouse its a soft point should I always try to go behind shoulder on Moose and deers? or can the bullet handle a big shoulder hit?
I never considered them "legendary, at least NOT as a hunting bullet!

Accurate? Yes, reliable for DEEP penetration in bigger big game ?, not that i've seen.

Good for smaller big game though...

DM
 
I can't attest to moose, but deer, hell, they all fall with a shoulder shot to a 100 grain .257 for me. A 180 game king, not a problem, break as many bones as ya want. :D

I like 'em in the .257 Roberts because they're 1/2 MOA accurate. I can pick the hair I wanna shoot at 100 yards. :D That ol' rifle loaded with game kings just gitzer dun on deer inside 400 yards. My grandpa loaded Sierra 117 flat base in the gun over 4350. I kinda prefer the 100 grain boat tail game king over H4831 for 3150 fps MV. The great BC lets 'er reach out there a ways.

JMHO of game kings for deer based on a smaller caliber.
 
There was an interesting study posted on THR recently which showed that on 650 odd Whiite Tailed Deer that the softer more fragmentable bullets accounted for quicker fatalities.

While not knocking the Sierra's at all it becomes a personal choice based on personal experience. Everything I have shot with a SGK has died. One Impala was a problem, the animal I assume was too close, circa 10m and quartering away from me. The 180gr. GK bullet entered at the rear of the rib cage, deflected and travelled between the ribs and the skin, exited and then embedded in the neck. Took a second shot. The recovered bullet had gone banana shaped.

SGK-180gr-B.jpg

SGK-180gr-A.jpg

Now one bullet failure is NOT a statistic I agree. The other "bad" experience I had was a full frontal shot on a Kudu bull at 40m, the bullet worked extremely well in that it killed the animal but the entire insides were turned to absolute mush, made slaughtering a rather bloody process. Could not recover one bullet fragment.

You will note both "bad" experiences I had were at short range but in both case the animals perished. I just decided to exercise personal choice as most my hunting is done closer rather than further and I did not want repeats, a personal choice to move.

I would never actively try discourage people from using more fragmentable bullets I have just had better experience with Accubonds. Less meat damage which is important to me, less mess when slaughtering.
 
My dad used to have the 165 GK BT loaded for him until Federal started offering it in the premium line. He has taken at least 50 deer with them and I have taken about 10. Its rare for us to find a bullet but when we did it has been a perfect mushroom about 3/4" dia. This is hunting PA deer with shots average from 50-125yds. I have never used more than one shot and I have never had to learn to track. I dont remember my dad ever shooting more than once unless he had multiple bucks in front of him.
 
Sierras are one of the most accurate bullets you can find. Don't get caught up in the marketing tactics of some of the other company's designs. Whenever people claim to have had problems and blame the bullet, they are just being dishonest with themselves and not owning the bad shot.
Accuracy doesn't equal terminal performance. Bullets are like cars...some are better for some things than they are others....and everyone who has burned out a transmission on Chevy isn't making it up...Mechanical failures can and do happen, whether it be a car or a bullet design. Not "everyone" who has a story of poor bullet performance is avoiding owning a "bad shot" and mass generalizations only serve to reduce credibility. I don't have experience with this particular bullet, but do know that bullet failures can and do happen.
 
Well, I know a guy that just blew a tranmssion and seal on his F250 trying to move a 16000 lb dozer on a trailer. So, in this analogy, it's sorta like trying to shoot an elephant with a Game King, ain't made for that. I shoot deer with 'em, work great. I don't know about moose, never even seen one in the wild. We don't have 'em where I've ever hunted in Texas/New Mexico. I do know that a Hornady of heavy weight for the caliber has failed to expand on a deer for me. The shot was lethal and he went about 75 yards, but I never have this problem with Game Kings.

Every bullet has its application, I suppose. Since I mostly hunt deer and hogs, I really don't need the magic bullets. I do have a 160 grain Nosler Partition load for my 7mm Rem Mag just in case I ever get to hunt Nilgai or Elk with it, but I ain't got many loaded and ain't holding my breath til I get to go. Meanwhile, I've killed half a dozen deer with a 150 Game King from that rifle, VERY accurate load. One doe at 50 yards got both shoulders blood shot to unusable, shoulda put it behind the shoulder. 150 yards the previous day, I'd shot a buck with little loss of meat, was quartering away and I put it just behind the right shoulder, exited in front of the left shoulder and just folded. I watched that buck get hit and I swear I could see his chest puff up when he was hit. Game King put the whammy on him. I shot a near 300 lb mulie across a New Mexico canyon at 350 yards with that load, no meat damage, shoulder hit.

Conclusion.....Game Kings work on deer sized animals. For heavy game, I think they're probably the wrong tool. Most of us here will never see a Moose in our scopes or something of that size. Those that do hunt them can relate what they use, I suppose, and there's been some good posts from those that hunt heavier game.
 
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With "legendary" i just ment its old. Its well knowed. Have been used by hunters world wide for decades. It also have won 1000 yards competitions.

I mostly hunt deer. I would say 80% deer 15% wild boars and 5% moose.
 
That bullet will stop any hog that walks. :D It's the Moose I'd be apprehensive about.

Game Kings have been around and I've been using them a LONG time. They ARE legendary for accuracy. I used to shoot IHMSA with a Contender in 7mm TCU using a 150 Match King. THAT bullet was pretty amazing for accuracy. I still have the barrel and dies.
 
That bullet will stop any hog that walks. :D It's the Moose I'd be apprehensive about.

Game Kings have been around and I've been using them a LONG time. They ARE legendary for accuracy. I used to shoot IHMSA with a Contender in 7mm TCU using a 150 Match King. THAT bullet was pretty amazing for accuracy. I still have the barrel and dies.
Very interesting.
 
Thanks for all input and response! I like the balanced posts wich are not either "its super fantastic on everything include tanks" or "useless on everything". I will be carefull with big moose and put it behind shoulder.
 
surely no expert on moose or elk but ive shot as many whitetail as anyone here and my favorite bullet is the pro hunter. It and the balistic tip nos are usually the most accurate bullets in most guns and kill like theres no tommarow. Most of what you hear on excessive meat damage is from guys that cant get it in there heads to shoot behind the shoulder not into the shoulder. I dont know how many deer ive shot with sierras but its in the hundreds and ive yet to loose a single deer due to bullet failure. Something i cant say for a certain brand of preimum bullet that doesnt have lead!!! My take on it is if your using enough gun and you put a prohunter behind the shoulder at any range from 30 yards to 300 yards and your not eating backstraps tommarow you need more trigger time not a more expensive bullet.
 
I've used the game king on deer and couldn't ask for more it preformed as asked.
I loaded the 180's for Elk and was able to take a cow at I'm guessing 75 yards or so the shot was off hand and a litle high but it was able to take out both lungs she went around 30 yards and tiped over. I loaded it at 2730 fps out of a 30-06 as for meat loss not much so I will continue to use them.
Flip
 
i have used the game king. when delivered at longer range (sensible velocity) it performs excellently. very close or at too high velocity it might come apart... but i dont think you will be able to push 180grains overly fast from the 30-06. If that bullet goes through the pocket it will do what you need it to do. It also will not be too damaging on the smaller deer carcass.
 
I'm of the camp that prefers precision over any other ONE factor. The 165SGK (308) load that my rifle shoots well with has the consistent potential to produce dead critters, provided that I do my part by placing the bullet where it needs to go.

I have used this load successfully on hogs, 3 species of deer, black bear, and elk with no issues, and would have no problems hunting moose with this bullet using the same rifle.

With that being said, I would use another bullet designed for big game hunting if said bullet shot better through my rifle compared to the game king.

I just haven't come across one that has as of yet.

How does it shoot through your 30-06?
 
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I'll chime in.

The 165 SGK's in my 30-06 are simply great for accuracy. The 180gr Accubonds and not as good from an accuracy perspective but still .75MOA. I do find there performace superior, better penetration, less meat damage and cleaner exit wound if she whistles through.

Front a hunting point of view I would prefer a bonded bullet at 0.75MOA than a non bonded at .5MOA. I do not hunt out past 300m so I am fine.

If one wanted to say with the 180gr Sierra's then move to the Pro Hunters. The flat base in my opinion improves accuracy up to 300m and the bullet structure is a little better.
 
I shoot a 165 gr Gameking soft point out of my -06 moving at 2900 fps using IMR 4350 and its put down several deer from 40 to 250 yards every time. I prefer the soft point over the hollow point because the 165 gr Gameking hollow point destroys too much meat.
 
Here's my take on it. The SGK in a .30-06 180 gr and down is a fine deer and smaller game bullet. Moving up to elk or moose the SGK works pretty good in a .338 250 gr offering. Deer are super soft and easy to kill as are antelope. Move up to bull elk and you want to start thinking heavier and better constructed bullet.

Start pushing bullets faster than about 3,000 FPS and you want to start using a harder stronger bullet as well.

Th SGK works well if started at about 2800 and down IME. Much faster than that and you start having issues especially on heavier game.
 
The below pic is an example of what a 168gr SMK bullet will do to a deer at a distance of 425 meters. (465 yards)....... when launched from a 308 case out of an M1A...........

Note: That's the exit wound in the pic.
The 165gr SGK shoots just as well through my rifles as the 168gr SMK does, so I prefer it due to the precision it gives me through my specific rifles. (Similar placement on elk with 165SGK does the trick as well....from my experience with them critters.) A moose would be just as DRT IMO.
 
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