Bullets (Sierra Gamekings) not performing as expected

[Chasser]

I’ve used Sierra Gamekings shooting predominantly sika, with a few roe and the odd fallow for a few years now through my .308, my load has stayed the same (44.5 grains N140, 150gr Sierra gameking, same primers, same make of cases, same seating depths (you get the picture)).

I have chronograph’d them at 2695 FPS. I have never had any issues with the bullet performance until my last few deer.

it started with a couple of roe that I shot broadside through the engine room, entry wound was smack on where I was aiming but the exit wound would be way off as if the animal was quartering a lot, I thought I wasn’t picking up on the fact the deer was quartering (felt sure it wasn’t!) the exit wounds were also smaller than usual, (as if the round hadn’t expanded), that I get with the sika..

I shot a couple of wild reds, the first beast, perfectly broadside, 150M, took the heart shot and the deer ran 20M wobbled on the spot, looked around, wobbled some more, as I covered the beast in the scope, I thought it will drop as per most H/L shots as he was behaving consistent with a good H/L shot, however he put his neck up and after 2 minutes I thought something was wrong and dropped him with a neck shot.
On further investigation when gralloching the bullet struck exactly where I was aiming, penetrated the skin, traveled between the bone and the skin through the flesh, went under and round the brisket and exited about the same height as the entry wound, I looked at the heart which was all bruised on one side (I guess due to the bullet thinking the ribs but not penetrating) this must have been what made the beast look like he’s been shot in the heart but not dropping....?! The exit wound was also not as expected.

The next red was a broadside H/L shot at 85M entry perfect again but no exit wound, I’ve never had the bullet not exit a beast so I’m not happy with how this batch of bullets are performing.

Has anyone ever experienced a batch of bullets that don’t perform as expected?

If this isn’t a bad batch what else could be causing this?

Thanks

Chass

 

[Muir]

Game King are usually very reliable. Could be a bad LOT. Contact Sierra with the LOT number off of the box.~Muir

 

[Rhodesianjess]

Loaded Sierra's for my 243 that someone kindly gave me, never again. Gone back to Speer, wasn't impressed at all with Sierra's performance. Accuracy as per usual, terminal effects atrocious. Some blew up upon impact, mimicking varmint ammo. Some penetrated ok then almost grenade effect within beasts body. Lost more than one saddle from underneath damage. Also recovered jackets from body cavities with rest of the projectile turned to shrapnel , hence grenade effect. This from game ammo not varmint. Gave the rest to underkeeper to shoot foxes with,a job they did well.
Never again, might just have been that one box in all fairness. Speer always consistent over many years of use. Best regards Jess.

 

[3xspringer]

Use Sierra for .308 and .243 never had a problem yet, get on to the manufacturer’s!

 

[the_greenman]

Are they gameking or the newer gamechangers? I read a few people were having issues with the newer ones.

 

[User00033]

There is something that you can do that would be very very interesting to see.

Take one of the bullets and, by carefully setting it up in a vice along the midline length ways, grind off half the bullet. Make a proper section and lets have a look see with a decent quality closeup photo.

Assuming the individual shots are as described, and not slightly off or much slower than normal, the only way the bullet can perform differently to any other GameKing is if something is amiss with the construction. I am at a loss to think what it is because like others have said, and your own experiences, the GameKing has been a reliable bullet for hundreds of thousands of shooters for a few decades now.

 

[User00033]

The next red was a broadside H/L shot at 85M entry perfect again but no exit wound, I’ve never had the bullet not exit a beast so I’m not happy with how this batch of bullets are performing.

This I’m not as surprised about because the GameKing is after all a thin jacketed frangible bullet and it is quite possible that it broke up and failed to fully penetrate at such short range. If the animal is DRT then I don’t see this as a problem. Did you manage to recover the bullet?

 

[jcampbellsmith]

Have you disassembled a couple of rounds and verified the powder weights - preferably with a different set of scales? Are you wet tumbling your brass? I would look long and hard at the ammunition and think on any recent changes to your kit/process. Could you have used another powder?
Regards
JCS

 

[gixer1]

Another vote for a load anomaly or bad batch as I use game kings in 150gr .30 and 85gr 243, and the performance seems pretty consistent.

I also run my 150’s at about the same speed as you (2650fps)

You could line up some 25gal drums full of water and shoot a couple of the current batch and if you have them some from an older batch to see how they expand?

regards,
Gixer

 

[hendrix's rifle]

I had this with my 243, @dodgyknees has seen the picture of the aftermath! Pro hunters all day for me

 

[308tikka]

VV powder very consistent lot to lot but have you chronod this batch?

 

[Dunwaters]

I’ve used Sierra Gamekings shooting predominantly sika, with a few roe and the odd fallow for a few years now through my .308, my load has stayed the same (44.5 grains N140, 150gr Sierra gameking, same primers, same make of cases, same seating depths (you get the picture)).

I have chronograph’d them at 2695 FPS. I have never had any issues with the bullet performance until my last few deer.

it started with a couple of roe that I shot broadside through the engine room, entry wound was smack on where I was aiming but the exit wound would be way off as if the animal was quartering a lot, I thought I wasn’t picking up on the fact the deer was quartering (felt sure it wasn’t!) the exit wounds were also smaller than usual, (as if the round hadn’t expanded), that I get with the sika..

I shot a couple of wild reds, the first beast, perfectly broadside, 150M, took the heart shot and the deer ran 20M wobbled on the spot, looked around, wobbled some more, as I covered the beast in the scope, I thought it will drop as per most H/L shots as he was behaving consistent with a good H/L shot, however he put his neck up and after 2 minutes I thought something was wrong and dropped him with a neck shot.
On further investigation when gralloching the bullet struck exactly where I was aiming, penetrated the skin, traveled between the bone and the skin through the flesh, went under and round the brisket and exited about the same height as the entry wound, I looked at the heart which was all bruised on one side (I guess due to the bullet thinking the ribs but not penetrating) this must have been what made the beast look like he’s been shot in the heart but not dropping....?! The exit wound was also not as expected.

The next red was a broadside H/L shot at 85M entry perfect again but no exit wound, I’ve never had the bullet not exit a beast so I’m not happy with how this batch of bullets are performing.

Has anyone ever experienced a batch of bullets that don’t perform as expected?

If this isn’t a bad batch what else could be causing this?

Thanks

Chass

Try a few more, it's probably just a run of non typical bullet performance stringing together.
Bullets do veer off line on contact pretty regularly, just like every rifle will throw a really good or really bad group now and again.
I wouldn't panic just yet.

 

[CarlW]

Run a few of them (this existing loaded batch; not a new load) over a chrono again to see whether velocity is as expected.

 

[8x57]

Game King are usually very reliable. Could be a bad LOT. Contact Sierra with the LOT number off of the box.~Muir

Like you Muir I am wondering if there is some inconsistency with this lot. While Sierra is normally very consistent for quality I experienced exactly the opposite some years ago when I had .308 Game kings penciling through roe. Just wondering if its possible that there has been some manufacturing variance from normal regarding jacket thickness or the hardness of the core.

 

[Yorric]

Check velocity with chrono.
If not as expected/previous, try different batch of primers, powder and bullets.
Check powder charge weight/scales etc.
If cases are sooty on outside, anneal them before Sizing.
Ian

 

[jer]

I never expect to find a particular bullet behave in the same way all the time as there are so many variables that affect how it performs once the animal is struck. A couple being the angle of entry and what the bullet encounters at all stages of its travel and I wouldn’t be too concerned about the reasons for a few differing results I’ve always considered it normal and something that happens with pretty much any bullet I’ve used particularly when shooting different species. There is no such thing as the perfect bullet that performs the same every time when you are shooting animals so I wouldn’t let your experience affect your confidence in using the same round again.

 

[Tim.243]

I’ve used Sierra Gamekings shooting predominantly sika, with a few roe and the odd fallow for a few years now through my .308, my load has stayed the same (44.5 grains N140, 150gr Sierra gameking, same primers, same make of cases, same seating depths (you get the picture)).

I have chronograph’d them at 2695 FPS. I have never had any issues with the bullet performance until my last few deer.

it started with a couple of roe that I shot broadside through the engine room, entry wound was smack on where I was aiming but the exit wound would be way off as if the animal was quartering a lot, I thought I wasn’t picking up on the fact the deer was quartering (felt sure it wasn’t!) the exit wounds were also smaller than usual, (as if the round hadn’t expanded), that I get with the sika..

I shot a couple of wild reds, the first beast, perfectly broadside, 150M, took the heart shot and the deer ran 20M wobbled on the spot, looked around, wobbled some more, as I covered the beast in the scope, I thought it will drop as per most H/L shots as he was behaving consistent with a good H/L shot, however he put his neck up and after 2 minutes I thought something was wrong and dropped him with a neck shot.
On further investigation when gralloching the bullet struck exactly where I was aiming, penetrated the skin, traveled between the bone and the skin through the flesh, went under and round the brisket and exited about the same height as the entry wound, I looked at the heart which was all bruised on one side (I guess due to the bullet thinking the ribs but not penetrating) this must have been what made the beast look like he’s been shot in the heart but not dropping....?! The exit wound was also not as expected.

The next red was a broadside H/L shot at 85M entry perfect again but no exit wound, I’ve never had the bullet not exit a beast so I’m not happy with how this batch of bullets are performing.

Has anyone ever experienced a batch of bullets that don’t perform as expected?

If this isn’t a bad batch what else could be causing this?

Thanks

Chass

I have the same 150 head in my .270 doing 2735..ish ( thank you paul and rory)

Each deer is different to how it stands and you can only put the round in what spot is available (or don't take the shot)
If I can't get a good neck shot on a muntjac then the chance of blowing a front leg off is quite high as they will be turned in but looking square on.

Last long fallow was 288 with the .270 a neat hole in and a 40mm hole on the exit...went 20 yds with no lungs...
A Fallow @ 240 yd with the .243 with a 95gn head same thing ran 70 yards smashed lungs stone dead at the end of its run
Muntjac with the .270 @ 120 yds small hole in the neck with this

As Jer said each one is different and not repeatable, these bruising comments I find very odd as people shoot beasts with lots of variables with a big round...

You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs....or get powdered egg lol

Tim.243

 

[Chasser]

Thanks for the replies, I will contact Sierra, this hasn’t put me off using them yet as, I, and many others have great results using them. I haven’t chrono’d this batch but I will try to this evening. The cartridges are new with this batch, brand new PPU, replacing my old fired PPU cartridges.

I will try and grind a bullet open and reply with the photo/findings.

thanks all

 

[ChesterP]

If one thing is predictable it is the unpredictability of terminal ballistics due to the variables involved. I wouldn't be drawing any firm conclusions from a few "off" experiences but might perhaps send a half dozen bullets to sierra for checking if concerned. Otherwise it is a good idea to chrony the current batch as my last n140 batch was very hot...not consistent with my load development batches at all. I believe that vhit have vastly improved temperature sensitivity in the past year or so as that was the Achilles heal of this powder for me on the past hence I switched to rs powders for my 308 needs...which proved only a little better in that respect but are more uniform with velocity v's load ladder so less prone to velocity spiking in hotter loads IME.

Then there is what happens if the bullet angle and impact conditions cause it to behave unexpectedly, or if a rib or shoulder us glanced etc. I have had huge exit wounds when using the same load close up where the bullet has fragmented, which they can do partially or wholly if terminal velocities much exceed 2600fps with these. I tend to load at 2650fps and at 100 yds its already dropped sufficiently under this for reliable expansion with good mass retention.

For those commenting on prohunters...they use an identical jacket construction so shouldn't behave all that much differently on impact except for slightly greater velocity drop off with range and have less slightly less sectional density than their boat tailed siblings.

 

[geoffw]

I’ve used Sierra Gamekings shooting predominantly sika, with a few roe and the odd fallow for a few years now through my .308, my load has stayed the same (44.5 grains N140, 150gr Sierra gameking, same primers, same make of cases, same seating depths (you get the picture)).

I have chronograph’d them at 2695 FPS. I have never had any issues with the bullet performance until my last few deer.

it started with a couple of roe that I shot broadside through the engine room, entry wound was smack on where I was aiming but the exit wound would be way off as if the animal was quartering a lot, I thought I wasn’t picking up on the fact the deer was quartering (felt sure it wasn’t!) the exit wounds were also smaller than usual, (as if the round hadn’t expanded), that I get with the sika..

I shot a couple of wild reds, the first beast, perfectly broadside, 150M, took the heart shot and the deer ran 20M wobbled on the spot, looked around, wobbled some more, as I covered the beast in the scope, I thought it will drop as per most H/L shots as he was behaving consistent with a good H/L shot, however he put his neck up and after 2 minutes I thought something was wrong and dropped him with a neck shot.
On further investigation when gralloching the bullet struck exactly where I was aiming, penetrated the skin, traveled between the bone and the skin through the flesh, went under and round the brisket and exited about the same height as the entry wound, I looked at the heart which was all bruised on one side (I guess due to the bullet thinking the ribs but not penetrating) this must have been what made the beast look like he’s been shot in the heart but not dropping....?! The exit wound was also not as expected.

The next red was a broadside H/L shot at 85M entry perfect again but no exit wound, I’ve never had the bullet not exit a beast so I’m not happy with how this batch of bullets are performing.

Has anyone ever experienced a batch of bullets that don’t perform as expected?

If this isn’t a bad batch what else could be causing this?

Thanks

Chass

I stopped using gamekings and went to the prohunters, back in about 2013, I had far too many cases (6?) of dejacketing, resulting in fragments everywhere throughout the carcass, including finding the lead in the neck and the casing down by the haunches, via the messy route, on reds (plural). Also lots of non-exit wounds and more off-line exits than I would expect (reckoning on normally getting some from deflections). This was on reds, munti and roe. Prohunters- no problems. (Also as I udnerstand it, Gamekings don't come into their own until >200m ranges, if you're shooting less than that they may be less accurate (by mm) than the ProHunters, due to a shorter barrel contact area/stabilisation.