New hunting bullet from Sierra.. looks like they made a heavier jacketed TMK.. I look forward to testing the 130gr in 6.5mm
https://youtu.be/pBDudUOaajk
https://youtu.be/3UnmfK_w9yI
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New hunting bullet from Sierra.. looks like they made a heavier jacketed TMK.. I look forward to testing the 130gr in 6.5mm
https://youtu.be/pBDudUOaajk
https://youtu.be/3UnmfK_w9yI
300_blk did a review on them shooting goats. It’s on longrange hunting forum. They are a tipped game king. Similar sort of thing to a sst.
I don’t think they have reinvented the wheel.
No.. not a tipped gameking.. they are more the match king shape like the tipped match king but heavier jacket etc. Personally I think they are what the Sierra company has been missing for a while, the lead tip gamekings distort big time in mags and on feed ramps.
That’s not the case mate. I read a lot about these new Sierras a few weeks and concluded that they are designed to be a much tougher bullet than the GameKing. Then I emailed Philip Mahin at Sierra and asked him straight up. Correct, much thicker jacket, tougher alloy core. Not a GameKing at all. A very specific 1800fps limit on expansion, which no doubt some long range shooters will find out about the hard way.
This is a deep penetrating, tough, heavy game bullet. It will blow straight through most of our game species in NZ. The only applications I might consider using it would be heavy pigs or maybe the largest sambar / red / wapiti stags in the 200-400m range.
I am hoping my cuz in the US will have a detailed report for me after deer season there in the next few weeks as he wants to try them, but has similar reservations.
The GameKing / ProHunter design is ideal for our deer species. They are the same partially fragmenting design, bar the obvious boat tail / flat base. The limitation is their low BC. In the drop tests I’ve done with five common hunting bullets in 6mm, 7mm and .308 the GameKings always came last for accuracy at 400m. But as an effective killer, their track record is right up there obviously.
I think its fair to say that many hunters on this forum would be a bit wary of runners from over penetration and limited or no fragmentation, which has been my experience of using bullets designed for tough game on red skins and fallow.
I doubt they are any tougher than the Barnes TTSX and they work well for me.
Yes good break down flyblown and you are dead right they probably are too heavy for 99% of nz big game. Maybe ok at close ranges but after pondering your comments I think Ill stay with the lighter jacketed Sierra TMK which have never let me down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UnmfK_w9yI&t=2099s
33:25 is where you see the recovered bullets and their expansion.
And from the Sierra Blog, here are the bullet lengths, which are helpful for stability checks.
6mm 90 = 1.161″
6.5mm 130 = 1.373′
.277 140 = 1.377″
7mm 165 = 1.495″
.308 165 = 1.409″
From some rough measurements on the screen, the plastic tip looks to be about 14% of the total length, for the JBM stability calc.
Hmm wonder if those 130s will work in my 1:9 260 rem
Yeah they look like a good bullet
From that video anyway
Anyone got them in stock in NZ?
I was thinking today I might give the 6mm GameChanger a go in my .243 Win as they would probably be the best compromise between BC and weight for a 1:10” twist barrel and would certainly fly better and carry more energy than the Prohunter and Gameking. But the problem is I think they’ll be too hard for what I want to do, never really been a fan of bullets that don’t shed much weight, just personal preference. In 6mm the 100gr ProHunter and GameKing are perfect for goats and small to medium deer, perfect balance of penetration and fragmentation in my book.
But I’ll probably try the it anyway on goats, just to see what happens. Curiosity being what it is and all. Will be keen to slice one in half and have a look at the jacket and base thickness first.
I think we'll be waiting for the Gamechanger's in the UK for a while yet. I'll try them out in my 6x45 as soon as I can get my hands on some.
Holding their weight, expanding at ordinary long rang ranges and punching right through sounds the ticket for me - especially if they are cheaper than Barnes TTSX and not as fiddly to get to shoot.
Yeah, so do I. The Sierra techs say they definitely will, which is bold but probably because they've tested a shit load of them. The stability calcs look good. Important to use the JBM one or another that allows for the length of the plastic tip.
Attachment 95360
Any updates on how these work on reds? Got a long throated 284 and looking for a bush load. Shoots TMKs nicely, but not sure these will hold up at very close quarters on big stags
My cuz in Colorado said the .30 cal 165gr worked "okay but not great" or words to that effect in their deer season late last year. Also bush stalking, mule deer, which is a pretty good proxy for decent reds. Can't remember the specifics but worked well on the one, and not so well on the other, along the lines of over penetration and not much peripheral wounding. Was a very long runner.
He has dropped it and gone back to the GameKing. assume its also 165gr.
I might be able to get photos, he's up in the oilfields now so won't hear back for a while probably.
The 90 gr in 243 may be the ticket, a bit more penetration could be a good thing so long as it expands ok on the way through.
Sierra recently released a new series of plastic tipped hunting projectiles called the ‘GameChanger’. Sierra has produced some great traditional lead nose hunting bullets over the years with their GameKing and Pro-Hunter lines and I have used them to shoot a lot of animals. The packaging labels them as Tipped GameKings and they are a lead-alloy core projectile with a tapered copper jacket and translucent green polymer tip. I knew that if they performed anything like a traditional GameKing then Sierra would be on to a winner.
I managed to get hold of a small quantity for testing in 6.5mm and 7mm and decided to load them in my Custom 7mm Short Action Ultra Magnum and .264 Winchester Magnum to test in close and at extended ranges to 500m on game. NZ Ammunition Company supplied me with some H1000 powder manufactured by Hodgdons to try which is very close in burn rate to AR2217.
After loading up some ladders starting a few grains under my AR2217 load data I headed to the range with the LabRadar to determine my speeds and see which combinations shot best. The 7 SAUM is built on a Defiance Machine action and has a Proof Research carbon fibre wrapped barrel with a Trigger Tech trigger and AG Composites carbon fibre stock. It is a consistent ¼ MOA shooter and was put together by Mark Macfarlane at Desert Guns in Cromwell. It proved itself again by pushing the 165 grain GameChangers at 3100 fps and producing a 10mm group centre to centre. Happy with that I switched over to my semi-custom .264 Winchester Magnum built by Master Rifle-Smith Robbie Tiffen at Gunworks Canterbury. The Mighty .264 did not disappoint producing a 11mm group pushing the 130 grain GameChangers at 3153 fps.
Since all the hard work was done it was time to test these new projectiles on some game. Heading to my favourite spot in the Wairarapa with my four-year-old daughter Isla, we tried to locate a fallow spiker for some Spring venison. Lady Luck was not on our side and with the Manuka planting about to go ahead the Cocky had asked us to remove as many Goats as we could. I set up on the first two Billy Goats feeding up a native covered face 300m away. With the camera rolling I dispatched the first with a neck shot dropping him instantly. Observing the ‘dead right there’ performance of the 7mm GameChangers when striking bone, I elected for a rear lung shot on the second goat who hadn’t moved thanks to the muffled report of the ASE UTRA suppressor. Aiming for the crease of the shoulder, I gently squeezed of the shot with the camera rolling. The sound of a good hit came back and the goat staggered forward three feet and dropped, never to rise again. Once we recovered the animals it was clear the Tipped GameKings were completely penetrating and leaving 20mm exit wounds. The neck shot offered more resistance and therefore a more emphatic result with a very large exit about the size of my palm.
Happy at close range we elected to try to shoot some at 300m plus, I say we but really, I was keen to keep shooting and Isla was interested in the contents of the packed lunch! With the promise of a boiled sweet we moved to higher ground and settled in behind the .264 Win Mag. There was a consistent 15 mile per hour wind blowing from our four o’clock and it made wind calls challenging but having practiced regularly in these conditions I was confident in stretching out to 450m. There were plenty of goats feeding between 250-450m and I settled on a lone nanny with two juveniles. With a 1.4 mil elevation correction and 1 mil of wind on I sent a 130 grain bullet into the crease of the goat. Jumping at a good hit she ran at a dead run for 30m before piling up out of view of the camera. I manged to shoot another pair of billies in the thick gorse with the .264 at 350m and a mob of nine goats was thinned to two at 400m before we switched back to the 7mm SAUM. With all of the shooting most of the animals had gone to ground for good reason and with Isla’s patience running thin we shot a final nanny at 400m with the SAUM. Facing towards us I aimed right between the shoulder blades and at the shot it dropped instantly.
Once Isla and I had recovered as much meat as possible we hiked up the ridge to the side by side and headed back for a well-earned cuppa. All told we took twenty-five goats and the Sierra GameChangers proved to be a good reliable bullet. There was a marked difference in the stopping power in favour of the 7mm and I would primarily put this down to shot placement on my behalf and bore size. Back at home I sectioned a bullet to reveal a thick jacket and deep hollow point beneath the polymer tip. The ogive starts at .038” and thickens to .044” at the base. This combined with the lead-alloy core produces good terminal performance on light game such as the feral goats I was shooting and will no doubt provide even better results on deer.
Remember if you want to shoot at extended ranges on game then have the respect to go out and practice in those conditions which you want to shoot in. Understand your ballistics, use aids such as rangefinders, ballistic apps to calculate windage and elevation and film your shots so you can learn from them a dog to locate your game. Always use a bullet designed to expand at the distance you intend to shoot and remember, perfect practice makes perfect.
Sierra have designed another great product and I’m looking forward to trying out the .277 140 grain in the 270 Winchester on Thar later in the year.
Warm barrels and stay safe out there!
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literally say's tipped gamekings on the box...
Based on my experience (have yet to shoot a deer) I concur with what @Flyblown is saying.
Will publish the footage for all to see this evening and you can make your own mind up.
Good report @300blk, I have read mixed reports about these bullet some saying they are to hard and don't expand well but your results tell a different story. Can't beat first hand experience.
Good video, most those goats went down very quickly, performance appears to be as good as any plastic tip type bullet.
Its interesting @Mooseman, I'm seeing a little bit of reluctance in the last couple of statements in the text to give them a wholehearted thumbs up?
Most of our game animals here are pretty thin skinned and light bodied compared to elk or bear for example. I am 90% sure from my conversations with the bloke at Sierra that it is the North American proper big game that they have targeted these bullets at. Likewise I am seeing more and more very ordinary reviews coming in from the US after the deer season, last quarter of last year...
In higher SD calibres like 6.5, hard bullets are a worry on light bodies game.
Gut feel is that compared to a fragmenting bullet design a lot of guys are going to find out the hard way that deer can run a very long way if their locomotion isn't immediately disabled by a GameChanger. Narrow wound channels is a concern for me. If I compare some of the neat pics of mushrooms in the marketing material, to the wide open petals and fragmented lead and bits of jacket I get from an ELD-X, I know which one I would rather have doing the work at the business end.
I totally agree @Flyblowen , I certainly wont be straying from the lighter jacketed Tipped match kings for all my game hunting /pest control.
The heavier magnum cartridges have the advantage of 300- 400 fps more velocity and a bigger energy dump which is going to help on the those longer shots but Id be willing to bet those same 400y shots would go a lot different when shooting these bullets through medium power cartridges such as the humble .308, 243, 708 or any of the 6.5mm short action offerings.
I have many (very graphic) pics of goats and deer taken with the 130gr TMK that show just how much more effective a slightly more frangable bullet is on our lightweight game. There's certainly no penciling pass throughs.. the tmks remove goats heads out to about 250y
It is hard to get a do everything bullet for all ranges, I love the ELD X bullets in all the calibers I am using them in and find them good at all ranges I have taken deer at. I want to try the 90 gr ELD X in the 243 when available but thought maybe the 90gr gamechanger could work well as both have similar BC's. They are up there with the price at about $95 plus shipping on Trade Me. These Gamechanger bullets may be better suited to close to medium range or in magnum calibers where the bullet is travelling faster, time will tell.
Won't be changing from the ELD X anytime soon though.
True, I think the 243 is a good caliber out to about 350 yards or there about's so high BC isn't as important as a 700- 800 yard rifle where BC is important. @Apollo the ELD X 90 gr 243 bullet has a BC 0f .506 ?? or close to that so that should be a good longer range bullet and hopefully will stabilize in the 1: 10 twist Barrel. All we need is for them to arrive in NZ.
I think you're pretty spot on @Mooseman. Over the years I've taken several fallow and yearling reds with the 243 and the relatively soft 100gr Prohunter between 350 and 400 yards, all from the exact same spot. 389 yards (356m) is the longest from memory. Thats an impact velocity of ~1970fps.
That spot will deliver again and again, and the beauty of it is that I am always shooting from the same position with a very light breeze directly from behind me. I've got that spot pretty much worked out.
Now I know from my drop the testing of this cartridge and low-ish BC ProHunter that once I pass 400 metres, it starts to get very iffy and accuracy turns to shit. That's at about 1875fps. It's really dropping by this point, so my limit on my 243 is pretty much 350-360m, assuming no wind.
My 6.5 Creedmoor is only starting to warm up at that range. The annoying thing for me is that when I am carrying my .243 I often see goats that are just out of range, and I wish I had my Creedmoor, but my Creedmoor is (quite deliberately) a heavy medium range shooter, not a carry rifle. When I walk in to the hills I carry it on a double sling...
So.. the point of this waffle. The 90gr ELD-X will break the 1875fps mark at about 500m. A full 100m longer than the ProHunter. So even with the slight drop in weight its high BC does the job. That potentially fills a nice gap in my regular shooting - if after drop testing and proving sub-MOA accuracy (I get between 0.7-0.8MOA at 300m with the ProHunter on a still day) I'll be all over those further goats. According to the technician at Hornady who emailed me back, the 90 grain bullet should reliably expand and partially fragment at 1800fps. Anyway, that's why I'm interested in the 90gr ELD-X.
Similar situation for me. I will stay within the ranges you describe for deer and I don't really care what bullet I use. But I like to use my deer rifle as a varminter. With a BC of 0.500 I know I can shoot rabbits 300-400m and I don't need to wait for an ultra still day. I bought the rifle to re-barrel to something in 6.5 but with these new bullets I might not need to.
What a difference half a millimeter makes.
Targex then a re-barrel then.
Here's a comparison of the new 90gr 6mm GameChanger (left) and the 100gr 6mm ProHunter (right). I have tried to scale the photos so the relative lengths are pretty accurate.
Attachment 109524
The ProHunter has been an excellent bullet for me in .243 at 2800fps, readily expanding, partially fragmenting and delivering comprehensive damage to the front lungs, arteries and nerve pathways of red deer. It's also been a very effective neck shooting bullet.
Shooting deer in the 150-300m range, forward in the shoulder will result in an exit ~50% of the time. If not, the base of the bullet will be found against the hide on the opposite side. This shot placement delivers a wide radius of internal damage and a high probability of a bang-flop. Raking shots in through the chest on a quartering towards deer, will usually exit well behind the shoulder, through the rib cage.
The differences to the GameChanger are pretty obvious, eh. I cannot fathom why Sierra would design a small calibre bullet shot at high velocity with such a thick jacket. On thin skinned, light framed deer such as whitetail (the target market in the US) and fallow and roe, and our goats, its reasonable to assume that a point of impact that involves only ribs is just going to sail right on through with a narrow wound channel. This reality has been written up in some posts on US forums.
For heavier game - reds and up - it makes a little more sense assuming you are shoulder shooting for maximum muscle and bone. But in the US it is relatively rare to come across .243 shooters chasing heavier deer species, at least in my experience.
A good application for this bullet here in NZ would be medium pigs.
I hope for the deers' sake I am completely wrong and these GameChangers punch big holes no matter where you shoot the animal...
So make your own mind up. A good discussion point for sure.