In the last 16 years hunting whitetail I have taken 15 bucks with 140gr cup-core bullets in my 270 all with great 1 shot results. Last year I used 150 Fusion bullet (not quite cup-core but close) for the first time. The buck I shot was beaded at 220 yards and the bullet just clipped the onside shoulder blade and made a clean passthrough on far side. I would agree with above the entry wound was blood shot about the same.
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150 Grain.270 Sierra Gameking on Whitetail
- Thread starter General RE LEE
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JC in Calif
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2007
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I use the 100gr GameKing out of my .257WBY. I would say it's on the softer side of the scale. I've had all one shot kills on deer and Antelope. Exit wounds on the Antelope, not on the deer. I trust it to get the job done.
I've been loading them for many decades, and for whitetail, mules and similar, they have performed well from .270W class velocities. I cannot recall recovering one from anything 250# or less, and they always left nice exit holes and good internal damage. Elk with rib shots, and they are fine within their design limits.
Brad Norman
Active Member
A lot of different topics are discussed on this forum and I'm certainly no expert on any of them, but I have quite a bit of experience with the Sierra 150-grain BTSP "Game King" in several rifles chambered in .270 Winchester, both mine and my Son's. Over the years, since around 1979, I've used that bullet almost exclusively for Pronghorn and Mule Deer in Nevada. This bullet in my Grandfather's old Remington is the reason I stopped hunting with rifles chambered in .308 and .30-06. I was amazed at the terminal results I've obtained with many different shots, from under 100 yards to my last Muley Buck two weeks ago at 510 yards. Most of the kills were clean "bang-flops" but in some cases a big Buck might run 40 yards or so after the Sierra had completely wrecked their boiler room. Large Mule Deer can be very tough animals, and of course even with proper shot placement they will sometimes "kick" and bolt for a couple of seconds before piling up. I recommend these Sierra bullets enthusiastically.
I do recommend, from my family's experiences, you should do your best not to hit shoulder on the way in, as you sometimes will do with a quartering-toward shot. I'd not recommend that angle with any bullet, as you'll necessarily lose some nice shoulder meat. With that situation, especially at close ranges, the Sierra will come apart sooner than you'd like and it's unlikely you'll get any exit. If you can wait for an angle change, broadside hits tight against the shoulders are devastating and make fast kills. The best results we've had were with quartering-away shots when you can hold back into the ribs just a bit away from the near shoulder and have the Sierra punch the lungs and exit through the far-side shoulder. They go down immediately and stay down with those shots. As many on this site have correctly documented, shot placement is very important, regardless of bullet brand and caliber. Happy Hunting!!
I do recommend, from my family's experiences, you should do your best not to hit shoulder on the way in, as you sometimes will do with a quartering-toward shot. I'd not recommend that angle with any bullet, as you'll necessarily lose some nice shoulder meat. With that situation, especially at close ranges, the Sierra will come apart sooner than you'd like and it's unlikely you'll get any exit. If you can wait for an angle change, broadside hits tight against the shoulders are devastating and make fast kills. The best results we've had were with quartering-away shots when you can hold back into the ribs just a bit away from the near shoulder and have the Sierra punch the lungs and exit through the far-side shoulder. They go down immediately and stay down with those shots. As many on this site have correctly documented, shot placement is very important, regardless of bullet brand and caliber. Happy Hunting!!
Are you referring to the 30cal Sierra GK bullet? For a few years I shot deer with my Old Man's hand loaded 30-06 150 SGK bullets, I then loaded 165 Sierras for my own use. I took Elk, Coues and mule deer with my 30-06 shooting the 165 SGK. That 165 gr 30 cal was a hammer. I then started using a 270 little over 20 years ago using the SGK 140's and they have put down deer reliably. So are you saying 30cal SGK bullets don't work but the .277 bullet is better?
Brad Norman
Active Member
No Sir, I never said the .30 caliber Sierras didn't work. They're excellent. In fact my Son, Daughter, Ex-wife and I had really good results over the years with a number of Sierra bullets. In the .243, oddly enough, the 85-grain BTHP GK performed better than their 100-grain BTSP. In .30 caliber both the 165-grain BTHP (very underrated!) and the 165 BTSP performed great. I believe your experiences with the .277 Game King at 140-grains are also valid. With every rifle in which I tried the 150-grain BTSP GK I was able to easily obtain good accuracy, so I stuck with those. I've never been disappointed in any way with them.
So, to summarize, I'm not criticizing any Sierra bullet in any caliber. I used their Match Kings when shooting High Power years ago and they always shot accurately and consistently. I like all their Game Kings but for some reason I can't explain, my rifles chambered in .270 Winchester have always given Mule Deer a smack down the other calibers just didn't quite match. Over the past couple of years my Son and I have tinkered with the 6.5-284 cartridge with the 140-grain A-Max and now the 147-grain ELD-M's for hunting. It may be nearly the equal of the easy-to-shoot .270 Winchester. When reaching "out there" the 6.5 performs better I suppose. She requires less windage and elevation adjustment and retains its sub-moa accuracy at greater distances . . . but for whatever reason I've not seen it hammer Deer, Elk or Pronghorn quite as hard as the mighty .270 does. You can study the ballistic charts extensively and scratch your head over such unexplainable things, but that's what I've seen with my own eyes, over and over.
SF -
So, to summarize, I'm not criticizing any Sierra bullet in any caliber. I used their Match Kings when shooting High Power years ago and they always shot accurately and consistently. I like all their Game Kings but for some reason I can't explain, my rifles chambered in .270 Winchester have always given Mule Deer a smack down the other calibers just didn't quite match. Over the past couple of years my Son and I have tinkered with the 6.5-284 cartridge with the 140-grain A-Max and now the 147-grain ELD-M's for hunting. It may be nearly the equal of the easy-to-shoot .270 Winchester. When reaching "out there" the 6.5 performs better I suppose. She requires less windage and elevation adjustment and retains its sub-moa accuracy at greater distances . . . but for whatever reason I've not seen it hammer Deer, Elk or Pronghorn quite as hard as the mighty .270 does. You can study the ballistic charts extensively and scratch your head over such unexplainable things, but that's what I've seen with my own eyes, over and over.
SF -
General RE LEE
Well-Known Member
Anyone find Sierra Gameking lead tips to be mostly deformed? Every box of Federal Premium SGK 150 grain I have bought the lead tips are a mess.
Brad Norman
Active Member
Good point. (Pun intended) I really see some deformation with all makes of bullets with exposed lead tips. I think that's just the way it is with lead. At the ranges I use them for hunting, at about 500 yards max, it hasn't seemed to cause any problem. The darned 150-grain Sierras are sure accurate, even with what appears to be "inconsistency" with their tips. I've used polymer-tipped Hornady and Nosler bullets for longer-range shooting (steel and paper) and with those in the 6.5-284 we've taken Elk and Pronghorn at longer distances, in the 600 to 800 yard range. I suppose that's why the 6.5's and the 7mm's are so popular for long range. There's a better bullet selection and, accordingly, gun makers twist the barrels faster.
Unfortunately it seems .277 projectiles are only made for the 1:10 twist and every rifle manufacturer follows suit, always sticking with that. So we're stuck with lower-BC .277 projectiles, almost all between 130 and 150 grains. The 160 Partition performed perfectly for me on a Bull Elk in Idaho years ago, but it's not a long-range bullet by any means. Berger now makes a 170 in their "Extreme Outer Limit" bullet and recommends a 1:9 or faster spin rate. I was hoping Sierra would follow Berger's lead with the Game Changer. It was disappointing to see they produced it only in 140-grain for the .270, which is really too bad.
In the not-too-distant future I'll re-barrel an old Remington 700 in .270, and have it twisted 1:8 or 1:8.5. Sierra tells me their 150 Game King (BTSP) will hold together and have no problem inside the barrel with the faster rate. The technician I spoke with opined they might open-up a little faster on impact . . . but he wasn't sure. I'd be curious to know what experiences others have had with a tighter twist barrel in the .270 Winchester or the .270 WSM.
Unfortunately it seems .277 projectiles are only made for the 1:10 twist and every rifle manufacturer follows suit, always sticking with that. So we're stuck with lower-BC .277 projectiles, almost all between 130 and 150 grains. The 160 Partition performed perfectly for me on a Bull Elk in Idaho years ago, but it's not a long-range bullet by any means. Berger now makes a 170 in their "Extreme Outer Limit" bullet and recommends a 1:9 or faster spin rate. I was hoping Sierra would follow Berger's lead with the Game Changer. It was disappointing to see they produced it only in 140-grain for the .270, which is really too bad.
In the not-too-distant future I'll re-barrel an old Remington 700 in .270, and have it twisted 1:8 or 1:8.5. Sierra tells me their 150 Game King (BTSP) will hold together and have no problem inside the barrel with the faster rate. The technician I spoke with opined they might open-up a little faster on impact . . . but he wasn't sure. I'd be curious to know what experiences others have had with a tighter twist barrel in the .270 Winchester or the .270 WSM.
General RE LEE
Well-Known Member
Is 1800 fps the minimum terminal velocity for reliable expansion with the Game Kings?
DocDoc
Well-Known Member
I am not sure about the 150 Game King (BTSP), but several have and use .270 AIs on this Board and should be able to give you and idea.
Willoughby
Well-Known Member
dont know about the 150s but my 270 loves the 140 SGKs over 63gH1000 shoots well under moa and it seems to be a quick killer on both deer and elk
