New sierra game changer vs hornady eld-x

[Canhunter35]

What's held me back from the eld-x is all my shots are under 200 yards so I'm afraid it's going to blow up. I used the eld-m last year and it actually held up ok to my suprise. It shed 100 grains of weight and retains 62. I was just thinking this bullet might be the happy medium between a long range hunting bullet and a traditional hunting bullet. I will be calling sierra today to find out what their impact velocity recommendation is.

The 212 out of my 300wby worked great on a cow elk center punched through the breast bone at 50 yards and about 200 on bull moose shoulder. I do think if you take the 6mm, 257 cal, and even 6.5 lead bullets and run them really hard, the results will mostly be epic but sooner or later a bullet will fail. The advantage of going up in caliber size makes the bullets terminal performance more forgiving

 

[AZShooter]

Creedmoor shooter: with all your hunting shots under 200 yds you have it made! Why even choose a high BC LR bullet? IMO all you need is a Nosler partition. Or if you cannot get it to shoot try the accubond. The partitions open easily and almost always pass through leaving an exit hole.

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

Creedmoor shooter: with all your hunting shots under 200 yds you have it made! Why even choose a high BC LR bullet? IMO all you need is a Nosler partition. Or if you cannot get it to shoot try the accubond. The partitions open easily and almost always pass through leaving an exit hole.

Because I do alot of long range target shooting(1400 yards) and dont like to change loads and bullets if I don't have to. I like to keep everything the same and simple. I have the opportunity to shoot deer out to 600, it just never seems to happen that way though. On a side note, I think the partition is over constructed/over priced for deer. Deer are not hard critters to kill and I dont need a bonded bullet to kill them. I've killed 2 deer with a partition and I wasnt impressed. Yeah it killed them, but if it was a less than desirable hit, the blood trail would have been terrible do to the tiny hole the partition left.

 

[Edd]

....... On a side note, I think the partition is over constructed/over priced for deer. Deer are not hard critters to kill and I dont need a bonded bullet to kill them. I've killed 2 deer with a partition and I wasnt impressed. Yeah it killed them, but if it was a less than desirable hit, the blood trail would have been terrible do to the tiny hole the partition left.

Nosler Partitions are not bonded. The front part of a Partition expands as easily as any bullet made. The average price of a 7mm Partition is about 75 cents, not a budget breaker for any hunting trip I've taken.

 

[Bravo 4]

I'm usually with what Creedmore shooter said on the one load per gun. Find a good load that meets your expectations for that rifle and intended purpose and go shoot the crap out of it. I know plenty of guys that spend more time dealing with tinkeritis, trying to get that small margin of extra performance, than actually shooting as the rifle was intended. Nothing derogatory towards you if you're that guy as I understand the mentality, however I like to "get away from the bench" as much as possible. On the flip side of that, it isn't always economical (for me) with some of the big boomers. That would cut the amount of shooting I'm able to do down by quite a bit.
Two examples:
My .338 RUM shoots best with Hammer bullets, but they aren't cheap (I understand why Steve, again nothing derogatory intended). So I will load up some "cheap" bullets with a somewhat similar BC @ the same velocity and pound the crap out of some steal. I'm not working on the rifle, I'm working on me. Then load and check the Hammers again before season.
Same thing with my Snipetac with my "hunting barrel" installed. The bullets I'm hunting with are well over $2 per and the Sierra Matchkings (with the same BC) are well under $1.

Back on topic:
I was really hoping the Nosler LRAB would work for me. It has a decent BC, bonded core, lower velocity threshold, and not really high priced. However I have tried them (.308 diameter) in a half dozen rifles (a few that shoot exceptionally well) and cannot get them to shoot consistently.

 

[JTB]

I've killed 2 deer with a partition and I wasnt impressed. Yeah it killed them, but if it was a less than desirable hit, the blood trail would have been terrible do to the tiny hole the partition left.

My experience with partitions has been just opposite. My, then, young son and I used the 270 150gr partitions for two deer seasons and we stopped using them due to the extensive damage they delivered. We have had a 140gr 6.5 burger VLD make a nickle sized hole through the heart and similar exit wound and we have had them seemingly explode internally, depending on the velocity and resistance they encounter. I have also had a 140gr 270 Accubond pass through a deer going 1650 fps with only a 1/4 of the tip expanding leaving a difficult to find exit wound. It was laying on some rocks where the deer dropped immediately. Same bullet removed a couple of ribs on exit going 2300 fps. Bullets behave differently depending on the cercumstances they are delivered.
What does this have to do with the new Sierra game changers? They will work great until they don't, just like the ELD-X and other quality hunting bullets, depending largely on our individual expectation of what "great" is. The real question for me is how accurately will my rifle shoot them knowing sierra normally delivers a good product. For some reason all my 6.5 rifles will shoot the 6.5 143 ELD-Xs accurately. Could not get the 30 cal 212 ELD-Xs to shoot in my 300 Win mag for anything. More options are better

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

I'm usually with what Creedmore shooter said on the one load per gun. Find a good load that meets your expectations for that rifle and intended purpose and go shoot the crap out of it. I know plenty of guys that spend more time dealing with tinkeritis, trying to get that small margin of extra performance, than actually shooting as the rifle was intended. Nothing derogatory towards you if you're that guy as I understand the mentality, however I like to "get away from the bench" as much as possible. On the flip side of that, it isn't always economical (for me) with some of the big boomers. That would cut the amount of shooting I'm able to do down by quite a bit.
Two examples:
My .338 RUM shoots best with Hammer bullets, but they aren't cheap (I understand why Steve, again nothing derogatory intended). So I will load up some "cheap" bullets with a somewhat similar BC @ the same velocity and pound the crap out of some steal. I'm not working on the rifle, I'm working on me. Then load and check the Hammers again before season.
Same thing with my Snipetac with my "hunting barrel" installed. The bullets I'm hunting with are well over $2 per and the Sierra Matchkings (with the same BC) are well under $1.

Back on topic:
I was really hoping the Nosler LRAB would work for me. It has a decent BC, bonded core, lower velocity threshold, and not really high priced. However I have tried them (.308 diameter) in a half dozen rifles (a few that shoot exceptionally well) and cannot get them to shoot consistently.

Agreed with everything said here. Yes I can get away with a traditional hunting bullet no problem. I just dont like messing with a bunch of different loads. I find a load that's consistent under .5 moa 5 shots then go shoot. Ots been my experience that I dont notice the difference between a .5 moa load and a .2 moa load out to 1,000 and beyond.

 

[elkaholic]

I just watched the Sierra video on their Game Changer. Other than the obvious higher b c design ( more like a target bullet) the biggest change that they made was adding alloy to the lead to control expansion. The other way to do that is to to thicken the jacket and that usually lowers accuracy capability (to some degree), plus causes the bullet to increase in length requiring more twist, etc, etc.They did increase the base thickness of the jacket more than a target Sierra, but that's good. Nosler uses alloy in their Accubonds along with bonding and a thicker jacket to control expansion, but that has downsides for longer ranges for several reasons. Looking at the TOTAL construction/design of the Sierra, I think it will be a good compromise for the intended use. You have high b c, quick, but somewhat controlled expansion, and in a reasonably priced bullet.
I guess time and field results will bring out the truth but I feel optimistic enough to try some. The ELDX used pretty much the same design only used a small crimp to lock the core intead of a harder core. We'll see which one comes out on top? It will be interesting!

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

I just watched the Sierra video on their Game Changer. Other than the obvious higher b c design ( more like a target bullet) the biggest change that they made was adding alloy to the lead to control expansion. The other way to do that is to to thicken the jacket and that usually lowers accuracy capability (to some degree), plus causes the bullet to increase in length requiring more twist, etc, etc.They did increase the base thickness of the jacket more than a target Sierra, but that's good. Nosler uses alloy in their Accubonds along with bonding and a thicker jacket to control expansion, but that has downsides for longer ranges for several reasons. Looking at the TOTAL construction/design of the Sierra, I think it will be a good compromise for the intended use. You have high b c, quick, but somewhat controlled expansion, and in a reasonably priced bullet.
I guess time and field results will bring out the truth but I feel optimistic enough to try some. The ELDX used pretty much the same design only used a small crimp to lock the core intead of a harder core. We'll see which one comes out on top? It will be interesting!

My biggest fear with the eld-x is care separation fro

My experience with partitions has been just opposite. My, then, young son and I used the 270 150gr partitions for two deer seasons and we stopped using them due to the extensive damage they delivered. We have had a 140gr 6.5 burger VLD make a nickle sized hole through the heart and similar exit wound and we have had them seemingly explode internally, depending on the velocity and resistance they encounter. I have also had a 140gr 270 Accubond pass through a deer going 1650 fps with only a 1/4 of the tip expanding leaving a difficult to find exit wound. It was laying on some rocks where the deer dropped immediately. Same bullet removed a couple of ribs on exit going 2300 fps. Bullets behave differently depending on the cercumstances they are delivered.
What does this have to do with the new Sierra game changers? They will work great until they don't, just like the ELD-X and other quality hunting bullets, depending largely on our individual expectation of what "great" is. The real question for me is how accurately will my rifle shoot them knowing sierra normally delivers a good product. For some reason all my 6.5 rifles will shoot the 6.5 143 ELD-Xs accurately. Could not get the 30 cal 212 ELD-Xs to shoot in my 300 Win mag for anything. More options are better

My experience with the partition was the 7mm cal in 150 grain moving at about 3100-3150 fps. One was a mature NH buck and the other a smaller doe. I was way back in the woods for the buck. I was out of daylight and didnt want to track so I went with the high shoulder shot and it dropped him immediately. 7mm entrance, about a quarter exit even after going through both shoulders and taking out the spine. It held together though so that's a plus. Second no bone hit. Just a clean lung shot at about 35 yards. 7mm entry, about a dime sized exit. She took off and left a very tiny blood trail but she lucky didnt make it very far. The damage to the vitals wasnt very significant as I'm used to seeing with bullets such as the old A-max line or nolser BT. We've also stacked up alot of deer with the good ol Remington corlockt back before we started reloading. Good deer bullet. I'm just hoping this Sierra game changer is the happy medium of rapid expansion and penetration.

 

[elkaholic]

I did some more research and it seems there is only one offering in each caliber up to 30 cal so far, and they are all on the mid weight size for caliber. IOW, they don't seem to yet be focused on the long range magnum type rifles? If that wasn't there long range plan though, I don't think they would bother with a brand new high b c design. I'm guessing (hoping) that this is a trial for more and heavier weights to come, including 338.
I think i'll be calling Sierra

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

I did some more research and it seems there is only one offering in each caliber up to 30 cal so far, and they are all on the mid weight size for caliber. IOW, they don't seem to yet be focused on the long range magnum type rifles? If that wasn't there long range plan though, I don't think they would bother with a brand new high b c design. I'm guessing (hoping) that this is a trial for more and heavier weights to come, including 338.
I think i'll be calling Sierra

The best weight they've made is the 165 7mm with a .610 bc. I'm hoping they'll make a heavy 30 cal for my dads new 300 win at he just acquired yesterday. Should be interesting

 

[elkaholic]

I'd love to see something around 250 for my 338 Sherman

 

[Bravo 4]

I did some more research and it seems there is only one offering in each caliber up to 30 cal so far, and they are all on the mid weight size for caliber. IOW, they don't seem to yet be focused on the long range magnum type rifles? If that wasn't there long range plan though, I don't think they would bother with a brand new high b c design. I'm guessing (hoping) that this is a trial for more and heavier weights to come, including 338.
I think i'll be calling Sierra

I sent them an email earlier today, let us know what you hear.

 

[mgood]

I'd love to see something around 250 for my 338 Sherman

The 220 Game King is the only heavy-ish lead bullet with a decent BC for my 8mm Rem Mag.
So I'll be watching what this "Game Changer" does in 6.5 as a possible alternative. Though I've got a butt-load of ELD-X to get rid of if they don't work out.