With most hunting bullets 1800 fps seems to be their rated (advertised) threshold for expansion. So the velocities you stated would be low velocity, for most. If nothing else a good place to start.
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Sierra Gamechanger bullets.
- Thread starter lee31
- Start date
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Badgerclaw
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2017
- Messages
- 122
This rifle wasn't sighted in before I started load development, so I'm not sure where the poi would be in relation to the eldx. During my testing with seating depth, all groups held about the same poi just some were tighter than others.
I received two boxes of these. One in 130 .264 for my custom Savage 6.5 Creedmoor and a box of 90gr for my daughters Tikka .243. Tested at 100m, 84 degrees.
Test guns
Savage 12FV lapped and polished with 26" Shilen Select Match, H&S PP vertical stock, Rifle Basics trigger at 14oz
Tikka T3X lite .243 Stock barrel, XLR Element Chassis
After running a velocity ladder test I found a nice flat spot, on the 6.5, at 41.1 gr to 41.4gr, H4350 out of Lapua brass and BR4s. I loaded in .2 gr increments for an SD test and found 41.1 gave me an SD of 3, avg 2822 fps, and an initial group of .5 seated .030 off my lands. 41.4 gave me an SD of 7, avg 2844 fps, and a .4 group at the same jump. Tomorrow I will run seating depths on those two and see how tight I can get the groups.
The 90 gr for the Tikka were running 3007 avg fps with an SD of 3 and a group of .48 with an .020 jump. I also loaded these with 40.7gr of H4350. Ill test depths tomorrow on this also. After that we will take them out from 300m to 800m and see how they do. We hunt high desert Muleys her in AZ.
Wish I could do some expansion tests but ill do that on the Muleys this year. So far performance has exceeded my expectations. Well see how more testing does.
Test guns
Savage 12FV lapped and polished with 26" Shilen Select Match, H&S PP vertical stock, Rifle Basics trigger at 14oz
Tikka T3X lite .243 Stock barrel, XLR Element Chassis
After running a velocity ladder test I found a nice flat spot, on the 6.5, at 41.1 gr to 41.4gr, H4350 out of Lapua brass and BR4s. I loaded in .2 gr increments for an SD test and found 41.1 gave me an SD of 3, avg 2822 fps, and an initial group of .5 seated .030 off my lands. 41.4 gave me an SD of 7, avg 2844 fps, and a .4 group at the same jump. Tomorrow I will run seating depths on those two and see how tight I can get the groups.
The 90 gr for the Tikka were running 3007 avg fps with an SD of 3 and a group of .48 with an .020 jump. I also loaded these with 40.7gr of H4350. Ill test depths tomorrow on this also. After that we will take them out from 300m to 800m and see how they do. We hunt high desert Muleys her in AZ.
Wish I could do some expansion tests but ill do that on the Muleys this year. So far performance has exceeded my expectations. Well see how more testing does.
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cohunt
Well-Known Member
Yes, but some see expansion down towards 1400fps with some lr bullets so lower than 1800 would be nice--- 1200 is probably not going to expand but you never know it might.
Ran a seating depth test on these out of the 6.5 and the .243. Im pretty impressed. Looks like I have two long range hunting rounds now. Ill do a 10 shot verification on velocity and group next Saturday.
6.5 Creedmoor
Jump group
-020 .33
-030 .43
-040 .48
-050 .52
.243 shot .44 at -040 off lands.
6.5 Creedmoor
Jump group
-020 .33
-030 .43
-040 .48
-050 .52
.243 shot .44 at -040 off lands.
Cinchy
Well-Known Member
After all these comments, has any one shot any animals with the game changer bullets? Just curious ?
I found it to shoot 1/2" MOA. But velocity was a little slower than I'd like I decided to go with 125 partitions instead.
So ive been shooting this for a few weeks. About 70 rounds down range after developement. They are shooting "just" sub 1/2 MOA out of my gun at 2844. Ive got my drops out to 800 meters which is way more than Ill need in my area. These have been accurate, repeatable and very consistent. Cant wait to here how they are performing in tissue.
Cinchy
Well-Known Member
I hope to have a report first of Oct. my Son & I are going to New Mexico for antelope!
Johrichal
New Member
Hello everyone, im new here but have been using this forum for quite some time for help with load develepmont and advice. So I like to start by saying thanks to everyone here who shares their knowledge. It's greatly appreciated.
I got a chance to test the terminal ballistics of the gamechangers last week on an elk hunt in Idaho and thought I'd share my experience. Here is the load I was using.
Savage 10 fcp-sr 24" barrel
6.5 creedmoor
130gr sierra tipped game king
43.5gr RE16
WLR primer
Hornady brass
2825 fps muzzle velocity
SD: 4 over 5shots
My wife and a buddy both got drawn for a cow elk tag in Idaho and we filled both tags at the same time on the 3rd day of our hunt. Both elk were shot from 630yds. Shot placement was less than ideal due to a mistake on my part in ranging (I ranged them at 550yds and didnt range them again after we had gotten set up to shoot and by that time they had moved up hill a bit more). The first cow was hit low in the chest right behind the front leg. The bullet hit part of the liver and exited out the other side, she ran about 20 yds then laid down and died. Internal damage from that shot was fairly unimpressive. The next cow was shot twice. The first shot hit below the shoulder in the leg bone. The bullet did a good amount of damage to the bone completly shattering a good section of it and carried on into the opposite shoulder the bullet was recovered in the meat but did not make it all the way to the bone. The jacket had completly seperated from the core. I found the jacket in two pieces and no sign of the lead core. Damage to surruonding tissue was not as extensive as I would have hoped for but it also didnt ruin as much meat. The second shot was low chest just behind the leg again clipping the liver. She didnt even move after the first shot and dropped straight down after the second shot.
According to Applied Ballistics app muzzle velocity was 1950 fps on impact with 1097 ft lbs of energy.
If I would have done my part as the spotter the first shots on both of them would have been 15" higher and would have been darn near perfect shots.
I realize this is pushing the effective range for this load and if I would have ranged them again we might not have shot at all. I had set my max range at 600yds.
Overall I have mixed feelings about the performance of this bullet. I was very unimpressed with the wound channels and the exit holes were about the size of a nickel. On the other hand shooting 2 full size cows at 630yds with a 130gr bullet and both of them dropping within 20yds of where they stood is fairly impressive to me.
One other thing to note is that the stomach of both elk was punctured which should not have happened with where the shots hit. My best guess is the jacket broke up and flung shrapnel into it.... but I wasnt about to dig around in there and find out lol.
I got a chance to test the terminal ballistics of the gamechangers last week on an elk hunt in Idaho and thought I'd share my experience. Here is the load I was using.
Savage 10 fcp-sr 24" barrel
6.5 creedmoor
130gr sierra tipped game king
43.5gr RE16
WLR primer
Hornady brass
2825 fps muzzle velocity
SD: 4 over 5shots
My wife and a buddy both got drawn for a cow elk tag in Idaho and we filled both tags at the same time on the 3rd day of our hunt. Both elk were shot from 630yds. Shot placement was less than ideal due to a mistake on my part in ranging (I ranged them at 550yds and didnt range them again after we had gotten set up to shoot and by that time they had moved up hill a bit more). The first cow was hit low in the chest right behind the front leg. The bullet hit part of the liver and exited out the other side, she ran about 20 yds then laid down and died. Internal damage from that shot was fairly unimpressive. The next cow was shot twice. The first shot hit below the shoulder in the leg bone. The bullet did a good amount of damage to the bone completly shattering a good section of it and carried on into the opposite shoulder the bullet was recovered in the meat but did not make it all the way to the bone. The jacket had completly seperated from the core. I found the jacket in two pieces and no sign of the lead core. Damage to surruonding tissue was not as extensive as I would have hoped for but it also didnt ruin as much meat. The second shot was low chest just behind the leg again clipping the liver. She didnt even move after the first shot and dropped straight down after the second shot.
According to Applied Ballistics app muzzle velocity was 1950 fps on impact with 1097 ft lbs of energy.
If I would have done my part as the spotter the first shots on both of them would have been 15" higher and would have been darn near perfect shots.
I realize this is pushing the effective range for this load and if I would have ranged them again we might not have shot at all. I had set my max range at 600yds.
Overall I have mixed feelings about the performance of this bullet. I was very unimpressed with the wound channels and the exit holes were about the size of a nickel. On the other hand shooting 2 full size cows at 630yds with a 130gr bullet and both of them dropping within 20yds of where they stood is fairly impressive to me.
One other thing to note is that the stomach of both elk was punctured which should not have happened with where the shots hit. My best guess is the jacket broke up and flung shrapnel into it.... but I wasnt about to dig around in there and find out lol.
antelopedundee
Well-Known Member
I'm generally a .264/6.5mm man myself, but I wasn't planning on using one this year. ETA that I have a .25-06 and a .25/.284 both on Rem 700 left hand actions and I was going to fill one tag with each rifle. Was at a local Sportsman's Warehouse and happened to see a box of the 6.5mm 130 grain TGKs on the shelf so I bought them. Was planning on using the Hornady 6.5mm 130 SSTs for antelope, but decided not to based on reports of excessive damage. My go to bullet over the years has been the 6.5mm Hornady 129 grain InterLock which is no slouch in the damage department. My inquiry to Sierra indicated that with a harder lead core that the TGKs would not be explosive like the SSTs. So I loaded some with 61 grains of IMR7828 in my 6.5-06 Ackley Improved [they shot good enough from a near worn out barrel] and CCI BR-2 primers. Ended up taking 2 antelope with them, a meat buck and a doe. The buck went down about as fast as anything I've ever taken. The doe did a small circle and keeled over. Range maybe 100 yards. Tissue damage was minimal. The top half of his lungs was mush.The spot on the buck is the exit hole. I'll be using them again next year. I took my first antelope with this rifle in a different stock near Newcastle, Wyoming in 1987.
Here are is the loaded round compared to my go to load. I kept everything the same except the bullet. The dark color on the Hornady is from some that my friend Randy moly coated for me years ago.
Here are is the loaded round compared to my go to load. I kept everything the same except the bullet. The dark color on the Hornady is from some that my friend Randy moly coated for me years ago.
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antelopedundee
Well-Known Member
My main consideration is what will a bullet do if I make a bad/less than ideal shot where the bullet hits leg bone or point on shoulder which is what I see here. Will it blow up on the surface or will it continue on and do enough tissue damage to put the animal down? The more tissue it has to encounter, the more likely the bullet is to become fragmented. From what you describe, I'd say they did pretty well.
BUSTINDOGS
Well-Known Member
I have been shooting the 165's in my 7 saum. Have about 200 of them thru that gun now and actually used them to shoot my first prs match this past weekend. These bullets are very consistent and I was able to hit a 4" plate at 865 yards with them. hopefully I will have taken a few deer with them by mid November. load for my saum was 59.6gr H4831sc in Nosler or Norma brass with a cci-br2 primer for 2955fps avg velocity. I loaded them to mag length not sure how far they a jumping but they shoot great. I shot these and some 180 berger hybrids into some old catalogs at 600 yards and these sierra bullets opened up on impact and held together very well. still had lead in the base of the jacket. the Bergers blew up and there was nothing left to find. Not saying that's bad because the bergers actually penetrated deeper than the sierra did.
Cinchy
Well-Known Member
My Son & I used them on our recent New Mexico antelope hunt. I shot the 165gr in my 7mm STW, & He used the130 in his 6.5x284 norma. Our exit hole were larger but range was around 150 yds on both animals. I actually hit mine low in the heart area & it opened a rather large hole in bottom of his chest.
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