Sierra Gamechanger?

[Deleted member 107796]

It's the only proof of expansion, or lack of, that I've seen, yet.
There are a lot of great bullet offerings and I see no real game changer in this design. If the images are accurate, holy cow, very little expansion under those conditions. A killer, nonetheless.

 

[jasonco]

So since the bullet didn't expand, how did you recover the animal, something happened, just sayin?!

 

[can1010]

pictures without anything in them for scale sometimes don't give the whole story. what did the entrance/ exit in ribcage look like? any pictures of the lungs? could it be a whole from a fragment? I did some backyard expansion tests and always had expansion down to 2000 fps in clay and newspaper. any more pictures will be helpful

 

[A Stranger]

So since the bullet didn't expand, how did you recover the animal, something happened, just sayin?!

When I came up to the animal it was still alive. It was lying down in distress. When it saw me close it even started to stand up. I did draw my side arm and finish it off by shooting it in the head.

 

[A Stranger]

pictures without anything in them for scale sometimes don't give the whole story. what did the entrance/ exit in ribcage look like? any pictures of the lungs? could it be a whole from a fragment? I did some backyard expansion tests and always had expansion down to 2000 fps in clay and newspaper. any more pictures will be helpful

I don't have any more photos that would help. It was getting late and I was in a hurry to pack it out. I do still have the heart. I could maybe hold something for scale next to it. Maybe even cut it open along the puncture l. I did shoot it broadside so I don't think the bullet went into the guts. As I process the meat I will look closer. I did not notice the entrance or exit wounds. I'm guessing it did not hit any bones.

 

[Mike 338]

Thanks for the photos/report Stranger. There's no experience like your own experience. Good heart shot and full penetration but in your case, not a great deal of damage. Elk was still going but that can certainly happen as elk have been known to absorb a lot of lead. I've used Sierra Game King's quite a bit on deer and elk. Yes they do work but I've never had one knock an elk off it's feet and drop it where it stood. Even had a hard hit deer struggle up and go another 30 yards before I was able to put two more into it. Personally, I prefer a big hole going out the other side so it won't close up and stop the blood trail. On the plus side, very little meat damage. Now... all we need is about 50 more personal experiences to make an informed opinion.

 

[okie man]

I shot a cow elk at about 100 yards with a Sierra Gamechanger just a few days ago. It was the .308 dia. 165 gr. bullet with 56 grs. of H4350 loaded as a 30-06. The bullet went right through the heart leaving a fairly small hole on each side. I did not recover the bullet. I have seen other brands of bullets do much more damage to an animals heart. See photos. View attachment 112114 View attachment 112115 View attachment 112116

looks like the claims of controlled expansion and weight retention are true! Any pics of the body of that elk? Broken ribs, shoulder bones!

 

[A Stranger]

looks like the claims of controlled expansion and weight retention are true! Any pics of the body of that elk? Broken ribs, shoulder bones!

I did not see any broken ribs. I will process the quarters in a day or two and look for more signs.

 

[TG-5150]

Boy, this guy is on a mission to prove the Gamechanger doesn't expand lol. Just joined today and every post is the same.

I grew up shooting Sierra and Hornady. Never had a problem with any of them. His exreeeeeemly knew membership is a very suspicious, hahaha.
Was the yardage ranged/paced off? Might have been 50. I had a whitetail buck stand there and look at me when a 165 gr. -06 went through his heart at 25 paced off yards. He finally fell over. Same damage to heart. It sure wasn't a GameChanger, that was 25 years ago. In my instance I don't think that bullet even knew it got woke up.
I'd like to see some 250 and beyond performance photos.

 

[A Stranger]

I did not see any broken ribs. I will process the quarters in a day or two and look for more signs.

I finished processing the elk quarters and still did not see any signs of the entrance or exit of the bullet. No bloodshot meat or damaged bones. I did find a very small lead fragment in the heart near the wound channel. The fragment leads me to believe that the bullet did mushroom to some extent or that there might have been some separation, but without hitting bone it didn't cause massive damaged. I still think the bullet passed through. Here are some new photos of the heart. There is a 30-06 with the Gamechanger to give some perspective of size.

 

[RT2506]

People's take on bullets. LOL One fellow says a bullet is no good because it "blew up" and did not exit. The next fellow says a bullet is no good because it did not blow up but penetrated completely through the game. Another complains that this bullet destroys too much meat when they shoot it through the shoulders sending bone fragments and bullet fragments flying. An other says that I only use cast bullets so I can eat right up to the bullet hole. From this ONE EXAMPLE pictured seems to me that the bullet did exactly what Sierra says it is to do. It arrived on target exhibited controlled expansion putting a killing wound through the heart and completely through a big animal. The elk was dead but it did not know it yet so there was really no need to shoot it in the head for the sake of "killing" it but maybe to just keep it from crawling or wobbling a few more yards. I have also read of people saying that the Nosler Accubond is no good because "it does not expand" but just punches through leaving a "small" exit hole. Seems to me that they need to brush up on bonded bullet information. They don't blow up and leave fragments and blow huge exits like Berger VLDs because they are not supposed to. They are to expand and hold together and penetrate. Measure a fully expanded bullet and see that it will mostly be two times it's original diameter. That is the way they are designed to work.

 

[A Stranger]

People's take on bullets. LOL One fellow says a bullet is no good because it "blew up" and did not exit. The next fellow says a bullet is no good because it did not blow up but penetrated completely through the game. Another complains that this bullet destroys too much meat when they shoot it through the shoulders sending bone fragments and bullet fragments flying. An other says that I only use cast bullets so I can eat right up to the bullet hole. From this ONE EXAMPLE pictured seems to me that the bullet did exactly what Sierra says it is to do. It arrived on target exhibited controlled expansion putting a killing wound through the heart and completely through a big animal. The elk was dead but it did not know it yet so there was really no need to shoot it in the head for the sake of "killing" it but maybe to just keep it from crawling or wobbling a few more yards. I have also read of people saying that the Nosler Accubond is no good because "it does not expand" but just punches through leaving a "small" exit hole. Seems to me that they need to brush up on bonded bullet information. They don't blow up and leave fragments and blow huge exits like Berger VLDs because they are not supposed to. They are to expand and hold together and penetrate. Measure a fully expanded bullet and see that it will mostly be two times it's original diameter. That is the way they are designed to work.

For my next few hunts I plan to keep using the Sierra Gamechanger and see more first hand results. Plus I already worked up a load using the bullet and it is accurate with my rifle. Thanks for all the feedback.

 

[Bigeclipse]

People's take on bullets. LOL One fellow says a bullet is no good because it "blew up" and did not exit. The next fellow says a bullet is no good because it did not blow up but penetrated completely through the game. Another complains that this bullet destroys too much meat when they shoot it through the shoulders sending bone fragments and bullet fragments flying. An other says that I only use cast bullets so I can eat right up to the bullet hole. From this ONE EXAMPLE pictured seems to me that the bullet did exactly what Sierra says it is to do. It arrived on target exhibited controlled expansion putting a killing wound through the heart and completely through a big animal. The elk was dead but it did not know it yet so there was really no need to shoot it in the head for the sake of "killing" it but maybe to just keep it from crawling or wobbling a few more yards. I have also read of people saying that the Nosler Accubond is no good because "it does not expand" but just punches through leaving a "small" exit hole. Seems to me that they need to brush up on bonded bullet information. They don't blow up and leave fragments and blow huge exits like Berger VLDs because they are not supposed to. They are to expand and hold together and penetrate. Measure a fully expanded bullet and see that it will mostly be two times it's original diameter. That is the way they are designed to work.

this x2. I have shot bullets on deer where the exit was a size of a fist and the deer was DRT. That same bullet if hit a large bone might not exit and penetrate to vitals. Now bullets like the accubond or all copper mono bullets may not get the DRT type effect some may look for, but they will perform much better if they come in contact with bone OR they need to penetrate very far due to a hard quartering shot. Personally I am in the camp of 2 holes are better than one and penetration is key but that is just me.

 

[Jluck]

Looks like a great shot, a dead elk and meat in the freezer to me. I tried the exploding bullet thing for a couple years... The animals got just as dead as with the monos but so much more clean up, bloodshot, meat loss and lead/copper particles in my meat. no thanks. I'll stick to monos.