165 Sierra Gameking vs 165 Nosler Ballistic Tip

[Oldtrader3]

I do not remember anymore when or where I first saw the 57.5 gr, IMR 4350 load for the 165 grain Partitions or Speer GS in the .30-06. This is one of these loads that has been floating around for at least since 1962 that I am aware of and proabbly date back to the introduction of IMR powders after the WWII.

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

Dale, kinda nice living near SPS, isn't it?

It sure is Kurt! Trouble is they are running low on anything applicable to our current discussion and so I am just going to have to be patient. I have 100 rds of brand new 30-06 Nosler brass just waiting to have some H4350 dumped into it and be capped off with some 165 grain Noslers.

Thanks all for the great responses. I have never seen this rifle let me down and paln to keep it that way. It has truly made its place of honor in my collection and will continue to keep me in venison til they day they shovel dirt in my face. Sold the Sierras to a friend the other day. Going to buy some more Noslers. :grin:

You know if it was good enough for Grampa, its good enough for me. If a cartridge has been around for 100 years and is still going strong, that says a lot!

 

[SJB358]

Sold the Sierras to a friend the other day. Going to buy some more Noslers. :grin:

Now that is the spirit! Give them Sierra's to a friend!

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

Yeah for sure! And actually found out the 165 Sierras shoot decent enough for the peepsights on top of my 1917 Enfield when I use 4064 so thats where the balance of the Sierras i have will go.


But the Winchester, my beloved Peach of a rifle on whom I can always trust, will be treated to Noslers exclusively from here on out. Life is too short to shoot anything less in our favorite hunting rifles eh chaps?

 

[SJB358]

Yeah for sure! And actually found out the 165 Sierras shoot decent enough for the peepsights on top of my 1917 Enfield when I use 4064 so thats where the balance of the Sierras i have will go.


But the Winchester, my beloved Peach of a rifle on whom I can always trust, will be treated to Noslers exclusively from here on out. Life is too short to shoot anything less in our favorite hunting rifles eh chaps?

Couldn't agree more! I am still waiting to burn a barrel out. It is almost a goal to me now. Hopefully it doesn't happen all to once though!!! :twisted:

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

You know thats an interesting point. I have never seen or heard of a 30-06 getting its barrel burnt out. I know several men who claim to have put at least 5000 rounds through their 40-60 year old favorite 30-06 and its still going strong. Thats another reason I dont try to push 165's at 3000 fps like some do. I glad will take the 165 at 2800-2850 fps and get another 2000 rounds out of the barrel life because its the hot loads that burn out barrels.

Yeah she's a grand old lass, and I plan to use her for the rest of my life. :grin:

 

[Guy Miner]

"never seen or heard of a 30-06 getting its barrel burnt out"

You're hanging with the wrong crowd for wearing out barrels. Hunters (except for varmint shooters) may go a lifetime without wearing out a barrel. A competitive target shooter will wear one out every season or two. Even a .30-06, or in my case a .308 Win. About 5,000 rounds is what I expect from my .308 barrels. Some go more, one went less.

I've got hunting rifles that my grandfather, my father, me and my sons have used - still on the original barrels. That includes the M1917 .30-06 my youngest son killed his buck with in November. Then there's my poor beat-up .308... Due for another barrel sometime next year I'm sure. And the .308 is easy on barrels! :grin:

FWIW, Guy

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

Yeah for sure Guy, thats absolutely the truth of it too. I have shot my 30-06 a lot but I doubt I go through 5000 rounds in it by the time I've expired. But I have so many guns that I shoot regularly, I doubt that any of them will get shot out. At least thats what I hope for!

 

[JD338]

"never seen or heard of a 30-06 getting its barrel burnt out"

You're hanging with the wrong crowd for wearing out barrels. Hunters (except for varmint shooters) may go a lifetime without wearing out a barrel. A competitive target shooter will wear one out every season or two. Even a .30-06, or in my case a .308 Win. About 5,000 rounds is what I expect from my .308 barrels. Some go more, one went less.

I've got hunting rifles that my grandfather, my father, me and my sons have used - still on the original barrels. That includes the M1917 .30-06 my youngest son killed his buck with in November. Then there's my poor beat-up .308... Due for another barrel sometime next year I'm sure. And the .308 is easy on barrels! :grin:

FWIW, Guy

When I was in my early 20's, I joined a gun club that had a 200 yd rapid rife league. 40 round match that was 10 rounds off hand, 10 rounds rapid fire sitting (5 shots 30 seconds, reload and repeat), 10 rounds rapid fire prone and 10 rounds slow fire. Well, I ended up shooting almost 6k rounds through that poor old M700 BDL and toasted the barrel.

Those were the days...... :grin:

JD338

 

[Guy Miner]

That sounds like a fun match! :grin:

I suspect the rapid fire events contributed much towards the throat erosion on that poor ol' barrel!

 

[lhsako]

at a mz velocity of 2,800 i've found that the 165 tips will do great. i find that velocities at the muzzle under 3,000 generally work fine on deer w/ tips as long as u aren't using the "light weights for caliber" for ur bullet choice.

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

So fellas, I have a story for all of you!

I loaded up some 165 grain ballistic tips and went to the range on saturday along with a few of the remaining 165 grain Sierras I still had loaded up. I shot three different 5 shot groups which all measured at least 3-4" in diameter. I was broken hearted when I saw this. I shot a 5 shot group with the Sierras and had the same results. I thought long and hard as my friend Andy and I shot the other guns we had brought with us. My Beretta 40 Suddenly I remembered that about 2 months ago (after hunting season ended) I had purchased a set of those Brownells Hex-head action screws for my trusty old 30-06. Why I hadn't remembered this the other day when I shot the Sierras is beyond me. Incidentally I had the old slot screw action screws in the gun case and in the bag was the hex head wrench. While Andy ran a new piece of paper down range I switched out the Hex-head screws and re-installed the slot head screws with my leatherman tool. My first 5-shot group with the Sierras went just under 1.5" for 5 shots and the Noslers were just a hair over an inch for 5 shots. So as the old story goes...don't fix it if it ain't broke! And Old Reliable continues to be Old Reliable! And the Sierras got a bad rap from something they hadn't done. So I will have both bullets to choose from now I guess....its nice to have options.

 

[Oldtrader3]

I just switched a rifle to the newer hex head design in a Mauser action and had no issues with them. In fact, I just pillar bedded the new rear bolt. I also have a set of hex head Brownell's that I have had on my Mark X Mauser for 35 years with no problems. If you do not mind my asking, what went wrong with your rifle and these bolts?

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

I am not exactly certain why they failed, just that they did fail. I may have done something wrong, I do not know. Maybe I got the one of one thousand that was a lemon too. I am not going to knock Brownells at all for this but it was a failure of the action screws. My groups are irrefutable evidence of that. That rifle has always been a shooter, as I said, I shouldn't have tried to fix something that wasnt broken. Going to sell the hex screws on ebay amongst a few other things. I plan to lock-tite the slot screws back into place and call it a day.

 

[Oldtrader3]

Yeah, of it works, go with it. I was just curious because my experience has been different. At least it is fixed and working.

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

Yeah for sure. No worries. I'm like you, just glad it worked. I was really getting worried that my favorite gun was really having some problems. Instead of blaming the Sierra bullets, which now can shoot, I was smart enough to check the action screws this time.