"Green Boxes"

[bullet]

"Green Boxes"

Please take time if you will and read my new article entitled "Green Boxes" here is the link, Thanks Mike http://ammoguide.com/?article=mhsp68/greenboxes

 

[JD338]

Mike,

Nice article, thanks for posting the link.

JD338

 

[FOTIS]

Good work Mike.

 

[gerry]

I liked your article you did a good job stating your case. I used mostly Speer bullets for many years but then they started changing or even dropping the bullets I liked so I eventually have started going over to the AccuBond I have faith that they will always open up especially at long range compared to the monolithic types. Where I live the animals can be big and nasty so the AccuBond gives me the best of both worlds bullet integrity and good expansion, if we didn't have grizzlies around I would use cup and core bullets more especially in my 260 and 35 Whelen.

A couple of questions:
How do you find the 165 gr HPBT you mentioned in the article when it comes to excessive meat damage?
Have you shot many animals with the 35 225 gr Gameking or either of the 375 Gamekings and how did you like them?

I have to admit I have never shot any animals with Sierra bullets I have carried them a few times on hunts but no game was taken.

Again good article.

 

[bullet]

I liked your article you did a good job stating your case. I used mostly Speer bullets for many years but then they started changing or even dropping the bullets I liked so I eventually have started going over to the AccuBond I have faith that they will always open up especially at long range compared to the monolithic types. Where I live the animals can be big and nasty so the AccuBond gives me the best of both worlds bullet integrity and good expansion, if we didn't have grizzlies around I would use cup and core bullets more especially in my 260 and 35 Whelen.

A couple of questions:
How do you find the 165 gr HPBT you mentioned in the article when it comes to excessive meat damage?
Have you shot many animals with the 35 225 gr Gameking or either of the 375 Gamekings and how did you like them?

I have to admit I have never shot any animals with Sierra bullets I have carried them a few times on hunts but no game was taken.

Again good article.

The 165gr HPBT will damage less meat than a BT because it is a tougher bullet even though it is a hollow point. I have put one out of a 300Wby at 25yds moving 3300fps through an 8 1/2 laminated beam from a construction site and it exited leaving a 25 cent size hole and 75 yards down range I dug the bullet out of the dirt and it had not separated from it's jacket. Sierra will tell you it is thier toughest G/K constructed bullet. The 225gr SBT I have yet to recover one.

 

[SJB358]

That was an excellent article Mike. I enjoyed reading it a whole bunch. I do agree that Sierra's are good bullets. I haven't taken anywhere near the amount of game you have with them though. I would probably still be shooting more Sierras if I didn't get Nosler 2nds for the price I do. I have always wanted to try the 140gr HPBT GK in my 270WSM. Sierra touts that in the same class as the 165 HPBT GK so it would be fun to try, along with the 160gr HPBT GK for the 7mm's.

I guess I have done very well with Speers over the years, and not their Grand Slams, but their plain old Hot Cor's. Those bullets hold up very well and are very inexpensive when compared to others. I still have about 250, 275gr Speer's for the 338. Those are going to be reserved for something big and heavy. It took 9 or 10 jugs to stop that bullet and it was perfect.

Again, great article Mike. Always a big pleasure to read your writing. I still need to try that 165 in something. You make it sound way to good to not try! Scotty

 

[DrMike]

Sierra bullets have always treated me well. They are increasingly scarce here in western Canada. Only one distributor handles them, and the firm has developed a poor reputation with dealers.

 

[SJB358]

Mike, didn't you develop a load with the 160gr HPBT GK for your 7WSM? Just wondering. Might be fun to try some of them for mine. Would be nice to put some into jugs and see what they do, compared to AB's or PT's. Might allay some of the myths of Sierra's blowing up and such. I think if you stick to the old rules of heavy for caliber with Sierra's and look at the SD's you would probably have a fine load.

I kinda forgot about the 200gr GK load for my 300WM. It runs about 2940 outta my rifle and has blown through black bear and deer without an issue. Can't find any results of it blowing up and I would use it confidently with larger game as well. Scotty

 

[bullet]

Mike, didn't you develop a load with the 160gr HPBT GK for your 7WSM? Just wondering. Might be fun to try some of them for mine. Would be nice to put some into jugs and see what they do, compared to AB's or PT's. Might allay some of the myths of Sierra's blowing up and such. I think if you stick to the old rules of heavy for caliber with Sierra's and look at the SD's you would probably have a fine load.

I kinda forgot about the 200gr GK load for my 300WM. It runs about 2940 outta my rifle and has blown through black bear and deer without an issue. Can't find any results of it blowing up and I would use it confidently with larger game as well. Scotty

Scotty, it was my 7mm Mag Sendero and my 7mmSTW Savage 116 that I developed the 160gr HPBT and never failed to have a complete pass through. With the 7mm Mag and the 7mmSTW I experienced something on a consistent bases with deer that no other caliber or bullet had done, in that, almost every time I hit deer at 125yds or less, it would flip them around 180 degrees and they would be facing the opposite direction than when I shot them, laying right where I shot them.

 

[gerry]

Thanks Mike,
The 165 gr HPBT sounds pretty good just don't have a 30 cal rifle right now . I do have the 35 cal 225's and 140 gr 6.5's need to shoot something with them. Have to admit the 375 250's have always interested me.

DrMike,
Do you know why the distributors in WC don't want to carry them?

 

[Guy Miner]

Good article. Sierra makes a good bullet for match or hunting purposes. I'll agree that it's usually very easy to get a Sierra bullet to shoot well. Have shot many Sierras, particularly their 6mm, 75 gr hollow point, and the 110 gr .30 cal hollow point, at varmints. Everything from sage rats, to rock chucks, various ground squirrels and coyotes. Accurate and devastating on impact.

For match shooting, although I've mostly shot Nosler competition bullets in the past 10 - 12 years, I started with and still respect the Sierra Match King. It's quite a bullet.

Re the .30 cal, 165 Sierra hunting bullets. Dad used the HPBT Gameking for his hog hunting as I recall, although he wasn't all that particular about bullets, just a 165 hunting bullet was all he needed. I've recommended the 165 SPBT Sierra to many people who are starting out handloading their own hunting ammo. It's so easy to get it to shoot well that their confidence goes up rapidly. Heck, I've shot those things into groups that would be competitive out at 600 yards in NRA prone matches.

When I got my .375 a couple of years ago, a pretty good stash of ammo loaded with the 300 gr SPBT Sierra Gameking came with the rifle, along with a fair pile of component bullets. They shoot just fine even out at 300 yards.

When selecting a hunting bullet I first turn to Nosler, but yes, I've shot a mess of Sierras downrange over the years. Mostly on the target range, quite a bunch at varmints and a few at game. Properly applied, there's nothing wrong with them.

Regards, Guy

 

[bullet]

I don't have a favorite big game bullet. I choose a bullet for the game specific conditions. I like cup core bullets like Sierra GK and Pro Hunter, Hornady Interlock, and Nosler Partition. I also like bonded bullets like Nosler AccuBond, Swift A-Frame for heavy up close shots on dangerous game and will try now the North Fork in these conditions. I do not favor the homogeneous bullets like the Barnes X, TSX or TTSX, as some who are using them as an all around bullet do. I have really tried to like the X, TSX and TTSX over the last seven years (the TTSX for two years and none of them this last year) in the field and I am not impressed because of the lack of consistency.

Now Barnes fans don't get bent out of shape, I know you have watched their video and think that this is the only bullet one should use, and the only bullet for "performance and not de-formance" (I got so tired of that talking point in the video) - but I think after some years you will get over that tall tail if you will try other types of bullets. I have tried Barnes in the field in varying conditions and on varying types of game at different distances out to 354yds - and I am not impressed!!!!

I take great pains to place my shots where they are suppose to go when in the field, and I have had to track more and follow more game with the Barnes bullets percentage wise, than with any other bullet design I have ever used. So, I don't have a favorite bullet for big game, just one I like the least, and the others I have mentioned above that have done the job for years and meet the game and condition specific need. Your mileage might very, and that is what is so great about where we live. We do have options and we don't all like to drive the same car or truck either. I am glad that I was not one to conform to a certain philosophy, style or manufacturing process, or one manufactures bullet because I was on their forum, and only used one kind or type of bullet in my life. I sure have been the beneficiary of a wide range of experiences, because I tried them in the field.

 

[DrMike]

DrMike,
Do you know why the distributors in WC don't want to carry them?

Purported unethical practises by the individual holding the concession here in western Canada.

 

[russ808]

Good stuff Bullet.
Russ

 

[efw]

Great article, Mike!

I share your view of the "prevailing wisdom" on bullet selection. If you were to take a count of what all I have on my shelves it'd likely be red boxes #1 with green #2 and yellow #3 because I am far less skeptical of CNC bullets than most today.

I've only just tried monometals in my 257 Weatherby, and I don't think I've ever loaded a bonded bullet though I have a few boxes on my bench waiting in line for testing. They wait and wait and wait cuz I don't anticipate needing them...

 

[wildgene]

...165gr. Sierra GameKing @ 80yds out of a .300 WSM Weatherby Vanguard/ MV 3200fps...

...you can see the entry/ exit thru the ribs...

 

[bullet]

I'd say it was dead, what do you all think :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[SJB358]

I like it! Scotty

 

[efw]

I'd say it was dead, what do you all think :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Wouldn't it have been 2x as dead running a bullet 2x as expensive ??

 

[FOTIS]

...165gr. Sierra GameKing @ 80yds out of a .300 WSM Weatherby Vanguard/ MV 3200fps...

...you can see the entry/ exit thru the ribs...

You broke the elk! :shock: