Game Kings, SSTs, or Ballistic Tips.

I guess I'd have to flip a coin. If all 3 shoot equally well I don't think theres much difference between the three. I don't think the deer or hogs will know the diff.

I started using Sierras way, way back when. Since they always worked as I expected and hoped, I've never bothered with anything else. 20 yards to 450 yards, bang/whop/plop.

Sierras or a rem corloc for me they have been getting it done for a long time and will continue to do so. A BT at high valocity and close range very explocive 300 yds different story.

Ive used both bts and sierras for about 90 percent of my deer shooting for over 30 years. Both work real well and for me anyway id let the gun decide.

I also generally use what shoots best for me in a particular gun. Of the bullets you mention, I'd go with the Sierra GameKing.

A bullet that's I think is a real sleeper is the Remington Core-Lokt. For such cheap and a little ugly bullets they shoot VERY well for me in a 270 Winchester and give excellent performance on deer, crows and groundhogs.

I'd have to go the LGS to check for sure, but I think the SST's were the cheapest of bunch per bullet for my .270. I really like Nosler bullets, but they were at least a third more money and didn't perform any better than the SST's.
The only Gamekings I have shot were 140's, and my rifle loves em. That's what got me interested in the 140 Partitions I loaded for this deer season. Truth be told, the one shot I took at a deer this year was a pass thru neck shot that probably didn't require a premium bonded bullet.
One of my hunting partners exclusively loads SST's in his 7mm-08 and swears by them on all shots out to 300 yards.
I'm not sure I will continue to load partitions once I run out of the 40 or so I have left.
The 130gr SST's are a flat shooting, economical round out of my .270.
The longer I write this, the more I keep changing my mind.
Good luck with whatever you choose.

ballistic tips absolutely grenade animals. I use them for added insurance and they have paid off but they also cost me a shoulder and back strap in the last week.

Game Kings, SSTs, or Ballistic Tips.

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Yes.....

They all work fine. I don't use SSTs, but Game Kings and Ballistic Tips have never failed me. The 150 .30 caliber BT at 2800 fps has WAY more penetration than the BT haters will give it credit. I've shot one animal from butt to neck, full length of his body, and didn't recover the bullet. He was a bang/flop. Lost a little of the ham, not much. A 7mm 150 Game King exploded on a doe's shoulders, all of the off side and most of the on side, at 50 yards driven at 3200 fps MV. It happens. Just chili meat and I got a nice buck that same hunt, so I wasn't wanting for chili meat.

I've used all of them in my swede. I now use the 140 SST's because the BC is almost identicle to 140 SMK's so I can use the same load and range card for both. I only run mine at 2513 fps. so I'm not concerned with them "grenading", as some like to say. I think the tipped bullets got a baad rap because hunters were over gunned for close shots. The last deer I shot with a 120 Gameking was maybe 40-50 yards away. The bullet entered behind the shoulder and completely exploded inside the rib cage. I never found any of it. I literally poured his heart and lungs out whenI dressed him out. I did not view this as a bullet failure. The buck was down. By the way hello from a fellow 6.5X55 disciple.

I'm one who doesn't like Ballistic tips for hunting critters that I want to eat afterwards. As you said, the originals were all varmint bullets but even the 2nd gen. ones blow up animals if you are too close. Trouble is you can't have it both ways unless you shoot Nosler Partitions which always perform regardless of the distances.

I shot a 180 lb. 8 point with a .338-06 with a 200 gr. Ballistic Tip and his entire chest cavity "exploded" and sent pieces of ribs, heart, and lungs throughout the surrounding muscle. Very little of that deer was salvageable.

Older ballistic tips earned a reputation for too much expansion and too little penetraton. Nosler addressed that issue and they are a tougher bullet now than they were a few years ago. I put a 150 gr BT from a 30-06 @ around 3000 fps completely through a 260 lb bear a few years ago. Range was around 60 yards so it was moving pretty fast. Left a 2" exit hole and dropped him in his tracks.

I haven't shot anything with either of the others, but have used them at the range. I'd say the Game Kings are the tougher bullet that will probably give the greatest penetration, with the SST's the fastest expanding and the BT's in the middle. Nothing at all wrong with any of them as long as you understand how they work and how to use them.

I have had a lot of success with both the ballistic tips and the Sierra Game kings. The last eight deer I shot were with the Game Kings 165 grain 30/06. What I like about them is they don't run away. It has been bang flop with them. I've had deer run a hundred yards with the ballistic tips. The chest would be mush but they still ran. Usually no exit wound. I never lost a deer with them but it seems the game kings work a little better for me.

All three bullet types will Work fine. The ballistic coefficient is realatively moot at distances less then 300 yards. Bullet construction is paramount.

If you want high ballistic coefficients, go with Bergers 140gr VLD (6.5dia) BC= .612, .313 G7. They open up fast, kill great! But are expensive.
This high BC is fairly useless unless you plan shooting past 300. Target shooters may disagree. For thier purposes, they drift less (significantly).

Having Bergers not shoot well is very rare! At least in my rifles. Bergers can be attrocious if you use a bullet that is too long for your rifling twist rate. Had that happen! Lol!
Some rifles wont shoot thier Tangent Ogives unless the bullet is seated within.010"-.030 of the rifling.
But the loaded round might be too long to function through the magazine.

All in all, it sounds Like your on the right track anyhow.

All the Nosler BT's I have used have been well below the 3000 fps mark, 2600 fps with a 180/8mm and 2500 fps with a 7mm/150 (both old mausers).
They have worked well, in like a pencil out like a silver dollar. I have used 162 SST's @ 2400 in the 7mm mauser on targets, not on game (very accurate).
I haven't taken game past 175 yds, I think just about any hunting bullet will do it's job at reasonable range (300 and less) and velocity (3000 and less) at deer sized game.
It's a matter of what your gun shoots best, which brings confidence, practice also helps. Elk & bear (black) are certainly a different class, requiring much more bullet for the bone mass.
Magnums will certainly reach out much farther, and some much faster, thus requiring a better constructed bullet, ie; Partition, A-frame, TSX, or any of the bonded bullets as well, etc...