.30 Cal Mushrooms?

[Glen]

I have a Savage .308 Win and use 150 gr. bullets. It is an extremely accurate rifle. I have been shooting various Sierra bullets out of it and find no fault in their ability to hit the mark if I do my part. In fact, they are supremely accurate projectiles. However, deer season is coming up and I wonder how good a hunting bullet I have with the 150 gr. Sierra Pro-Hunter.

From the deep recesses of my cerebral cortex, I have this notion that Sierra bullets in general are a little harder and less likely to expand well in game than say Speer or Hornady bullets. So even though I have this fantastic accuracy from these Sierra's, I wonder how good they are for hunting--especially when velocity falls off with distance. Anyone have any thoughts about this?

 

[Reed1911]

Glen, if you are getting the accuracy you need from the bullet, worry not about the expansion you will get . They will expand well, or well enough.

 

[Seismic Sam]

Sierra

Well, I'm certainly NOT going to argue with somebody who runs a bullet R&D company!

A couple of times on other forums the subject has come up as to whether Sierra HPBT Matchkings can be used on game, and while there's the usual furor about how these bullets aren't designed for game hunting, when you see a picture of a deer shot with one, the exit wound is usually pretty massive and makes you do one of these: That being said, being able to hit the spot you want dead nuts on with a Sierra bullet designed for hunting pretty much has to produce the results you want.

Secondly, the whole subject of the bullet losing energy with distance brings up another thing that Sierra is very good at, and that's producing bullets with high ballistic coefficients. High BC bullets really don't have a much different trajectory than lower BC bullets, but what is hugely differnt is the RETAINED ENERGY at distance. I have a .338 Ultramag that shoots 200, 250, and 300 grain bullets at 3250, 3000, and 2750 FPS respectively. The BC's are .414, .587, and .768 for the 300 grainer
The trajectories aren't that much different out at 1,000 yards, but the retained energy in ft-lbs is 792, 1458, and 1912 ft-lbs. respectively. That's a HUGE difference in retained energy, which is why you always want the highest BC hunting bullet you can get if you're doing long range hunting.

 

[armedandsafe]

I've been shooting game with Sierra bullets since 1948, and have had very good results with them. Those I've recovered from game generally show about 3/4 to full caliber expansion. Good enough for me and I've never had a deer complain.

Pops

 

[Reed1911]

On the Sierra SMK's for hunting, in a word Don't. Match bullets are made with very thin and very soft jackets, that is what makes them shoot so well, they form very well to the bore. Yes I know they make really really big holes sometimes on the offside of an animal, but more often than not they either blow-up on the surface or only penetrate a short distance and cause, at best a long track, at worst a slow painful death and wasted animal. Sierra makes good bullets, as long as you are getting the accuracy with the hunting bullets you need and can place the shot that is all you need to worry about, the rest is left up to the bullet and even if it expands little to none at all you still have a lung or heart shot and a dead animal.

 

[10X]

Reed1911, only a small disagreement on the Sierra Match Kings. I will only use them on light game, like antelope. Using usual deer or elk bullets more often than not, they will punch through an antelope. Unless you get a solid heart shot, sometimes this results in a long persuit. The SMKs are devastating, "turns them inside out" as one friend said to me.

 

[HankB]

I wonder how good a hunting bullet I have with the 150 gr. Sierra Pro-Hunter.

Sierra Pro-Hunters are "conventional" expanding bullets, and ought to perform on a par with standard loads from Winchester, Remington, Speer, Federal, etc.

They're not as good as "premium" hunting slugs like Nosler Partitions, Swift A-Frames, etc., but deer are NOT armor plated. With proper shot placement, the 150 Pro-Hunters will be just fine for deer, and if they shoot accurately from your rifle, don't let the terminal ballistics concern you.

 

[Reed1911]

I won't contridict you on the use of them for antelope, as I have no direct experience with the combo. However when going after thin skinned game I opt for either a thin jacketed poly-tip or the Nosler SBSP's. The SBSP's have a nice thin jacket up front and taper back to a thick web with about a 1/4 caliber solid base. On the use of premium bullets, for deer I very seldom suggest it unless they happen to be more accurate in the specific gun. For tougher game I am a solid believer in high quality bullets. After having a hog or two chase me, I never wnat to experience such a flight with a Moose, bear, or other large animal and I suggest the same to my customers.
For the most part, with the amount of various bullets we have available to us now from so many makers (large and custom) I find it a very rare time when one cannot mate a bullet to the cartridge, distance, and animal (or target) with relitive ease and econimics.

 

[Glen]

Thanks

To all who took the time to respond, thank you very much.

Your expertise is appreciated!

 

[Dave R]

I shot a hog with that very bullet, this summer. Exit hole was fist-sized. Did not recover the bullet. That's fine performance, in my book.

 

[SwampFox]

Berger is listing their bullets for hunting.
Since I use them in my 300WSM and the kids .243 we will "test drive" them on deer this fall.
It seems the little pointy end lets them penetrate an inch or more before violently expanding.
I plan on taking a camera and doing a field autopsy.