Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
A 165-grain any-bullet at 2,580 is more Oomph than a thutty-thutty. I see no reason for more velocity.
165 SGK- how fast??
- Thread starter brmfan
- Start date
As far as an animal just standing there after being hit I have seen it first hand. It was a cow elk, hit twice through the lungs, no shoulder hit, between ribs on both sides. She just stood there, no flinch, no stagger, finally my buddy hit her again high in the shoulder and she dropped. All the shots were right at 200 yards with a 7mm mag and I believe a 160 grain nosler partition. The chest cavity was jello, and there was pieces of lung on the sage brush behind her, all three bullets were pass thru. The whole thing took place over maybe 45 seconds to a minute.
According to several sierra techs the 308 dia 165gr HPBT is considered a magnum bullet. It is made for longer range shots from a 300 win or better.
I always try to do my research before selecting a bullet to hunt with. This includes shooting wetpack at various ranges that i intend to take game at and shooting through cow bones into wetpack to simulate a worst case senario heavy bone strike. And what i found is that there are only 2 bullets that i will use in my 06. #1 is the sierra 180gr rn #2 is the 165gr HPBT. Why? They almost always hold up, and always expand. The 180gr does not reliably expand over 150yrds, but is devistating inside of 100 with deep penatration. The 165gr expands reliably out to 350yrds (havnt tested past that). Even after direct hits on the bone at 30yrds the 165gr held together long enough to make it through the vitals. The only time i ever had a 165gr test bullet fail it was a glancing hit on bone. The bullet passed through the wetpack without expanding (or so it looked). I assume the bullets hollowpoint closed up and didnt expand. I never had an issue with a deer though
All of my test with the 165gr were done at a MV around 2800fps. I cant say for sure what happened with your deer but the 165gr is one heck of a deer bullet but sometimes the deer just dont want to die and stuff happens. Ive even almost lost a deer that i shot through the sholder with the 180gr bullet, shattered the shoulder through the heart exit behind the off shoulder, the deer ran about 200yrds without much blood.
if the bullet shoots good and has a provin track record id keep useing it.
I always try to do my research before selecting a bullet to hunt with. This includes shooting wetpack at various ranges that i intend to take game at and shooting through cow bones into wetpack to simulate a worst case senario heavy bone strike. And what i found is that there are only 2 bullets that i will use in my 06. #1 is the sierra 180gr rn #2 is the 165gr HPBT. Why? They almost always hold up, and always expand. The 180gr does not reliably expand over 150yrds, but is devistating inside of 100 with deep penatration. The 165gr expands reliably out to 350yrds (havnt tested past that). Even after direct hits on the bone at 30yrds the 165gr held together long enough to make it through the vitals. The only time i ever had a 165gr test bullet fail it was a glancing hit on bone. The bullet passed through the wetpack without expanding (or so it looked). I assume the bullets hollowpoint closed up and didnt expand. I never had an issue with a deer though
All of my test with the 165gr were done at a MV around 2800fps. I cant say for sure what happened with your deer but the 165gr is one heck of a deer bullet but sometimes the deer just dont want to die and stuff happens. Ive even almost lost a deer that i shot through the sholder with the 180gr bullet, shattered the shoulder through the heart exit behind the off shoulder, the deer ran about 200yrds without much blood.
if the bullet shoots good and has a provin track record id keep useing it.#2140, Sierra Gameking HPBT
My rifle is a Rem,700 adl with a 24",1-10" barrel. It has been pleasingly accurate with those bullets, I have confidence in any shot that this bullet will hit poa, having more than a few called bullseye shots at 100.
Im only telling you this because yesterday I purchased another 200 of them,BNIB for 40.00.....
I definitely want to try them this season because of the confidence level I have in them.
My rifle is a Rem,700 adl with a 24",1-10" barrel. It has been pleasingly accurate with those bullets, I have confidence in any shot that this bullet will hit poa, having more than a few called bullseye shots at 100.
Im only telling you this because yesterday I purchased another 200 of them,BNIB for 40.00.....
I definitely want to try them this season because of the confidence level I have in them.
wileybelch
New member
Maybe adrenaline
I have used Sierra 165gr HP forever in .308 and .30-06. Rarely do the hunting stories told on The Firing Line include a statement about the game BEFORE it was shot. These 'unexplained' well place shots that don't drt might be the result of the animal (for whatever reason) already pumping adrenaline through its system in preparation for flight. Had the animal been spooked by another hunter (over the hill) shortly before you had your shot? Adrenaline is a powerful chemical and will keep a dead animal on its feet long after it should have fallen.
I have used Sierra 165gr HP forever in .308 and .30-06. Rarely do the hunting stories told on The Firing Line include a statement about the game BEFORE it was shot. These 'unexplained' well place shots that don't drt might be the result of the animal (for whatever reason) already pumping adrenaline through its system in preparation for flight. Had the animal been spooked by another hunter (over the hill) shortly before you had your shot? Adrenaline is a powerful chemical and will keep a dead animal on its feet long after it should have fallen.
I used the SP 165gr SGK for a while, a bit messy but it always put them down quick, a friend of mine just had a "failure" with that bullet, he shot a pin hole through and through a small doe with his 300 Win Mag. They found the deer but it made it 50 yards leaving absolutely no blood trail. I would use the 165gr SKGs again but not on Taxas whitetails, they seem to need some considerable resistance to expand reliably and some thin skinned small deer don't offer enough it seems. If you want to stick to the 165gr don't try pushing the SGK faster, switch to the Speer version, it has a thinner jacket and expands more readily it seems. If you are not a Speer fan Nolser Ballistic tips and Hornady SSTs are also nasty fast expanders even on the smallest of deer.