sierra game king vs hornady sst?

Pretty much all those plastic tipped hunting bullets are the same. And the same can be said for lead tipped Spitzer type S.P. bullets as well. For your application OP there is no down side to using either bullet as you said both bullets weigh the same and are boat tailed. For your information. I found 150 gr. or 180 Flat based bullets gave the best results in accuracy when used in my 30-06. For some unknown reason I could never get 165gr B.T.s to shoot up to my standards of accuracy I expected to see from them. (But then at that time I shot a semi-auto carbine with a short 16-1/4" barrel which are indeed picky about what they prefer in bullet weight and powder selection.)

I have used Game Kings in my 270 in the past and have always been please with them. "Never got any complaints from the deer I've harvested with them."_ Sorry I don't have any experience with SSTs. Reason being: for quite a few years now my primary go to bullet has been the Nosler Ballistic Tip for my 270 & 25-06. Then again for my 32 Special I cast my own bullets for that one. Once you feel you've Mastered the reloading part. You got to get into casting Sir. That's where one suffers with a case of bewilderment usually. It all fun no matter. Isn't that right?

S/S
 
I use both Sierra GameKing and Hornady SST, depending on what's available when I buy bullets. Both are very good in my opinion.

I was loading recently for a .25-06 and had a stock of each brand in the 117 grain persuasion. Using the same powder and primer, the 117 Hornady gave me 2870 fps and the 117 Sierra gave me 2797 fps. I doubt that a whitetail deer could tell the difference and I reference this only to remind us that the two bullets are different.
 
Sure Shot, "all those plastic tipped bullets" are not the same. Comparing an A Max to a ScirroccoII is about like comparing an apple to a water melon.
 
^ What do you mean "aerodynamic as an elephant"? This was R-P's original long range bullet for thin skinned game. Sierra's shoot well because there jackets don't have much going on inside. Generally bullets with more features to the inside of the jacket don't shoot as well as simpler designs. I have had a few 165 .308 boat tail Sierras come apart a little too soon, Hornaday has an interlock ring to help retain the core.
 
Okay I know it's not a boat tail but it should be better than allot of the other flat base bullets out there. Do you know what the b.c. is, it can be hard to find for those "factory bullets".;)
 
Never used the SST's but ...

only used the SGK's and while the results were a kill, I swore off of them. Made a shot broadside on a deer about 85 yds. The hit was a little high but the deer flopped over backwards and didn't move for perhaps a minute (appeared to be a DRT). Then the animal jumped up and ran about 20 yds before dropping over dead. When cleaning this animal, it appeared as if the bullet had literally exploded inside. What a mess. Now, I had bought that ammo because a gunsmith and very successful hunter I know swears by SGK BTSP bullets. This guy has been to Africa 25-30 times and hunted all over the world. He's an expert, right?

So, the outfitter from S.A. that my friend has hunted with for years is in the U.S. for the SFI convention and I get an opportunity to meet with him (both guys are present) and set up a safari. I got to witness a great face to face debate between these guys about the Sierra bullets vs. Hornady bonded bullets.

It was educational and hilarious. Both agreed that the Sierra bullets are more accurate (very slight difference but still more) but they were exact opposites about which bullet performed better on game. The S.A. outfitter swears by the plain hornady cup & core bullets while the hunter/gunsmith swears by the SGK.

My take on all this: shoot the bullet that you rifle likes best and you find the best results from!:)
 
Have not grouped the sierras yet but I am going to tomorrow. If they don't shoot as good I will find more SST bullets I will chronograph both as well and update everyone.
 
reynolds357 It appears your catching flack for the flying elephant. And now the A-Max water melon. I got to hand it to you. You made me chuckle a little tonight. Yes Sir. you sure did. LOL :D

S/S still lol
 
update

Went to the range today the sierras actually shot a lite bit better than the SST. The SST was about 50 feet per second faster but the sierra was shooting a .486 inch group and a .55 inch group. Also the sierras had a standard deviation of only 7 fps! Average speed on the 30-06 with the 165 grain sierras was 2813. The high speed was 2817. And the low speed was 2806. And three of the five chronographed 2817.

Also shot them at a gong at 300 yards today and all three bullets on the gong you could cover with a fifty cent piece.
 
Parallels my experience with Sierras, although you're doing a bit better than my old '06 with 4,000 rounds through it. :)
 
The SSTs are my all time favorite bullet I shoot in the 06 and 308. I too shoot only the 165 grain atop Varget. Have found a load that punches a ragged hole and the round is devastating on game (deer, hogs, yotes, you name it). Been shooting these for about 13 years and its all I use. I too have about 300 rounds of reloads in Sierra GameKing 165 but after seeing the devastating and accuracy from the SSTs never gonna shoot anything else.
 
I appreciate the SST and love them but just can't find them here. The sierras are good bullets and are available. Besides deer are not hard to kill. I garaantee that one of those in the boiler room will do the job.
 
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