Sierra Gameking for Sheep

[littlebear]

My Plan is to use a 200 gr. Sierra Gameking for my Dall Sheep.
It make 2950+ Ft/sek in my 300 win. mag. ( 74,0 gr Norma MRP). The good B.C and accuracy are the reason why I want to use this bullet.
Would like to learn from experinces with this bullet on Sheep.

Littlebear

 

[Michael Eichele]

I have not used the 200 GK on sheep yet but plan to in the future. I have ran the 200 ACCUBOND on sheep with very good results. If you want to drop them right now, a 200 grainer does the trick. The only difference between the 200 GK and AB is one has a lead tip and the other has a plastic tip, one is bonded and one is not. The AB is only slightly higher in BC. The fact that it is not bonded is of no concern for thin skinned light boned critters like sheep. In fact for slower than 300 RUM velocities, I prefer the 200 GK over the 200 AB because it will expand at slower velocities than the 200 AB. Sierra quoted me 1600 FPS. This will be my bullet of choice for my new 308 barrel and LR hunting. With its high BC and lower impact velocity requirements, there isnt a big game critter safe short of 800 yards.

In short, my opinion is that the 200 GK is more than adequete for sheep hunting.

 

[Joel Russo]

Right on Michael..

I have killed Dall Sheep with a variety of bullets to include the Nosler BT, Nosler AB, and the SMK, in a variety of different calibers.
The last one I killed was with a 200 gr AB out of a .300 RUM at 576 yards. DRT.

I'm sure the 200 Game King will expand quicker than the AB at the slower velocities out of the Win Mag. The loss in BC is minimal.

Load them and go hunt!

 

[trebark]

+1 to Michael and Joel's recommendation.

Also, PM Michael for his ballistic calculator. I have it and it's great.

 

[akrange]

If you can hit a 9 inch pie pan at 400 yds with that bullet then use it.. I would look at more velocity because in the Mountains Mother Nature will have her say on any given day.. The faster time of flight is the less Newton and Mother Nature have to say about things.. If the 200 gr. shoots better than a 180 Gr. then the path is clear.. I shoot a 7mm Rem. Mag. and use 160 gr bullets for all my AK Hunting...
AK

 

[Akbushape]

I'm kinda of the same mind, Akrange. From the experiences I've had, if anything the 180 gr should be a bit more accurate in the 300 WM and be flatter shooting. I'd even test out the 150gr. Sheep are not a hard animal to put down.
The 7mm is a great sheep, goat or blackbear gun but IMHO it is a poor moose
or brown bear gun. I gave up on it a long time ago for the bigger game.

 

[Topshot]

Had a Kiwi mate of mine tell me that the best way to hunt sheep was wearing Gum Boots. I don't know what he was on about but that's Kiwi's for you!!!!

 

[akrange]

Top
Sounds like your Kiwi friend has hit the Billy Bong to Much.. lightbulb

AK

 

[buffybr]

My favorite rifle for deer, antelope and sheep hunting is my .257 AI. One of my favorite bullets for this rifle is the 117 gr Sierra GameKing. In the last 30 yrs, I've used this combination to kill a mule or whitetail deer and one or more pronghorn antelope almost every year, and have used it for 5 bighorn rams and one Dall ram. All the sheep were one shot DRT kills.

As was said above, sheep are not hard to kill. With your .300 Win, a 150 or 180 gr GameKing bullet placed in the heart/lungs will easily kill a ram at 400+ yds.

 

[hammertyme]

Sheep are as fragile an animal as there is. I have shot them mostly with 7-08's and with the 120 grain load they are literally crushed. The deer here on Kodiak Island are also crushed with that 120 grain load. One was taken at 600 yards and it dropped at the shot. Our deer are much bigger than a sheep with a typical 2 year old buck weighing the same as a 36" full curl ram.

If its just the long range thing where BC is important, in thirty years of Alaska hunting I had one shot that I could not get closer than 600 yards. With a liberal 3-6 deer limit and 5 hunting family members we have used more Sierra Gameking bullets than all others combined.

SOmething to think about.

 

[JGant]

Two yrs ago, my Alaska sheep hunt, I used a .257 Wby with a 120 gr Nosler Partition. The shot was 537 yds verified by our guide.