Sierra tipped gameking (gamechanger) feedback.

[VLD Pilot]

My 30-06 was horrible untill after Tubbs Final Finish. The throat was longer, but bringing the bullet to 015" from jam gave a 1/2" 100 yd group with 56.5 grs of H4350

Hard to complain about that group.

 

[A1C]

I'm going to be trying the 165 tipped game kings or gamechangers in an older friend's 30-06, my 308 and 300 WM. I got a ton of them as seconds. The 308 and WM will mostly be bench guns for trigger time.

I don't shoot much of the sierras other than the 39 grain blitz kings in 20 P and 77 SMKs.
He's nervous about me putting too many rounds on his barrel though he's in his 70s and only shoots when deer or elk hunting which is harder for him to do…

I promised him I'd work up a load for him @ 50 rounds on his barrel or less, then load 200 rounds for him to last him until he no longer will hunt as a gift.
He will shoot 300 yards or less so it doesn't need to be a .25 minute load.

Any tips on first attempts on seating depth? I'm out of town for the weekend and don't have the internal mag length but he says it's longer than his other 30-06s he's had. It's a custom rifle so I don't know rifling twist but he's trying to find it.

Will run an OCW and try and come up w a solid load not pushing mv too hard.

I've got a ton of H4350 so was planning on that.

I haven't loaded for 30-06 forever…

Thanks!

 

[Phil Rizzo]

I loaded some for a close friend about a year ago.
Seating depth was erratic so I started measuring bullets before seating, with a comparator.
And the results were not impressive.
.264 130 TGK if I recall.

 

[A1C]

I loaded some for a close friend about a year ago.
Seating depth was erratic so I started measuring bullets before seating, with a comparator.
And the results were not impressive.
.264 130 TGK if I recall.

Do you remember seating depth you ended up at? I'm probably not going to try too many depth and hope I can come up with something without a ton of testing. Thanks!

 

[Phil Rizzo]

It's been too long.

 

[Gary in MD]

I'm using 58.0 grains of H4350 in one of my '06s with 168 grain Bergers. You probably go up a little if cautious.

 

[A1C]

I'm using 58.0 grains of H4350 in one of my '06s with 168 grain Bergers. You probably go up a little if cautious.

thanks! 58.0 is what I show as max for 165 gamechangers from Midsouth as well.

 

[A1C]

I loaded some for a close friend about a year ago.
Seating depth was erratic so I started measuring bullets before seating, with a comparator.
And the results were not impressive.
.264 130 TGK if I recall.

In fairness to Sierra, I bought a 1,000 of the 165 gamechangers as seconds. I've weight sorted them all. They were actually within .3 grains with the exception of a select few. They did have a bunch of gunk on them and were sticky enough that I'm going to call it quits on the media I was using for the tumbler.

The variation in length is much more than their BTO but so are a lot of the Bergers I shoot. They've all seated within a thou or two which is more than good enough for what I'm doing with them. That is with them being weight sorted like I mentioned.

Ladder test on the 30-06 @ 300 yds gave an indication that it's going to like something in the range of 56.7, 57.0, 57.3 in H4350. I'm jumping them .130" to start. Those three loads were less than an inch @ 300 yards. I'll load some more in that range when I get my 30-06 pilot for my Giraud trimmer when they get back from the holidays. I had to sort through his brass to find enough that were below SAAMI specs as that's what I'll trim them all to when I can.

 

[VinceMule]

IN my brother's Rem 700 long range, R#22 with a CCI 250 primer is doing 3000 with the 165 GS, load is at the top end of pressure in std Win cases. Groups at 500 he said were unbelievably small. My brother is a precision reloader and knows how to tune a rifle, loading at the range. He has bedded the rifle, floated the mag box, free-floated the barrel, and has a muzzle break on the barrel.

H and IMR are the gold standard for 165-180g bullets in the '06, approx. 57g

My Brother's choice of R#22 offers another great option. We have to work with what powders we have. I shot 165g Sierras with 49g of IMR 4064 into very small groups with standard sporters, and the BTHP of this Sierra is a very tough bullet.

I would start by seating the Sierra's .005 off the lands, if you do not achieve immediate success, then start at .020 off the lands, you should hit a payday.

R#26 with a cci 250 should achieve some eye-popping velocity with accuracy in the '06, and I would opt for Lapua brass if possible.

 

[stovepipe]

I've had some luck with the 6.5 130's and .243 100's

 

[Toecutter]

Had them on the shelf so i tried them out in a grendel pistol i was getting ready for an antelope hunt. Had to stay within mag length, so im sure there was a bit of jump (been a few years, so i dont remember the numbers), but they were half moa all day. Got scared on the reports of thick jackets combined with my low velocity, and decided on 129 ABLRs instead. The ABLRs worked stellar at the low velocity, so alls well that ends well, but as i remember, they were extremely easy to get to shoot sub moa. Could have been a little of the blind squirrel in me as well.

 

[Phil Rizzo]

The ones I fumbled with must have been a bad lot.
They always seem to shoot good, and usually up tight on the lands similar to BT and AB.

 

[model 700]

Just wanted to see who has shot the TGK (game changer) and how was accuracy compared to other bullets.

I'm kind of curious about this myself. I just loaded up some 150gr. for my 7mm STW. I really like the way they look as a loaded cartridge and the manual is giving me some good numbers. I'm hoping they will fly really well. I just got this rifle and I'm wanting to make it my go to rifle.

 

[VinceMule]

I am sorting a lot of bullets by ogive length that I did not have to do previously.

Phil, I think that we have a new norm since the Pandemic.