6mm 85 Grain Sierra Gameking

MPFD

MPFD

Active member
I would like to know who has seen exit wounds under two hundred yards with a .243. I know there are some more "sick" red necks out there, "like me" that like pictures of game. If you have Pics that are two graphic please PM me, if not attach please. I just wanna know who uses them and whats your luck been?
 
I'm asking cause I had my faith rattled last night in the 85 grain Gameking. I took a perfect board side shot at a buck last night with a 85 g. HPBT Sierra at 180 yards. Deer crumpled, hit 2-3" right behind the shoulder, saw all four legs in the air. Bullet did not exit. Went to jack in another shell and when I looked up it was running full speed back at the creek. Never found any blood, only some scratches in the dirt where it floundered around on the ground. I combed a square 1/4 mile last night with my brother, son and dog. I never found a spec of blood, nothing. I would have thought that the hydrostatic shock alone would have been enough to at least slow it down. I calculated that it absorbed about 1400 ft/lbs of energy. I saw the bullet hit the deer through the scope, I have no question that it was a good shot. I called Sierra and asked if at 3300 fps I was pushing it too fast? They are baffled that it didn't exit as well...
 
That doesn't sound right for some reason. Are you certain that you saw the bullet strike just behind the shoulder? The reaction you saw from the deer sound like a grazing impact off of the spine. If you are certain that the bullet struck the lung area behind the shoulder, then I am all done with Sierra bullets.
 
I think shot went in angling toward brisket, missed heart, maybe just grazed on lung, hit opposite leg/front of shoulder blade, and knocked deer off it's feet.

Such a shot will produce very little blood, and always produce a "runner"......
 
It was a straight up broad side shoot at 180 yard yards with a MV of 3300 fps, no exit. Saw the impact shock wave go through the side of the ribs, deer folded. I have seen this bullet kill deer in a 6x45. I wonder if I was just shooting it too fast and it fragmented... I am baffled. I am aware of the .243's capability's and only take good clean careful shots. I'm not a sniper by any means but I'm am confident enough in my skills to know it was a good hit. I was taking it out to test the load on deer cause I planned on letting my wife use it next week. Now I'm back to square one on what to send with her.
 
You may have hit high and back,above the vital and just below the spine but yet close enough to shock the spine and drop the deer but the shock useually wears off. I have done this before with my 270win and 3-4 minutes later have it jump up as nothing was wrong,I was lucky to get the second shot.Only blood found was a little bit on the deer.
 
What I'm really questioning here, is why didn't I get an exit? Does anyone here feel they are too soft constructed for high speeds?
 
Originally Posted By: 2muchgunI think shot went in angling toward brisket, missed heart, maybe just grazed on lung, hit opposite leg/front of shoulder blade, and knocked deer off it's feet.

Such a shot will produce very little blood, and always produce a "runner"......

Maybe I did hit the shoulder blade on the off side and thats why it didn't exit. But it sure ran like all its limbs were functioning perfectly fine...

Not blaming or flaming Sierra here at all. Just looking for opinions. Two years ago I shot a doe with a 70 g matchkings at 2750fps out of my 16" AR and she never took another step.
 
If it came out in front of shoulder blade, toward brisket, deer will still run fine. Have seen it. Saw one hit exactly that way and it was still chasing does, up until I dropped him.

My buddy hit one exactly same way also. Same results......
 
True I guess, but I got a good look at him running back from where he came from and there was no blood on the offside. I hit him in a mowed alfalfa field and it has been dry this year, He ran 80 yards back across open ground before he got to the tree's.
 
Without the carcass, everything, shot placement, bullet performance, etc., is just a guess. No disrespect intended.

Barnes are the only bullet I've used that have exited 99% of the time.
 
If it was hit where you said, there is no way it came to rest against the off side shoulder and did not kill it.........quickly. That being said, I do not think they were being pushed to fast. I think something may have deflected the bullet (bone) and it either 1) went through the brisket as was said (I have seen the same thing as 2mg said) or 2) It was hit up near the spine.

I will say that the 65gr gamekings out of my AR did not like to be pushed very fast.......but that was from an accuracy standpoint. I've never used the 85's in my 6mm though, but the 65's did quite nicely killing damage permit deer......and many of them at that.
 
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I was sitting where the zero or circle with the line through it is. The buck came out at the red X and started across the mowed alfalfa field on the red line. I Bahhh'd at him and he stopped spun back toward me abit and looked toward me alarmed. I had the sun at my back and he couldn't locate me. That's when I took my shoot full on broad side. He was standing at the red circle when I hit him and he folded up and went down hard kicking all four legs in the air. I watched him just a second in the scope when I decided to put another round in him. As I got done cycling the action I looked up and he was at a full gate on the blue line back to the creek. We combed the area with in the yellow lines for two hours with three men and a dog. Never saw a sign of anything. For reference everywhere you don't see tree's is either cut hay meadow and on the far side of the creek is a level cut been field.
 
This my only experience with the aforementioned bullet and caliber. Two seasons back shot a nice 8 point that was on a dead run across an open uncut hayfield, angling towards me. The shot went through the top of right shoulder. Buck collapsed when hit and never moved. Upon exam the entry hole was diameter going through the shoulder blade and golf ball sized damage to the ribs just under the shoulder blade, both lungs collapsed and dam near turned to jelly, no sign of bullet ever found. It appeared as though the bullet started to expand through the ribs and just exploded inside the chest.

Just minutes before I shot the buck I shot a coyote that came up out of the river bottom about where the buck came out.
On the shot the coyote disappeared in the tall grass. Since it was early I stay on the stand hoping for a shot on a deer.

After I shot the above mentioned buck I went looking for yote, found what appeared to be a quart of blood and some fur and trail of blood back to the river bottom and lost the blood trail in some thick impassable brambles.

FYI
Deer was 140+ steps from stand and yote was 230+ steps from stand.

load 45.6 grains of H4831 over the 85 grain sierra gameking.
 
I'll chalk it up to a bad shoot/or a fluke I guess. I really like the load and it is super flat shooting. So I guess I'll try it again with better results next time hopefully. I have NEVER taken a deer off its feet and seen it get away. Thanks everybody.
 
If it was me, the next thing I would do is to shoot my rifle at a target, and confirm it's still sighted in. If you find that the rifles good, I would continue the search.

One time I had a hunter call me for help in finding a deer he had knocked down. He had searched all morning and knew he had hit him good. I tracked him two hundred yards and found him curled up buy a old log like a fawn. There was no blood trail just tracks and a few disturbed leaves. He and his buddy had walked all around him all morning without seeing him.

Another time, another hunter called me on a deer he had knocked down. I made him show me the spot where the deer had fallen. I reached down and picked up a sliver of antler, showed it to him, and went home.

Good luck, hope you find him, around here I'd be looking for buzzards or ravens by now.
 
Yeah I shot it today and it was still 2" high dead center. Your right, I will be going to watch for vultures and see if I can figure out what happened. No way the meat is any good its be in the mid 60's here all day.

Gonna go look night after work. Take a buddies dog this time, lord knows this clown wasn't much help...
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I shot a mature doe at 75 yards out of a 243 with a Sierra 85gr flat base. Straight broadside, 1" behind the front shoulder, good damage (not minimal, not excessive). Deer ran 50 yards downhill. Estimated Muzzle velocity is 3150fps.

I will continue to use this bullet as it also accurate. I do not see the Gameking being a lot different.
 
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