55 gr sierra gameking vs 55 nosler ballistic tip

donlynch

New member
looking for opinions and experiences. given a marginal hit does one outperform the other? i'm shooting a .223, i've so far had good experience with the sierra but would like some opinions given the same accuracy with my gun. i like the 150gr ballistic tip in my 30-06 but have never used the lighter bullets.
don
 
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I've used the Sierra myself in a 22-250, I am going to try the Nosler now. Don't know if it will be any better. The Sierra works very well.
 
I like the noslers out of the .223 but from my experience with the 55gr gamekings I'd lean towards them for overall penetration. For groundhogs I've seen little difference in the "dead factor" with any of the 50-65gr bullets even with marginal hits. Some did more damage than others but they all ended up dead. If you are worried about marginal shots on coyote sized game then I'd lean towards the 65gr Gameking. The added weight and controlled expansion would give deeper penetration on quartering shots and the like.
 
i see that in the oppisite, for marginal hits on coyote sized, i would definitly want a nosler for explosiveness and bigger surface wound over a better penetrating game king.....
 
Nosler has a thick back to the bullet. Lots of times I found it went through the other side, or stopped at the skin where I found them. Atleast not all of the bullet splatters, like some others.
 
marginal hit on what? a coyote?

for me its the 55 grain 243 Nosler Ballistic Tip

my experiences..

the .204 Ruger will not anchor a coyote as in one shot one kill. Im sure their is the exception, but in my world it hasn't been the norm.

a decent shot placement with a typical 223 round will do wonders.

If you just wanna place your crosshairs on a dog out to 300 yards get yourself a .243 and load up some 55gr NBT's.

They're lights out, good night, DRT even on a broadside lung shot.
 
We killed hundereds of coyotes in Mexico with the Sierra 55g Spt. Where you will see the difference between the nosler and the Sierra is on quartering shots where they are running straight at you or quartering away...penetration is needed.

Of course the Poly tip on the Nosler is meant to help the jacket open up quicker.

I killed a lot of yotes with the 55g Nosler Ballistic tip also, but for penetration, the Sierra 55 Spt has it beat. The Sierra 55g BTHP is a little tougher than the Spt.

If you want even tougher yet in a 55g, the el cheapo 55g Hornady Lead tip Spt is the toughest of them all, extremely accurate bullet also.

Hope this helps.
 
Both bullets have performed well for me, but I have found Sierra GKs to be slightly more accurate in virtually all my rifles. I have never had an instance of them failing to make a clean kill when the shot was well placed.
 
Originally Posted By: ackleymanWe killed hundereds of coyotes in Mexico with the Sierra 55g Spt. Where you will see the difference between the nosler and the Sierra is on quartering shots where they are running straight at you or quartering away...penetration is needed.

Of course the Poly tip on the Nosler is meant to help the jacket open up quicker.

I killed a lot of yotes with the 55g Nosler Ballistic tip also, but for penetration, the Sierra 55 Spt has it beat. The Sierra 55g BTHP is a little tougher than the Spt.

If you want even tougher yet in a 55g, the el cheapo 55g Hornady Lead tip Spt is the toughest of them all, extremely accurate bullet also.

Hope this helps.


+1
 
Originally Posted By: donlynchlooking for opinions and experiences. given a marginal hit does one outperform the other? i've so far had good experience with the sierra but would like some opinions given the same accuracy with my gun. i like the 150gr ballistic tip in my 30-06 but have never used the lighter bullets.
don

I use the #1390 Sierra's HPBT in 55grn in my .223 and .22-250. I also use the 150grn HPBT Matchkings in my .308.

My experience with the Sierras over the NBT is that I've never had to trail a coyote shot with the Sierras. They are to say the least (for me) explosive. This is true in .243 also. My pal had to track and never found a 100yd chest shot coyote while using the NBT in his .243. The 85grn Sierra HPBT 6mm bullets are extremely effective in my experience. Gut shots will leave little pelt to salvage.

Some will say the NBT's "splash" but I have no first hand experience with that.

My two cents. YMMV....
 
I have had good luck with the 55 gr Sierra 1365 55 SP. They don't tend to tear up the coyote as badly as the NBT in my experience. For years I used Sierra 52 BTHP Match but switched to the gameking to find something less explosive. Not sure it made a huge difference. But the NBT and Hornady VMax in my experience can leave some major holes. I tried the 55 SPSX hornadys for a while thinking it would enter and not exit. Wrong!!!!!! But I never had a coyote run off with a body hit from one of those bad boys. Just keep the velocity below 3400 fps or they can break up before they get to the coyote.
 
thank you all for your input guys this is great, very informative. i just got a box of the 55 gr bal. tips and loaded a few up with the same load"25.5 grs w748" that i'm using with the sierra's and they shoot to the exact same place, really cool not having to come up with a whole new load. they both shoot nice tight groups. keep coming with your input guys i really appreciate it.
don
 
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Originally Posted By: ackleymanWe killed hundereds of coyotes in Mexico with the Sierra 55g Spt. Where you will see the difference between the nosler and the Sierra is on quartering shots where they are running straight at you or quartering away...penetration is needed.

Of course the Poly tip on the Nosler is meant to help the jacket open up quicker.

I killed a lot of yotes with the 55g Nosler Ballistic tip also, but for penetration, the Sierra 55 Spt has it beat. The Sierra 55g BTHP is a little tougher than the Spt.

If you want even tougher yet in a 55g, the el cheapo 55g Hornady Lead tip Spt is the toughest of them all, extremely accurate bullet also.

Hope this helps.

Which caliber of bullet are you speaking about in your above post?
 
In Mexico, you can not take a military cartridge of any type. We shot the 22/250 and the 22/250 AI.

The velocity of the Rem 700 in 22/250 was 3550-3600 and the AI version was 4050 fps out of a 27" barrel.

The AI version in a 12 twist is a whale of a coyote round. Shots are rarely over 300, so there is not need for a fast twist and heavy bullets, you need flat trajectory so you won't unzip them between 250-325 yards.

If you like blowing a whale of a hole in a coyote, then a 22/250 AI shooting the 60g Berger match at 3700 fps is your ticket, I shot a bobcat half in two with this load.
 
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