Sierra tgk

[kolar55]

I'm thinking about trying Sierra 6mm 100 TGK bullet on Wisconsin whitetails. Will be shooting these out of a .243 probably in the 3000fps range. I need a bullet that will leave an exit hole as tracking in the pine needle forest floor is difficult at best. Much better blood trail from an exit hole. I also have 95 Ballistic tips but was wondering if the Sierra's would have a bit tougher jacket at the base. Anybody with experience with the Sierra? Thanks

 

[std7mag]

I haven't tried the TGK yet.
I've been hearing good reports on accuracy & terminal ballistics from guys local to me. (North central PA)

100gr Nosler Ballistic Tip out of my 257 Roberts punched right through the buck i got this year.

 

[kolar55]

150 ballistic tips at 3125 out my 7 mag will go through them at various ranges but 140 bt's out of the 7mm-08 will not. Neither will the 120 bt's. They kill pretty efectively and that's fine if they don't make it out of the open field but if they are on the edge and head into the pines they get real hard to find especially in the dark.

 

[STOMP442]

So far for me the 105 Berger Hybrid has always exited leaving a nice 50 cent piece size hole on the off side. Every deer I have shot or seen shot with one has never taken more than two steps. I am sure the deer I shoot are much smaller than yours but I am sure they are farther away so it should even out some.

 

[Gary in MD]

I have not tried those particular Sierras (but I am a big fan and user of Sierras).
I have killed a bunch of deer with the 95 grain Ballistic Tips out of the 243 win and the 240 Weatherby and they kill great and also have passed through the deer on all occasions. They are very accurate and have a respectable ballistic coefficient.
Gary

 

[6ShotsOr5?]

Another thing to consider is a thermal tracker, I think some are down to a few hundred dollars. It might help you pick up the first few feet of a small trail if you check quickly, just to pick up the direction but you would probably find that if you wait very long to let ‘em bleed out the blood trail is gonna be ambient temp. Once you have the direction though, then maybe you can find the downed animal easier because that will still light up on the thermal.

 

[okie]

my experience on small OK whitetails is that ballistic tips [6.5 100gr and 120gr] have NEVER punched all the way through. At any speed---slower seems to be more likely to go through though. I would use a hunting bullet like a gameking, core lokt,interbond, etc----seems the performance is caliber specific according to above posts....?

 

[okie]

high shoulder shoot them---they usually do not go far....

 

[Plumsask]

I shoot the 90 gr TGK out of my 6mm Rem AI @ 3500 FPS, I've taken antelope and alotnofncoyotes with them. It may be the speed I'm pushing them at, I dont think they hold together as well as I would like. They're very accurate. I have also thought about trying the 100 gr. Version as well as trying the barnes 95 gr. LRX.

 

[Coleridge]

I've been shooting the 100gr TGK (gamechanger) this year out of a suppressed 20" 6x47L right at 3k. I've only killed 3 deer and a coyote so far but all have exited. Shot 2 pretty decent sized bucks in shoulders both dropped on impact. Doe shot behind shoulder ran 40ish yards with good blood trail. Coyote shot in guts (320 yards on the move), bled good enough to find, although not pouring/ but good as can be expected -considering.

Plan to do some more shooting but so far I couldn't be happier with them. They shoot great (better than the 90gr version in my rifle) and have all excited which is important to me (similar to you hunting near mostly dense vegetation), with great terminal results.

I've used the 105H and 95 Nosler in the rifle to shoot right many deer also with this rifle. The berger kills as good as any but blood trails are not great if no DRT. They pin going in (I mean, you can't find an entrance in the outside hide without serious inspection), and if they don't exit there is NO blood until it comes out the nose/mouth a ways down the trail. While they shot fantastic, I'm not going back to them anytime soon for hunting. The Nosler kills great and almost always exits, with pretty good blood trails. I would be fine with it, but the new TGK has better BC and shoots fantastic also. So far so good with it, but pretty small sample on game... I'll know more after the end of the year (more shooting).

 

[284winner]

I'm thinking about trying Sierra 6mm 100 TGK bullet on Wisconsin whitetails. Will be shooting these out of a .243 probably in the 3000fps range. I need a bullet that will leave an exit hole as tracking in the pine needle forest floor is difficult at best. Much better blood trail from an exit hole. I also have 95 Ballistic tips but was wondering if the Sierra's would have a bit tougher jacket at the base. Anybody with experience with the Sierra? Thanks

I'm gonna say that will depend on where you hit the deer. Every deer I've shot with a .243 in the shoulder area, never exited. Several did going thru the ribs but some didn't. They were 95 grain HVLDs. I'm gonna say that's the results you'll get with that 100 TGK. Just depends where you put the bullet.

 

[Plumsask]

I'm gonna say that will depend on where you hit the deer. Every deer I've shot with a .243 in the shoulder area, never exited. Several did going thru the ribs but some didn't. They were 95 grain HVLDs. I'm gonna say that's the results you'll get with that 100 TGK. Just depends where you put the bullet.

I agree with this, I do think that by design the TGK is slightly tougher than the HVLD that is designed to penetrate 3 to 7 inches and then shed the majority of its weight......burgers do work well with proper placement.

 

[Gary in MD]

There is a thread over on 24 hour campfire where a guy shot through the shoulder of a cow elk with a 243 95 grain Ballistic Tip and recovered the bullet on the off side.
The 95 Ballistic Tip expands but is much tougher than a lot of people realize, as designed by Chub Eastman of Nosler. Surely it will penetrate a deer most of the time, it has for me. YMMV
Gary

 

[msalm]

If you look at the cross section of the TGK’s they do have a substantially thicker jacket through the base, I think it will do what you’re looking for but will still not penetrate completely on a few angles. I used the 150 TGK’s in a 7 RSAUM with complete satisfaction this year, but one whitetail isn’t enough to go on.

 

[kolar55]

Thank you for all the replies. Unless the deer is running I always shoot for the boiler room and many are very much broadside. I don't care for the shoulder shot as it wastes hot sticks. All four I have shot with the Berger 95 HVLD were dead on the spot but ran a quite a ways. Ranges from 50ish yds. to 265 yds. As another poster said a tiny hole going in and nothing coming out. Lukily they were all in the open field except for the last one, but he only made it into the flashing about 50 yds. I would think any of the above mentioned bullets will shoot well enough to pop a whitetail across a 40 acre chunk.

 

[msalm]

The buck I shot (375 yards) was broadside and I held for high shoulder as I didn’t want him crossing a fence line. I don’t typically like that shot myself but was pleasantly suprised. Shot hit 2” below the spine through the center of the blades. He dropped at the shot and never moved. The 150gr TGK did its job with a decent exit and way less bloodshot meat than I expected... maybe 8 oz.

that is the exit side of the shot on both pics.

 

[MikeT49]

I'm thinking about trying Sierra 6mm 100 TGK bullet on Wisconsin whitetails. Will be shooting these out of a .243 probably in the 3000fps range. I need a bullet that will leave an exit hole as tracking in the pine needle forest floor is difficult at best. Much better blood trail from an exit hole. I also have 95 Ballistic tips but was wondering if the Sierra's would have a bit tougher jacket at the base. Anybody with experience with the Sierra? Thanks

For difficult tracking jobs, I recommend Bluestar tracking agent. It's a solution you mix up and use in a spray bottle. Contains Luminol, an agent used for forensic analysis of a crime scene. Makes blood glow blue. I have used it and it works great even in the rain. For example: I tracked a coyote after a rain into the thick chit. Very little blood, a speck every few feet. The spray led me right to him. The only cons are it only works after dark (so you can see the glow) and there can be an issue with some naturally occurring plants and fungi.

 

[Al Lu]

Do you need a black light for the Bluestar tracking agent to work? Thanks.

 

[MikeT49]

Do you need a black light for the Bluestar tracking agent to work? Thanks.

No, you have to turn off your headlamp to see it. It only works in the dark. You spray, turn off any lights and the blood spots glow bright blue. You turn the lamp back on to verify it's really blood and so on. It's a bit expensive, but if you have a coyote problem and can't wait till morning, viola! Also works if you are color blind. It will still glow.

 

[Kermit in Va.]

Try the 90 gr. Accubond