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Will a 65 gr sierra gameking 'pop' on a groundhog out of a 22 250?

Got a 8 twist 22 250 that really like the 75gr amax. Looking for a little more speed and still have decent b.c. will a 65gr game king do any violent expansion on a g.h. at say 300 yards? Thinking I could get these up to 3300-3400 fps. Also, any experience with these on coyotes? Thanks, Rob.
 
Never shot any 65gr GameKings at groundhogs, but did shoot 500 55gr GameKings at PD in a 22/250 several years ago. I can confirm there is no "Pop" with that bullet hitting a PD. Typically just drilled a small hole right through with little or no expansion. A red spot would appear at the point of entry and a few seconds later the dog would just topple over. There are a lot of bullets much more suited to the task. Good shooting! Vic
 
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Got a 8 twist 22 250 that really like the 75gr amax. Looking for a little more speed and still have decent b.c. will a 65gr game king do any violent expansion on a g.h. at say 300 yards? Thinking I could get these up to 3300-3400 fps. Also, any experience with these on coyotes? Thanks, Rob.
I shot a coyote with one once,It blew a huge hole threw him guts everywhere. About 60 yds from a AR-15
 
A leaded soft point on ground hogs? I would think there are better bullets out there for that purpose. However, LOVE the .3 BC!

Would probably do better on coyotes.
 
Cath -

Howdy !

.224" cal violent expansion on groundhog @ 300yd would = Hornady 55gr SXSP.... usually from a 1-14.
Given their construction, they wouldn't likely tolerate any much faster on twist @ the probable vel levels you can put on 55s from a .22-250.

I too shot " Soybeanus Digestus " w/ 75"A"-Max.
I only had one shoot-through @ 200, the rest of the time the bullets worked just fine ( effective kills ).
From my wildcat .22-35, I was runnin' the 75's @ 3,420fps ( my accuracy/field load ).

IMHO -
With sufficient vel and given a decent " hit ", a good .224" cal 55gr varmint bullet can be used on groundhog out to 500; but... w/o much performance margin. I like to have 450ft lb on-tap minimum at whatever shot distance is being considered, for enhanced lethality.
A really great .224" calibre " dedicated " varmint bullet in the mid 60s wt range does not exist @ this time.


With regards,
357Mag
 
Got a 8 twist 22 250 that really like the 75gr amax. Looking for a little more speed and still have decent b.c. will a 65gr game king do any violent expansion on a g.h. at say 300 yards? Thinking I could get these up to 3300-3400 fps. Also, any experience with these on coyotes? Thanks, Rob.

From the Sierra website GameKing bullets: These bullets are designed for a combination of penetration and expansion in medium and heavy game animals for their calibers. The Sierra BlitzKing bullets are made for small varmints. The Hornady VMax group are very explosive on small creatures.
 
Cath -

Howdy !

.224" cal violent expansion on groundhog @ 300yd would = Hornady 55gr SXSP.... usually from a 1-14.
Given their construction, they wouldn't likely tolerate any much faster on twist @ the probable vel levels you can put on 55s from a .22-250.

I too shot " Soybeanus Digestus " w/ 75"A"-Max.
I only had one shoot-through @ 200, the rest of the time the bullets worked just fine ( effective kills ).
From my wildcat .22-35, I was runnin' the 75's @ 3,420fps ( my accuracy/field load ).

IMHO -
With sufficient vel and given a decent " hit ", a good .224" cal 55gr varmint bullet can be used on groundhog out to 500; but... w/o much performance margin. I like to have 450ft lb on-tap minimum at whatever shot distance is being considered, for enhanced lethality.
A really great .224" calibre " dedicated " varmint bullet in the mid 60s wt range does not exist @ this time.


With regards,
357Mag
I keep coming back to how a 60ish gr high b.c. explosive h.p. is obviously needed in today's shooting climate every time I look for what I'm needing in a .224 bullet. A 63 gr high b.c. vmax be pretty cool.
 
Got a 8 twist 22 250 that really like the 75gr amax. Looking for a little more speed and still have decent b.c. will a 65gr game king do any violent expansion on a g.h. at say 300 yards? Thinking I could get these up to 3300-3400 fps. Also, any experience with these on coyotes? Thanks, Rob.
If you're going down to a 65gr bullet why not go down to the 60gr Sierra varminter, #1375. I know the varminters "pop" on ground hogs. The .246 BC isn't the best but the "pop" is good.
 
For a high velocity PD popper, you should try the 53 V-Max; it has a high BC & is light enough to get great velocity + it's made for that application.
 
Yeah... I hear you. I have 2 1-14" 22-250's and have the under .300 b.c. range covered. I'd like to utilize my only fast twist 250 on a bullet a little zippier than the 75gr amax it shoots to have a little better 'hold on fur' range out to 350 yards and take advantage of the wind resistance the higher b.c. bullets offer. For me, I feel the resistance to wind deflection to be these bullets biggest benefit. I'm not shooting past 500 yards like I thought I would, somewhat negating the benefit of the .435 b.c. the 75 amax offers. ... although it's wind bucking ability is great.
 
My LGS owner reloads and hunts a lot, and recommended the 65gr SGK for medium game, or even deer out to 200yd. While I'm not especially game for deer with a .224 C/F, I do take his advice to mean that the bullet is a controlled expansion round, optimized for penetration, and not explosive, varmint hunting expansion.

My .22-250 chuck load was the 53gr V-Max (#22265) and 36.0gr of Varget. A bit peppy (exactly at max), but devastating (decapitations, etc.). My rifle was the Ruger M77 MKII V/T)

Greg
 
I've shot a bunch of 65Gamekings on chucks & coyotes, they're rather boringly effective at makin' stuff die. If you wanna have 75Amax cake & eat it too, you're gonna need a large enough case to generate the speed that allows for the magic to happen...

Punch that fast twist .22-250 to a .22-243Win, or better yet, .22-243AI, and you 'll see the pixie dust fly. Once you're in the 3500+fps range & beyond, that 75 will do what ya want it to. To push a heavy bullet, there's no replacement for displacement... ;)

Otherwise, try a 70gr VLD, or some of Swampy's 65gr LD JLKs from your 1:8 & see how they do. You might get either one runnin' fast enough to straighten out the short range parabola of bullet drop, just can't say for sure about how they'll pop on a 'chuck.

I do feel the 'wheelhouse' of a .22-250 is pushin' 50-60gr bullets. If you want coyote "hold on fur" to 350, run a 50gr Btip, 52Amax, 53Vmax, etc. as close to 4K as you can, safely. No bullet above 60grains is gonna come close to shooting flatter to 350yds from a standard .22-250. That's just how it is...
 
What fredo said...

Nothing beats cubic inches, or in this case, case volume. So match the hatch, so to speak, and mate the case with the twist with the weight and make sure the BULLET construction is proper for terminal ballistic results
 
Shot a bunch of PD's with the 65 gr. Sierra a few years ago. They would completely wreck them but were leaving the barrel at 3850 in my .220 Swift AI. They were also one of the most accurate bullets I shot in that gun.

John
 
I'm running the 69 TMK out of my 223 AI 9T AR these days and love it on coyotes. Just shot one jackrabbit with it and it was explosive at 250ish yds.
 
+1 on the Sierra 69 gr TMK. The 65 gr Sierra Gameking has a .303 BC and the 69 gr TMK has a .375 BC. That's a big jump in BC for just 4 gr more lead and from what I have read they expand really well.
 

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