Has anyone ever shot a buffalo with a Sierra Game King Bullet in .375

[Foxi]

the experience of those who have done it would be interesting for me.
Thanks

 

[TheSayHeyKid]

I can't weigh in on this with any personal knowledge, but I can't imagine a basic cup and core bullet doing the job in any situation on a buff. For the time being...I'm gonna grab me some popcorn.

 

[IvW]

I cannot see why anybody would even consider it.... it is designed for soft skin pg not hard skinned dg....

 

[C.W. Richter]

Read Kevin Robertson's books, and in-particular, "Africa's Most Dangerous." He provides excellent data for why you should NOT.

 

[revturbo9967]

I wouldn't shoot much of anything other then paper with a SGK

 

[112Savage]

This is a 250 grain Sierra Gameking and a 300gr accubond. The gameking’s core seemed much harder than the accubond’s. Craig Boddington said the 300gr worked but he switched when he could get better bullets.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I can think of a dozen less painful ways to commit suicide.

 

[Doug3006]

I don’t see any reason to use a cup and core bullet when there are better alternatives available. However it’s hard to argue that they won’t kill a Buffalo.

 

[Forrest Halley]

I'll tell you something anecdotal:
Sierra Game Kings pushed out of a .375 at fifty yards do not do notable damage to AR500 steel plates. Speer Grand Slams do. Hornady Interbonds do. Privi soft points do. The Sierras are gentle on steel. They may not be a good choice for thick skinned or heavy boned game.

 

[meigsbucks]

I haven’t, but I did shoot a mule deer with the 250gr Sierra at about 60yds with a .338 Win mag (~2650 fps). Supposedly this bullet has the same construction as the 300gr .375. The bullet flat out broke apart.
There is no way I’d use the 300gr .375 on a buffalo.

 

[1dirthawker]

I'll tell you something anecdotal:
Sierra Game Kings pushed out of a .375 at fifty yards do not do notable damage to AR500 steel plates. Speer Grand Slams do. Hornady Interbonds do. Privi soft points do. The Sierras are gentle on steel. They may not be a good choice for thick skinned or heavy boned game.

i too will give you an anecdotal thought,

i had a 175 gr (7mm mag) sierra game king bullet disintegrate on a black tailed deer, quartering away at 200 yards.

i called the customer service at sierra and complained, asked him to get them to start building bonded bullets. his answer "it killed the deer didn't it?" my response, would not have killed a grizzly or a moose! (this was 30 years ago and there were not lots of great choices)

 

[K E Johnson]

I have shot a number of game animals with the 300 grain Sierra Game Kings. My .375 H&H rifles love them. All those animals were deer. I have recovered a number of them from the berm I use to sight in on. What I saw convinced me I would never take them to Africa for anything. I used Nosler Partitions on black bear in my .375 back when they were considered a premium bullet. They are light years ahead of a Sierra in my opinion. Sierra used to recommend them for Cape buffaloes. I have the reloading manuals that state this. Looked on line, this is no longer the case.

.375 Cal 300 Gr. SBT GameKing - Sierra Bullets

This bullet was developed after extensive research and a year and a half of testing by Sierra, and it exemplifies our commitment to quality and performance of our products. The jacket of this bullet is formed from the heaviest Sierra cup through Sierra's unique four-station draw to very precise...

www.sierrabullets.com

 

[CoElkHunter]

In 1948, the Remington Core Lokt, Winchester Silver Tip (and later the Power Point) and Nosler Partition all made their debut. Sierra came later. I'm sure MANY were used on buffalo and who knows what other DG animals, as there were not many choices in bullets at the time. With the exception of the Nosler, I can only imagine how many wounded DG animals were the result of using these bullets?

 

[Wyatt Smith]

The late Bruce Moulds like them for camels. However with so many better options, why run the risk

 

[TheWhitetailNut]

I'll tell you something anecdotal:
Sierra Game Kings pushed out of a .375 at fifty yards do not do notable damage to AR500 steel plates. Speer Grand Slams do. Hornady Interbonds do. Privi soft points do. The Sierras are gentle on steel. They may not be a good choice for thick skinned or heavy boned game.

500Gr. Partitions do no damage to AR500 Steel @50 either, a107Gr SMK fired from a 6 Creedmoor @300 does, it means nothing.

 

[Foxi]

In 1948, the Remington Core Lokt, Winchester Silver Tip (and later the Power Point) and Nosler Partition all made their debut. Sierra came later. I'm sure MANY were used on buffalo and who knows what other DG animals, as there were not many choices in bullets at the time. With the exception of the Nosler, I can only imagine how many wounded DG animals were the result of using these bullets?

Kynoch bullets were much worse.
Nobody would go out with them today and yet they conquered Africa.
50 years ago it was quite normal to use the above bullets for Africa.
Including Brennecke TUG and KS bullets.
I'm just interested.

By the way, does anyone know the current cost of a gun permit from JNB to Zimbabwe?

 

[grand veneur]

The heaviest game I shot with an GK bullet from Sierra was a Muskox with a 250gr GK bullet from the cartridge 340 WBY-Magnum.

It worked, but the shooting distance was short and due to the too early expansion, the deep penetration of the bullet was more than limit.

I am not a big fan of using the cartridge 375 H&H Magnum for buffalo hunting, but if then with a very hard Bullet like the A-Frame from Swift, or even an FMJ or Solid bullet.

 

[Philip Glass]

I cannot see why anybody would even consider it.... it is designed for soft skin pg not hard skinned dg....

Exactly. Please Don't!

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Kynoch bullets were much worse.
Nobody would go out with them today and yet they conquered Africa.
50 years ago it was quite normal to use the above bullets for Africa.
Including Brennecke TUG and KS bullets.
I'm just interested.

By the way, does anyone know the current cost of a gun permit from JNB to Zimbabwe?

My initial setup in a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum for hunting Cape buffalo used to be one 300Gr RWS TUG (for the initial shot) followed by five 300Gr Remington round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solids in the magazine (for the follow up shots). The RWS TUGs were very potent for perfect broadside double lung shots on Cape buffalo. Not so much if your angle was off by a hair. Then, in 1996 I began to start loading the entire magazine with 300Gr Federal Trophy Bonded Bear Claws and I haven’t looked back since. I‘ve taken exactly one Cape buffalo with a 300Gr Barnes TSX bullet. It worked flawlessly. But I personally prefer Jack Carter’s Trophy Bonded Bear Claw design.


The Sierra Game King is an exceptionally potent leopard bullet. Cape buffalo bullet it can never be.

 

[Foxi]

Exactly. Please Don't!

I have no intention of using the GK for buffalo.
However, I just wanted to find out something about it for larger game