Part 2: Sierra 150 grain HP Varminter

[Bobby Tomek]

OK, today I decided to try this bullet out at 300 yards. Conditions were bright and breezy and not the best for any range work, so this was quite limited but still managed to quell some of my curiosity.

First off, I found I couldn't use my normal 300 yard spot due to branches and grass, so I had to move my shooting position to the side and back a bit. I did not range today's spot but will venture 315 yards as a close guess. I did chrono the load at impact. It registered 1792 fps. Because of the wind and mirage, I chose to only put one bullet into the medium as I did not want to press my luck and damage my chronograph. I'll continue this again on a better day.

The recovered bullet weighed 87 grains and had expanded to a frontal diameter of 0.495. While I won't draw any conclusions from a single bullet, this sample of one -- judging by the width of the wound channel and depth of penetration -- certainly would have ruined the day of any hog or deer at that range. I've actually loaded up a few more of these and have them in the cartridge carrier with hopes a hog will soon present an opportunity.

If nothing else, at 2484 fps from the .300 Savage, it is mild and a pleasure to shoot.

[FyrepowrX]

Back several months ago, i bought a 500pack of those, looking for some stuff to feed the .300 blackout bolt gun...loaded some for a test run, then got stuck at home a bit, so never tested them.

some stuff i had read on the various .300 blackout forums had suggested these did pretty well on deer, and my other 150gr bullet loads were running about 2150fps or thereabouts...from the appearance of that bullet, seems like it'd be a good performer in the assorted small .30's, as well as TC carbines in 30/30, etc.

Hope a piggy or 2 will volunteer to be your expansion test.

[Bobby Tomek]

I've made sure the next thing I shoot with the .300 Savage will be with that load. The scope's settings have been adjusted, and the carrier only has rounds featuring that bullet. So hopefully a piggie will cooperate before long.

I hope you get some range time in soon and see how these will do in your rifle. I did not tinker much with the load I am using. The current accuracy is more than acceptable but not the type of groups the Nosler 125s have been producing. Some day, I'll fiddle with seating depth and maybe even try another powder.