.308 Sierra 150 Pro Hunter

[RevJim]

I'm going to set up this new to me Kimber 8400 Classic 300WSM (found a good deal!) with this bullet for a deer/antelope/Exotics bullet. I would rather keep/use mono's for elk and similar. It may seem pretty light for a magnum, but I have a story.

Over 20 yrs ago, I made a hunt with my Pastor and some other ministers for a deer hunt in Llano, Texas. You could shoot 4 deer, only two of which could be bucks. I had a Mod 700 BDL SS in 300WM (first one I ever owned, no game killing experience with it) I planned on taking to South Africa with Barnes 180 XBTs a few months later. For this hunt, I knew all the shots were going to be under 100yds. I just picked out some Federal Blue Box 150. I thought it would be fun to have a "bomb" on those Hill Country deer. Seems, at that time, Federal used the Sierra 150 PH. Well, I was familiar with the 150 SBT because my BIL used them in East Tx from his Mod 742 .308. ( I used the Sierra 165 SBT from a 30-06 Mod 742 yrs earlier. ) They were wickedly soft, but not frangible. I figured they would be humming from this 300 Mag!

I ended up shooting four deer, 3 does and a mature 4x3 (7ptr Texas Count) That 150 PH did NOT behave like a bomb as I had imagined, no, they acted like Partitions! I got about a 1/2" entrance (hardly any bloodshot meat either!) with about a silver dollar exit, BUT they "syphoned out" the lungs/organs through the exit wound! About 10 inches of them just "hanging" out of the side. The deer all dropped right there too. I was impressed!

Now, even though this was my first experience shooting the 300 Win Mag, I had alot of experience with 30-06/165 Sierras, 280/139 Hornady, 7mm Rem Mag/150 Partition and 338WM/Barnes 210. The kills looked the same, except for the "syphoning out the organs" thing, lol Since then, I have shot alot of Sierras in different rifles even though I used mostly Barnes Monos or Partitions on game. This 300WSM is a "spare" which means I may not ever kill anything with it, but who knows? Anyone else have this kind of experience from the Pro Hunters?

 

[mtmuley]

It's been awhile but I killed deer and elk with the Pro Hunter in an .06. I felt the need to "upgrade" from the Core-Lokt. They worked well. mtmuley

 

[RevJim]

Same here, when I started out Handloading, I considered the Sierra's, Speers, Hornady's all of them as "Premiums", ha And by golly, they were and are, still!

 

[Don Fischer]

I gave up on Sierra hunting bullets in the early 70's because they were just to explosive. Never have tried a pro hunter but sounds like Sierra might have fixed the problem. if I stumble into a box of 140gr Pro Hunter's just might try them in one of my 6.5's!

 

[RevJim]

I would Don, this back around '97, but then and since I have seen the Sierra, Speer and NBTs Boattail's slip the core when pushed too fast. Back in the '70's you could buy 30-06 Red Box Federal loaded with their Sierra 165 SBT. It "might" have been going 2700, it was mild, but very accurate. That old Mod 742 was a 4-6" @100 with Remington 150 factory. That 165 brought it down to 3-4". It also never blew up but cut a nice hole, it "seemed" more deadly than the 150 Clkt. I first shot the Pro Hunters (they were cheap then) the summer between my first and second year(1988) at Bible College, Ok. I had brought all my reloading stuff. I bolted the RockChucker press to one end of a 2 ft board and C-Clamped it to Kitchen Table, ha. Used a Beam Scale back then ( I hate those things!) I had one rifle then, a 1917 Enfield my uncle gave me. I had it sporterized and a Traister trigger in it, set at 3# ( I thought that was light then, I find I like 1# now, ha) I worked up accurate loads starting with the 150 then the 180. I only had IMR4350 and BR2 primers, Range Brass Remington cases. That old heavy rifle shot like a dream! Never killed anything with that rifle, but friends have.

 

[Forkyfinder]

I gave up on Sierra hunting bullets in the early 70's because they were just to explosive. Never have tried a pro hunter but sounds like Sierra might have fixed the problem. if I stumble into a box of 140gr Pro Hunter's just might try them in one of my 6.5's!

Bullets aren't too explosive they're just going too fast!

 

[RevJim]

That' what I thought would happen out of that 300WM MtE! But they acted like Bonded on those four deer I shot. Farthest one was 50yds, we were shooting them off of feeders. Fish in a barrel kind of thing, Rancher wanted the herd thinned out. We piled them up, almost all of us took four each, but zi was only one using Sierra. They were using NBTs, Corlokts, etc.

 

[perma]

I'm going to set up this new to me Kimber 8400 Classic 300WSM (found a good deal!) with this bullet for a deer/antelope/Exotics bullet. I would rather keep/use mono's for elk and similar. It may seem pretty light for a magnum, but I have a story.

Over 20 yrs ago, I made a hunt with my Pastor and some other ministers for a deer hunt in Llano, Texas. You could shoot 4 deer, only two of which could be bucks. I had a Mod 700 BDL SS in 300WM (first one I ever owned, no game killing experience with it) I planned on taking to South Africa with Barnes 180 XBTs a few months later. For this hunt, I knew all the shots were going to be under 100yds. I just picked out some Federal Blue Box 150. I thought it would be fun to have a "bomb" on those Hill Country deer. Seems, at that time, Federal used the Sierra 150 PH. Well, I was familiar with the 150 SBT because my BIL used them in East Tx from his Mod 742 .308. ( I used the Sierra 165 SBT from a 30-06 Mod 742 yrs earlier. ) They were wickedly soft, but not frangible. I figured they would be humming from this 300 Mag!

I ended up shooting four deer, 3 does and a mature 4x3 (7ptr Texas Count) That 150 PH did NOT behave like a bomb as I had imagined, no, they acted like Partitions! I got about a 1/2" entrance (hardly any bloodshot meat either!) with about a silver dollar exit, BUT they "syphoned out" the lungs/organs through the exit wound! About 10 inches of them just "hanging" out of the side. The deer all dropped right there too. I was impressed!

Now, even though this was my first experience shooting the 300 Win Mag, I had alot of experience with 30-06/165 Sierras, 280/139 Hornady, 7mm Rem Mag/150 Partition and 338WM/Barnes 210. The kills looked the same, except for the "syphoning out the organs" thing, lol Since then, I have shot alot of Sierras in different rifles even though I used mostly Barnes Monos or Partitions on game. This 300WSM is a "spare" which means I may not ever kill anything with it, but who knows? Anyone else have this kind of experience from the Pro Hunters?

How well did they group for you at the range? Never used sierras but I find them interesting. For reference, I’d probably use a 180 grain on a 300 Weatherby.

 

[RevJim]

Those Federal factory 150 Pro Hunters shot about 1", well rounded three shot groups Perma. I took the Kimber 300WSM straight to my new Gunsmith (seems like a great young man, 3 man shop) for trigger adjustment and mounting my spare scope. They were already getting ready to rechamber my Mark V ULWT 338/06 to the Ackley Improved and redo the Bubbafied bedding job. Haven't got them back yet, but I am going to start out with the Sierra 150 and some AA 4064 I have on hand. Saving my newer powders for my 7x57 and that Ackley.

 

[perma]

Those Federal factory 150 Pro Hunters shot about 1", well rounded three shot groups Perma. I took the Kimber 300WSM straight to my new Gunsmith (seems like a great young man, 3 man shop) for trigger adjustment and mounting my spare scope. They were already getting ready to rechamber my Mark V ULWT 338/06 to the Ackley Improved and redo the Bubbafied bedding job. Haven't got them back yet, but I am going to start out with the Sierra 150 and some AA 4064 I have on hand. Saving my newer powders for my 7x57 and that Ackley.

Thanks for the reply. I may buy a box of those and a box of Noslers. I always see sierras in stores, I like the mountain goat they put on the ammo boxes.

 

[RevJim]

In 7mm, I have shot both the 160 SBT and 175 SBT, in Speer the 160 Hot Cor. I had a load in a 280 Ackley my friend used to kill a cow elk. Its a tough bullet.