Discussion Forums

Nathan Foster

Hi Jared, I am not surprised to hear that you have had good performance with these bullets. I have had good results with the Sierra GK as well. But is was also a GK that let me down many years ago and inspired me to research terminal ballistics, a 6.5x55 Interlock sealed the deal, the result of this being the site you see before you.

I do not know how many animals you have shot in the several years you mentioned, I have now shot many, many thousands of head of game to obtain results and also networked with others both here in NZ and from around the world. I have lost count of how many animals I have shot with the GK during this time. During the course of this research, I came across both strengths and weaknesses of the Gk design, the same can be said of all bullet designs. Even those which I call my favorites have their limitations (which includes the .257" 100 grain GK bullet and .270 cal 130gr bullet).

There are two game animals in NZ which can stop a light to mid weight GK bullet onside, Sus Scrofa boar and Bull Thar. A mature Red stag can also place excessive strain on this bullet design. A reduction in muzzle velocity, increased bullet weight or increased range or a change in shot placement can help the GK. But as each of these variables is pushed too far, the GK again runs into problems. The GK is at times prone to suffer the worst of dilemmas where it can be too frangible for close range work but also too stout for certain game weights or truly long range work. This is very hard to describe quickly within the confines of a forum post.

As I type these words, one of regular posters Jason is contemplating filing flats on his .223 GK bullets because they have proven too stout for his local game, producing pin hole wounds. He is wondering if a flat point will help initiate trauma and allow the load to be used at close to moderate ranges rather than discarding the projectiles. In the .35 thread, Bob has been talking about the wonderful performance of the 225gr bullet. In the Knowledge base, I speak often of full fragmentation and at times, a lack of penetration if bullet weights are not sufficiently matched to game weights. How is it that a light .223 bullet traveling relatively fast can be stout- yet a heavy 225gr bullet can produce semi or full fragmentation. Are these men telling tall stories? Am I making all of this up? It seems that there are many contradictions, yet each of these contradictions is fully quantifiable once we take game weights, ranges, frontal area, shot placement etc into account.

Those who follow my work and books are encouraged to test information for themselves, to gain the same understanding through their own reasoning. The more experience one gains, the more one can make sense of what at first appears to be stark contradictions. I can also tell you that Bob will trust Jason's statements and that Jason will in turn trust Bob. This is because each are on the same page, they either come here with or have gradually developed an understanding of the variables that can effect performance.

You have had a good run with the GameKing bullet, nothing can take that away. I cannot put any argument to you that has more merit than that which you can see with your own eyes. If the bullets you are using are working for you, that is great. This tells us that your bullet weights, impact velocities and local game weights are all very complimentary. Nevertheless, I would urge you to consider what I mentioned earlier, all bullet designs have limitations.