Part 5: 243 90g Sierra Gamechanger Expansion & Penetration; Final Thoughts

What would be the farthest shot you would take at a deer sized animal with that bullet in .243?

Great series! I've killed a lot of deer with my 243 shooting 95gr Nosler Ballistic Tips. After watching this series, I'll be looking for a box of Gamechangers to try out!

👍👍 Thanks!!

Great job Josh, excellent work across every video. Don’t forget that thing had to punch through the plastic and insulation of the cooler as well that will eat up a lot of energy. I’m sure these would smoke a deer in its tracks especially at 3100fps. Great video man

What was the yardage for this expansion test? Ps I have placed these vids on the .243 Win FB page. Hope that's okay.

I hunt with these types of bullets and they sure help fill up The freezer. Great video brother.

It looks like those bullets will do the job fine . You should send that bullet trap to Timothy . LOL

Which load did u use? Through an igloo & still 5 inches in wet magazines. Thats impressive!! Not so sure Id want that in a fur rifle . Be GREAT for black bears thou w a good heart shot. I use the 85 gr Sierra blitz & at 200 + yds makes a nice entry, no exit. (Coywolf hybreds & wolves) Hell of a mess inside but saves the pelt.

Great test Josh! The whole series has been fantastic. A hunting bullet .243 dia., in that weight range, to my knowledge, has not been made with a BC that high. Many have grumbled at the name but to me, at least in .243, I see no reason not to call it a Gamechanger!

Good job Josh. I have found that most hollow point or ballistic tip projectiles explode on impact with little penetration. those retained over 50% of their weigh and that's not bad.

3rd bullet speer ?

impressive expansion with those bullets!

Hi there- enjoyed the series- I bought a box of these for my 6mm A.I. I’m currently shooting the 87 berger VLD hunting and I thought I would try these as well. Mainly want to try them for coyotes- as you mentioned you’re going to try to get a coyotebwith these. Could you either let us know by posting here how you make out - or perhaps a quick video?

Thanks

Avery

Good job! Last week I shot an 8 pt with a 120 g Nosler BT from my 260 REM and it totally destroyed the heart and left a massive blood trail for the 30 yards he ran with no blood pressure. I'm still trying to get that next buck with my 140 gr Hot Core from the 6.5 Creed. The 260 is being pushed with IMR 4350 and the Creed with H4350.

For long range, which caliber do you think is best. 6.5 or the .243?

Will these game-changer stabilize okay in a 1 in 10 twist 22 inch barrel?

What size barrel and twist weight are you running?

Excellent series. Thank you for all the effort you put into sharing this information. People don't know how much time it takes to work up a load and go back and forth to the range to test. I can't imagine taking the time to film on top of all of that.

They’re too hard, these bullets. On lightweight deer they over penetrate and waste way too much energy in the surrounding countryside behind the animal. No offence to the man here but the cooler & book test isn’t representative of the performance on smaller deer at all. I have already sold the remaining bullets out of my box and will be sticking with the .243 100gr ProHunter. I have absolutely no idea why Sierra chose to mess with the GameKing / ProHunter recipe which has stood them in good stead for so long. I’ve asked the Sierra techs this question and I kinda get the idea that a couple of them don’t know either! This new bullet is only going to be an improvement on the GameKing and ProHunter in the 30 cal weights, for some of the proper heavy game animals.

Are high power rifles allowed in Illinois or is it still shotguns? I moved from central Illinois to Colorado in 1998 and have greatly enjoyed high power hunting

The only problem is wet magazines are far more dense than an animal so what happens in them doesn't mean much.

I normally use pack of newspaper soaked in water, hand press them to let excessive water out and than wrap it with stretch film. It brings the results very close to ballistic gel. Dry magazines pack is like a brick wall for a soft bullet. It splatters more than expands.

Was i the only one noticing how perfect the shot placement was on all the ppl (and animals) in the covers of these magazines?

The Myth Busters made a car bullet-proof using phone books. I think the wet magazines is a way-over estimation for the toughness of a live game animal.

What is the load data H4350 what was the charge weight? Also would like to know the OAL you used too?

Is the magazine test really equivalent to real-world, deer hide, example?

I’ll stick with a bullet that stay together I don’t like lead in my meat . Happy hunting everyone!

Wow

all you need for east of the mississippi, north of the gulf,south of mason dixon,west of the atlantic. my favorite too boot. am getting sold on these gamechangers . if could just find some to purchase!

Good argument for a bonded bullet.

I don't want all that lead pieces in my game

Good test but don't know how that translate to performance on game critters. My guess is Sierra manipulate the hardness of the lead core of their bullets for terminal performance. I may be wrong on that. They are accurate and consistent for a standard cup and core hunting bullet. I reload more Sierra rifle bullets than any other brand because of their accuracy. I like the heavy for caliber bullets like the 63 and 65 grain 22 caliber bullets , 150 gr for 270 Win. , 160 gr for 7mm Mag, , 180 for 30-06 , 200 for 300 mag , ect.

Do you think this would make a good deer hunting round

What is the length of the barrel you are using

Great information i am shooting that same bullet in my Ruger American Predator 6 mm creedmor

Now that it's been a few years since your series on the Gamechanger, have you run into any concerns or problems with them? I just ordered some to load up in .30 cal. Will p

What was the third bullet shot in the magazines?

If they only made it 5” imo too hard of a test medium vs thin skinned deer. Cape buffalo testing?