Sierra Game King Load Data Inquiry

[DustBuster]

Hello Fellas,

I am a LR. .308 guy now...been one for about three years.  I’ve been reloading plenty for the .308, I’ve just never have used Sierra bullets before.  

My nephew shoots one of those teeny weeny little .223ARs.  I decided to load him up some ammo for Christmas.  So I bought a .223 Rem rcbs Die set, and I even got a LFCDie for it.  So far, I loaded up a bunch of 60gr Hornady Vmaxs with 24.2gr of Win748.

I also bought some 62gr Sierra Game King SP bullets but I don’t have a Sierra manual.  I don’t really want to buy a manual since I don’t even have that caliber of gun myself.  Anybody have a newer Sierra manual and can give me the Min Max for Win748, IMR 4895, Varget, and IMR 4064?

Id be mighty thankful since then maybe I could with confidence load up some more this fine boring evening, instead of waiting till Sierra responds to an email I sent on Friday....

Sierra Load Info anyone??  For 62gr. GameKing SP?

Edited December 18, 2022 by DustBuster

[shooterrex]

I shoot 24.5 gr of Varget w/69gr sierra hpb match bullets.

Nice accurate load. Also have a friend that shoots the same bullet @ 25 gr.

[DustBuster]

Thank you for that info...My Sierra bullets are Actually SBT(spire boat tail) 62gr.  So yours are heavier and same boat tail shape.  My limited understanding of cartridges has me thinking that with heavier bullets a little less powder could be required because more pressure can occur.  So with my lighter bullets, maybe I’d be OK using around the same amount that you use, @shooterrex for your heavier bullets.  Still I’d like to hear more from anybody else, especially if they have the exact load data for .223 Rem 62gr Sierra GameKing SBTs ... IMR 4064,4895, and win748 ??? Anybody else?

[Armed Eye Doc]

Hodgdon's load data comes up with this for the IMR powder.  They didn't have 62 grain bullets listed, so I chose 63.

[shooterrex]

Yes I'm using heavier bullets. Your lighter ones will be fine w/those numbers w/Varget.

[DustBuster]

Okay, @Armed Eye Doc that is probably good enough.  With your SIE SP hodgdon data and @shooterrex s imperical data, I will be loading up some rounds tomorrow.  I’ll be using the data from you guys which is for heavier bullets and also in one case using just a Spire Point not a SP Boattail, which would probably take more pressure because The gas from the explosion may get past the boattail abit. According to Guns and Ammo.

”The compressed air is seen much sooner with the boattail than with the flat base. This indicates that there were likely some propellant gases getting past the boattail before the projectile seals the bore. In each of the images seen, the boattail is on the left and the flat base on the right. The first emergence of the air and propellant gases is six frames sooner with the boattail than with the flat base.”

I think load data is just  BallPark anyway...I think it will be imr4895 with 24 grains that I do.  I don’t want to crack open Varget for these gift rounds, I’ve never even tried it for myself yet.  

Thanks for the info gentleman.   

[Armed Eye Doc]

@DustBusterhow many rounds did you get loaded?

[DustBuster]

1 hour ago, Armed Eye Doc said:

@DustBusterhow many rounds did you get loaded?

Hi Doc, I prepped about 50 more .223 cases from TopBrass, preparing to fill them with probably one of the powders I mentioned before.  I loaded up 50 about a week ago but I had Lyman and Hornady data for the Vmax bullets.

I ruined 7 primers because I didn’t prep the Top Brass on the first 50 cases, so I culled a few brass this time and hit em quick with the chamfer if they looked suspicious.  I also cleaned the primer pockets more, and I didn’t get any failures this time priming the cases.  If I don’t have an email response from Sierra tomorrow I will use your guys’ info and fill em up with something anyway.  Stuff came up so that is all I got done this weekend.  I sure do like reloading .308 brass better.  My very first case I crushed during bullet seating process.  Guess a guy gets better with repetition.

Edited December 19, 2022 by DustBuster

[shooterrex]

If those are going in a semiautomatic rifle you should probably use the Lee factory crimp die too.

If the bullets set back in the case the pressures go through the roof.

[jtallen83]

8 hours ago, DustBuster said:

My very first case I crushed during bullet seating process.

The Lee factory crimp die solved that for me as well, so much easier to set up and use.

[DustBuster]

11 hours ago, jtallen83 said:

The Lee factory crimp die solved that for me as well, so much easier to set up and use.

@shooterrex

yep I used the Lee Factory Crimp Die for the rounds I already made and will be using it again for the next 50.

my .308 Crimp die leaves a visable Crimp ring, but this .223rem Crimp die doesn’t leave much of a mark.  Maybe it is because most of the cases average just under the Trim to Length of 1.75,  I have culled any that we’re less than 1.74.  Anyway.... Sierra sent me data and told me to use the info for the 65gr GameKings, so that issue has been solved.  It corresponds closely with the numbers I got from you all.  Seems like 24gr-26gr is what all of the powders seem to be at, depending

[MikedaddyH]

Here is a heads up . 

Soft point projectiles and auto loading guns have a tendency to deform the tip of the bullet as the round is chambered. 

Just sayin' ! 

That is why the "Plastic tipped" SMK's we're developed.

[DustBuster]

On 12/23/2022 at 4:31 AM, MikedaddyH said:

Here is a heads up . 

Soft point projectiles and auto loading guns have a tendency to deform the tip of the bullet as the round is chambered. 

Just sayin' ! 

That is why the "Plastic tipped" SMK's we're developed.

Well, you may be right about that, I’ve never shot a semi .223, maybe the feed ramps mar up the little soft points... These bullets I loaded up are spire point,(spitzer).  The lead tip is pretty small.  My .308ar has had no problem with Spizter lead points.  

Anyway, the boxes of ammo are all wrapped and Santa does not unwrap presents, The Good Kids do.  Thanks for the thoughts, I hope they work anyway, regardless of any possible deformed tip.