Any difference in construction, i.e., weight retention? Reason I asked is that I used to use 117 gr Hornady BTSP on deer with excellent results. However, that rifle was stolen and my present 25/06 puts Sierra 117 BTSP Gamekings in the same hole whereas Hornadys groups are 1.5 in or so. Last week I shot a 140 lb buck right behind the shoulder at 75 yards with the Sierra BTSP. Yeah, it jellied everything that makes em tick yet he staggered forward for a few steps and turned sideways still on his feet and I planted another on his opposite side for insurance and he piled up....dead and didn't know it. Upon dressing out we found one of the bullets and it weighed a measly 48 grains. This leads to the question as whether the flat base is of sturdier construction than the BT or are they the same with just different shapes?

At that short of range and velocity of 3150 fps at muzzle, guess its expected to blow a bullet since they can't do it all at different ranges. Gonna try some Barnes Triple shocks before its over I think.

Obviously, there are a lot of guys on here that know the stuff better than I, but... The boat tail design was created for LONG RANGE shooting. So if it was designed for longer range, it seems for a given caliber, the jacket would be thinner. This would be to allow the bullet to perform, open up, at the lower velocity associated with impacts at 300yds. plus ranges. Makes sense to me, but I very well could be totally wrong.

Jim

Did a little more digging and you are on target. Went to the Sierra website and in viewing x sections of the two designs, the Pro Hunter FB has a thicker and uniform jacket from base to tip. The Game King BT gets pretty thin at the ogive.

As most of my shots are under 300 yards, think I'll try out the FB GameKing.

Yup - Get good results with the Sierra 120 gr ProHunter in the 6.5-06. Very accurate and anchors the game pretty close to where shot.

WHAT, YOU DID'T USE THE LATEST, FANCIEST BULLET OUT THERE????????? enough bs, you have shown yourself the folly of mass marketing. people have been killing deer for a long long time with ordinary bullets. i have to ask tho, how far did you have to chase this deer down to retrieve the bullet in order to weigh it?
my favorite deer round at this point is a 150 gr hornady from a 300 savage, in a bolt gun... somewhere between origional ballistics and 308 win ballistics.

A flat base will be tougher, sure, but having a deer fall over dead in it's tracks isn't a terrible thing.

Even if the bullet exited (which I'd prefer anyway) it could still have run a hundred yards. I've had many critters go a surprising distance with heart and lungs blown to pieces. So don't let your expectations get too unrealistic, that's all I'm trying to say...

Good luck with your search. FYI I've been using cheap 100gr. bulk-pack Cor-Lokts in my .257 Roberts and they will punch through deer and small hogs, no problem. Not sure if they'll hold up just the same in the .25-06 but it just goes to show you don't have to spend a huge amount of money to get good reliable bullet performance.

As most of my shots are under 300 yards, think I'll try out the FB GameKing.

Then you'll want the Pro Hunter as the GK isn't a FB design. I personally think for the most part, the BT design is a marketing ploy that gives no real advantage for 99% of hunters over a FB design. In my 270, I've had great results with the 130 grn Pro Hunter and zeroed at 200 yards it drops about an inch more than the BT Gameking at 400 yards. I also found that comparing the 130 grn Hornady's (SP vs SST) it's less than an inch at those ranges. Unless you're a world class shooter, I don't think anyone out there can take advantage of that small a difference in field conditions and even then without a bench is questionable. All the deer I've taken with the Pro Hunter were DRT.

The deer was pretty much DRT as he didn't get 5 yds from where originally shot. It really made a mess though even blew bone fragments, etc into paunch even though hit right behind shoulder. I've pretty much shot whatever was most accurate in my rifles and bullet brand comes second.

I agree that the old style bullets are still good. I still use the Hornady 55 gr PSP in my 22/250 and the 50 gr in my 222 Rem Mag. Personally, I think they are better stoppers than the VMax.