Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Tested: performance of the 165 gr Sierra hpbt out of a .308

Well, I don't know if anybody remembers, but I started a thread about performance of the 165 gr hpbt on game sized deer and up. I had previously shot a Blackbuck in the shoulder at 160 yds, and the bullet split in two, killing it like a lightning strike. I thought to myself, If this bullet will come in two on an amimal of this size, what would it do on bigger critters? I got to do some testing the other day on an Axis buck and a fallow doe at 50 yds.

The performance of the bullet was horrible. On the buck, I double lunged him and he ran about 40 yds and died. Only one drop of blood to track with. If my guide had not been with me and seen where the buck had run,it could have turned into a 2 hour tracking job. (It was some thick stuff he had run into) I then shot a Fallow doe at the same distance where her neck joined her body. The shot was a little high and back, so it was essentially a very high shoulder shot. The instant the bullet hit bone, it exploded, crippling the deer and leaving it suffering.

I had to shoot it in the head to put it out of it's misery. So although the load out of my .308 delivers match accuracy, target shooting is all I will use it for. Yeah, it killed the animals, but overall I am very disappointed with the bullet performance. I will try to work up a load with H4895 or Varget behind a 130 gr triple shock. Had I been using that bullet, both deer might have been DRT. I would have at least had a blood trail. The doe would probably never known what hit her. Instead, she suffered unimaginably for about 2 minutes. Way to go Sierra! The techs said it was one of their toughest bullets. Horsesh#&!


The reason I posted this thread in the "Ask The Gunwriters" forum is because it is a follow up thread. The original thread was asking a gunwriter about this bullet.

Is this an HPBT game king or a match bullet?

Gameking.

I don't know what to tell you. Your experience is counter to that of several on this board who have used that bullet for deer/pig duty out of a 308.

... and the .30/06.

Ive used it on several deer out of a 30-06 closest shot was 15 to 20 yards never caught one always stayed together and plowed through.

I've shot numerous deer with that bullet from a .30-06 and .308 without any bad behavior.

They are NOT for use in a .300 WinMag at 40 yards, though.....

I keep them at 2650 to 2750 fps and don't have problems. They didn't particularly like 3200 fps. But, even at that speed, they were still far less frangible than the 150 SSTs I tried.

A bad batch, maybe?
I've used them on antelope, mule deer, and elk - with no problems.

I've used 168gr SMKs on many deer.

I have never lost a Big Game from my 308's using this bullet

Never caught one in an animal pushed to 2800 fps out of my 30-06 but I never purposely shot anything directly into bone either.

Weird. I loaded this bullet in my .30-06 at around 2870 fps and shot a lot of pigs with it. They usually exited. I bought the bullets about 12-14 years go though. Maybe Sierra have changed them.

Yup.

I re-read the OP and can't figure out why anyone would deliberately shoot game like that in the neck or shoulder. Any expanding bullet is going to futz up a lot of eating meat, the HPGK maybe more than most.

Hit 'em at the top of the heart, just behind the shoulder and you instantly unplug all the hoses that carry oxygen to the rest of the body. You also get blood on the ground quickly, unlike high lung shots that don't leak all that much, even with two holes. Even with no heart and lungs, a deer can go 50-100 yards, but a low chest shot will paint the ground red all the way.

In 1998 I had 180 Gamekings out of a 300 win. mag. come apart on a couple of Whitetails, both at close range. I called Sierra and the 165 hpbt was what the guy I talked to recommended even over the 180 Pro hunter. I never did use it went to the Partion.

It was around 1975/1976 that I first tried that 156 gr. GKHPBT bullet. I forget what the load was but it was close to max in the 30-06 I had at the time. Very accurate. Opening day of deer season about noontime we were moving to a different location when I spotted a coyote trotting along about 200 yards out. Told my buddy to stop and took the shot hosting that "yote" solidly behind the shoulder. Doggone thing literally came unglued. Two major pieces and a lot of scatter. Decided right then and there I was not gonna use it for deer. Frankly, I don't think a hand grenade would have done much more damage.
Paul B.

They hold together much better at long range, or slow them down to 26 - 2700 if inside 100 yds.

I tried them about 20 years ago in 308. They were the most destructive bullets I have used, including others in 300 and 7 mm mags. After about 6 deer I quit using them. I have seen many posters with different experiences, but I have actually seen a hair and blood fog fly out the offside on lung shots.

I don't get why people continue to use hand grenades, when there are really good bullets to use. You do not need bench rest accuracy from a hunting bullet and there are really good, durable bullets now, that don't frag so badly.

It is your dime and your hunt, but I will take a bullet that stays together any day over a problematic one. I do not like Sierras, unless I want to punch targets. I loaded them once for deer (165 game king, .308) and will not make that mistake again. They are not in-expensive, either.

After exploding a couple of chest cavities with 165 hpbt's years ago with stiff .30-06 loads, I simply dropped muzzle velocity down to heavy .30-30 velocities and all was good, eastern woods distances. Manly? Hah!! Who cares. It solved the problem and allowed my continued use of a crazy accurate bullet and stopped ruining a bucket full of meat every time I pulled the trigger. It remains my favorite .30 bullet, when I stoop to using jacketed bullets.

You guys must be doing something wrong. According to my Sierra manual, the 165 Gameking hollow point is their tough bullet best at magnum velocities.