Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Who’s a fan of the hpbt gamekings

243 270 30 cal

i have used the 165 grain .308 0n deer...they all promply died

Honorable mention for #2140. They shoot very well in every 30 cal rifle I've ever tried them in. Never drew blood with one though.

I slew a bunch of deer with the Sierra HPBT Gameking, they did a fine job started out at 2700 to 2800 fps.

Accurate, but probably not the best choice for 300+ yard shooting because of BC, but inside of that, a damn good bullet.

Have shot a few with the 30 cal flavor big exits on bone impacts.Reload for the fil in the 270 with 140s his reports are impressive been wondering about the 85s in the 243 Sonofmine shoots

For me they are too tough out of a 243/6mm.

85 grain SPT Sierra Varminter is a good bit softer.

I am a soft bullet fan on deer though.

Another damn fine deer bullet from a 243 is the 100 grain SBT Gameking. Doubt you have many if any leave tracks from where they are shot.

But, but, but, their BCs are WAY below .600, so they can't be any good!

Most of our shots are -100yds. Half or more are under 50yds. Our main meat makers are 65gr out of .223, 140gr .284’s out of 7-08, 165gr out of .30-06 and .308, 225gr out of .35 Whelen AI, and 85gr HPBT out of .243.
Gamekings are accurate and do the job at the distance and speeds we use them.

85 gr - 243
160 gr - 7 Rem Mag
165 gr - 3006

I like em!

The Sierra boat tails are a bit of mixed bag it seems. Some are soft or brittle, some tougher. That GK 85gr HPBT #1530 is a lot tougher than you'd think it would be for what it is, in my experience. Good bullet for deer at reasonable velocities. I don't think you'd be disappointed if that's the route you went for your sons 243.

We’re gonna try some see what happens👍

165gr 308s are the only ones tried.
Some here report great results, even with magnums. I don't think they
are lying, but my results (and maybe expectations) were different.

I'm a softer bullet guy, I do not like hunting after I shoot.
Those bullets were just too much of a good thing, from a 20" 308.
Killed around 8 deer with them, most body shots. None went more than a couple feet
from where they were shot. Most dropped. On quite a few I saw a cloud of hair and
mist fly from the off side. Fist to double fist exits. Exits were common, as was destruction of a bunch of whatever was neat the bullet path.

I've shot a bunch of the 85 grain Sierra HPBT Gamekings in various 243's. Loaded with about 45 grains of W760, it's shot very accurate in EVERY 243 I've tried it in, with the rifles all being Remington 700's. I've killed a bunch of coyotes with the bullet, and a few deer. For deer, I prefer either a 95 or 100 grain bullet, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with the 85 grain Sierra. If I could only have one bullet to use in a 243, it would be the one I'd choose.

I shot that 140 in a 270Win for a couple of seasons. Big, gnarly exits were the norm. Not grenade-like or anything, but they were very effective on average whitetails. Generally exited.

Another reason to like Sierras in general, is the fact that any particular model # of a bullet will have it being exactly the same whether it was made recently or 30 or more years ago. Try that with other manufacturers!

More than a few times after my supply of bullets was exhausted and I purchased the "same" bullet only to chase my tail trying to figure out why the gun stopped shooting. Called the manufacturer to hear oh yea we changed the bullet!!!!

The 225 from the 358 or Whelen is pure good stuff. It expands wide and man if they move from the impact the blood trails are horror movie like.

I stopped using them on deer after I had four of them disintegrate on contact, 2x 85 grain 0.243" and 2x 90 grain 0.257". Both bullet made great groups, but after those failures I decided that, for me, there were better choices. I still load them for shooting coyotes, like I said, they make great groups, but moved over to ABs and Partitions for shooting deer with my 0.243" and 0.257" bore rifles.

Lots of folks swear by them and for many years I did too, but decided that there are many other component bullet options out there worth consideration. As with many things, YMMV.

I wish to hell I could find some 7mm 140gr Sierras; they work very well in 7 x 57.

I'm not a fan of HP's of anykind. Years ago shot some into pile of newspaper and everyone of them hat the tip close up and bent! The tip closing is a concern with Winchester and their mono bullet. They claim that is a reason they went to a plastic tip in them. J.J. Hack had concerns about that with monolithic bullet's in Africa, plastic tip solved the problem. But for simply shooting paper, they sure are accurate!

HP Gamekings have a larger HP than a match bullet or the small HP on a mono.

I've only used Sierra's Hp Gamekings in 7mm Mag and 7 x 57mm. I've killed a couple of cow elk with them in the 7mm Mag, they worked.

160 grain HPBT Gameking in 7mm REM Mag for years. Very effective no complaints even when breaking significant amounts of bone. The 160 grain SPBT I found to be too “soft” for my likings.

I had loaded a couple of boxes for my son's .270 when he first started hunting with a mild load. Worked perfectly well on his first couple of deer.

I have shot the 165 since it came on the market in both the 06 and several .300s. We have killed all manner of big game with it from antelope, right up thought moose and elk. I have also used the 85gr in various 243s and 6mms. Right now it is my favorite in my 6mm for antelope, deer, coyotes, what have you. I also used it in my old 7mm Weatherby. There it was mostly 160 and it worked on coyotes right on up. Currently, the 140 is my favorite for my .270. I have only used it on coyotes through mule deer. They work. I know folks worry about the bc, but they have killed several elk for me over 600 yards. For me that is long range, and I don't shoot that far anymore. Elk aren't that necessary to a balanced budget.

What flavor is the 7mm Weatherby?

Killed some with the 165gr .308s. Big burping exit holes. No tracking required. Keep ‘em away from the steaks.

I shot some of the 85 HPBT in a heavy barrel 6mm. They shot accurately. I think I only killed one coyote with them before the rifle went down the trail. Killed it just fine but at 100 yards and 6mm speeds the damage was a little heavier then I like. I don't remember the exact placement but do remember sewing for a while I am in the process of building a 6x45. This bullet is on my short list for potential contenders as I think it would work great at those velocities on coyotes and deer.


I will second the 225 on deer and bear. I keep mine a little over 2600 and from a fairly small sample size they look to be hammers. This one was full broadside and took one through the heart. Full penetration/exit at 175 yards and looked like someone spilled a gallon of red paint on the ground.



This next one was shot into a doe muley at about 75 yards. She was quartering to and the bullet impacted the nearside shoulder point and I found it under the hide of the offside hindquarter.




I used the 100 grain SPBT in a .257 AI and it killed everything but I found it a little soft. Sometimes big entrances and no exits or small exits. This little deer my son killed went straight down and did some significant damage.



Same rifle, same day, same bullet...this doe took one quartering away through the ribs. She ran about 75-100 and was stone dead but no exit and not much of a blood trail.



Hit one little antelope buck quartering to at just over 100 yards. Hit the shoulder point and he dropped. We were working on some others so I shifted my attention and when I refocused on him a while later he was still kicking. I don't remember the details from the necropsy but I am thinking the core did not make it to the vitals although there was enough damage from the fragments to get the job done. I do believe I lost a good portion of that front quarter if I remember correctly.



I do like the 100 grain SPBT in the .243 and have had good luck with them on coyotes and antelope. Probably a few deer as well. My daughter and I stalked into this one while he was bedded. At just under 300 yards we had to wait quite a while for him to wake up from his siesta. When he did he stretched forward and she put one right in the boiler room. He stayed on his feet and she had a second round in him before he could take another step. The second was totally unnecessary as both rounds did extensive lung damage and exited.





I have a co-worker that has loaded that bullet in his 7mm Rem mag for years...just as his father has done forever. They are mostly elk hunters but use it on everything from antelope to deer to elk with little drama and their freezers stay full.

Great bear Med and cool recovery. I feel lucky I have 4-5 boxes of them since they shoot so well in my Whelen's.

👍👍

Never been a fan of any Sierra products.

10 ga. It was a 700 bdl I had rebarreled to 7mm Wea. I loved that rifle, but gave it to a very good friend. He loves it for shooting long range whitetails.

I used the 168s in both 7 and 308 successfully but i also had a couple of fail to perform.
On the other hand. I am a big fan of the tipped match kings. They seem to be very reliable and shoot great.
The 95 grain 6mm has killed a few deer and pigs for me from my 6x47L

We call them cookie cutters. We shoot them in 7mm and 6.5 for deer hunting. They do a great job and never have recovered one to check the weight retention.

I like the 85 grain 6mm in my slow twist 243. Doesn't always exit on deer but it has killed well for me.

I’ve shot a lot of the 85 grainers out of a 243 and 6x45 and never lost a deer and are accurate as hell. Knocks the crap out of Md sika deer.

What’s the recovery like on the 243 versions as far as running after shot distance?

Example of 1, but I shot an average sized whitetail doe at about 15 yards with an 85 gr HPBT Sierra Gameking over a max load of IMR4350. She was DRT to a shot right behind the shoulder, but the bullet pretty much came apart. I don't recall finding much more than fragments.

The last cow elk I shot with the 165 in my 308. I thought it did well.

The last cow elk I shot with the 165 in my 308. I thought it did well.

I like the 165 and have shot it at 308 and 30/06 velocities with good performance. GD

That is interesting. I was not going to comment, as my experience with the 30 cal 165 gr Sierra HPBT is 40 years out of date.

I loaded them over 60 gr H4831 and a CCI 250. They performed for me identically with the Speer 165 gr Hot Core bt, and the Nosler 165 gr solid base. I used them pretty much interchangeably for several years, until Nosler introduced the ballistic tip.

👍

I use the 150 grain GameKings in 308’s, slay deer and pigs just fine!

120 hpbt 25-06 @ 3k+ allways works on antelope or deer with broadside lung shots but comes apart if you are a bone shooter..mb

I had one of those grenade on a 10 yard frontal shot

I liked the 90s in a 257 Robert's.

I have been using the .30 165 HPBT GK in my .308 and the 6.5 130 in my 6.5X55 for a few years now and have killed a few deer with them. Easy accuracy with both rifles and I have gotten the kind of terminal performance I want with them: behind the shoulder when a short run is okay gives little damage; high shoulder hit when DRT is desired and DRT is what I get. High shoulder shots at close range are kind of destructive, but I've never caught one either. Sierra gives a pretty good idea on their website as to the velocity ranges the different HPBT GK's are intended for.

I've killed a few deer with the .308 165 HPBT version in my 06. All were shot behind the shoulder at 50 yards or less. All but one ran about 100 yards with a blood trail a blind man could follow. The one that didn't run was a high shoulder shot and he pretty much died in his tracks. They are very accurate.

The one that went straight down.

I own a couple of 7 Wby's, one a Mk V, the other an Encore. There is nothing I cannot hunt with it and have.

This is the bullet that made me switch to better constructed bullets for hunting. Quite awhile back I had taken a buck and a doe with a 308 win launching 165gr Sierra HPBT Gamekings. At the dinner table my mom prepared a fantastic looking venison roast and I was very much enjoying it until I bit down on a nice chunk of lead and copper. From then on I've taken most deer with other bullets, notably Barnes TTSX, except on one occasion where I used a 225gr Sierra 35 cal soft point bt gameking on a doe from a 35 Whelen. The soft points are good, but I don't use the HP except for varmints and paper

I am. I load the 30 cal 165s over a moderate dose of CFE-223 in a .308. It is by no means screaming, maybe 2650fps. It certainly is nothing sexy to look at, by all appearances having the aerodynamics of a school bus. But it hits like one also, and have never had a deer need more than one or live to talk about it later. It is a tough bullet, Sierra designed it specifically to be in that regard. I shot one of my best deer ever at 450 yards walking a treeline, I knew it wouldn’t get closer and I couldn’t close on it. Zero wind that morning, perfect shooting conditions Used the holdover point on an old Nikon Prostaff 5 with that funny multiple circle / line reticle on a Remington model 700 VTR with the funky 20” triangle barrel. Shoulder hit, high left exiting lower right. I would have sworn that path through the deer would have caught the bullet but nope, punched through and kept going. The trajectoy was interesting, had to be at least 15-20 degrees downward on what was a perfectly level shot me to him. I lobbed that one in there, guessing it was doing around 1700-1800 fps when it hit.

I have 6 rounds left from my original reloading batch, still shooting as accurate as the day I loaded them. I am scheduled to make another batch this summer, box box of bullets I found at a show a few years back being the old-school kind. Cardboard box with metal plates pressed on to make the box corners! No modern plastic box here! Its actually kinda fitting for the old war hourse bullet.

Had a friend back in the 80s that helped me solve a problem with a rifle I had at the time. He shot on the National Guard rifle team at Camp Perry and other places. His favorite deer load was made by pulling the FMJ match bullet out of 7.62 military match ammo and reseating the 165 gr hpbts in the brass. Worked very well for him....VERY well!

Have shot numerous deer with the 85hpbt in my 6mm. Mostly smallish Texas deer. Always an exit except for one large hog my friend shot in the shoulder.
Typical deer runs after double lung shot. No different than my 270 with interlocks.
Easy as heck to load for. There is a reason they are still hard to find.

I've used them for years. They are my go-to for my .25-06 and my .308 AR-10. The 120gr .257 were discontinued, but I bought up a supply when that happened so I'm set for a while. I like them in the AR-10 since there is no tip to be deformed as they get loaded. I find them to be very accurate, if a little soft. As long as I keep the shot behind the shoulder they work great.

I’ve not had any problem with the hp closing up. They’re a good accurate bullet. Only problem I’ve had (if it’s a problem) is when they do hit a bone they can raise hell with things. But not any more than the two polymer tipped bullets I’ve tried. The 165 is still my go-to for the ‘06.

This has been my experience with the 6mm Sierra's as well only in this caliber I went 100 grain Pro hunter. No complaints and easy to find loads that produce tight groups but if nit picking would love to find something in the dead middle between the 85hpbt and 100 PH. I began working a load for the 90 grain Speer Hot Cores but they have proved harder to perfect. Just ordered some 95 grain Berger Classic Hunters but of course now reading they are explosive.....Might have to go back to 100 grain Pro hunters as they can now be found again.

I miss JJHACK. He used to live about 30 miles from me and I got to shoot with him a couple of times.


Okie John

My story pretty much. I have used both the Hornady 120gr HP and the Sierra 120gr hpbt in my 25-06 forever. Both have since been discontinued, but when I found out I bought every box I found. I'm on my last box of Hornady and have four or five left of the Sierra's. They've been fantastic up to cow elk.

I used the 165 in .308w and .30-06 quite a bit as well.

no failures on my end ever using them.

I've migrated elsewhere based on Sierra's pricing, not on the quality of their bullets to do the job intended for.

use to use them a lot more often.

Shefire,

Dangle a pic of a Critter YOU killed,with said projectiles. Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!..............

I'll stick with hornady due to pricing

Nothing wrong with tried and tru interlocks

I guess you write the load used to kill every animal you take a picture of on the back of said picture? Kind of hard to do especially now that digital has taken over.

Rickety,

Your HILARIOUS handicaps aren't mine...you "lucky" kchunt. Hint. Congratulations?!?

The last Critter Shefire shot,spoiled over night,as she was on the horn lamenting her Retardation to the Bullet Manufacturer. Hint.

I enjoy that you have to steal pics for your avatar,you Brokedick CLUELESS Drooling Dumbfhuqk. Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!................

Got a link? Post some pics of large rifle primers. Thousands.

They do a phenomenal job on whitetail and hogs from a 7-08 @ 2750fps anywhere from almost point blank to about 200yds.