Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Sierra Gameking HPBT bullets on deer

Sierra Gameking HPBT, 30 cal, 165 grain, out of a 300 WSM, 3100 fps.

Bullets are very scarce around here. I found a box of these bullets and found that they are pretty accurate in my 300 WSM. They're odd looking things with sort of a crimp around the hollow tip but Sierra says they're very good for deer sized game. The BC isn't that great, only about .368. I assume that the weird tip has a lot to do with that. They group pretty well out to 300 yds, anyway.

Has anyone tried them? I'll be using them for deer as our season starts Friday and I can't find anything else here, let alone build another new load.

My favorite bullet in my 308 for deer. I also use the 160 gr in my 7x57 for deer

I killed 8-10 deer and antelope at the same velocity out of a 30-338 years ago. They work very well.

They work very good in my .308 at just under 2700 fps and I used them in my .30-06 at 2800, holding together against bone.

In my .300 WinMag, one blew up when shot into the shoulder of a rather large 8-pointer at 40 yards with a 3150 fps muzzle velocity. The bullet would have probably behaved better if the deer had showed up where he was supposed to, 200 yards across a field, instead of 40 yards behind me.

I'll be hunting open sagebrush hills so the odds are that any shot will be 100 plus, normally in the 100-200 range. I've had 180 gr AB's blow up on elk shoulders so these can't be any worse. Hopefully I'll have a chance to find out.

Rock Chuck, I was a young shooter when this bullet hit the shelves probably in the 60's.. It was THE BULLET for .30 cal. rifles for several years, because it was the first 165 boatail on the market.. I have shot thousands of them over the years..
Some in my old 30-06, but mostly in my old .300 Win. mag. It has shot everything from rockchucks on up.. antelope, deer, elk , moose, caribou etc.. I have shot it at ranges up to 500 yards and gotten excellent groups..
Now there are better designs on the market, but before I retired I bought about 1000 of them.. I am still shooting from that batch.. I imagine when they are gone, I might switch to something else, but they have worked for 50 years for me..
They have never failed me on game.. If you as most shoot behind the shoulder, just have your knife sharp.. You'll need it..
A couple years ago, I shot a big cow elk with a high shoulder shot with this bullet.. It put her down, but not out, a second round was needed, but she could not get up.. For hunting under conditions where that shot is necessary, I have used Accubonds or Partitions of late..

Thanks for the info, guys. For the last 40 years, I've been a fan of Speer Hotcores but I think they've dropped their quality control. I can't get them to shoot nearly as well as they have in the past with my old reliable loads. I've been looking for something else and these Sierras shoot every bit as well as the Hotcores of the past.

Only used in a 308, but the damage is epic. I mean seeing a cloud on the off side and huge holes. Too much damage for me I went back to 165 the BT. I know some claim they are hard or tough but that wasn't my experience. YMMV

Lung shot at about 50 yards, .308 at just under 2700 fps. I wouldn't say the off-side hole was excessively large, but I shot the deer from an elevated position, off-side exit was low in the lungs. Obviously the snow makes it more apparent.

Did you recover it?

Rock Chuck, I would stay clear of the shoulders on an elk.. I think with this bullet a lung shot is best.. I just killed my mulie for this fall with my old .300 one shot about 200 yards. Lung shot.. It did exit, but I think expanded and only part of the jacket exited.. It hit the lower part of the spine an dropped the3x3 in his tracks..

probably didn't find it , he couldn't find the blood trail

This is strictly for deer this time. Sierra recommends the SP instead of the HP for elk. I won't be elk hunting this year. Between a couple goats, geese, chickens and lots of frozen fruit, the 2 freezers won't hold any more than a deer.

Sounds like you are in fine shape for the winter.. Best of luck with the deer.

I shot some small TX whitetail spikes with the 160gr flat base SP and a 7mm RM at 2900fps. I was concerned they wouldn't open well on a small creature, but did the job just fine.
People commented on the HPBT holding together better in case of tougher shots presented, but they killed just fine for me.

In my experience you should be just fine for deer.

Here is the thread were I questioned the smarter people about SGKs
GameKings on Whitetails

It took a while...

My uncle used that bullet in an old 721 30/06 I loaned him to shoot a big old bull caribou this fall. I stuffed the HPBTs over enough H414 to get 2800fps and they shot into an inch and a quarter at 100 which I declared goodnuff.

When the time came the bulls were at 389yds but calm and broadside. I told him where to hold and watched through the scope as he squeezed one off prone over a pack. The bull went down like he'd been struck by lightning and never kicked. The shot had broke both shoulders and everything between them was soup. I had heard that the 165 HPBT was a tough bullet and was a bit surprised to see the damage that it caused, even at reduced velocity. The onside shoulder was nearly unsalvageable due to bloodshot and the offside wasn't too much better, the bullet did exit however and the hole wasn't too awful big, 1 1/2" or so.

I wouldn't have a worry about using them again, even for elk, but I would try my best to stay off the big bones.

I used the 165gr .30 cal. HPGK back in the late 1970's. I stopped using it when Speer came out with their old model Grand Slam. The only bullet I ever used that destroyed more meat than the HPGK was the pre-InterLock Hornady bullets.

I am gonna be using the 165 grain Sierra GameKing BTSP (soft point boat tail) for my upcoming mule deer hunt....they have been shooting well in my 7mm Mag.