Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 6.5 Sierra 130gr. HPBT GameKing?

Has anyone used this bullet for whitetail deer, if so what are your thoughts on this bullet?

Thanks,
jr1968.

My thoughts are that Sierra bullets aren't reliable killers on game. Great for shooting varmints and paper, but not for game.

If you want to shoot a 130 grain 6.5mm bullet at game, the 130 grain AB is both accurate and dependable.

Thanks 260Remguy,

I'am looking for a WT bullet, and was torn between the 130 Sierra, 129 SST, and the 129 Interlock
My Shots would be right out front to about 150 yards.

Would the 130 AB. open up enough at close range?

Thanks,
jr1968.

Regarding Sierra bullets. I haven't shot the 6.5mm 130 HPBT but have shot a couple of others extensively, mainly the 150gn SPBT in a 7x57 and the 165gn HPBT in a .30-06. I have taken a lot of pigs with both bullets and they killed pigs well, but they are not as tough as some other cup and core bullets on the market, despite what Sierra claim. I have no doubt they will kill a whitetail deer though as they are the same size as a fallow deer. In general I have found Hornady Interlocks to achieve full penetration in more instances though the Sierras still kill game. And it's only deer we are talking about.

I have shot a few Accubonds in various calibres and they are a great bullet. I have not recovered one yet as they have exited in every instance bar one. The one instance was a chital (axis) stag taken at a forward facing angle. The stag trotted 30 metres over a hill and died with the bullet angling down the length of his body. The Accubonds have the thick jacket down at the rear of the bullet to stop expansion and the thinner jacket and plastic tip at the front would promote expansion I'd assume. Most of my kills with Accubonds have been around 50 metres (140gn 7mm and 225gn .358) and there has always been a good sized exit hole on the far size indicating expansion. In fact expansion would be promoted at close range due to the higher velocity.

Every deer that I've shot with 110 and 130 grain ABs has died promptly. I've shot deer with the 129 grain Hornady bullets, Interbond, Interlock, and SST, and I prefer the 130 grain AB because I have confidence that it will shoot flat, shoot accurate, and penetrate like a Partition. I use the 129 grain SSTs for practice and the 130 grain ABs for hunting, as they have approximately the same ballistic profile and the 129 grain SSTs are less expensive.

EDIT: I had some bad experiences with .243" and .257" Sierra BTHP Gamekings that has forever soured me on them as game bullets.

I have not used the 130's, but have shot the 140 gr Sierra game kings in 6.5 Creedmoor. The big cow elk I shot last year did not like them very well . The bullet did a good job as she was quartering away and ended up somewhere in the offside shoulder. I liked the 140 Sierra way better than the Hornady eld-x 143 gr. It was way too soft in my opinion. Typically the hollow point bullets that Sierra sells are tougher than the straight game kings. That has been my experience with the 270 win 140 gr HPBT. -- many one shot kills and never found a bullet. It makes me laugh when so called experts tell that cup and core bullets won't work on game. I have been killing deer and elk for over forty years with plain Jane bullets. What did we do before the the premium bullets came out? So to answer your question will Sierra 130 HPBT bullets kill deer? I am pretty sure they will do fine under 3000 fps. Now if you go over that, then use Barnes or Nosler's.

No experience with the Sierra in 6.5 but hard to go wrong with the Interlok or the Accubond and I will throw in the Interbond too.

Sierras are all over the place on expansion some were specifically designed for Magnum cases and I have heard people thinking these were too hard for medium velocities. Just read where someone else wrote that the 65 grain 22 cal. bullets were designed specifically for Kangaroo culling. This piqued my interest and I started mentally comparing a big red Roo to a Hill Country whitetail. Could work. If I really want to see how accurate a rifle is I will try Sierras first and then Ballistic tips second.


Just looked on the Sierra site and the 130s are the beefed up design. All the reviews talked about pass through with the mid sized cartridges. Here is their add copy description:

"Just like their 30 caliber cousin, these bullets will be ideal for midsized game with standard and magnum calibers. The thicker jacket promotes deep penetration, while the skives at the meplat provide reliable expansion."

JR- USE the 130 AB and do not look back or question it. Accurate, will expand near and far, and bust Both shoulders of a mature buck and exit...BTDT - at 100 yds via a 260. The 129 SP is very good, but the SST may not hold together. I'd rather a bullet on the tougher side, than too soft that will explode and/or not give ample penetration thru vitals. What round are you using, or MV?

FWIW, the 130 AB is my GO TO bullet in 6.5. Dumped another buck in it's tracks at about 275 paces.

Go with a proven bullet, this is the one you can place your bet.

And if you want a proven bullet, there is always the 125 Partition

The most accurate bullet I've fired out of my Creedmoor has been the 120 grain Sierra Matchking. I was tempted to try them on deer, but instead went with a 120 Nosler BT. I have killed a truckload plus full of whitetails with the 130 grain Sierra Gameking in 270. It performed perfectly, with zero issues. I've also used the 85 grain Sierra Gameking in a 243 quite a lot, on deer and coyotes. I prefer a heavier bullet for deer if I'm using a 243, but the 85 grain worked good. I'm a big fan of Sierra bullets myself.

I have found the 60 grain .224" and 125 grain .264" Partitions to be difficult bullets to find an accurate load for in some rifles. I think that I probably shoot at least 300 of the 60 grain 224" and at least 500 of the 125 grain .264" Partitions when searching for accurate loads. I never found one for the 125 grain .264", but when I was swearing at them, some folks are swearing by them. The Winchester/Olin 125 grain Deer Season factory load in 6.5 Creedmoor shoots MOA in the four rifles that I've tried them in.

I have killed a load of hogs at near and far distances (350 +) with 120 Sierra in a 6.5 Rem Mag. I've also used the 123 Scenar and like it. The Scenar has a tougher jacket and maybe harder core so it performs more like a hunting bullet. If I put either of them into close to the right anatomy the pig dies.

Since I was a kid everyone I knew that reloaded shot Sierra GameKing bullets for deer in North Carolina. When I started reloading at 13 years old back in 1975 I shot GameKings. They kill deer very well. I fact looking back, I am convinced I found a few deer with marginal shots because I was using that bullet.

i have not shot that exact bullet either but I have shot and seen shot multiple whitetails with sierra bullets and they work just fine never had a problem harvesting my deer....the bullet you reference in my mind would be great for whitetails as sierra builds their hollow point game bullets a little tougher with a thicker jacket than their regular hunting bullets.....I really do not know how we killed deer before all these super bullets came along .....just because they may be better doesnt mean they are needed or that the old cup and core bullet doesnt work...

165gr sgk in 30-06 & 308, 85gr hpbt and 100gr sgk in 243, 140gr sgk in 7-08.
Never had one bounce off a deer.

In general, the cup and core bullets from Hornady and Speer seem to be a bit tougher than those from Sierra. I probably shot more than 50 whitetails with Sierra BTHPs before I had four of them come apart on impact. That caused me to lose confidence in them, so I moved on to other bullets for game. I still shoot varmints and paper with them, but have come to prefer bullet not made by Sierra for game.

I gave up on using SMKs for hunting when I had a couple explode. I have found that the 140 Sierra Game King is pretty much impossible to beat in m y 260 and 260AI. I don't shoot past 500 yards with those rifles. I took that bullet to Kodiak a year and half ago as my go-to bullet for deer. Dropped a nice buck with one shot at 400 yards. I have killed deer, bear and elk with that bullet. I have also killed them with the 140 Accubond but the Sierras are cheaper and more accurate.

these bullets are not sierra match king bullets they are game king bullets.....if you guys are using match king bullets you very well may have had a problem with them when shooting game animals....i know people use them for that but they were intended to be a target bullets

The Sierra bullets that failed for me were both GAMEKING HPBTs, the 85 grain .243", #1530, and the 90 grain .257", #1615.

Sierra builds accurate bullets, fine for shooting paper or varmints, but not reliable enough for me to shoot game with them. As with many things, YMMV.