Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Sierra 6.5mm 130gr HPBT Game King on Deer

How was the damage between the holes?

⁹Honestly not impressive, but only a sample of two.

Well have not heard any great reports on the 6.5 HPBT. I may be on the hunt for another bullet for my creed. I found some Sierra tipped game kings 130gr, Speer hot core 140gr and Hornady interlock 129gr in my bullet shelves. Have not loaded any of them as the Sierra 6.5 HPBT was so easy to find a good load for, was planning on using it for an all-around bullet, hunting, targets and varmints. Any experience with these bullets for mule deer and antelope?

Thanks for the info.

You can't go wrong with the 129 gr interlock, killed several whitetail with that bullet. Performs very well, great expansion judged from the holes on the inside cavity. According to Sierra the new 130 tipped game kings are for tougher game, so a big mule deer would fit that bill.
6.5 CM is very easy to load for in various weights.

cant imagine they dont work or wouldnt work i just think it is a over looked bullet on the campfire and doesnt have a following...

the sierra 85 grain hpbt is a cult like bullet for the 243 and so is the 165 grain .308

i wouldnt be scared to use them

to add look at midwayusa.com looks like it gets pretty good reviews there

Use the 165 hpbt version in the 30-06 and 270 140 version large exits with bone

My understanding is the HPBT Game King was tougher than the lead tipped version. To me looks like the tip the jacket was sheared from maybe tumbling for some reason...maybe the HP was clogged or it hit something before the deer? Seems like one of those odd things that a sample of one doesn't necessarily make it a bad bullet, weird stuff sometimes happens.

Agree, it does not look like the bullet tip expanded at all. In fact it appears that part of the core was pushed out the tip from the inside after the bullet broke in two. The HPBT Game King may be a perfectly good bullet, but I just have a lingering doubt in the back of my mind now.

I have some 140's HPBT to try in my 270 but having doubts even about them. After the 85 gr HPBT didn't perform in my 243 I just may stick with interlocks or BT.

Sorry if I missed it. Did the core come out? Or the jackets just broke in two?
I shoot 130 TGK (game changer) in my 6.5s. Too busy to go deer hunting last few years, so no kills. but when I do go, I’m taking that combo.
My tikka with 24” is around 2900fps
My boys kimber hunter with 22” is a reduced load at around 2700.
I really like these for the price, and hoping I can get 2 for one, as in Target and hunting bullet.

The bullet broke in two and appears that the back half continued to go straight and mushroomed. Not sure when the core came out of the bottom half of the bullet, but it must have been when the jackets stopped just under the hide after penetrating through the chest cavity broadside. When skinning the deer, I found two exit wounds through the ribs, from the two pieces of the bullet, but did not pay attention at the time if there was an exit wound in the hide. Looking at my photos, I am now thinking the core separated and exited the hide for parts unknown, I can see a blood spot on the exit side of the deer.

Interesting read. Seems like the HPBT bullets are the only ones on shelves recently by Sierra. I've never tried the HP versions cuz it was always my understanding they were designed to come apart after penetration - which is confirmed by your bullet recovery. I think I'll stick to the Spire points in their lineup, either flat based or BT when my usage will include big game hunting. At any rate, wonder if the bullet coming apart thing is more of a HP thing than a Sierra thing. Been using the green boxes on deer sized game for a long time, no complaints from me.

Where did you get this understanding?

Sierra bullets are accurate and I believe that is their focus. I have seen several instances of poor performance on game. OK for varmints, but better options for other game.

I've heard both sides to the HPBT Game Kings, soft with explosive expansion and harder than the soft points with deeper penetration and possibly little or no expansion. Not sure where my experience fits in there, with the bullet tumbling and breaking in two.

I do know that over the many years I have used the 165gr .308 cal SPBT Sierra game king in both 30-06 and 308 rifles, they have performed admirably, with either complete penetration on broadside lung shots, or finding a nicely mushroomed bullet just under the far side hide.

Will probably be on the lookout for another bullet for this coming season.

That bullet performed VERY poorly when Johnny’s Reloading Bench (YouTube) tested them in gel against other bullets!

They did not hold together whatsoever. His gel results mirror your field results.

I will not be trying them for deer.