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.

The Softpoint game kings have proven utterly reliable to me as long as you stay away from Magnum velocities. I have seen the boattails falter myself as well.

I have posted this before, and it counters both Serria and what others say.

I have used 2 bullets in my 20" 308 over 20 years.
The old 100 count 165gr Ballistic Tips and the Sierra 165gr BTHP Gameking?

I went to the Sierra when the BT's went to 50 count boxes.


Those hollow points were the most devastating game bullets I have ever seen.
At 308 velocity, I often saw a cloud blow out the far side of deer.
Holes the size of 2 fists were common. Losing a shoulder wasn't.

I found a store closeout with several sleeves of the Ballistic Tip, and have been shooting them since.

PS Those hollow points did kill.
About a dozen deer shot, not one went more than a few feet from impact, and most passed through, just too much waste.

PPS I shoot ribs, shoulders if necessary on angled shots.

Everyone here knows you need at least a 180 gr monolithic bullet fired from at least a .300 Winchester Magnum, preferably a .300 RUM at 3200 fps minimum, to kill a 100 pound whitetail. Deer have gotten much tougher since the 1960s when a .30-30 (and cheap cup and core bullets) could be used. Back then the big argument was 150 grain vs 170 grain bullets.

Supposidely the HPBT Gamekings are tougher (higher % of antimony?). I've only shot paper with them but we've shot a ton of deer with the 130 Pro Hunter in our 270s over the last 25 years and it's never failed.

I use the 150 Gamekings in my 308’s. I started using them when I couldn’t get Ballistic tips. They kill deer and pigs just fine. I haven’t switched back.

I may ruffle some feathers here, but my thoughts are that if I was going to hunt something that might eat me if it had the chance, I'd be very concerned with choosing the right bullet. I'd also feel the same way about large game, such as moose or elk, or the African game if I was going there. But, I sometimes feel as if some people overthink it when it comes to picking a bullet to deer hunt with. I've seen too many killed with a 22 rifle to believe they're all that hard to kill. I don't like to overkill anything, and don't get a kick out of seeing a bullet do excessive damage, whether it's a varmint sized critter, or a deer. But, there are plenty of bullets that will do a good job on a deer, as long as the shooter puts the bullet in the right place.

I have a tad of experience with the Sierra BTHP Gamekings. The first year I hunted with a 257 Roberts, I used the 90 grain BTHP in Gameking guise. I shot three whitetails with them that year. One was a spinal tap, the next was a neck shot and the last was a high shoulder shot. All three dropped the deer where they stood. I decided that didn't care to use that bullet from that cartridge again, and haven't.

Fast forward, I picked up a Tikka T3 Hunter chambered for 6.5x55 Swede. I loaded some of the 130 grain BTHP Gamekings at a tad less than book velocity. My wife took three whitetails with it that year, and all died in sight of the stand. The ONLY thing that gave me reason to pause was some copper flakes of jacket material close to the exit wound of one of those deer. In fairness, she did center punch the shoulder.

I think that the first consideration when using the BTHP Gamekings should be the velocity envelope. If you are under 3000 fps, you should be good to go. Just my limited experience and somewhere out on my bench I have a 50 round box of 7mm/08 loaded with 140 grain Sierra BTHP's. They will be under 3000 fps and I'm sure they will do well on whitetails, too.

Well said, James

I've had very good luck with the Sierra 140 HPBT in my 270's. Much tougher than the soft point Game King BT. Like the Sierra bullets as they were the first ones I used when I started hand loading 50 years ago. Time sure flies! The deer I've taken with the 140 HPBT didn't think they were "gay". Elk didn't care for them either. Most accurate in my go to rifle. AB is Great bullet, but on deer the the Sierra HPBT works as well, IMO. Deer are not very tough. As a kid we all shot Remington Core Lock with great results>

No deer are not typically tough, but I'd lean on the tougher vs softer side of bullet construction for an all around bullet. I call the ABs - MEDIUM construction, as some BTs like the 95gr 6mm. Not all Sierra's are the same, but personally I like other bullets more, for field use on game. I've seen devastating results with say the 85 HPBT GK on deer at 300 yds, from a 243, on a smaller Tx deer. But also though effective, much weight loss from a 7/08 140gr BTSP at around 30 yds in the woods. An AB, PT, or mono will drill both shoulders when called upon to do so. Others can, to varying degrees in varying situations.

Folks can choose what they want, the GKHP in 130 has a lower bc than what I want. The tipped MK might be worth testing...on media before hunting.

Much info here on bullets....in 6.5mm.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/4769172/1

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...ge-264-bullet-test-part-deux#Post4783400


As always, put a Good bullet thru vitals, and the discussion ends......it just pays to know which bullets REACH vitals, and do more than pencil thru when your shot is true

While growing up in Oklahoma, my family hunted small game with pellet gun, 22 rimfire shorts, and 12 gauge. After graduating high school, I was introduced to deer and long range varmint shooting by my dad’s best friend. He mentored me with the 6mm Remington and I eventually purchased one in the Remington 700 BDL Varmint with a Weaver 4-12. The only bullet we ever used then was the Sierra 85 HPBT. I was taught to shoot the deer in the heart & lung area. Also to wait for a broadside shot or to not shoot at all. A lot of Oklahoma and Kansas deer were taken with that combination. A large number of coyotes were taken as well.

I enlisted in the Navy a few years later and found myself stationed in Idaho Falls in 1981. There I read a lot and hunted a lot. I learned about Nosler Partitions then. Dad decided to get into deer hunting so I bought him a Ruger 77 in .257 Roberts for Christmas. I loaded up a bunch of Partitions (don’t remember if 120 or 115 gr) for him. I had added the 85 gr Partition to my 6mm for deer and picked up a 7x57 for elk.

Next deer season, I get a call from dad. Dad had killed two deer with one shot. He drilled a buck, broadside of course, and the buck collapsed at the shot. But so did the doe standing behind the buck. He thought that the .257 Roberts was too much gun. Folks were living in western Kansas at the time. Mom was with him and gave him heck about ‘poaching a deer’ for at least ten years.

Next trip home, I loaded him up the Sierra 90 gr HPBT. He was much happier with that bullet for deer and coyotes. Deer hunting there was in open fields across farm ground or across pasture land (both north eastern Oklahoma and western Kansas).

I've caught 2 game kings in deer one was a 225 gn SBT 35 cal in a buck I shot straight on in the chest with a 35 Whelen. The other was a 180 gn SBT from a 300 Weatherby quartering to in the shoulder. Both stopped in the ham just under the skin. Both were perfect mushrooms looked like a corelokt commercial.

Haven't used them on whitetails, but I've used them in a .270 on west Texas muleys. The first was a huge bodied 28" wide 10 that ultimately dressed out at well over 225. Four shots with .277 140 gr. Sierra BTHP to take him down. Lesson #1-never shoot HP's at game. The second was a 24"wide 10 point that dressed right at 170 if I remember correctly. Shooting 130 gr. Sierra Game kings, the bullet hit him in the neck and down he went. The bullet separated and I found that, while skinning him out, parts of the jacket were lodge between his shoulder blades. I haven't shot Sierra's at game in over 20 years.

Ok, I'm getting old. Memory's not too good and years going by fast. But has the 270 Sierra 140gr HPBT Game King even been around for 20 years?

I reckon so because the deer I described was killed in 1987. I don't know how long it had been out when I started loading them.

Interesting. Thanks

I've not used the Gameking HPs because a Gameking 140 in my 7x57 many years ago blew up quickly inside a small buck on a quartering away shot and he almost made it to the next hunter. most of the wound channel was pencil thin from just the core. in more recnt years I've used 6.5 120s in my 260 and again been disappointed in penetration, tho the deer didn'y get away. I'm switching back to 129 Hornady interlocks--not quite as accurate but plenty good enough and much better terminal performance

6.5 120s were sierra prohunters

Yep, Got some now that I shot out of the 6.5 Grendel.

garCH,

What was the 120 PH's not penetrating all the way through, or were they coming apart?

Thanks,
jr1968.

jr1968: 2 whitetails. one a straight-on shot in the brisket penetrated maybe 6", second broadside shoulder about the same. appeared they quickly and totally fragmented on bone.

Shoot 120 Ballistic Tip, 120 TTSX, 125 Partition, 129 Interlock, 129 ABLR or 130 AB if you want a medium-weight bullet out of your 6.5. Absolutely no worries with any of these, with the 120 Nosler Ballistic Tip my favorite for deer.

Like 260Remguy, the 125 Winchester Deer Season XP shoots extremely well in my rifle. With performance that is apparently very similar to that of the 120 Nosler Ballistic Tip, I may just use them on deer-only hunts and save my pet loads using the 127 Barnes LRX or 142 ABLR for bigger critters or when I might expect some longer shots.

seattlesetters, not trying to hijack here, but would you share your 129 LRAB load please....with OAL you landed on? Thanks.

I load the 130 HPGK in a 6.5x55 at 2840fps. I think in the short action 6.5mm cartridges this is a very nice and very accurate bullet. I would be tempted to build a rifle to use this bullet exclusively. My brother used the bullet on a good Colorado antelope. At 250 yds from prone he took out the heart and lungs, left an impressive exit wound and the goat ran less than 50yds. I would say this is pretty good performance and I couldn't want much more.