Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting .243 Speer 100gr. #1220

I am just not having any luck getting Speer's to shoot well enough in my 6mm. Latest batch are Hot Cores -90 grain #1217. I had such hopes for them. Got maybe half a box I won't use now.

The 140's do seem to work in my 260R and shoot to same impact as the GameKings I couldn't find.

The Speer boat tails are soft across the board, but at least they're consistent about it, unlike the Sierra GK's. Some of them are pretty frangible, others pretty tough really depending on the caliber and grain weight. Just have to figure out which ones are which with the GK's.

The Speer BT's are generally easier for me to get good accuracy out of then the HC's, although I like some of the HC's. The BT's soft nature can be used to your advantage. I've used the 165 Speer SPBT in 30-06 for deer and can't really fault it.

More than heavy enough for whitetail, but soft enough to do the necessary damage at lower velocities or on a poor hit deer too far back such as the last one I killed with that bullet. Never touched the lungs, destroyed the liver. Took a bit of tracking for 80 yds or so after a death run, but end result was a very dead deer in short order.

I get what you say ShadeTree. I love those 85hpbt's and for a Gameking and they are tough. Tougher than even the 100 grain Pro Hunters but both were hard to find and a hot core seemed like a perfect alternative. I have tried some of the other plain Speers in the past. I think ...no..I DO..over analyze things I read here and I get in trouble trying to fix what ain't broke sometimes but hey....I am a reloader....isn't that what we do?

Case in point I was told my fine shooting 260Rem had too slow of a twist for those 140 grain bullets I was slinging so well. So I changed.. Regret it - those 6.5 Gamekings are the best and most consistent bullet I ever used. Doh!

I have always had good luck with 100gr 243 bullets from all makers. The RN hits particularly well. I did have an issue with the Speer 85 or 87gr 243 bullet (I forget) on a big mule deer. Out of a 15" Encore 2 bullets blew up on impact with very little damage. There was enough damage to make the deer wander over and lay down under a rock cropping. I managed to sneak up to within 8' of him and put another shot in his neck - lights out. If that one would have failed, I would have had to jump on the antlers and cut his throat, as I was out of ammo.

The Sierra Game King isn't particularly long for its weight, so it doesn't need as tight a twist as some others. For comparison, Berger specifies 8" or tighter for their 140 grain offerings.

Ken, I like those 85 hpbt's myself. Way tougher than they should be which works out well for a lighter bullet generally traveling at faster speeds. They are a dandy C&C bullet in 6mm at reasonable ranges IMO.

As to your HC's not shooting, it could of course be that your rifle just doesn't like that particular profile of bullet and length, BUT I've run into that once myself with HC's.

I haven't shot them extensively across the board in a multitude of calibers and weights, but the 30 caliber 150 HC I've had good success with. Some batches shoot well, some very well. Also shot the 180 HC in 30 caliber and it shot well for me also.

The .284 130 gr HC I could NOT get to shoot in rifles that seemed to handle other bullets easily. I gave up on them then discovered others that were having the same issue with that bullet I believe beretz on here was one of them. He surmised that something had to be off in the internal balance, which is kinda what I was thinking just along a different line.

Must of been a problem with that particular mold because that bullet had good enough reviews in yrs past, and I've shot way too many HC's in 30 caliber to think it's a problem with their process. Anyways thought I'd pass that along.