Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 7mm 160 grain Hot-Cor

I bought a couple boxes of .284 160 grain Speer Hot-Cor bullets to try in my Ruger tanger 7x57. What would be the difference in actual performance on elk sized game between these and a 160 grain partition both pushed 2700ish fps?

Ron

One of my pals used the 160 Hot Core in his 7x57 for blacktail deer and a couple of elk.
He always got an exit on the deer. I can’t speak for the elk, but he didn’t have any complaints regarding it abilities.

He has retired that rifle and now uses the Speer HC 145 to hunt with in his 7-08 and gives it high praise. I would be very confident using the 160 on anything I can hunt here in Oregon.

I can't speak to elk, but they are a pass-through on big feral hogs in my 7x57s, even old boars with pretty thick shields. I'm thinking they'll do just fine.

I should add that I really don't see a lot of difference between them and 160-gr NPTs at the ranges I generally shoot - inside of 100 yards.

I haven't run any of the 160 gr. Hot Cores in any of my 7x57s or the .280 Rem. However, accuracy with the 160 gr. Grand Slams (old style two core bullet) accuracy has been superb in the .280. I'm saving those for the .280 BTW. I have yet to try the 160 gr. HC in any of the 7x57s because I found a great load with the 150 gr. Partition.

However, I have used the 165 gr. HC in the .308 Win. and the 200 gr. HC i a .300 Win. Mag that had no problem taking down a cow elk at a lasered 530 yards. The 165s have taken as last count 18 fair sized Mule Deer so base on the I think the 160 gr. 7mm bullet properly loaded in a 7x57 should work just fine.

According to some of Jack O'Connor's writing he and his wife used 160 gr, bullets in their 7x57s. People think they were probably using Nosler Partitions. I kind of think they may have been shooting the Speer bullet as Jack was pretty buddy buddy with Vernon Speer and they hunted deer together probably more than once. He and his wife also used the 160 gr. bullets in Africa in their 7x57s. Nosler or Speer? Who knows, but I am inclined to think Speer.
PJ

Got a Ruger in 7x57 when they first came out. Couldn't find anything that shot worth a darn till I tried the Hornady 154gr RN bullet, it shot very well. At that time my bullet for my 7mm Rem Mag was the 160gr Speer Hot Core. Lighter bullet's in the 7mm mag got torn up pretty bad but the hot core held together really well. I'd have used it in that 7x57 if it would have shot them. There's the catch for me. I don't care what bullet it is but it has to shoot well in my rifles! I've recently gone back to hot core in my 6.5x55 and 6.5x06. Shoot better than needed in both rifles. Only way you'll know is to try them. I shot those 160gr Hot Cores from my 7mm mag into bundled news paper at 100yds and they maintained 85% of their weight and important to me, the core stayed tight in the jacket. Could not move the core in the jacket. Tried the 154gr Hornady also in it and the core shot loose in the jacket, could spin it with my fingers. But that Hornady also maintained 85% of it's weight! kept shooting Hornady's in everything except that 7mm mag. Difference was the Hot Cores also shot better in the 7mm by about 1/8th inch! Woopy de doo! I have never had much trouble with any Hornady bullet except the 140's would get pretty explosive at 7mm mag velocity. The Hornady's also shot great in my two 6.5's but they only edge out the Hot Core's. But over the years I have learned to appreciate bullet's that stay together and penetrate so have gone over to the Hot Core. If by chance they don't shoot well I would be tempted to try some bonded bullet or if you feel rich maybe some of those monolithic bullet's. I have been tempted to try bonded bullet's but the cost held me at bay!

As for the difference between the Hot Core and partition, you'd have to try them. Years ago I tried partitions and two things bothered me with them. No where near as accurate as other bullets and the jacket always seemed to separate at the partition. I did try some 140gr partitions in my 6.5x06 when I got it and was amazed how much more accurate they were than the old partitions. Didn't shoot them into anything to see if the bullet stayed together better though. Were it not for the cost I'd probably try it just to see! Sound cheap and I'm the worst in my family about it but, I live on a social security check!

Thanks for the responses guys! DonFischer, my rifle was manufactured about 1984-85 and shoots 139 grain Hornady and 140 hraim Ballistic tips very well. I killed a good sized Boar with 160 grain Grand Slams in this rifle in the late 90’s. I’m hoping the Hot-Cors will shoot good with H4350.

Ron

I believe in one of his books he states that Elanor used both Speer and Nosler 160 grain bullets in her 7x57.

Brother shoots the Speer HC 7mm in his 280. About 2750 fps. First one lost its jacket and came apart in a med sized WT buck. Shot was quartering on at 50yds. The deer died quick and the bullet was found just under the skin on the far side.

Most CC bullets do OK at the velocity you mentioned.

Gonna give them a try myself.

Seem like a "top-tier" cup and core bullet. Never really heard anything bad about them and they're cheap and available.

I've always been a Nosler fan but with the prices these days ($75 for 7MM 140gr Accubonds at LGS) I'm looking for alternatives. I bought some Speer 145 gr 7MM off the classifides a while ago but haven't had the opportunity to use them. The 160gr Grand Slam is a winner in my 7X57 AI

When I was young in late 80' and early 90's I used the Hot Cores on elk out of the 7mm rem mag. They worked far better than the 25-06 Core Lokt loads.

In my experience with the 7x57, which is fairly extensive, just about any cup-and-core 160-grain bullet at 2700 fps or so will work well.

Have used the 160-grain Sierra GameKing at 2650-2700 fps to take big game up to around 400 pounds with the 7x57 both in North America and Africa. Have yet to recover one....

Might also add that haven't found anything magically different about Hot-Cors, which contrary to what some claim are NOT "bonded" bullets. Have seen them separate core and jacket on impact when driven at muzzle velocities closer to 3000 fps.

I shot alot of 160 HC in my first 280 AI. Clocked right at 2800fps. A good friend used the rifle/ammo for his first cow elk. Passthrough neck shot at 60 steps, but only made about 1 1/2" exit, neck bones and all. I found some Speer 160 MagTips to try out in my long barreled 7x57. I like the fact I can seat them out farther than tipped bullets and still work through my magazine.

"I like the fact I can seat them out farther than tipped bullets and still work through my magazine."

As mentioned in my chapter on the 7x57 in the first Big Book of Gun Gack, if you really want to use "traditional" bullet weights in the 7x57, one of the better options for 175-grain bullets is the Speer Grand Slam, because it doesn't need to be seated very deeply to work in a typical magazine.

My FIL used 160 Hot Cores exclusively in a M77 7 Mag in the 80’s. He shot several Elk, Deer, and Antelope with it. He gave me the rifle as he isn’t hunting anymore. Shot some of his reloads that were made back in the 80’s and they went through a ragged hole at 100 yards. Also gave me a box of the Hot Cores, CCI Mag primers, and a metal can of IMR4831 to load more. I assume the hot cores of today are the same as the old ones.

As mentioned in my chapter on the 7x57 in the first Big Book of Gun Gack, if you really want to use "traditional" bullet weights in the 7x57, one of the better options for 175-grain bullets is the Speer Grand Slam, because it doesn't need to be seated very deeply to work in a typical magazine.[/quote]

Yes sir, I read that several months ago and I have some 175 GS and a few 160GS to try also. I found 1 50rd box of 160PT, so figured I'd fool around with those Mag Tips and then finesse a load with the Partition. I think my Shilen barreled 7x57 is going to be an answer to my "accurate" 7 Mauser prayer MD!

Thanks again for the input!

Ron

How do other non-bonded c&c's work at that velocity?