Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Why did Speer discontinue the Deep Curl bullet?

I am resurrecting this old thread because I finally caught a 175-grain Deep Curl. I've been using them on feral pigs for several years now, and I have yet to find a bullet that performs any better. The test medium for this bullet was a feral pig 75-80 yards away (sorry about the poor cellphone picture and granite counter top), shot with my 7x57 at a muzzle velocity of about 2300 fps - a "nostalgia load" for sure.

From the top:


From the bottom (note concave base):


From the side:


Another side shot:


Expanded diameter: .565" or 1.98 times.
Expanded length: .649 or 48% of original length (1.345").
Retained weight: 161.0 grains or 92% of original weight (175-gr).

As has been noted, the Deep Curl was discontinued as a reloading component, and replaced by the Federal Fusion as a factory loading only. I am happy that I bought a boatload of both 175- and 160-grain bullets when they started to disappear from dealer shelves. It has proven to be one heck of a bullet in my limited experience on all shapes and sizes of pigs.

Seems like most shops have given up on Speer bullets. Seldom see them in any consistency, certainly not a full line. Pity, I used them almost exclusively in my 2506 for over 20 years. First the 120 BT, then the 120 Grand Slam.

Now I use almost exclusively Barnes.

I used the 120 Grand Slams in my 25-06’s for years also. They were accurate, killed the hell out of deer and damn pigs. I wish I could still get them.

My first favorite 30 caliber bullet was the 150 grain Hotcor Spitzer. I used it a lot on Wyoming Mule deer and Antelope. I also took two elk with it. I liked this bullet, it did a lot of destruction and exited on broadside hits on the biggest mule deer but was a bit overly destructive on Antelope and though the bullet was 2 shots for 2 elk neither exited on broadside behind the shoulder hits. My plan this year is to shoot a deer and a couple of hogs with 170 gr. Fusions out of my Marlin 30-30. I bet they will work just fine.