Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Speer 130-grain 7mm

I used the 139 gr flat base Hornady SP in my Sako 7m/08 for 26 years on red and sika deer and never lost an animal. Found the boat tail version didn't hold together as well although it still killed well. A government deer culler I knew used the Speer 130 FB and he swore by them. They were issued factory ammo but he preferred using his own handloads in a 7x57.

Two things.

A good friend used the 130 grain Speer flat base in his 280 for years and had excelent results. Velocity around 2950 fps. Shot mostly deer inside 100 yards and it worked great.

Secondly,I used W760 in the 7x57 almost exclusively,always got good accuracy and velocity,mosty with 139 grain Hornadys and 140 Ballistic tips. They killed so well there wasn't much need to shoot anything else.I always used the flat based 139 Grain Hornady,super accurate and kills quick,usually exits too.

Well, I burn a lot of 4064, 4895, 3031 in just about EVERY thing I shoot.

Rev; I’m a little late to the game but here’s my two cents worth.

I started using the 130 grain Speer boat tail in a Ruger 77 bought new in 1978. I gifted the rifle to my sister in law in the 90s. The 130 grain Speed has killed a lot of deer and a bullet has never been recovered. No signs of “blow ups”, deer die pretty quick if the bullet is in the right place.

The bullet is accurate in the rifle 200 yards 3 shot groups in the 1.5-2 inch range.

I will not pass on loading details as this rifle has a “slow barrel” which i think means slightly oversized in this case as several grains of powder over maximum in the manual results in velocity 100 FPS below maximum manul loads.

I can see no reason why the bullet would not work for hunting deer sized game.

All the best and merry Christmas

GRF

Folks:

Thanks for the comments. A friend of mine who now lives and works in Japan is planning to climb Mt Fuji on his 60th birthday, so he and I drove to Bass Pro this week for him to buy a pair of boots. While we were there I picked up a bottle of 4064. I've had an unopened box of Hot Cors for several years, so will put together some loads and see how they shoot.

Thanks again.

Well hogs are about the best Test Medium out there, ha. You should do well with them. Back in the 80's, I talked my boss (oilfield) into buying one of the Mod 700 7mm Mausers and the dies. I loaded the Speer 130 BT, I forget the powder, to the old Speer Manual max. It was accurate and I zeroed it to 100yds ( per his request). He put his spoiled brat of an 8yr old in a stand, by himself, and he worried a poor buck to death with it. Shot him all around the edges, etc. He wasn't impressed with the rifle/round, but I could never convince him to "give the rifle to me", ha. I don't know what he ever did with it. I still feel it was perfect for those East Texas deer ( they look "a whole lot like" your Florida deer! ha)

Pigs make are pretty good test media, you're right about that. They have a lot of dense meat in their neck, and have pretty heavy shoulder bones. Frankly I think the gristle-plate on old boars is often overdone in some of the things I've read, but it's no doubt there and will certainly help to slow down a bullet. I figure that since a bullet has to go through the shoulder to reach the heart, a heart shot on a big old boar will be a pretty good test. I know that bullet will work fine on our southern deer.

A note about 4064: Have mentioned using 7mm-08 data for "modern pressure" 7x57 handloading, and last night was reviewing some range notes for my present 7-08, a tang-safety Ruger 77 Compact (as I recall the model was called) with a 22" No. 1 contour Douglas barrel. The max charge of IMR4064 listed in the new Speer manual, 45.0 grains, gets decent accuracy with the 130 Hot-Cor at slightly over 3000 fps.

Thanks, John, I appreciate that. I was planning to use the updated Speer information as a guide. BTW, it looks like they've standardized their velocity tests using a 24 inch barrel. At first I was wondering why the incremental increase in velocity between the old manual and the new one with the exact same load. The old manual used a 22 inch barrel for the velocity tests, the new one uses 24.

Sierra's accuracy load for their 130-grain Match King also shows 4064. It looks as though 4350 might be a tad slow, but Big Game might be a contender. I have a couple of pounds of it as well.

Man O Man RoundOak.... what a nice Mule Deer....WOW