24hourcampfire.com
24hourcampfire.com
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Hop To
Page 2 of 2 1 2
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 6,819
Campfire Tracker
OP Offline
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 6,819
Originally Posted by albert23456
Originally Posted by southtexas
It’s curious to me that Speer touts the GDs only as self protection bullets

Are you talking from experience or just personal opinion, some of us here need a clarity and it interest me to know. Thank you.


Not sure I follow your question, but here goes. The experience I have with Gold Dots, is that the 120gr produced a very accurate load in my 6.5CM with little effort. I have not used any Gold Dot bullet on a game animal.

My comment was that I find it curious that Speer only refers to "Personal Protection" as a "Use" for Gold Dots and does not mention "hunting" as an appropriate use. It would seem to me that a bullet designed for personal protection should work pretty well on deer-sized game. If this is correct, why wouldn't Speer promote the line of bullets for more than one "use"?

As an as-side, the Gold Dots appear to me to be quite similar to the old Deep Curls and current Fusions. I do have experience with Deep Curls for hunting (257/120. 270/150, and 30/165). I have found them to be easy to find an accurate load for and to provide excellent terminal performance.

I do plan to try the 120/6.5s on a cull doe to see how it works, Will start with a broadside lung shot to see if it provides good expansion and complete penetration.

Hope that provides clarification...

BP-B2

Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 1,390
T
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
T
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 1,390
It will likely work great. It's at least bonded (or at least bonded the same way the fusions are). The fusions tend to be soft, on average, they lose some weight but overall hold together pretty well. Up close they make big buttonheads and mostly stay together close up but farther out you still get a textbook mushroom.

If it's made for the Grendel at 2400 fps all that says to me is that out of a creedmoor it'll be a versatile bullet it will expand at longer ranges and lower velocity and probably open instantly and mostly hold together close up. I've found deer have noticeably shorter dead runs when hit with light, fast, soft bullets, for instance nosler 120gr BT's in 7mm.

Joined: May 2017
Posts: 4,855
W
WAM Offline
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
W
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 4,855
I’ll not comment on the newest GD, but experience with 7mm Fusion has been not so good. Neither my son’s 7mm Rem Mag nor my 7mm Weatherby shoot them worth beans. Don’t know why, just quickly moved on. Also, a hunting buddy shot a big bodied mule deer with a Fusion at 240 yards or so with his 7RM and what a bloody mess on the exit. Dead deer but lost a shoulder in the mess. It’s just a plated chunk of lead, so why wouldn’t it hold together? It’s a “mono metal” but unlike the coppers such as Barnes, probably tougher to control expansion at higher velocities. Your mileage may vary, just my two cents for what it’s worth. Happy Trails


Life Member NRA, RMEF, American Legion, MAGA. Not necessarily in that order.
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 7,263
T
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
T
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 7,263
Just did a quick check of Federal Fusion ammo and they show the 120 only in the Grendel. The 260 and CM are loaded with the 140 Fusion. Not sure if this correlates to the Gold Dot but it might.


"When you disarm the people, you commence to offend them and show that you distrust them either through cowardice or lack of confidence, and both of these opinions generate hatred." Niccolo Machiavelli
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 2,556
S
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
S
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 2,556
The GD bullets are great bullets. I bought a whole bunch of the 140s on a super sale at Midway awhile back. I load them to 2740 and have killed at least a half dozen deer with them. The 120 loaded to 3000 fps, should be a hammer.


You did not "seen" anything, you "saw" it.
A "creek" has water in it, a "crick" is what you get in your neck.
Liberals with guns are nothing but hypocrites.
IC B2

Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 28,526
Campfire Ranger
Online Content
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 28,526
I bought some of the 120s in hopes of finding a reliable, accurate, and affordable bullet for my Grendel. The 129gr ABLRs can be hard to find and are usually a bit pricey. Bingo! Today I put 4 in an inch over some Accurate 2000 MR, the powder that gives the top velocity in Speer's data. Jumped on the interweb when I got home and bought four more boxes of 50 at $13.99.

BC is .457, not awesome, but not exactly a pingpong ball either. At the usual 20-30 yards I shoot deer at, don't think I'll be handicapped too badly.


What fresh Hell is this?
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 6,523
L
Campfire Tracker
Online Content
Campfire Tracker
L
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 6,523
My first attempt to reload the Grendel used the 120 Gold Dot. They shot to the same POI and had the same group size as the factory 123 SSTs. More work is in order, but that was a pleasant start.

Joined: May 2013
Posts: 87
C
Campfire Greenhorn
Offline
Campfire Greenhorn
C
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 87
I liked the idea and bought a couple Boxes. In very short order my lil Grendel was shooting these bullets sub moa withbthree powders!! RL15, Benchmark and AR-COMP! I seated them
Long as my mag a d worked up a ARcomp load that was 2750 in my 22" Howa Mini.

I shot my largest buck ever couple years back. 263 after hanging three days. The 120g GD bullet Slipped high center on lungs BETWEEN Two ribs. Angled down thru the lungs clipping the heart and lodging behind the offside front leg. (Shot from
Above) The bullet entered hi and never exited. It was on snow and not a drop if blood was found u till I was 10-15 yards from the dead animal.

I called Speer a d gave all particulars. I was told I MUST ADHEAR to Loads in manual. While this bullet may work well its designed for personal Protection not hunting.
Its marvelously accurate a d fairly inexpensive! Its just one deer. I wont give ip on it. But I will Slow it to about 2600! Bottom
Line from Speer was velocity Was too fast. Beyond design parameters for the bullet.

Page 2 of 2 1 2

Moderated by  RickBin 

Link Copied to Clipboard
YB23

Who's Online Now
458 members (300jimmy, 222Sako, 007FJ, 1lesfox, 1lessdog, 06hunter59, 39 invisible), 2,451 guests, and 1,047 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Forum Statistics
Forums81
Topics1,187,731
Posts18,400,932
Members73,822
Most Online11,491
Jul 7th, 2023


 







Fish & Game Departments | Solunar Tables | Mission Statement | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | DMCA
Hunting | Fishing | Camping | Backpacking | Reloading | Campfire Forums | Gear Shop
Copyright © 2000-2024 24hourcampfire.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5
(Release build 20201027)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.3.33 Page Time: 0.093s Queries: 16 (0.003s) Memory: 0.8356 MB (Peak: 0.9268 MB) Data Comp: Zlib Server Time: 2024-03-29 12:13:30 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS