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I have tried the Grand .308 150 grain and for a cheap hunting bullet they perform very well but alas Speer discontinued that bullet and since I have tried the Hot Core .308 150 grain and accuracy is only decent, Im sure its good enough for hunting but I like a little better as to why I reload. I have weighed the Hot Core's and they are not as consistant as some other brands but I guess in this case you get what you pay for.....Good hunting....Hb

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I used the old Nitrex ammo with 165 gr Grand Slams in .308 for many seasons on deer and elk. They were very accurate out of my rifle. The worst shooting loads were Speer 180 gr SP in Federal ammo. I’ve got some GS in various calibers that I’m going to load for grins. The 150 gr Hot Cor shoots well in my .308 with a healthy dose of TAC.


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Several of my rifles have liked the cheap Speer BTSP. They work well at moderate velocities. Did I mention that they’re often cheap?


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Originally Posted by WAM
I used the old Nitrex ammo with 165 gr Grand Slams in .308 for many seasons on deer and elk. They were very accurate out of my rifle. The worst shooting loads were Speer 180 gr SP in Federal ammo. I’ve got some GS in various calibers that I’m going to load for grins. The 150 gr Hot Cor shoots well in my .308 with a healthy dose of TAC.


That is one cartridge I wish Speer had not discontinued. Quite a few years back I acquired four boxes of that .308 Nitrex ammo and it was the only factory load that would come close to a usable group in my Ruger M77 RSI. Best it would do was 1.5" but everything else was in the 4 to 6" range. Same with reloads. Worked up the the 165 gr. Speer HC to duplicate that Nitrex load Just used the plain hot core and not the Grand Slams. I still have one box of that Nitrex ammo left and it's only a partial.

I run the 200 gr. Hot Core in my .300 Win. Mag. and the 250 gr. hot core in my .35 Whelen when I feel the need for that bullet. Most of the time I run the 225 gr. TSX in that rifle.
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I hope all the companies that produce ammunition and reloading components prosper. I have no particular animosity toward Speer. I used to (in the 70's, 80's, and 90's) use a fair number of their bullets. Over time I have mostly drifted away from Speer bullets toward Nosler, Barnes, and Hornady. I still occasionally reach for box of Speers but they are not my "go to bullet" in any of the cartridges I load for with one exception. That exception is the Speer 400 gr FP in my 450 Marlin and 45/70. That is a great bullet and I see no advantage looking elsewhere to feed my punkin' rollers.


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I have been loading the 120 Speer BTSP in my son's .25-06. Has proven to be plenty accurate (sub-MOA) and terminal performance has been very good from what I have seen the past couple seasons on coyotes, deer and antelope. We just changed optics and hope to see soon if their published BC is accurate.

My .25-06 shoots the 100 grain Hot-Cor well and out of a massive sample of one critter I have no complaints.

I love the 250 Speer in my .35 Whelen more then the rifle does. Can't seem to get it to shoot much better then 1.5 MOA so I have been mostly shooting Sierras in that.

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I use 120’s in my 25-06, very happy with them

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Originally Posted by MedRiver
I have been loading the 120 Speer BTSP in my son's .25-06. Has proven to be plenty accurate (sub-MOA) and terminal performance has been very good from what I have seen the past couple seasons on coyotes, deer and antelope. We just changed optics and hope to see soon if their published BC is accurate.

I'm pretty sure their BC numbers are a bit on the optimistic side when it comes to the BTSP. I often use Sierra Gameking BC numbers, as they are likely closer to reality.


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Speer does tend to optimism that way.

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The 7mm 145 gr Speer is a short bullet and does well in the 284 Win when COAL is limited like in the Win 88 and Savage 99.

The 35 caliber Speer 250 grain has been a great Moose bullet in my 35 Whelen.
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I think some bullet companies are quite content having inflated bc numbers, they don't have to go to the trouble of testing their bc's and they get increased sales because of the inflated bc's. I often buy Speer because of the excellent value for money and many of their bullets are accurate and perform very well on game. I have greater loyalty to the bullet companies that are honest or more precise with their bc figures.

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Began my hunting career with Speer hot core hand loaded bullets. I had more issues with the management choices of Speer bullets than the actual bullets as time rolled on.

Speer claimed at one time 'The worlds finest bullets'..... Well, that has been a LONG time ago now.

Over the years the hot core always delivered the goods though. Affordable, Decent groups, broke heavy bones, Expanded well, dug deep. Never doubted the bullets. Grand slams pushed deeper.

I once did a crude weight retention comparison between the horn 7mm 162gr. btsp and the 7mm Speer 160gr. Hot core spitzer. Close range 25 yards, into a large block of cedar wood. The Speer beat the hornady in weight and penatration, not by much but it did better... Again, long ago specifics lost, but the Speer did do better.

Anymore, I have leaned away from Speer bullets. They have spells were bullets seemed not priority and discontinue different bullets, offer a new bullet for a short bit and discontinue it... I kinda had it with Speer being wierd. They seem alright now but for how long. Tired of it, now nosler and hornady are filling gaps for good in different guns and loads.

Good bullets, but run by maniacal [bleep]

Last edited by boomwack; 06/29/22.

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I like Speer bullets, I have some loads with the .358 180 FN that shoot very well in my .356 Win and 35 Rem. In my 270 or 280, I've never had them shoot as consistently well as the Sierra PH, Nosler BT or Hornady IL.

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Had great luck with the HotCor 270/130 & 30/150 & 180. I’m new to the .338/200 but I have high hopes

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I forgot to add what a stone cold killer the 220 and 250 .358 bullets are for me. They’re not sexy but man they’ve shot well and been excellent on animals.

And their UniCor or DeepCurl or whatever they are called in their handgun bullets are the best going until you get into the A-Frames or heavy cast. The 270 in the 444 is really accurate and man does it leave large holes in deer.

Last edited by beretzs; 06/29/22.

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The 70 grain Speer semi-spritzer is great for deer and pigs. I see no reason to use a premium bullet on deer or similar sized game. All that is needed is the correct weight bullet driven at reasonable speeds ( not too fast)

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I tend to prefer Hornady and Nosler, but I have had some good results with some Speer bullets. The .30 130gn HP has been a standard over here for pigs in the .308. My Ruger Ultralight would put three into an inch or less which is pretty good with the skinny little barrel. The 6.5mm 120gn shot as well as the Sierra 120gn, both going into under an inch at 100m from my M12. Whereas the 6.5mm 140gn wouldn't do better than 2.5 - 3 inches. The .30 165gn BT shot superbly from my 30-06 and flattened pigs.

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The 87 grain 25 caliber Hot-Cor has been a godsend for many 99's with 1"-14" ROT. It is even my go to bullet in my 99 with a 1"-10" ROT.

Jack O'Connor published a 130 gr Speer load for the 7x57 in a Outdoor Life magazine some years back: 50 grs IMR 4320, 53,000 PSI, 3100 fps. and out of curiosity I worked a load up to that in a rifle with a 24" bbl and about 3060 in a 22" bbl. That's pushing the old 270 Winchester.


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Originally Posted by roundoak
The 87 grain 25 caliber Hot-Cor has been a godsend for many 99's with 1"-14" ROT. It is even my go to bullet in my 99 with a 1"-10" ROT.

Jack O'Connor published a 130 gr Speer load for the 7x57 in a Outdoor Life magazine some years back: 50 grs IMR 4320, 53,000 PSI, 3100 fps. and out of curiosity I worked a load up to that in a rifle with a 24" bbl and about 3060 in a 22" bbl. That's pushing the old 270 Winchester.

I am using SB6.5 and getting around 3075'ish in my 7-08 with that bullet and the 132 BBC. Thinking it will be a good load for my little Featherweight.


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Both the 145 Grand Slam and the 145 BTSP shoot lights out in my 1185 Browning in 7 Mag. Midsouth just notified me they had some 145 Grand Slams back in stock and I may need to check my supply and order some more.


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