Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Speer 30 caliber 200 grain HotCor: How is it for elk and big bears at 30-06 velocities?

Title says it all. How does the Speer 30 caliber 200 grain. HorCor bullet perform. on elk or medium/big bears, from 30-06 velocities?

I'm not looking for a discussion on "other" bullets ( i.e. Partitions, mono bullets etc ). I know 458Win (Phil S.) is a 200 grain Partition fan. I wonder if he or anyone has thoughts on the 200 grain Speer from actual usage Bullets "failures? Too soft? Works fine? Range limits fro. a 30-06? Other issues?

Seems like it is a bullet that doesn't get much discussion.

The 200 Speer Hotcore is a very good cup & core bullet and reliable on medium to large big game when pushed to non-magnum impact speeds. The hot core feature where the cores are poured in the bullets while molten is not quite the same as true bonding but it does eliminate the need for swaging lubricant and it seems to reduce but not eliminate the potential for jacket and core separation. The thin jackets do not support a huge mushroom so the expansion diameter is less than with some bullets and this enhances deeper penetration. The bullets also expand pretty well at long range when they slow.

In my 308 at 2450 fps I see the hot-core as very capable. It will hold together due to the long shank and the low impact velocities and is a very good choice for Moose. Sped up too 3000fps in my Win Mag and the bullets can separate at higher impact velocities on tough animals. If you load your 30-06 very hot (2650+) you might have some issues at really close range on really big animals but it would be a good choice on most game. For big bears or other dangerous game though I'd go Partitions every-time. Might as well go with a bullet that works 98% of the time (The Partition) rather than one that works 90% of the time (The hot-core)

I’ve killed one and a half animals with that bullet. Same speed as north 61. Cow elk at two hundred yards, facing me, head down grazing. Bullet went through her spine and into the body cavity. No recovery.
Mule deer buck at about a hundred, shot it twice. Once with a 200 grain partition, once with the Speer. First shot stopped it but it was on its feet so I shot it again. Both bullets exited after going through the shoulders (front🙄)
Rifle is a Kimber Montana at 18” in 308.

It works just fine. GD

I've shot a number of elk with 180 gr. Hotcores from a 300 WSM. Looking at recovered bullets, I couldn't tell much difference between Hotcores and Partitions. The Hotcores would be mangled a bit more but the weight retention was almost identical. Accuracy was about the same, too. .

I'm very interested in this thread. I've got a baited grizzly/brown bear hunt next June. I'm going to use my 30/06. The 2 bullets I can find are the 200 grain Speer Hotcor & the 220 grain Hornady interlock. Not trying to steal your thread---just very interested.

I have a few boxes of 200gr for my 7.62x57 Custom Ruger/ and 30-06. At 2500-2650fps it should be a very good bullet. I've used the 8mm 200gr Hot-cor at 2550 fps and recovered one. Good expansion and penetration. This was a 25 yard frontal chest shot on a WT buck. Found the bullet lodged in the rear ribs. Held up well at the close range and retained about 70% of its weight.

Great post and information

Killed large Kansas whitetail buck at 200 yards broadside with 30-06 and book 4350 load. Broke both shoulders and exited very dead deer.
Killed one large NY Buck with the 200 in my 8x57 loaded over the powder charge of a Portuguese 198 grain ball load. Frontal shot at 25 yards as he tipped a trail on a hill. Sternum to under the skin near tail. Again very dead.

speer 180gr GS recovered from elk and moose. about half of my shots were pass throughs. velocity was 2500fps.

one deer was shot with them and the bullet traveled length wise from chest to hip and exited.

the bullet on the right is not mine. it was recovered beside one of my bullets in a bull. it was healed and obviously the elk had lived for a year, at least with it in him.

one black bear and two caribou had none recovered.
a 200gr should do great!!

OK.

Should have included "ELK, MOOSE, DEER and even HOGS" on my initial request for performance on big game with the 0.308 caliber 200 grain Speer Hot Cor at 30-06 velocities.

Thank you for the input.

I loaded the 200 Speer to 2500 fps in a 20” barreled 30-06.
I killed 1 whitetail doe and 2 full size cow elk. Ranges from 50-200 yards. All 3 broadside lung shots. Little to no reaction from the animals. Minimal internal damage and the critters took noticeably longer to die than other animals I’ve killed with different bullets and calibers.

I wasn’t impressed and quit using them.

Probably could have used more velocity.

They don’t have explosive expansion at ‘06 speeds true. They do the job with good expansion and excellent penetration. They will break bone do he job in the middle though.

My thoughts also. I think they would be a good bullet in the 300 win mag.

I've used Hpornady spire point bullet's a long time. But I think the best cup and core going is actually the speer Hot Core. Lookingfor a bullet for a 7mm Rem mag years ago I shot Speer Hot Core, Hornady Spire Points and Sierra's into bundled news paper at 100 yds. Sierra failed misserably. The Hornady 154gr and Speer 160 grain passed with flying colors. Both bullet retained 85% of their weight. The Hornady bullet's core was loose in the jacket and I could turn it withmy fingers easily. The Speer was absolutely solid inthe jacket, no movement at all. I'm back to shooting hot core's again in my 6.5x55 and 6.5x06. Maybe the best thing about them is I believe in them!

Last bull elk I killed was with 180 grain HotCors out of a win mag. 2 broadside chest shots, one pass through and other one hung up just under the hide of the far side. Good weight retention on the one bullet recovered. I would consider using the 180's over 200's at 06 velocities. Might get a little more reliable expansion. Just a thought.

I used that bullet from my 300 WM on a Waterbuck,with my 30-06 an elk and a Black bear. Worked just fine none got out of sight and I recovered one perfectly expanded after a bunch of penetration on the Waterbuck. I felt it was a superior bullet to the 220 grain Hornady RN, better penetration and accuracy.