Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Hornady 7mm 154gr Spire Points in the 7x57 - Your Experiences

I have read a few reports here and there of good experiences with this bullet so I decided to buy a couple boxes and try them on the local deer herd this fall. I'll be shooting them from a modest collection (4 specimens) of 7x57 rifles, 3 of which are Rugers. So far I have only shot them in my FN Mauser and things are definitely looking up. The rifle zeroed in 2 shots from a previous zero with 175gr pills. It is dead on at 200 yards and about 2 inches high at a hunnert. It groups well under an inch for 3 shots.

To any and all here, please relate your shooting and hunting experiences with this bullet/cartridge combination. I'm particularly interested in how well it penetrates, and if you consider it well-suited for tougher shots like shoulder and base of the neck, or angling/raking shots. Thanks in advance for all replies.

Used run that bullet in my 7Rem mag with great results on deer,caribou and black bear

That's the one and only bullet I use in my 7x57. Excellent accuracy, and I haven't caught one yet. I haven't seen much evidence of expansion at the exit wounds, even at ranges down to 20', but my loads have all been quite slow: 2400 fps or even slower.

Still, several hogs, a Dall ram, and a black bear have all dropped at the shot to that bullet. And I have a mind to go use it on an elk someday.

FC

... and you know full well that that won't work. Stunt shooter.

Haven't used them in 7X57, but shoot them in my 280 with excellent results on deer. Only ones I have recovered have been on tough shots and they've held together very well on those.

Pull the trigger and draw your knife.

I will draw my knife if I manage to not yank the dang trigger. Funny thing, I can plant does where they stand, but put something in front of me with bones on its head and I start twitching and stuttering and such. Well, maybe a slight exaggeration, but I'm not as good shooting at the bucks.

Happens to the best of us.

I shot my first caribou with 154gr Hornadys out of a 7mm Wby in 1960. I have used them ever since in whatever 7MMs I have owned.

Weatherby factory loaded the 7MM with the 154 Hornadys from the start. They were cup-n-core bullets back then, I believe. I do like their Interbond bullets in general and use the 195gr 8MM bullet a lot.

Shot several deers with that exact combo - 7x57 and 154 Hornady. Highly recomend it; they are accurate and hold together well at 7x57 vels. I've also used that bullet in my 280 Rem with equally good results.

Thanks for the replies, and the confidence.

I have hunted with the 7x57 for probably close to 10 years now and it has become a favorite. Have tried different bullet weights and makes including Speer Hot Cors in 145 and 160gr weights, Speer Mag-Tips in 160gr, and Hornady Spire Point Interlocks in 175gr. Have recovered a couple of the 145s but never a 160 or 175. The 160 grainers are a good balance of velocity and weight. The 175s just plain hammer the game animals and shoot plenty flat.

SD of the 154gr Hornady is .273, which compares favorably with 30 caliber 180gr bullets at .271. That's pretty good company.

The 154gr Hornady is my O/U 12ga/7x57R favorite bullet. Excellent accuracy, around 1 inch or a bit for 3. At 2600fps I found performance perfect on deer. Shots at 60, 160, and 3 at just under 300 all worked well. No bullets were recovered, all were through and through with good expandsion but not excessive. Didn't find any bullet fragments. Only hit one shoulder bone (just clipped the inside, bullet continued through lungs and out rib.)on a very large mule deer buck at 160 on first shot, second one not neccessary but it was a really nice buck and cheap insurance. Two of the 300yd shots were on smaller whitetail does so it was not surprising that they just went right through. One 300yd shot was on a very large mule deer doe, 150lbs plus, clipped the bottom of the spine and took out the aorta, dropped and bled out before I could walk to it. The bullet went through and through with obvious good results but no impact damage to backstraps (very important).

I would feel very confident about using this bullet on elk within the limitations of the 7x57R.

I would also stay away from the 162gr Hornady SST. Accurate but fragile(?) bullet, irratic performance, sometimes expands perfectly, next time blows up like a varmint bullet.

BR,

The 154 grainer has been my favorite deer bullet since the 1970s. Previously, I used 175 grain in my 7x57s but made the change after reading a comment or two by Harvey Donaldson in Handloader magazine.

Accuracy was as good or better than the 175s and definately beat the accuracy of the 139 and 140 grain bullets tried.

48-49 grains of H4350 starts the bullet about 2800 fps and shoots flat enough even for the Mule deer hunting I do out west.

Have only caught a couple bullets. This one below went stem to stern on a large whitetail buck and was found inside the hide after busting the pelvis.

One thing I noticed about the 175gr Hornady is the large exit holes it produces. I mean I've seen exits I could put my fist through. That bullet obviously expands a lot. Some writers have said that long for caliber bullets tend to open wider because the long shank continues feeding lead into the mushroom as it expands. Presumably that means lighter bullets tend to stop expanding at a point resulting in a smaller mushroom. Whatever the mechanics, I like me some 175gr 7mm Hornadys. Been using the spire points up through last year, but I bought a couple boxes RNs on sale. Haven't tried them on game yet but they shoot pretty good.

My rifle really likes the 154 Hornady SP but, the only deer I've ever lost was with it at a MV of 2600 fps. He was broadside, I shot for lungs just behind his right shoulder, and that is where I hit according to a friend who found him 2 days later. I should have shot for the shoulder. I still use them but, will only take shoulder shots when using them.

Don't know how it works in the 7 x 57, but its all I use in my 284 Win. Some drop where their hit, and some drop a short distance away! Once hunting in Nebraska Sand Hills, the biggest Muley buck I had shot at that time only gave me one shot and I took it. We call it, in Arkansas, "the Texas Bullseye", he never took at step, 300 yards on the nose! Never lost anything yet though, but there's always next time!

Several years ago, Jon Sundra wrote that he had taken more game with that bullet than with any other. Don't know if that's changed in the intervening years, but it's a pretty good recommendation. That was in all 7mm cartridges, from small to huge cases.

Hi,

I have used this bullet in my 7x57s since pre-Interlock days!In fact, my first reloads for any cartridge were for the 7x57 and that pre-Interlock Hornady Spire Point 154 grs!!
Allways works perfect in all game sizes! From Brocket Deer to Red Deer. It is one of my favorites bullets for the 7x57.
2800 f/s can reach with various powders without any trouble. And 2750 f/s or so is about perfect for all: rifle, brass, bullet and game!

Regards

PH

I picked up about 4 boxes of the 154 grain RNs before they quit manufacturing those....

from 140 grains up, 7mm bullets pretty well work regardless.. even so, the 154 RN is my favorite followed by the 175 grain RN..

If I have to flip over and use the SP in those weights, I have no problem...

for accuracy out of my Ruger ( I use to have 2 of them), any of the bullets above 140 grains, my load that worked was 40 grains of 3031...almost any other powder the groups opened dramatically..like 3 to 5 inch groups at 100 yds..

3031 with 40 grains gave me 1/2 to 3/4 inch groups... Go Figure?

but that is what I feed the Ruger... the Model 70 Featherweight is the opposite.. it digests anything thinking it was supposed to be a varmint rifle or something..

you can't go wrong with a 154 grain Hotnady, whether RN or SP..

I have used them often in a .280 and they are accurate and work well.