Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Firsthand Experience w/ Speer 85 BTSP in 243?

I have a 243 Win that has been pissin me off w/ deer bullets. Please don't offer your opinions on what I ought to try as I've run quite a few and this bullet w/ RL17 is the first I've managed to get under 2.5 MOA so I am done playin (unless you count a rebarrel as playin).

Has anyone killed a deer w/ this bullet/cartridge combination? I want to make sure I can feel ok loaning this rifle/load combo out to friends who need a rifle.

Thanks all,

Efw

what make/model?

Savage 110 w/ Stevens take-off.

Tried 87 Vmax, 95 NBTs & VLDs, and 100 gr CLs. Was VERY disappointed that the NBTs didn't work. Sure woulda thought that the 1 in 9.25" twist woulda stabilized em!

It is bedded, free floated and trigger job.

Got a good load w/ 4350 & 80 gr PSPs as well as 75 gr Horn HPs & Rl15, so lighter seem to be its preference.

yikes!

have you looked at getting a different barrel? they are super easy to swap and often can be picked up for 50 bucks or so.

but to answer your question, yes I have had good luck with the 85's
37 grains of varget.

let me know if you want to sell the rifle

85 sierra hpbt's, 37 gr varget, works every time. want me to send you some to try?

I don't know ,but i tried npt. in 25-06 an 270 with no good groups up an down the powder chart. with sierra or hordany no problem in my Savages

I tried the Sierra 85 btsp in my Savage 110 rifle chambered in 243 Win. The bullet was reasonably accurate (Hornady 100 gr interlock soft point was superior). Our deer in Tennessee are of the Virginia type averaging from 100 to 150 lbs. The bullet killed deer with the longest distance being 150 yards. The bullet made mush of the lung area but did not hold together. Fragmentation disappointed me and I went back to 100gr sp. The deer were just as dead and did not run any farther using the Sierra bullet. Just my preferance for a bullet to hold together.

Yeah remember when I talked to you about your 25-06 barrel ? This rifle started life as a 270 (that is to say it was made to be a donor ) then it was a 338-06 then I decided to sell that barrel as seed for the rifle it is now . It was my intention to loan it to my boys as a first centerfire but it frustrates me! Fortunately only the action is bedded up to the lug & Northland Supply sells Stevens take-offs brand new for $85 so that is likely in its future, at least if Midway's shipment of SS Shaws doesn't come in first. Right now I just want to get it up and running for a friend's deer hunt this fall.

How's that for the unabridged version?

Matt- thanks for the offer on the 85 gr HPBT Sierras. I have several hundred & tested them from my 6-250 into water-filled laundry soap containers a month or so ago. Don't know how old they are (that is, if the design has changed) as I got em from a guy in the classifieds here, but dang... It stopped in the second jug and all that was left was lead dust and jacket shards! This was with a start velocity of approx 3300 fps & impact at 100 yds. I am sure my batch would work fine on quartering away shots (my preferred shot) on deer, but crazy frangible for shoulders or where penetration is necessary. Like I say I am loaning out the rifle so I am going to leave what I have left of them for yotes!

In that sense I'm like hunt4646 I guess; especially when I am not the one using the rifle and can't coach the shooter on proper placement.

I am glad to hear the Speer 85 gr BTSP is ok on deer. I had a lb of RL17 around from back when it was the latest thing. It didn't do anything better than other powders in any of my rifles till now. I don't know if I'll get to chrono or jug test em and don't want to set up a friend who is new to hunting for failure & sour him forever!

Thanks again all!

I shot deer and antelope with the speer Spbt. I shot a hot load of IMR forty three fifty with win primers, for the life of me, I can't remember the load, it was over forty three grains with a win primer.

The speer btsp is tougher than the eighty five sierra that everybody raves about, I shot deer and anteolope with it also.

Today, R number nineteen would be my first choice starting off at forty five grains and working up with a win primer.

I like to shoot deer through the shoulders and the speer worked well for that purpose.

By the way, your barrel has plenty of twist to stabalize the Ballistic tip, you just have not found the right load.

In my seven hundreds, forty three grains of IMR forty three fifty is the mack daddy load with a win primer.

Good luck

Thanks Keith. W/ the 95 NBT I've tried RS-Hunter & RL19 but not IMR-4350 yet. Groups have showed NO PROMISE WHATSOEVER. Just insane to me! I mean turkey load patterns vs "groups".

I tried 4350 w/ this 85 and got to maybe 2", but interestingly it was RL17 that gave the least bad groups w/ the VLDs (2.5" vs 3-4"?) and then yesterday VIOLA 1.25" or so using a just under max load of RL17 under these 85s w/ RP LRs in Win cases.

I'll play more I've just never had to work this hard! I'd love a SS 8"-twist 243 AI at some point...

So many lusts, so little money !

Thanks again all,

efw

Most of my work was in the 6mm Rem but I used the 85 gr. Speers with IMR 4895 for groundhogs, they were very accurate. I never ran them on deer as I long ago settled on the 100 gr. Hornady Spire point with IMR 4350 when loading both the 243 and 6mm for deer.

Dale

My son took a nice doe with the 85 grain Speer BTSP last year. He's picked up the habit of neck shooting from somewhere, but the deer he shot dropped where she was standing. I know a sample of one is of little use, but there it is.

Oh, the rifle was a .243 chambered 700 Remington BDL.

Eric, I've not tried the 85 Speer BTSP, so can't help you there. I have read a few accounts of guys using them on deer and don't recall any horror stories.

I've got a couple dozen 90 gr Speer HotCor bullets if you want to give them a whirl. FWIW, they shot pretty well in my Ruger. Only killed one deer with them-close range shot behind the shoulder of a pretty little forkhorn. Full penetration with no blow-up. Seems to be a sturdy bullet.

also, have you tried the 70 grain BT?
I know they aren't rated as a hunting bullet, but I've used them on WT and antelope with great success, DRT on all of em. pushing them around 2900 fps

I took several deer with the 85gr Speer BT back in the 80's. It worked fine. IIRC, Speer advertized it as a game bullet, not a varmint bullet.

Great minds... That is exactly the projectile I intend to try as soon as the season is over. Dober has said good things about them too... Through an 06, no less!

Scott- thanks for your offer, but I actually have a box of 90 gr HCs that run beautifully through my 6-250.

Thanks all! I am going to stick w/ the 85 BTSPs this season then play... Maybe some 80 gr GMXs too?

wow- didn't know it was giving you such fits. Sounds like it is going to have to be your best bet at this point as you likely wouldn't want to loan a rifle that could not shoot as well. Took a look at the usual suspect sights and found nothing negative on this bullet.

Has the 80 gr deep curl come out yet? Might solve the problem. I have used the 85 gr hpbt at about 2900 fps at the muzzle (light load) and it worked fine.

I do believe I have unraveled at least part of the mystery.... After getting such exceptional accuracy with it under the 85s and thinking through Keith's comment that I'd merely not found the right load I tested 100 gr CLs w/ RL17 and VOILA!!

Hopin like crazy the same thing happens with the 95 gr NBTs!!!!

Ive taken three deer with that bullet in a .243...it killed them all. retained weight was nothing to brag about. VERY accurate though...