Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Opinion on Speer hot-cores......

I searched and found a few old threads comparing this bullet to others but what are some honest to goodness opinions about this bullet and how they perform on game, specifically deer.....I am thinking about loading some 120's up in the .260......thanks.

120gr.Hot-cor's in a 260 will be just fine.
Prolly as good a bullet combo as you can get.
I've killed a few whitetail with a 6.5x55 Swede
with this bullet,breaking bones,with perfict results.
Bart

No experience with the 120 but with the 140 my son has taken quite a few white tails with his swede and never a problem..

The Speer 120 has been the cats meow in one of my 260's. Loaded over RL-19, it is a pure tackdriver. Taken a bunch of deer, one antelope and a few turkeys. My dad always says it looks more like an '06 did the deed, not a 26 cal.

The antelope was a good test of the bullet. The shot was 220 yards, in a driving crosswind in WY. The shot was broadside, hit the shoulder, passed through the spine where it dips down, passed thru the other shoulder and the jacket was lodged under the hide on the far side. Some may say it failed due to core and jacket coming apart, but it passed through a lot of bone to do that. That is the only one I have recovered. That bullet has slayed a lot of deer in Menard county and 1 in Kansas.

So it sounds like a reasonably dependable bullet for medium game...figure I can possibly get 2950 or so with some H4350 in the .260 of thereabouts since I'm new to this reloading game...

I tested them pretty extensively out of a 6.5 JDJ carbine into wet and dry newsprint and was favorably impressed by them. The only 120gr. bullet I though performed better was the Nosler BT, but they cost about twice as much. I've never had a chance to turn the 120's against any game, I've had such great luck with the 160gr. bullets I have yet to convinced myself to try anything else.

I've used Speer HC's in 243, 270, 7mm, .308, 35W, & 350. I have found them to be very accurate and equal in performance to Rem CL and Hornady IL.


Don't have a 6.5 so I can't speak from experience but I sure wouldn't hesitate to give them a try based upon their performane in my other calibers.

WN

I haven't used a Speer Hot Cor on game yet, but after failing to get several fancy 139 and 140gr plastic tipped, color coded, bonded core, Interlocked ultra bullet in my 7x57 to group under an inch at 100 yards, some plain old 145gr. Speers formed a 4/10" clover leaf - twice. I hear at 7x57 type velocities, one can't do much better than Speers for deer.

The .25 cal 87gr Speers out of my old .250-3000 work just fine, thank you.

My only experience with Speer Hot-cores is with the 165 gr. 30 caliber in a .308 Win. I've only recovered one bullet from all the deer I've shot with it and that was a frontal shot to the chest. The bullet was recovered against a back leg bone which the bullet broke. The bullet, having traveled almost the full length of a mature Mule Deer retained 65 percent of it's original weight. The only bone encountered was the back leg bone.
Paul B.

My 257AI doesn't like partitions. So for the last 10 or 15 years, the 120gr Hot Core has been my main deer bullet. 5 or 6 deer every year, always stellar performance. Velocity is about 3050 fps.

Does anyone have field experience with the 145 Hot Cor (7mm) in comparison with the other standard bullets (Interloks, Gamekings)?

I have loaded and used Hotcores in 6mm-.35cal (9mm) for several of my own hunts, and many friends, for 40 years.

In rifles for deer, there are no bad bullets from 85gr .243 BTSP to 250gr .35 SP's.

I have one friend in NC who uses the 7mm 130gr for everything in his 7-08 and 7mm Mag.

I think that selection of elk bullets is different than deer bullets, but the heavy Hotcores from 6.5mm up would work on elk no problem.

I don't use them exclusively, and I have NP's in every caliber I load for, and Sierra Game kings, and Hornady Interlolcks. But my loading bench would be empty without a spread of Speer Hotcores.

I used them in my 3006 for about 3 years, good accuracy, never recovered one form a whitetail, every one that I shot at died, and none required a second shot.
Good bullets.

I have a 7wsm that I am getting just under 3100 fps using the 145 gr Hot Cor, with good to very good accuracy. I haven't tried them on game yet. Do you think these bullets will hold up sufficiently at this velocity? I am just a little nervous. Any 7 Mag users have any experiences?

I have used 120 gr speers in my 260 for the past 3 years. I have had no problems on several coyotes and deer at various ranges. They shot better than any other 120-125 gr bullet I tried in my Rem mt rifle, I also use reloader 19 as stated above.

Gmoney,
Speer Hot Core was my first choice for Whitetails with my 30/40 Krag.They performed flawlessly but I now use Hornady Interlocks ONLY because they are more accurate in my rifle.
Speer Hot Core is the right medicine for Whitetails.
Frank

I like the Speer Hot Core for Whitetails

bludog,

I took a couple of PA mountain deer with a 145 grain speer flat base out of a 7mm Remington mag several years back (2950fps). One shot was a broadside shot to the heart from 80-90 yards.
Deer dropped at the shot (no exit wound found, no bullet recovered, internal organs were really torn up). The other deer was taken facing right at me, at most 75 yards. Neck shot, deer dropped, big (and I mean big) exit wound. I have no idea how a shot that hits shoulder bone would work out with the 145 Speer, but I do know that the .30 caliber Hot Cores work well on such a shot, especially the 165 grain flat base in out of a .308 Winchester.