Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 7x57 145 gr Grand Slam for elk?

Anybody here have any experience loading the Speer 145 gr GS - specifically - in their 7x57s? Shooting an old Brno carbine, 20 inch bbl, full stock. It does well with the 154 gr Hornady as well as various 140 & 160 gr bullets - Sierra, Nosler, etc., but I recently acquired a box of 145 gr. Grand Slams and am curious to know if anybody else has loaded and used them on elk. Thanks in advance for any comments.

Should work just fine. Years ago I killed I hunted with a 95 mauser in 7x57 and shot the speer hot cores. The 3 or so elk I killed with it all died just fine.

Not the 145's but, I shoot the 175 GS's in my old DWM 7mm Mauser to 2700 fps, would have zero concerns on using them on Elk out to around 400 yards.

Gunner

If you find an accurate load in your rifle I would have no concerns about using them on elk.

I have the same rifle as you,a full stock Brno in 7x57. I have only shot Grand Slams at paper,but I have a couple of buddies in Thunder Bay who hunt moose with Grand Slams. It's their favorite bullet for deer,bear,and moose.

Hey Doc, any idea on what grain grand slams your bud's are using on those critters?

Still trying to catch a 175 in deer or pigs, no luck so far.

Gunner

They shot 30-06s and 300 win mags and used 180 and 200 grain Grand Slams.

10-4, Thanks Doc.

Gunner

Thanks, fellas. I'd rather use the heavier bullets on elk but 145s is what I got, and the load will double for use on Mulies as well. Shots are likely to be close anyway - 150 yards max, and ideally, closer.

In the past I've used 48-49 grs of IMR4350, but I've also got a couple pounds of H4350, so maybe I'll start with that and see how it goes. I suspect they'll be OK.

I know the 140 Federal factory load @ 2660 fps has been sudden death on deer for me, and so have my 154 gr Hornady handloads, and I've killed elk with both, too. I was just curious if anybody had used these 145 gr GS slugs on elk and if so what their observations were. Thanks again for your comments.

How old were the Grand Slams? A bunch of years ago, they switched their design. The old ones, which I still have in a bunch of different cartridges, are great. The "new" one are not so great, at least by comparison.

This has been a great bullet in the 7x57 and .280, in particular in the 145 and 160 grain bullets, and they work just fine. Have no effort in the new ones, though, so I can't speak to them.

Dennis

I got them about a year ago, so I reckon they're the "new" style. What appears to be the difference? Accuracy? Consistency?
Anything dramatic?

The old style Grand Slam bullets were a two core design. At the base of the bulet they had a hard high antimony core while the nose was a pours style like the Hot Cores.
I have a bunch of the old style 160 gr. 7MM GS that I found at a gun show that I might use in my .280 Rem. for elk if the gun likes them. I'd like to use my 7x57 for my elk hunt but shots are mostly way out younder. One our hunt this last janusary, my hunting partner shot his elk as a lasered 317 yards and I shot mine at an estimate 325 to 350 yards. It was snowing too hard to get a laser measurement and the distance was estimated by my partner and the guide.
The elk in the area I unt are quite spooky and most shots are at running animals whether we like it or not.
My partner used a 7MM Rem. Mag. with 160 gr. Accubond and I used my .35 Whelen with 225 gr. TSX bullets.
Paul B.

OK, Thanks for that info.

Ahh the Whelen, that's a sweet round, 'specially for critters like elk.

I'm hunting a resident elk herd on private land this year and the animals are relatively "tame," which is to say they're a little bit more tolerant of humans - but not much. I should be able to get within a 100 yards or so.

I've killed 3 elk with 140 gr Sierra Game Kings and 1 or 2 with the Speer Hot Core, so I guess the GS will be OK as long as I don't take any Hail Mary shots.