I have always used Noslers (partitions and accubonds) in my 7mm Mag but they are getting really hard to find. However I do know where I can get 160 gr Sierra Grand Slams for $21.00 a box and was thinking about giving them a try. I have never loaded Sierras of any sort and am looking for opinions on them for mule deer and elk to see if it is worth my time to get a couple of boxes. I have a lot of IMR 4831 on hand.

Grand slams are made by Speer. Is that what you are asking about?

Speer makes Grand Slams.I've used the older dual core Grand Slams and they worked great in my 7mag.I used both the 160gr and 145gr bullets.The 160gr were very stout.They made a fairly tight wound channel.I shot a deer though both shoulders and it punched right though with minimal meat loss.Overall I liked the 145's for deer.Here are a couple of 145gr I recovered after making a good bit of bone contact.

I used the 120 grain Grand Slams in my 25-06. They were great on deer and pigs.

Mike,
what was your load with them? as goo as your 150 NBT laods worked in my 7 mag i may try your grand slam loads too as i have a bunch of the 160s around

Yeah. That's what I get when I post something before I have enough coffee in my system.

I loaded 65.0grs of IMR 4350 with the 145gr and 62.5grs of IMR 4350 with the 160gr.These days I load 66.0grs of Reloader 22 or 67.5grs of Reloader 26 with 160gr.

Ha ha. I hear that.. So if you are asking about the Speer grand slam, it is a great bullet. Works very well on deer and even elk. My good gunsmith buddy only used the 130gr grand slam in his 270 for elk hunting and he says, "he's never lost an elk". Its funny because I asked him once why he didn't use a 150gr grand slam in his 270 and he said because the 130 always worked so well, no need to switch.. Now, I'm still not sure if you are asking about Speer's or Sierra gamekings? However, either bullet will work well on elk out of your 7mm... Also at $21/box, you are doing very well. I'd buy all I could get my hands on at that price..

Mac, be aware that there are two different Grand Slams, the first were the dual core and we're supposed to perform like Partitions; current manufacture are a more of a conventional c&c design although they may be pretty "tough". If they are the old ones in the clear amber colored boxes, $21 is a steal.

Speer Grand slams seem to perform well on game but I never could get the accuracy out of Grand Slams that i get from other well performing hunting bullets.....Good luck...Hb

The first grand slams were very bad. But that was over 40 years ago. They are now pretty good people say. IDK, the first box of grand slams was the only box that was in the late 70’s I believe.

Well I bit the proverbial bullet and bought 3 boxes of the Grand Slams at $20.99 a box. I figure 50 or so for load development and then 100 for hunting if I run out of Accubond loads.

Hopefully they are the ones in the plastic amber colored box. I remember those in the 80's and 90's, they were pretty damn good bullets.

I have 2 boxes of the 180's in the Amber slide top boxes. Going to load them in my 300 H and H for a Dec. bear hunt. I'll have zero worries about my bullet selection.

I like the GS's so much I have 250 6.5mm 140's for my Swede, 250 7mm 160's for various guns.

I think they are a lot better bullet than a lot of people give them credit for.

I ran into a guy at a gun show while I was setting my table up and he was selling all his bullet supply as he was getting out of shooting altogether. I asked what he wanted for the bullets and he said $10 a box. I came home with 5 boxes of .270 Win. Nosler Partitions 7 boxes of 160 gr. 7MM old style Grand Slams plus 5 boxes of the newer version GS bullet.Then there were 6 boxes of 180 . Nosler partitions and a box of 165 gr. Accubonds. I forget what else I go but it did shoot a hole in my gun buying money. I guess I should add that this was about three years ago. The 165 gr. Accubond did a number on an elk I shot on one of my last hunts. One shot DRT.
PJ

I love deals like that. Yesterday I was at a shop and found a partial box of 180gr Nosler partitions. They had them marked at $14.99. Got home and checked them and there was 43 bullets in there. Not a huge deal and a hell of a lot better than what they are wanting for them these days. Also bought a RCBS die set (22-250) because one of my buddies is getting in to reloading and he just bought one of my 22-250's. There was extra stuff in the box with the dies, like extra shell holders and decapping pins. That was well worth $20..

My results with two Speer Grandslams have not been good. The 145gn 7mm bullet shot woeful in my 7x64 which is my most accurate rifle. Two other bullets will shoot under half an inch at 100m (110y)but the GSs went into 3 1/2 inches. I tried them in another 7mm rifle and they shot worse than the rifle normally shoots.

The other is the 140gn 6.5mm. Again, they shot worse than other bullets in my 6.5x57, going into a bit over two inches where several other bullets have done 1 to 1 1/4 inch. I'll use them on pigs where shots are mostly under 100m.

But in my opinion, I doubt I will buy any more with so many other better shooting bullets available.

Just goes to show the different things rifles like. Most accurate load in my Ruger #1 RSI is 50.0 grs. of H414 and a Speer 145gr. GS. Chrono 2850 out of a 20" tube. MOA all day.

Grafs blew out .375" 285 gr GSs. So I bought a bunch. They're just OK, accuracy wise, about 1.5" for 3. The 270 gr Speer BTSP groups in about half that from my GG.

+1!

I use both the 145 and 160 grain Speer Grand Slam in my 1885 Browning Single shot in 7Mag. The 130 Grand slam in my .270 is very accurate, but the 7 Mag is where the GS really is accurate. The 145 loaded with max charge of IMR 4350 shoots .5 MOA all day long. The 160 is almost as good. I used the 160 and that single shot to take a west Texas mule deer at 603 yards. He dropped like he had been pole axed. I haven't noticed any difference between the old version and the new version when performing on game. Axis deer and whitetails still get killed.

I've been loading the new 145's primarily for my 7 Mag, but I still have a yellow box of the old 160's sitting on my loading bench. I may use them again one day.

I've had good luck with 100gr. 6mm GS's. Accurate and they've held together for complete penetration on whitetails and antelope. My son started out with them thru his 6mm 788 and still in his .243 Sako. My niece used the same 788/ bullet on two cow elk back in her starting out years. One shot each.

Have a pile of current production GS bullets:

.277/150 gr. (270 Win)
.264/140 gr. (6.5x55mm)

$0.22/pop w/ the Speer rebate.

Couldn't be happier.

Just don't over-stress'em, and they perform beautifully.




GR