... at moderate Muzzle Velocities.

Who else is still using'em?

Maybe not for an expensive, exotic hunt, but for everyday meat hunting, generally inside of maybe 300 yards.

Inexpensive, and plenty precise enough for both field and range shooting, so one can really get to know them.


Got a pile of the Speer Grand Slams a while back, on a factory rebate, both .277/150 gr. and .264/140 gr..

No complaints.




GR

Still use 117 pro hunters in my 25.06. Have 4 or 5 boxes left.

That is all i load for my rifles. I use 160 gr Grand Slams in my 284, 270gr Speer SP in my 9.3x62, PPU 156gr in my 6.5x55 and Creedmoor, and will be using 235 gr Speer FB in my 375 Raptor this year.

I use Speer HC 250s in my 35 Whelen and Speer HC 200s in my 30-06. I have complete faith in both bullets doing their jobs.

Interlocks

I like the Interlocks and Pro Hunters. The Sierras are hard to find. 7x57, .243, .270 and .375 Win
Have a great day.
Jim

Interlocks, Grand Slams, and Hot-Cors. Works for me. YMMV

All I've ever used and am still using. Hot cores, Interlocks, Sierra's, Core Lokts. I do have and have shot partitions but interestingly enough have never fired them at game. At moderate velocities in todays world cup & core bullets work, just as they have for decades, and are probably more accurate today on average with modern equipment and improved tolerances.

Shouldn't say ALL i've ever used..........I did use a Swift A-Frame lever bullet in a 348 a few yrs back on a doe.

I have had excellent results on Whitetails with .308 dia. Interlocks and Sierra Pro Hunters. both bullets are very accurate with some load developement and on game performance compares very well to some of the other much more expensive "premium" bullets I have tried......Good hunting...Hb

interlocks, pro hunters and hot cores and even Speer varmint bullets (14" and under Contenders and Encores) are great for deer/black bear. i did premium bullets once (85gr Barnes X bullet in 243 Win, it looked like a pencil size wound thru the doe's lungs) and i'll never use them again. i used Nosler BT about 10 or 11 years ago, but then got too expensive and it for 50 bullets, instead of 100 bullets. i leaned to download the BT to about 2800fps, no matter what caliber. for instance, i was using a 270 Win and 130gr BT with IMR4320 that was going 3000+fps. under a 100 yards, the BT was like a hand grenade. it killed deer (lung soup with and without chunks of heart) as long the deer was broadside. the BT never did an exit wound, instead it would fragment into pieces. i slowed down the load and i found the did exit the deer. i don't have a spent bullet, but i did see the entrance wound, the lungs and/or the heart and the exit wound (1.5 - 2" bigger than entrance). i use Hornady SST and i download it to about 2800fps. i have bought 600-700 2nd hand 150gr SP in .284" from Midway and i'll take them out hunting too.

for the past 10 - 11 years, i use cast bullets for deer/bear. the cast bullets are cheap, 2 cents - 10 cents, depends on what caliber you do, i had a bunch of "pure" lead, COWW and tin that didn't cost me nothing. i have bought at an auction a couple or four years ago, 1000lbs or so Lyman #2 CHEAP!!!!

the cup n core bullets have killed game for years and years. the cast bullets, even longer. i figure why start with premiums? i ain't going to Africa either. i'm going for whitetails and some bears.

I've been using the Speer Hot-Cor most of my hunting life and still do. I use the 120gr in my 25.06, the 150gr in the .308 and use to use the 120gr Speer in the .260 rem until they went away and now I use the Sierra 120gr Pro Hunter in that one. The Hot-Cor and Pro Hunter bullets have always been excellent in both accuracy and performance on game. When I found out Speer was discontinuing the .257 120gr i bought 12 boxes and still have about 8 so I'm set with those I just wish I had done the same with the .264 120gr but i did stock up on the Sierra 120gr .264 because they became scarce too. I haven't had any problems finding the 150gr .308's but i still stocked up on those just in case. I've always preferred the ole school cup and core bullets and no doubt my favorite is the Speer Hot-Cor and always has been.

Depends on the cartridge and MV. I use Barnes 85gr TSX in my 243 and 6mm and make sure I hit a shoulder. My go-to for everything else is an Interlock if they make one. They discontinued the .338 200gr so I switched to the 185 and 200 Federal Fusion in my 338Fed.

Frankly, I am trying to shy away from Hornady. Steve Hornady’s stance on the jab was not to my liking and he seems like an arrogant cuss based on a couple of podcasts I’ve watched.

This in spades.

Also use winchester power points. Never had much luck getting accuracy/precision out of speer bullets. Factory federal game shok bullets work good too.

Most of those guys on the Hornady podcasts are idiots. I would not change how I buy my bullets based on those stupid fu cks. At least Hornady has kept the shelves stocked and prices low, compared to other bullet manufactures.

I killed a few deer with the original X’s and liked the 180 30 caliber and the 225 35 caliber just fine. I also have a stock of Nosler Partition 140’s for my son and I’s 260’s. He used one to kill a cow elk and one a nice whitetail buck.
All the rest of my bullets are flat based cup and core. Killed a pile of game with them. Plan on adding to the pile with the same. Loaded 140 Speer, Hornady in the 260; works well. Loading 156 privi in it lately; works well. 180 rn in the old pump ‘06 going north this year. 220 rn in the Mauser here at home. Load 150-180 Hornady spt for the son in law.
So yep. Use them a lot.

I hold high regard for Hornady Interlock bullets in 257, 277 & .308 - I don’t have much experience with the other diameters of Hornady but would bet on performance being great.

Speer HotCor has also been exceptional for me in 130/150gr .277, 150/180/200gr .308, 200gr/.338. I have shot a few of the Speer boat tails but feel they are softer than I prefer.

I’ve shot many deer and several Elk over the years and have never been disappointed in the traditional cup & core bullets unless I drove them too fast - still have a working load with each bullet but have generally moved over to the Partition as the years go on - but really didn’t need to - just felt like changing things up. Now I’m tinkering with mono slugs but only in a few cartridges.

A looneys work is never done & I’m way behind

I have been using the Speer Hot Core 130 grain flat base for the .270 for a while. Mostly at the range because they are about half the price per bullet as the next guy and I like to shoot it a lot. I have been getting good accuracy with them and having a hard time deciding to use them for hunting from now on or use the good stuff like Barnes or Nosler that I know will probably perform better on game.

I’ll be using Hornady Intetlock FB SP bullets out of my .308 Superlite for doe season. Shots are sub-300 yards in the woods where I hunt. I will also be taking a 6.5 PRC with high BC bullets for hunting fields where shots could be to 600 yards.

I don’t think that Hornady 270 grain SP’s are considered heavy in a .375 cal. ……but, kept under 2700 mv, they are a darn good bullet!

When I started running them at 2900+ …… on close range impact I wasn’t pleased! While the did hold together, they lost a lot of weight and had a very wide frontal area…..penetration wasn’t what I wanted. On a 60 (ish) yard shot, broadside into a spike elk, behind the shoulder, hitting only a rib……the bullet failed to exit! When run at a lower velocity…..it would have exited! That’s not much penetration on a relatively small elk when minimal resistance is met! JMO. memtb

When I started hunting the only centerfire rifle that I had was a .30-06. Living in NW Colorado, I used it for everything from prairie dogs to elk. I loaded 125 gr bullets for the prairie dogs, 150 gr Hornady FB spire point Cup & core bullets for deer, and 180 gr Sierra FB spire point c&c bullets for elk. Those kept my freezer full of deer, antelope, and elk meat for about 10 years. That was 50 years ago.

Now I have a safe full of rifles, I find a bullet that each rifle likes, then match the rifle to the game animal. This system works fine when I'm hunting here at home in Montana where I'm usually just hunting one species of animal on each trip. My favorite elk rifle now is my .300 Weatherby shooting 180 gr Barnes TTSX bullets, but, in reality, the elk that I killed with my .30-06 and 180 or 150 gr cup and core bullets 50 years ago were just as dead as the elk that I kill now with my .300 Wby and Barnes bullets.

In the late '70s I built a .257 Ackley for my primary deer and antelope rifle. One of the first bullets that I tried in that rifle were Sierra 117 gr GameKing cup and core FB bullets. I've tried other bullets in in, but I usually come back to the 117 gr Sierras. Over the years, I shot almost all of my deer and antelope with that rifle and bullet, and have also shot several Bighorn rams, a Dall ram, and my 2nd best 6x6 bull elk with them. All one shot kills!

For the most part, bullet placement is much more important that bullet diameter or bullet construction.

My first guided and "high dollar" hunt was for a Dall ram where I also killed a Mountain caribou and a Wolverine...all one shot kills with my .257 Ackley and 117 gr Sierra Gameking cup & core bullets.

When looking back, probably 85% or more of my hunting has been with .30 caliber cup and core bullets, mostly flat based. Probably used more Sierras than anything else back then and still do on occasion. Sometime around the mid 70's I switched to 180 gr. in the .306 and stayed with the 150s for the .306 later going with the 165 gr. Speer Hot Core for the .308. On the rare times I used a .270 I found the 150 gr. Sierra Game Kings shot the best in my rifle. Took a few deer and one antelope with that one. I did try the Hornady and Speer 250 gr. bullets in the .35 Whelen but settled on the 225 gr. TSX for my elk hunts. I did take one elk with the 165 gr. Accubond with a 30-06 which worked quite well. I even used round nosed bullets at times.
PJ

GameKings in 308’s. 150 grain

Used to be for the .270Win, 150 gr. Hot-Cor for load development and training, and then switch to the Partition for hunting.

Now, it's just the 150 gr. Grand Slam for both, and for my hunting, can't tell the difference.

They were ~ $0.22/pop.




GR

Don't wanna hijack this thread, but it's a relevant question if someone wants to answer.

170 grain FP at 30-30 velocities, HotCor or Interlock?

Same/Same or one edge out the other?

Eastern mountain whitetails, and, maybe a black bear if the chance arises. My long time stash of Pro Hunters is running LOW, and they're unobtainium at the moment.

150 grain hot cors in 270. Sierra and hornady 180 grain roundnose in 308.

I have 2 boxes, bullet #2010. Wasn't really looking to get rid of them, but I also am not using them currently. Not gonna give them away but if you're interested at a fair current price I wouldn't be mad about letting them go.

Amen.. I haven't seen much I haven't wanted to at least try..

I really appreciate the offer but shooter to shooter in these crazy times you'd probably best just keep 'em squirreled back. I did find out that they're available again on Sierras site, but the price....dayum they got proud of em.

I have 3 boxes of Interlocks squirreled back and the Hotcores are available from Speer. It's not going to hurt my feelings to check load data on those two and keep em in the library.

Again, thanks for the offer.

Yepper. No problem.

Flat base bullets allow more powder vs boat tails, a little trick I have used on my 308’s.

A youngster where l hunt deer shot a 785 pound bruin with 170 grain FN Winchester super X factory ammo. So basically you really can’t improve the cartridge ballistics by handloading.


https://www.endeavornews.com/articles/big-bear-harvest/

I've used Sierra Speer and Hornady and never had a problem up to animals elk size. Also use nosler bt and partition but can't see much diffference.

Interlocks, old Core Lokts, Hot Cores, in most cartridges.
I've been switching to Hot Cores in caliber and weights where Hornady discontinued same. I'm running out of my stash on CL's, but still have some for the 30-30 and 30-40. For my 35 caliber rifles and 375 rifles, I've mostly sold my premium bullets and am shooting mostly Interlocks and Hot Cores.
I've tried to buy some Sierra game bullets, but they are hard to find.
I've also been shooting TTSX's and am pleased with the accuracy and the lethalness of same.

I’ve used Hornady interlocks on everything from deer to brown bear. Great bullet and usually isn’t fussy about shooting well. These days I’ve been slowly switching to Speer Hot Cor. Used partitions as well in the past, but tough to justify the cost these days. If I’m concerned about penetration I use a TTSX or heavier cup and core.

If the interlock serves you well then why are you looking any farther?

Hot cors are a good bit cheaper these days. Speer bullets are also a bit more consistent. I got tired of buying interlocks for a pet load only to find out the cannelure had moved, or the ogive has been moved forward, etc. I still buy them occasionally when on sale if needed, but my first choice is hot cors.

Speer is cheaper than Hornady. i used to use Hornady Interlocks, but now i'm going to Speer Hot Cores, .323" 170gr semi spitzer and .308" 150gr FN. i bought factory seconds in .284" 150gr SP (Midway, i don't who made them). i bou ght !30gr Speer HP for my 30 Herrett (TC Contender 10" barrel) for hunting deer.

most of my bullets are cast and that is what i hunt with



side note, before i started handloading (30 +/- years ago), i used to use factory loads for my '06 (180gr Remington RN) and my 270 Win (150gr Remington RN)



.

Interlocks have served me well but so has speer hotcor's. Been replacing and buying up more speer due to better price, around 10-20$ difference per box vs hornady up here in Canada. (depending on caliber)

i wait for them to go on sale, then i buy 500-1000 bullets of each caliber.

I fired hundreds of hot cores lots in 7mm 160 Spitzer for years threw the 280 rem, then Speer decided for a while to quit making them... But started making them again, lots of .257 100 gr. spitzerzs from the .257 roberts too. The .338 250gr. Horn spire point was an absolute killer from my .338 win mag. The horn 7mm 175 gr. Spire point wich is now extinct, from the 7 rem mag would just slap deer and elk down.

Nothing really goes wrong with the plane ol' cup n' core bullets when kept in the area of 2900 fps on down for game. In a word, reliable.

I used Sierra pro hunter in several calibers including my 300 win mag. They just work on stuff including moose and elk. Edk

They appear to have a pretty good selection in wts. RE: the .308 offerings.

Which bullet do you like?

Both the .264 and .277 offering, my primary calibers, are singular and std. weight, with nothing heavy.




GR

I’ve used the 150 pro hunter in 06 and 308 win. My pistol in 06 will clover leaf them and have killed deer from 30 to 300 yards. My brother shot a nice doe at 250 with that pistol. Instant death. When we butchered it the bullet was just under the far hide. Both shoulders broke and jello lungs. Needless to say he was impressed. Edk

I find that in general I’m able to get better groups with flat base bullets at ~100 yards. One of the reasons I’m sticking with flat base bullet if I can.
I guess I don’t think shooting much beyond 300 yards as hunting. I consider it shooting. I get as close as I can before I shoot, if it means belly crawling or following ravines or cover, well that’s part of hunting for me.
I shoot prairie dogs, I don’t hunt them.
I was hunting elk in WY a few years ago. Some dude from back East had a shooting bench set up with a camo tent around his set up. He said that he was set up for a 1,000 yard shot…
The people that have to have fast twist rifling and low drag bullets have missed the pleasures of hunting, in my opinion.

Wondering here how the fast twist low drag 1000 yard game shooter fits into the plain old flat base cup & core discussion.

But, some stick bow people cry the same thing about speed bow people, and some speed bow people cry the same thing about crossbow people. It's all just a bunch of pointless crying.

Never really understood the compulsive desire some people have to bitch about what other people choose to do. In the end we are all on the same team.

Was a time when the braggin' was about how close one got to the game.

Woodsmanship and marksmanship.




GR

Nope! Their sport is much more like a butcher shooting a cow in a a chute. Absolutely zero sport. Just killing.

that is why i limit my shots to 150 yards and less. i use cast bullets .286" all the way up to .512". they are FN, LFN and WFN. the gas check is optional. the cast bullets go from 900fps up to 1951fps. where i sit in the woods, 60ish yards is a long shot. 30+/- yards and behind the shoulder is usually where i shoot the deer.

i still use the jacketed bullets sparingly.

270 Win with 140 Hornady SST with IMR4350
30 Herrett with 130gr Speer HP with Reloder 7
8x57 with 170gr Speer Semi SP with IMR4350
7x57 with the 150gr PSP (factory seconds) with IMR4320 (i have 2 or 3 lbs of it)
30 Remington with 150gr Speer FN with H322

I lucked into a bunch of corelokt .30 220grain.


Used em on a bear and a handful of deer so far.

They kill.

-Jake

Hornady Interlocks and Speer Hot-Cors in 257/264/284/308 have always shown excellent accuracy and on game performance, for a very long time, now.

I killed loads of deer with 30 cal corelocks in 165 and 180 no complaints here.

And the correct one.




GR

Grab a bow and arrow, if you think you are a good indian. I'm a smart indian and use a rifle. Those that can't shoot far, don't have to. That is personal choice.

One could spend weeks, probably months, getting in shape to spend most of the day, or days, getting in position on some of the most rugged and dangerous terrain on the planet, on a hunt of a lifetime, to take a 500, 600, 800 yard shot on a Ram or a Goat on the next slope over....and some random irrelevant knucklehead on the internet preaches it's just killing because it's over 300 yards.

Try those 8X57 Speers with CFE223. It wakes the old 8MM right up.

Fly-Sh(t-in-the-Pepper fallacy, don't ya think?

In most cases, one doesn't spend any time at all gettin' in shape, or acquiring either woodsmanship or marksmanship skills, rides their 4-wheeler out to some stand or perch, and then shoots off a rest or table, using their range-finder, weather station, and dialing scope gimmickry.

Sad but true.




GR

Won't say that isn't true in a lot of cases but you're painting with a very broad brush trying to dictate your pompous personal ethics onto others. THAT is the "Fly-Sh(t-in-the-Pepper fallacy".

Back in the days when I hunted with rifles for which you could actually buy ammo or bullets to reload them, I used Hornady Interlock or Sierra Game Kings.

For the last 25 or so years all I've used is home cast. I do still load some cup & core but don't hunt with them. I usually have to swage something down before I can use it in rifles with less than pristine bores.

IF I go this year I'll be using a 56 cal., German, muzzleloading double rifle from the 1850's and home cast round balls....maybe...for a day or so.

For the type of work you describe I use Interlocks with cannelures most of the time. A few Speers and NBTs too.
.223 55 gr FB-SP w-cannelure
.243 100 gr BT I/L - the flatbase is discontinued
.250SAV 87 gr Speer Hot Cores
6.5's 129 gr I/L FB w/cannelure
7mm's 154 gr I/L FB w/cannelure
.308Win 150 gr I/L FB w/cannelure
.30-06 165-180 gr I/L FBw/cannelure
.308Nor 180 gr I/L FB w/cannelure
.300Wby 200 gr SpeerHot Core
.338Win 225 gr I/L FB w/cannelure
.45-70 350 gr I/L FB w/cannelure

What is bein' addressed - is the modern culture of increasing range, for the sole purpose of increasing range, at the Exclusion of woodsmanship and marksmanship.

Which is Shooting, not Hunting.




GR

That's just your opinion, nothing less, nothing more. And from an anonymous random irrelevant individual on the internet.

And, I'm the wrong one to preach to on the subject.

I'm lucky to have some sort of deer season from September to March here. I hunt with my long bow and cedar shafts, because I want to. I hunt with a flintlock I built from scratch and roundballs I cast, because I want to. I hunt most of our rifle season with one of many Marlin lever rifles chambered in a host of calibers best suited for short range and "plain ol cup & core" bullets, because I want to. But if I choose to just sit up on a ridge a day or two and watch the open hollers and ridges on the farm with my 18lb 300WM, big glass, range finder, and slick bullets, I'll damn well [bleep] do it and not even remotely owe you an apology for it.

Well considering that where l deer and black bear hunt there’s less game and less hunters. At one time l’d here shots ring out all day long and see deer everyday. Now it’s not good and for awhile l had to take longer shots. From what l heard grizzlies are putting a major dent along with foredge decreasing causing a population decrease. The grizzlies are being protected by temper tantrum liberals at town meetings in the rockies. So maybe some like to shoot game long range, and that is thier choice. But on the hand some game go high and up some very rough terrain. Shoot em now get them later some do, some don’t.

Just an opinion? Really?

Long Range Hunting

There are entire websites dedicated to it.

It's a culture... or even a cult.

It has driven an entire industry of hyper-precise rifles, artificial rests, range-finders, dialing scopes, and ultra-high-BC hunting bullets.

The point is - at some point, Hunting becomes Shooting, but that's another thread.




GR

So freaking what?

Show us on the doll where the long range hunter defiled you.

Mybe you should just worry about doing you Sport.

Distance has nothing to do with defining hunting. If the deer is 5 yards, and you shoot, always at some point if you intend to harvest it becomes shooting

Hunting - "is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals."

Hittin'em with my truck isn't hunting, either.

At some point - Hunting becomes Shooting.




GR

Both "Ribbon Dancing" and "Synchronized Swimming"... are now Olympic events.

At some point, Hunting becomes Shooting.




GR

and at a Republic became a socialistic state. Seems that's more of an issue than what you people are complaining about, isn't it ?

Shooting is a pretty important part of hunting.

Maybe cats like you enjoy your tag soup too much to even know that.

Here's an idea, let's crowd fund you a huge truck load of cheese to go with that whine.

I'll be working on a new load with a new bullet in my 1971 made Marlin 444T in the next couple weeks. Cup & core 240 gr flat point. Been a hot minute since I did any load testing. Looking forward to it.

Would put it well behind both Woodsmanship and Marksmanship, which are primary components to hunting.




GR

Does it hurt?

If it doesn't, it should.

So you lost the argument.

No reason to be childish about it.




GR

For there to even be an argument in the first place, you would need to bring some degree of logic and reason to the table. Since you can't, there is no argument here to lose.

Hunting - "is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals."

At some point, Hunting simply becomes shooting.




GR

Ok Fudd, you win.

Feel better now?

I hope if the time ever comes that the long range shooters and hunters will have your back despite all the angst and disdain you project their way.

Peace, out.

How about just out?

Looks like you did a lousy job with that gun-cotton suggestion.

Not surprised you fuc ked that up too.

Looks like you did a lousy job ignoring me

Not yet princess, just your alter ego "maser" so far.

Keep trying, you'll eventually get there.

You’re not a boy of his word, you squirrel headed bastard

Yawn.

Etsy has these by the binder full.

Fill one out and submit in a timely manner for consideration.

Feral........what grade are you in?


Second, or third. Man, you need to chill here. Most of us see right through you.

Don't have a problem with you yet, Jr., but we can start one up if it suits you. Maybe you and anothergun can play tag team. Let's go.

Fetal is so above us all, kinda like a false religion, some truth but mainly poppy cock.

anothergun has earned everything he's gotten.

He's never not had the choice to quit being routinely misinformed on most things reloading as many here, not just me, have pointed out in multiple threads.

He's never not had the choice to quit insulting the many that give him solid advice.

He's never not had the choice to quit stalking me around this site, like he's done here.

He's never not had the choice to quit making blatantly retarded comments, like he's done here.

He's never not had the choice to quit sending me likewise blatantly retarded private messages. I mean, REALLY dude? WTF?

When HE fuc king backs off, I will fuc king back off.

Until then, I will berate and embarrass the petty dumb f uck with extreme prejudice every times he opens his retarded yap at me.

Ferret will never right about everything meanwhile people who know better will continue to label him as a loud mouth pip squeeking ass.

I had excellent results with 165 sierras out of my "06.

2800s mv, never caught one

That's a maser tell.

Guys like you would not be missed one bit, and we know you got chores to like milking’, and helpin maw with the churnin’ and such, why you might even help with a mending’ with the women folk ! Now you go on and skegaddle, ya hear.

Blatantly retarded.

You reckon ?

That's what I've been told.

Maybe you do know something’s but there’s one thing you don’t know… how to attract bees, and my boy you’ll never know from the looks of it.