I know there was a recent thread regarding the toughness of the Hornady 154 and 162 bullets. I am aquiring a Weatherby Carbine in 7mm-08 from another campfire member and 154 RN heads from another member. The purpose of this rifle will be a short range deer/bear gun and figuring the 154 RN's will give me quick expansion up to the 100-150 yds i'm looking for in this gun.

Has anyone used these and am I on the right track?

Anyone else using these in a 7mm-08 and if so, any results?

We use 120 BT's for a deer load in a 7mm08 with devestating results.

I load them for my 7mag. I keep them around 2800-2900 fps. I think you will be surprised at how accurate they are. I've shot them in 3 different 7mags and all of them produced groups inside of an inch.

They are lethal. Have no trouble on bone.
I've never recoved one from a deer. In and Out.

The 154-gr RN is a very good bullet for the 7mm-08 or 7x57 Mauser.
My experience has been that they shoot as well as the other 150 and 154-gr bullets out to 200 yards, just as accurate and to the same point of aim.

Don't expect to get more than 2,650 fps out of a 7mm-08 carbine, but that is a good number that works for the 6.5x55mm and .257 Roberts.

There is a whole thread on these 154-gr bullets several years ago.
I have a bunch of loads for them.

Came across a good deal on a quantity of them in the mid ninties.Loaded them up in three different 7x57s,ballistically pretty much a twin for the 7mm08,for myself ,my son,and a friend.They were pleasingly accurate and my friend and I dropped three deer with one shot each,all in the 80-100 yd range,give or take a few.
My favorite bullet for that situation had long been the Hornady 175gr. RN,but I have to admit that effectively there was no noticeable difference.Surprisingly little difference in apparent trajectory out to about 200 yds either.I think I used about 48 grains of IMR 4350 with both bullets.

I use them in my 7x57 #1a, they work great on deer.

I shot them a lot in a 7 x 57 as well, shot some of my best groups with that bullet. Works well on game.

Thanks for the feedback, I have also read comments before on another site that they are more accurate then most think. I found the same thing shooting 180 RN's out of a 30-06 yrs ago.

As far as velocity, out of the 20" tube I hoping for 2600 fps +/- a few

I know it's discontinued and that this is an old thread, but I love that bullet! I stock up every chance I get. Here's why:
Ruger M77 in 7x57 w/ Leupold M8 6x - 5 shot group - 100 yds - IMR4064 - PPU brass - CCI 200 - http://sdrv.ms/19upvRK

I've heard great things about these and picked up a couple boxes each of both the RN's and Spire points and hope to work with them in my 7X57 this year.

Hornady is canning the 154 grain SP this year... and is also "suspending" the 175 grain RN currently.....

guess they want to push newer technology bullets, because "NEW" sells better than stuff that has been proven for decades.....

I never pass up an opportunity to buy them. They shoot great out of my Montana 7-08 and kill probably. Way better than they are supposed to.

I am going to miss the 154SP, great bullet that one of my rifles dearly loves to put into tiny little groups. I don't think that that gun has shot anything but these in a couple of decades.

Both the 154 and 175 Spire Points are temporarily suspended, not "canned."

As Hornady has explained, this is due to the continuing buying panic. While the biggie is rimfire ammo, there's still unprecedented demand for all sorts of shooting stuff. Every company out there is making choices in what to produce, since they can't make enough of everything to satisfy everyone.

As a result Hornady decided to suspend production for lesser-demand bullets--and tell us which ones. At least we know what's going on, instead of being mystified about what's available from many other companies.

Of course, this offends people whose favorite was suspended, often taking Hornady's business decisions personally. This seems somehow appropriate to a 5-year-old thread still containing a post from the legendary Lee24.

Next time they should check with us on here first. We'll let 'em know what to make!

I have a box for my 7mm-08, but didn't get them loaded for this last fall.. Have used other RN bullets and they are great for reasonable ranges..

I bought 4 boxes last yr for my 7x57R. First trip out, they shot about 1.5" on a 6 shot ladder test string @ 100 yds.

Better stock upon any and all RNs if you like them as they are getting chopped from most production lists these days.

I used the 154 spire point on deer the last two years in two different 7x57s. All died quickly and were recovered. Tremendous internal damage. One bullet stuck in the offside shoulder of a buck on a quartering shot. He was DRT. One doe went about 20 yards with both shoulders smashed and everything in between turned to mush. Can't figure how she was able to make it that far. A blind man could follow the trail. I still prefer the terminal performance of the 175 grainer, even at 300 yards, but the 154 does very well.

JB,

I admit my source was from Powder Valley's web site... just placed an order from them the other day, as they actually had powder I use... at least for a couple of hours...

called them today ( as a side note)... and was told that they have had times that the new shipment of a certain powders has sold out in less than 2 hours...

but they are still averaging about 200 orders a day...

I have used them in the past, but have now switched to 145 gr. Speer slugs. Just as accurate and I can get a bit more speed. Still keep in pretty mild, just over 2700 fps with the Speer

I have been meaning to give the Speer 145s a try. What powder do you like with them?

I used the Speer 145s in my 7x57s a couple years. They work, but don't penetrate the tough stuff as well as either the 154 or 175 Hornadys. In the Speers, I prefer the 160gr. The Hot Cors do a little more damage than the Mag-Tips, but both work well.

The 145 Speer Grand Slam has been my favorite bullet for 7mm-08 / 7X57 so far.