I have been shooting 150 gr, Hornady RN bullets in my .30-06 propelled by 57.0 gr. VVN160 for many years to my great satisfaction.
(0,4-0.8 MOA @ 110 Yrds)
Recently I was offered some 150 g. Speer Flatnose bullets at a bargain, so I bought a box to try them. The only difference I can see is that the Speer bullets are slightly more tapered. I loaded five with 55 gr, 5 with 56 gr. and five with 57 gr. N160, same seeting depth; my rifle likes bullets 0,1" off the lands.
When I fired these rounds at the range, I was deeply disappointed; Groups opened up to 3-4 MOA. To end the session I shot a group of 5 Hornady's; from a cold barrel: 0,5 MOA!

I cannot figure out what went wrong here. Is it the quality of Speer bullets?

rifle evidently doesn't like those bullets, although i rarely find speer bullets to give me the best accuracy

The Speer flatnose 150 grain is designed for the .30-30 with its significantly lower velocities. It has a relatively thin jacket and may not perform well at .30-06 velocities.

I have used some varmint bullets from Speer for years, but quit using them on game more than 20 years ago. I found the Hornadys shot better and were tougher than many would have you believe. I also have used Sierra bullets, always great groups, very different characteristics from one style to the next.
If you like decent shooting cheaper bullets look for Rem 150gr CL in bulk.

I shot Speer bullets almost exclusively for competition and hunting for many years. For deer in my -06 the 150gr spitzers performed flawlessly and were very accurate. Only reason I switched is that lead bullets are now illegal in this part of California.
As a previous poster stated the flat nose are designed for the 30-30. They may work if you reduce the velocity to 2200-2300fps. That would make an inexpensive plinking load.

quote:

The Speer flatnose 150 grain is designed for the .30-30 with its significantly lower velocities. It has a relatively thin jacket and may not perform well at .30-06 velocities.

Correct answer.

Statisticians will tell you that a sample of one is not much data. They say it takes a sample of 25 to statistically significant.
You would need to try other Speer bullets in a wide range of rifles to point a finger at the bullet quality. But then you would have to test the same number of other brands to know their accuracy in comparison.

I have an all original 1895 Chilean Mauser in 7X57 that shoots better groups with Hornady 175 grn RN hunting bullets than my scoped Ruger #1 in 7mm Mag shoots with Hornady 162 grn Match HPBT.
Which bullet would you say is higher quality?

quote:

Originally posted by reindeer:
I have been shooting 150 gr, Hornady RN bullets in my .30-06 propelled by 57.0 gr. VVN160 for many years to my great satisfaction.
(0,4-0.8 MOA @ 110 Yrds)
Recently I was offered some 150 g. Speer Flatnose bullets at a bargain, so I bought a box to try them. The only difference I can see is that the Speer bullets are slightly more tapered. I loaded five with 55 gr, 5 with 56 gr. and five with 57 gr. N160, same seeting depth; my rifle likes bullets 0,1" off the lands.
When I fired these rounds at the range, I was deeply disappointed; Groups opened up to 3-4 MOA. To end the session I shot a group of 5 Hornady's; from a cold barrel: 0,5 MOA!

I cannot figure out what went wrong here. Is it the quality of Speer bullets?

quote:

quote:The Speer flatnose 150 grain is designed for the .30-30 with its significantly lower velocities. It has a relatively thin jacket and may not perform well at .30-06 velocities.

So is the Hornady 150 gr. roundnose bullet and that is why I do not understand the difference in performance!

Besides the aforementioned answers the flat nose bullet has a lower BC and it no doubt has a different bearing surface. In other words it's different so I wouldn't expect it to shoot as well until you really wrung it out with different powders and bullet seating depths.

As mentioned earlier, it is not "Quality" it is just a different bullet and your gun doesn't like them. By the way, I also shoot Hornady RN in my '06, the 220 grain, and they shoot wonderfully. Many RN bullets shoot very well and I assume it is about balance. Don't really know.

Because the shape of the 2 bullets is different, and OAL with the Hornady 150 roundnose that is .10 off could mean the Speer flat nose is .30 or more off. Some rifles will shoot any bullet well and others are very sensitive to even slight changes.

quote:

Originally posted by DuaneinND:
Because the shape of the 2 bullets is different, and OAL with the Hornady 150 roundnose that is .10 off could mean the Speer flat nose is .30 or more off. Some rifles will shoot any bullet well and others are very sensitive to even slight changes.

+1

You all are going to think I'm crazy as heck, but listen to this: Have a new 308 Scar, loading up a bunch of 165-168 grain bullets with TAC, 8208XBR, and BLC2; just to see what shoots best. When I was checking dummy rounds with hornady OAL guage in gun, the TTSX, TSX, Nosler Accubonds, Partitions, GMX, A-frames and a few more were all pretty close; maybe 3 thousands off when measuring where Ogive hits rifling. When I checked the Speer Grand SLams, (all from the same box) some were 30 thousands off when compared to other bullets from same box. Laugh but I checked them several times because I didn't believe what I was seeing. So I haven't loaded or shot any yet. The TTSX & Noslers all shot well and I've always had a preference for them anyway but I doubt I'll be using Grand Slams anytime soon.

Anybody else experienced this?