I hear a lot of talk about sierra and their accuracy But, seldom do I ever hear any comments about speer bullets. What is your view on them conxcerning accuracy and as a game bullet ?
I bought a Stevens 200 in .243 and want to use .85 grn bullets for both varmits and nothing larger than a BIg north Missouri buck.

I agree....speer doesn't get a lot of press on the forums. Their Grand Slams get slammed now and then and their TBBCs are top of the line and priced accordingly.

That said if you're hunting deer or smaller targets Speer's bullets are as good as anyone's. It don't take much of a bullet to tip over deer and varmints.

I have a bias for Hornady bullets as a conventional bullet but that's just that...a bias. Speer's bullets will kill deer the same.

For varminting it's aweful hard to beat the TNT line from speer. They're great bullets and reasonably priced.

well I just deleted my personal use of Grand slams in my .30-06 cause it does not relate to the velocities of the .243. I however have used nothing but Partitions or Barnes in my .243 for caribou-very effective and accurate. I do however have heard the same with Sierras being exremely accurate and reasonably priced. Speers on the other hand are not exactly or I find not to be superbly accurate for varmit hunting at the supposed ranges that I believe you to attempt. If you reload that would enable you to get most bullets to shoot as good as it gets. the .243 is a very good killer.

I use A Speer bullet in 243 win. A 100 grain BTSP and it has worked well pronghorn in WY.for many years now .that bullet,H4350 powder, fed 210 primer,and Remington case,all makes for A good combo.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
For varminting it's aweful hard to beat the TNT line from speer. They're great bullets and reasonably priced.

Ditto**

In the 50s and 60s I had a love afare with Speer bullets. Only once did they perform badly. I was using my 6mm x .270 IMP with Speer 105 gr semi points and rode into a herd of Elk in Black Timber. A long shot was 25 yards. The hunter was the problem not the bullet. Worst hunting day of my life.Other than that the Speers ALWAYS worked. roger

In my tests of 7mm & .338, I have found them soft, about like a Sierra, not quite as accurate but fine for hunting out to 300yds or so. For antelope & smaller deer, I have no problem using them. For big deer & up, I'll stay w/ my NPs.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
For varminting it's aweful hard to beat the TNT line from speer. They're great bullets and reasonably priced.

An awful lot of people seem to get great results with the TNT varmint bullets, so who am I to argue with success... However, if you do get good results with TNTs, your gun most likely shoots well even if there is quite a bit of bullet jump involved. The TNTs I have looked at (.224 cal 50 grs, and .243 cal 70 grs) have had extremely short bearing surfaces and very long ogives. If you'd want to seat these bullets anywhere close to the lands, your chamber must be close to zero freebore.

So what gives?? Are you in fact seating TNTs off the lands quite a bit??

- mike

I use several Speer bullets and find them excellent conventional bullets. And their TBBC is my favorite heavy duty bullet. I tend to shoot whatever my rifle likes best, Speer, Hornady, Sierra & Nosler.
IMHO #1; Conventional bullets aren't obsolete. They work as good as they ever did and suffice for 85% of all hunting.
IMHO #2; Barnes spends lots of $ marketing their X line because they need to.

I've had wonderful results on deer, hogs and assorted other critters with the 6.5mm, 120 and 140 grain Hot-Core spitzers in rounds ranging from the 6.5mm JDJ through the 6.5-06. And back in the old days, when coyote pelts from this area were actually worth something, I used a great many of the .22 caliber 52 grain soft-swaged hollow point. That bullet, propelled my H4895 in a 22-250, turned in many eye-popping groups and also spoiled me with minimal pelt damage on coyotes as I seldom got an exit on shots inside of 150 yards.

And while I don't view the Grand Slams as among the most accurate bullets across the board, the .30 caliber, 165 grain version is one of the most accurate projectiles I've ever fired in a 20" FP-10 LE-2 in .308 WCF.

As to the TNTs, I am not much of a fan.

As far as performance potential goes Speer bullets are as good as any standard bullet. Back in my younger years I killed some deer with them with a .270 and a 7x57 and they performed Ok.

However I have never had a rifle that grouped Speer bullets exceptionally well. I could always find a Sierra, Nosler or Hornady that shot much tighter groups.

I have noticed that reloaders that shoot Speer bullets tend to be more loyal. I personally think that the hot-core spitzer is the best thing Speer has going for it, I would put more faith in it than any sierra or hornady conventional bullet.

I believe that I would use a 100gr sp over the 85gr for whitetail and 55gr nozlers bt's for varmints. Also like IMR-4350 powder in the 243.

MHO
Larry

quote:

Originally posted by hard luck:
I hear a lot of talk about sierra and their accuracy But, seldom do I ever hear any comments about speer bullets. What is your view on them conxcerning accuracy and as a game bullet ?

Hey Hard Luck, The accuracy depends on the specific rifle and the Method used to Develop the actual Load. Some rifles like a specific manufacturer's Bullet and some don't. And some shoot one weight well and won't shoot another one well at all.

No doubt at all that Sierra makes Bullets that are normally quite accurate in most any rifle. But, I have fine accuracy with Speer Hunting Bullets too. Normally get them to average in the 6s when my concentration is up, but I feel sure "I'm" the limiting factor today.

quote:

I bought a Stevens 200 in .243 and want to use .85 grn bullets for both varmits and nothing larger than a BIg north Missouri buck.

Speaking from a good bit of experience using that bullet, they will perform great on the Varmints. Just looked and have 2.5 boxes on the shelf and they do just great in my rifle.

However, I've been thinking a good bit about it since I saw your post and don't believe I've used one of them on a Deer. I have used 85gr Nosler Partitions and they do OK for that weight. But, I can't recommend the 85gr Speer on Deer.

My current 243Win Deer Load uses the 90gr Speer Hot-Cor and it seems to work just fine. Hard to describe penetration on Deer unless you have seen a Bullet do something you didn't think it would do.

I remember one Buck who came strolling out just before time to quit shooting. It was facing directly toward me at about 70-75yds. It lowered it's head and the 90gr Hot-Cor centered the spine just above the withers. When skinning that Buck, I noticed the bullet destroyed a bit over 6" of Spine and then dropped on inside.

I would say that is as good as any 100gr bullet I've used in a 243Win, including Partitions. So, it has become my prefered 243Win Deer Bullet.
---

Nothing at all wrong with 70gr and 75gr bullets for Varmints, but that 85gr is really a fine Bullet.

You might want to simply "Zero" your scope for the Bullet you choose to use for Deer. Then when you switch to whatever bullet you select for varmints, re-adjust the scope for the Varmint bullet and write those Scope Settings on your Load Data Sheet and Bullet Box for them.

If you go this route, when switching between Loads go two clicks past where you want to be and then back-up those same two clicks.

Example: Let's say you have the Scope "Zeroed" for your Deer Bullet - 0 up and 0 left. And your Varmint Bullet is 4 down and 5 left.

When going back to the Deer Load setting from the Varmint Loads, go to 2 up and then back to 0 up. And go to 2 right and then back to 0 left. That works real well for me where I have multiple Loads developed for one rifle.

I don´t have much experience with Speer, but have used myself their 110 gr SP in a .308 for beaver hunting. And it is a very accurate and good killing bullet. I have also loaded their 270 gr 9,3 bullet, with good results on moose and bear. But like many others I try many new bullets all the time, that is the fun part being a handloader. But I understand too that if I kept to just one or maybe a couple of bullets the rifle would always be ready for hunting situations, but I don´t mind taking a trip to the range for sighting in. Even that shooting is good practise before the actual hunting takes place.

I've had spotty sucess with speer over the years. Some good more bad. When i get a good load it seems to be really good, but all to often they seem to pattern instead of group

when i first started reloading in the later 70''s i shot nothing but speer bullets, i was thrilled when i could keep my 325 yard group inside 10 inchs on an old 5 gallon gas can,those were 270,130 grain boat-tails and they never let me down. i''m in my late 40''s now and its even more fun,speers hot-cores have really impressed me , a friend drew his bear tag after a 8 year waite, we picked some bullets at random for testing his 708 in an encore handcanon, i loaded up some 140 partitions 130 speer hot-cores, 139 hornady bt''s sierra 140 bts and 130 bt barnes x,we shoot them for accuracy and penatration threw 4 one gallon water jugs lined up back to back,and caught them in a box filled with rags,results were wow, the boat-tails all turned to shrapnell, the barnes was the best the partition fared well as expected but the sleeper of the test was that speer 130 hot-core bullet,it wasn''t 2 far behind the partition in weight, i''m not putting any ones bullets down but the test was an eye opener, like a poster above said heck loading all kinds is half the fun, my friend shot his bear with the x boat-tail 130 ended up being to small 4 all the years waite,and he ended up useing the 130 speer as his deer bullet in his encore, please don''t get me wrong all the other bullets shot great threw his encore. regards 2 all.jjmp

My wife and I have killed several deer and she killed several antelope with a 243.
We used 100 gr. Sierra and 95 gr Nosler Partitions.
Never felt the least bit under gunned even on Colorado mule deer. However we always used the Nosler Partition on them.
And I would recommend you do the same on any BIG bucks you hunt.

The only Speer rifle bullets I buy are 52gr FBHP for the mini-14. I have used some Gold Dot's in the pistols. They made a bad impression many years ago and I've never had a reason to go back. Nate

I like 'em. I have used them.

50gr .224 TNT's are especially good for explosive expansion on varmints.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Speer 350gr Mag-tips work great in my 416 Rem mag.

I've had excellent results from Speer hunting bullets. I love their 235 gn. semi-spitzer in my .375 H & H. Recovered one of those from a Zebra. It had entered in the right shoulder, and was found "pressing out" a bulge just under the hide on the opposite side. Perfect mushroom and great weight retention.

My experience seems very consistant as described be RDub above. They seem to perform fine on game but their accuracy seldom seems to be the best out there.

Some of the best groups I have ever shot with my .222 and .223 have been with Speer TNT's.

Seems no one mentions the Mag Tips very much. I've just decided to use the 180 gr in my 300 Win, as they shot better than anything else so far.

Since it touted as a tougher jacketed bullet, I think I'll give it a try on Plains Game this year.

I tried the 200 grain SP with a reduced load for the .338 WM and accuracy was very good, better than Sierra's 215 grain bullet. In fact, I couldn't do better with the Nosler BTs.

165gr Speer Hot-Cor works really good in my .308. 1/2in groups. My son nailed a deer this year, dead center zero at a ranged 252yds, entrance and exit, out like a light....best of all???? Price is Right!

One of my accuracy test loads for the 3006 uses 150 gr flatbase speer hotcores and 4064 powder. If a rifle wont shoot with this combination it likely wont shoot. Same with the 308 and 165 gr flatbase hotcores and 4064. Works in most 308s. Additionally both of these work really well on deer. Always expand and always penetrate, at any shootable distance. I have also found the 25 cal speer 120 gr hotcore and the old H4831 to be very accurate in the 25-06 but I found them to lack penetration at the velocities of my first 25-06.. Havent tried them in my second which is 200 fps slower. Havent tried them in other calibres.

I am still shooting 150-grain Speer Grand Slams in my .270, after loading two boxes of them for an elk hunt to Idaho in 1997. (Don't get to hunt a whole lot any more...)

But I will say this: the Grand Slams have performed extremely well for me over the years, with two glaring exceptions: I had a 150-grain bullet out of an '06 enter a doe in the hill country about ten years ago, turn and come back out the entrance side, breaking the lower leg. Engine room damage killed the deer, but I couldn't explain the way the bullet acted...

The second was one of the 150s I am using up, on a bull elk. It came apart. All we found was a 39-grain piece of antimonial lead against the off-side skin. The elk died, but the bullet disintegrated on its trip through the heart and lungs. I think it was a design not strong enough to hold together on 24" of dense muscle.

Other than that, I have had them literally pulverize a 240# barren sow's neck, leaving a hole the size of a softball, have had un-countable punch-throughs on whitetails and pigs, as well.

So all that to say this: deer and hogs, yes, especially if you are going to shoot the pigs in the head. And I would use GS, not their Hot-Cores. Anything any bigger, shoot TBBCs...

I'm very happy with Speer bullets, and shoot several of them.

My Marlin 336A 30-30 (1973 microgroove 24 " bbl) shoots .308 Speer 170 flatpoints into honest MOA 100 yard groups with 32 grains/WW748.

Speer 165 gr .308 flat base are .4 or better moa in my Rem 700 308 Win VS (I have shot flies on my 100 yard target with this bullet, 42/4064 for powder).

I have a Rem 700 Varmint special in 222 Rem that shoots the plain ol' 50 grain flat point .224 spitzer into .6 moa groups, and does its job on woodchucks for me. The 50 gr .224 TNT shoot about the same.

I am actually trying to line up a sale of a 1960's Rem 700 bdl in 30-06. I have been dreaming about setting up this gun for a "classic" configuration (what ever that means to various people). I've been dreaming of mounting a simple Leupold 4x fixed scope on it to shoot 180 grain round nose Speers. Don't really know why, but that's how I pass the time driving to various customers.

If I didn't like the bullet, I wouldn't be including it in my "day dream" sessions.

Speer=good