I was wondering how the 250 grain hornady spire point would work in my 35 whelen, compared to the 250 grain speer. ? any of you guys tried it ?
Seems on the posts here guys either swear for or against the speer , I might go for the 225 gr tripple shock, but I can't see where such an expensive premium bullet is needed when I am not likly to push it much faster than 2600, FPS...tj3006

In my Ruger M-77 Mk II Limited Edition 35 Whelen, both the 250-gr. RN Hornady and the spire point shot about 1 MOA, which is as well as I shoot anything, and went 2,550 over RL-15.

It's about as fine a 35 Whelen bullet as there is.


Okie John

I would imagine it would be a great .35 whelen bullet. I shoot the SP out of my .358 Norma Magnum at 2850 fps and it performs very well on elk. I have busted shoulders and recovered nicely mushroomed bullets lying against the opposite shoulder socket. It always results in a very dead elk!

I'm a huge fan of the Hornady 250 grain RN in the .358 Win, though the older bullets were generally a bit tougher. The newer profile is a tad blunter and a bit softer. The Spire point was no more accurate. The Speer bullet also performed well at 2300 ft/sec's initial velocity. I do not believe that a premium bullet is required in a .35 caliber rifle in North America, but I would use one anyway! Most likely a Swift, or Nosler offering.

I have three rifles chambered to the .35 Whelen.
Recently, I did some accuracy testing with bothe Speer Hot-core and Hornady Spire point 250 gr. bullets. The Hornady was slightly more accurate in two rifles at the highest power loading, while the Speer excelled in the other.
Considering that the worst group with any bullet was 1.25" which is more than good enough for most hunting, either bullet would suit me just fine. The load testing was with H-335. I plan on doing more testing with other powders later on down the line.
Paul B.

TJ..I haven't used the speers in my Whelen so I can't comment on them. But I have used the 250gr Hornady Spitzers, and I can tell you that they worked fine for me on 3 large hogs and one deer...

None of the hogs took a step when I shot them...DRT..and I did not recover any of the bullets.. Fine bullet as far as I am concerned.

Z

The Hornadys are accurate in my Ruger, I prefer to hunt with Nosler Partitions and have had excellent results with 250gr Partitions both on elk and on plains game. I tried the 250gr Speers this year for elk as they are also very accurate in my Whelen. Many posters here recommended them and seem to have excellent results with them. I did not have good results with them and would never use them again for elk or any large game. They might be fine for deer but I do my deer hunting in eastern Montana with a 270.

The 250 Hornady in either Spire point or RN are just great. My 35 W or 358 Win have been very effective on most African game and Deer.