I am gonna test a bunch of different bullets in my 7-08 and am looking at Swift SCII, Sierra Game King and the Speer Boatail (not hotcore). How do these compare for consistent bullet to bullet manufacturing.

excuse the off topic reply.....I'd go with the Hornady interlock anyday!

I tested the average weights of the Sierra's to Nosler and found the Nosler's to have a the least deviation. +/- 1 vs +/- 3 grains.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
excuse the off topic reply.....I'd go with the Hornady interlock anyday!

x10

I agree with vapodog.

In 284? i only use Sierra or Nosler.

Sierra

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
excuse the off topic reply.....I'd go with the Hornady interlock anyday!

Of course, you're from Nebraska

quote:

Originally posted by scottfromdallas:

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
excuse the off topic reply.....I'd go with the Hornady interlock anyday!

Of course, you're from Nebraska

Well....yes.....but that's not the reason. I've had exceptional accuracy from them and they are the only folks that even make an attempt to lock the jacket to the lead core.

They do it two ways....first by forming an inner ring to lock it in and also the cannelure helps to lock them together as well.

For these reasons I consider them the best.

I don't know that any are better than the other. On your list, I've only had experience with Sierras. They always shot good.

I've only tried Hot Cors from Speer and they have shot well.

The rest of the time I'm playing with Noslers and Hornadys. Basically, they are all good. You just need to play around and see which one your rifle likes.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:

quote:

Originally posted by scottfromdallas:

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
excuse the off topic reply.....I'd go with the Hornady interlock anyday!

Of course, you're from Nebraska

Well....yes.....but that's not the reason. I've had exceptional accuracy from them and they are the only folks that even make an attempt to lock the jacket to the lead core.

They do it two ways....first by forming an inner ring to lock it in and also the cannelure helps to lock them together as well.

For these reasons I consider them the best.

I agree, just messing with you. I'm waiting for my 6.5x55 to arrive. I've already bought 140 grain Interlocks, SSTs and 129 grain Interbonds. Now I just need the rifle to try them out.

Sierra bullets has always been my favourite for accuracy. From my experience the Interlock ring doesnt make Hornadys better hunting bullets than Sierra. For bigger game I prefer TSX or Accubond.

I shot one small moose with a 250 Interlock 35 whelen this year, even at less than 2500 fps at impact it still looked like it was hit by a grenade, and the gun stayed in the car the rest of the season.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael b Freeman:
I am gonna test a bunch of different bullets in my 7-08 ...

That is the only way to know which is going to work the best in your rifle. Some just shoot better in a particular rifle that the others.

As long as you are not trying to use Varmit Bullets on Big Game, they all work real well.

I probably use more Hornady Interlocks than anything, not because they stay together any better, but because they are accurate in several rifles (6.5x55, .270, 7mm Wby. Mag., & .308). For some reason, my lever guns, a 30-30 Trapper & .358 Blr, prefer Speer bullets.

Jim

From the responses it is obvious that experiences vary (or that different people hold different prejudices ).

Among the brands you list, Sierra is overwhelmingly regarded as the most consistently accurate. They are also regarded as one of the least dependable for terminal ballistics on medium to heavy game. If your quarry is whitetails, muleys, or pronghorn, then the Sierras should work well for you on average. As Hot Core says, guns vary in their bullet preferences and I've had a few which wouldn't shoot Sierras well at all.

As to brand "H" mentioned by several, I have two rifles out of dozens that shoot brand "H" well, and neither of those are the bread-and-butter Interlock bullets. I have NEVER owned a gun which shot the "H" Interlocks as well as it would shoot some other bullet -- almost any other bullet. So there, you now know my prejudices. At least they are based on many years of experience (at a benchrest, not a computer keyboard).

For hunting bullets, this is generally the rank of accuracy I have come to expect from the most widely available brands:

1. Nosler, 2. Sierra, 3. Speer, 4. Hornady. 5. Barnes. But as they say, "your mileage may vary". Berger has only recently ventured into the hunting bullet business, and in a rather specialized way, so I don't rank them, just as I don't rank the smaller/specialty/proprietary companies like Swift, Woodliegh, etc. Nor do I rank bullets from Remington and Winchester since they sell only "surplus" bullets from their ammunition loading operations and those bullets are most often trash.

The only premium bullets I have left are Partitions, so my answer may be skewed since I don't own any Swifts. I just never found a need for any of the other premium bullets when I tested tham against the Partition. Now to the question.

I like Stonecreeks rankings except I found the Nosler, Sierra and Hornady bullets to all perform about the same. Speer and Barnes rank behind. The fun part is that in all of my 308s (4) the Hornady 150 RN is the most accurate out to 200 yards of any of the brands.

In the last 40 years, i've found, if i want MAX accuracy, then i'd need a target bbl and match grade bullets and that's Sierra or Nosler match bullets.

For cup/core, i've never found the H bullet to be any better on game than the S bullet, and to be honest, i've liked the Speer Hotcore the best in the cheapo cup/core line of bullets. At this point, i've gotten completely away from the H line. The desideing factor was when i couldn't get them to shoot well in my 280 Rem.. A switch to 145 Hotcores, and half inch groups were the norm. I've taken many deer, caribou and a blk. bear with that bullet, and although it's is a bit on the soft side, it does work.

If i'm serious about my hunting, and i want the best bullet performance, it's NP's all the way. For me, they do everything better in a "hunting" bullet than any others i've tried. Best part is, they are "easily" more than accurate for the job, even at long ranges.

DM

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
From the responses it is obvious that experiences vary (or that different people hold different prejudices ).

Well said. It's not likely that any hunter will shoot so many head of big game that they can conclusively say one is better than another.

I use none ot the choices you list now as the Woodliegh and the GSC are my pick of the bunch but the Hornady Sierra and Nosler all had satisfactory runs in various rifles and calibers.

Personally I will not look at a Swift again. I got a box to try and sectionen one for display and found a serious void that cost any confidence I might have ibn them.


Von Gruff.

quote:

I got a box to try and sectionen one for display and found a serious void

Yep, a bullet like that in the photo will certainly erode your confidence in a manufacturer's products.

Pardon me but you never said what your intended use was for these bullets. Are you shooting squirrels? Deer? Targets? The breeze?
What ranges?
For hunting, I have not had any problem with either Speer or Sierra other than the occasional jacket separation but since the jacket separations were in dead deer, I certainly wouldn't call them failures. Since I live in the Communist Republic of Kalifornia and can now only use non-lead bullets, I haven't used Speer or Sierras for anything but plinking for a number of years.

I would shoot what shoots best in your gun for the game intended.

I don't do a lot of reloading but have a calm respect for Remington's core lokt. It seems to work just fine

quote:

Originally posted by Blacktailer:
Pardon me but you never said what your intended use was for these bullets...

high desert mule deer lead OK trying to get a handle on the most consistent manuf. That swift photo sucks. Looks like I need to spend a few hundred bucks and try 'em all. Interested in boatails for little more reach.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael b Freeman:

quote:

Originally posted by Blacktailer:
Pardon me but you never said what your intended use was for these bullets...

high desert mule deer lead OK trying to get a handle on the most consistent manuf. That swift photo sucks. Looks like I need to spend a few hundred bucks and try 'em all. Interested in boatails for little more reach.

Save yourself a lot of money and buy a box of accubonds.....get on with life!

For match bullets, Sierra.
For hunting bullets, Nosler BT.

For My 338 and 30-06 I use Nosler.

For my 450M Speer

for the 480R Hornady and Speer


T

Of those you listed none. I've given the Scirroccos two chances and they just don't group. The only deer I've ever had to shoot twice at 100 yds, both double lungs was with the Scirroccos. F-em, they're POS.

For high desert mule deer I'd go TSX, I think they function perfectly at 2-300 yards <- that is their sweetspot.

Truth be known, the Interlocks are one helluva bullet, accurate as shit and for whitetail/deer up to 200 yards I wouldn't hesitate to use em at all.

I would stay away from what you listed.Good luck.

If you are hunting deer sized game with a 7mm-08. Use anything that shoots well. Sierra, Speer, Hornady, Nosler. Standard cup and core bullets will work great at 7mm-08 speeds.

If you are going after bigger game than deer, any of the premium bullets should do fine.

You are over thinking this.

Of the three you listed, Sierra would be my choice as LIKELY being the most accurate...IME anyways...

Considering all available my vote goes to the Accubond....

quote:

Originally posted by 900 SS:


I shot one small moose with a 250 Interlock 35 whelen this year, even at less than 2500 fps at impact it still looked like it was hit by a grenade, and the gun stayed in the car the rest of the season.

I dont think that anything I intended to eat should appear to have been hit by a grenade

I like sierra's for deer hunting. I do not like speers at all as I have had problems with them feeding in several rifles unless seated to a short oal leangth. swifts are great for heavy game, but I generally shoot noslers or barnes instead of swifts.

Swift SC II's just suck. Variations as much as .07 gr. Hot cores are O.K. Will take Sierra G.K.'s any day. Accurate, efficent plain and simple. I'm starting to look back at all the money I spent on the so called "hard bullets" and find that the good ól Sierra G.K. killed game just as dead as the more expensive bullets.

Take Vapo's advise and buy the Accubonds. I've had good luck with accuracy, and have killed a few deer with them. A close friend of mine has killed hogs, and a boat load of deer with them. Very good bullet for everything, and you will save a lot of time and money. Go get a box of Nosler Custom's in 140 grn Accubonds. If you like them, then buy some bullets etc. and work up a pet load.

All that being said, don't see how you could go wrong with the Swift A Frame. Dependable, accurate, and built in a tried and true hunting bullet design.

Polymer Tipped: 140 Accubond
Non Tipped: 140 Swift A Frame

Good Luck

If you are just talking about killing deer, then any will do. I would have to say that I give Sierra the nod for accuracy if you are splitting hairs, but I have had them perform poorly on game. I have not shot many Speer bullets, so I really cannot comment. I have always found Hornadys to shoot sub-minute of angle in any rifle that I have owned and they perform well on game.

Try several different ones and pick the one that shoots best.

I've had the best accuracy with Sierras in .338 and smaller calibers.

I must be the only person in the world that doesn't own a rifle that shoots Hornady's well.

Go figure.

quote:

Originally posted by mstarling:
I've had the best accuracy with Sierras in .338 and smaller calibers.

I must be the only person in the world that doesn't own a rifle that shoots Hornady's well.

Go figure.

I guess you didn't read my post above...

DM

In all my 7mm rifles, I prefer the Speer Spitzer in 175gr. I like heavy bullets and I prefer the expansion traits of these bullets. They may not be as consistent as the Noslers or Sierras, but in a hunting gun, I am looking for performance, and I believe the best performance comes from the 175 Speer Spitzer. If I were shooting match, that's a different story.----
Having said all this, I don't own a 7mm-08 that I shoot personally. The only 7mm-08 we have personally owned was a LH Ruger M77 Hawkeye in which we used the Federal 150gr HotCores, and it would shoot less than 1" groups at 100yards. An effective factory round at a good price with good expansion. And very lucky accuracy from a Ruger, which is unusual in a newer M77.

Good luck with your choice. Mike

I just recently loaded 7mm08 using Sierra gameking 140gr SPBT in a Kimber Montana and it shot a ragged 1 whole group with the load I developed...out of a 21" barrel, still almost 2600fps. it would kill any deer out there IMO.