The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Rifles Big Bores 375 H&H Speer Nitrex 285 grain Grand SlamGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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I just got a box of this ammunition from a guy who bought it to see what 375 H&H ammo looked like and I want to know what it's good for. (I paid $10 for the box) Is it a soft bullet for plains game? I have my handloads for Namibia, should I just bring it along for a gift for my PH? Frank "I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so.....He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money." - Robert Ruark, Horn of the Hunter, 1953 NRA Life, SAF Life, CRPA Life, DRSS lite | ||
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Wow, ten bucks for a box of .375 H&H is the dest deal I've heard of in a while! Did this guy buy any other ammo just to look at?  While I haven't shot any Grand Slams myself, I have a friend who swears by them and would tend to think they would be fine for plains game, especially in a .375. I'm sure your PH would be glad to have them. | |||
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I've had excellent luck with the 285gr Grand Slam. I think they hold together about as good as anything out there. They are a real good bullet in the .375H&H. | |||
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My personal experience (albeit limited) with grand slams in smaller calibers has not been great at all. Mostly poor accuracy!!! They might be an excellent bullet but there's nothing premium about them and for the cost of an African Safari I want the best bullet I can get and that means a bonded bullet.....something like A-Frames, accubonds etc..... IMO you gave $10 for a box of .375s....and that's what they were worth. The Nitrex were sold in a box of five.....I assume you mean a box of five.....and that was a lot! /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill | |||
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It is a box of 20. He offered me three boxes of 300 WSM Winchester black box and two boxes of 300 WSM Winchester silver box for $60 and threw in the 375 H&H ammo for an extra $10.  Frank "I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so.....He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money." - Robert Ruark, Horn of the Hunter, 1953 NRA Life, SAF Life, CRPA Life, DRSS lite | |||
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Grand Slams are bonded bullets...hotcore technology. They were bonded long before a lot of others were. They also use thick jackets near the base and fluted jackets near the tips so you get controlled expansion. I do however, like the partition and Accubond a bit better. | |||
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NO....they are not bonded! /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill | |||
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The Grand Slam is a good bullet. Be sure to shoot the ammo in your gun. I picked up 4 boxes a while back from my gunsmith. He had a customer who sold his 375 because it wouldn't shoot. I bought his left over consignment (Speer Nitrex) ammo and they wouldn't shoot in my 375 either (8" group). I was disgusted - pulled the bullets and weighted the powder and found a variance from 73-80 grains. I remade the ammo with the same powder weighed out @ 76 grains and got 1 1/2" groups. Good bullets - suspect ammo. | |||
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Vapo...educate me of the differences between say...the nosler accubond and the speer grand slam. As I understand, they use a different means to accomplish the same end product. A bonding of the core to the jacket. Neither use the old cup and core method like Sierra or Hornady. I do agree that the Accubond uses a better bonding process than the Grand Slam...but they are both bonded core bullets. | |||
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NO....absolutely not.....the Grand Slam is not a bonded bullet.....Hot core is not a bonding process....it's just another way of getting lead n the jacket. As far as I know the only bonded bullet Speer makes is the TBBC...(Trophy bonded bearclaw) and they are truly expensive!!! Swift sciroccos and A-Frames, Remington ultrabonded, Hornady interbond, Nosler accubond, some of the woodleighs, the former Northforks, and possibly some of the Lapua and Norma bullets are bonded. The Grand Slam is premium packaged but that's the end of it....it's a standard cup and core bullet.....PERIOD1 Look to Speer's website and see if you can find any claim for it to be bonded..... I once posted the same thing thinking the Grand Slam was a premium bullet.....and it was pointed out differently.....I went looking for evidence to support my claim and never found it....becaise it's not there....It's a standard cup and core bullet. That said it still might be a whale of a bullet....it's just that I've never shot anything with it as the two boxes I bought in smaller calibers were so poor in accuracy that I never hunted with them and actually gave them away!.....and never bought more either.... /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill | |||
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If I am not mistaken I do believe that the GS also has a harder lead core inside of the softer lead that makes up the tip. All that I really know for sure is that they are great bullets. I stuck a 175 grain in a very large bull elks left hip as he was running away " NO I do not make it a practice to ass shoot my game.." but I was trying to place it behind his ribs into his chest but after having ran over 100 yards and shooting offhand I messed up and hit him in the left hip joint. It really did not matter except for the ruined meat, the bullet destroyed the joint, ranged through the guts and paunch and ended up under the hide on the right front shoulder. Great expansion and over 70% retention.. I tested them rather well before that hunt and after having to shoot him several times to keep him from tipping off into a deep knarly canyon I was very impressed with the bullets that I recovered and the penetration. About on a par with Partitions if not a little better actually as every single partition I have ever recovered had its nose wiped off and there was only the rear core remaining. The GS actually held a better shape and slightly more weight. (When I was a kid my father used to tell me that God hated a coward, I finally realized he has even less use for a fool.) | |||
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I had similar issues with accuracy of the Grand Slam Ammo. My winchester Model 70 was an honest sub moa gun with reloads of barnes solids and barnes Xs. Speer Nitrex was 3.5 inches at best Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Rifles Big Bores 375 H&H Speer Nitrex 285 grain Grand Slam
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