Speer btsp question

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Roadkill2228

New member
Hello again everyone. Again, I'm new to the forum and look forward to getting some input on shooting questions. One of the cartridges I reload for and hunt with is the 300 winchester magnum. I did my research on bullets and one particular bullet that just stood out as something of an anomaly is the 165 gr speer btsp. What is striking is its claimed ballistic coefficient of .52. If it actually is that high and if they turn out to shoot accurately then I will never mess around with any other bullet again (except for tougher projectiles for hunting larger game at conventional hunting ranges where the ballistic coefficient is not that important). However I'm also suspicious that that number is too optimistic. The berger vlds in that weight don't sport that high a bc, neither do SMKs, AMAXs, btips, ssts, or any of the others really. So, I ask your opinion; is speer's claim of a .52 bc with a 165 grain cup and core bullet at a very low price tag too good to be true? Or is it in fact just a vastly overlooked gem in the shooting/hunting world? Any experience with these on paper and and on game would be appreciated if shared.
 
I think you must have picked up some wrong numbers. Speer does not show that they make a btsp 165 .30 cal. They make a 168 BTHP with a bc of .534.
The 165 they make is a spitzer spire point and its bc is .433.

.534 seems to be an inflated BC for a 168 match bullet, but Speer also has a unique shape to this bullet. It might be a legit number. There are different ways to measure BC. Speer might have obtained their bc using .30-378 velocity. Who knows? When all you get is a number and not a velocity it is derived at, the number is pretty worthless.
 
There is a great explanation of how b.c. is calculated on this page from Hornady.

I especially appreciated the last part of the article which basically states that many variables affect the b.c. measurement and a company can't possibly account for all of them. In other words, 'your results may vary'.

Having used Speer bullets with very good results, I have no reason to doubt their claim.
 
In my ballistic software's bullet listing, Speer catalog #2034 is the only 165 grain boat tail soft point showing. The G1 B.C. is given as 0.477. If that is not the bullet you looked at, do you have a catalog number?
 
Oh I already have the bullets and am going to load them sometime soon. Reynolds 357 they are indeed boat tail soft points and if you go to the speer bullets website and search the "boat tail" brand of rifle bullets this one shows up as have the .52 bc. Not a target bullet, a hunting bullet. Chuck, that .477 bc sounds much more tangible...the other long range bullet designs of this caliber and weight seem to hover around there. Hopefully I'll be able to determine it for myself.
 
My model 70 .308w shoots the speer btsp very well.I picked up a couple hundred since thats all I could find in town and much to my surprise they took very little work to find a nice sub-moa load.
 
I have a couple of cases of commercial .308 reloads using Speer BTSP(been around a while). They shoot very well at long range but are a little "tough" for long range use in a .308. They don't expand much especially on coyotes but they still put a hole through them. Longest coyote kill with this bullet=380 +/- yards.
 
Glad to hear they shoot well at range in your rifle. Not surprised about the results you mention concerning coyote hunting, it's not really designed for that size of animal, I'm planning to just use it for deer and pigs...I've read elsewhere that its pretty thin jacketed for use on larger animals at conventional hunting ranges. If I get drawn for elk or moose anytime soon I plan to load 168 barnes ttsx...similar weight similar velocity similar ballistic coefficient....should make for less of a headache switching between loads. Now I just need to acquire some 300 win brass or fire off some of the rounds I have so I can get reloading these things to find out for myself!
 
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