Speer Bullets

Sure Shot Mc Gee said:
Haven't cared to use Sierra bullets for many years. As far as I'm concerned the box of Sierra bullets I purchased. There reputation fell far short of there market place advertising.

My (one season only) White Tail hunting experience using Sierra?
I punched a Sierra 6mm 80 gr H.P. thru both sides of a rib cage on a medium weight doe. My skinning that animal I witnessed no expansion what-so-ever upon that animals hide removal. A complete pass thru. With a home reloaded cartridge stroking 3500 fps velocity at muzzle. Quite unlike a Speer Game King or my favorite all time jacketed bullet the Nosler Solid Base.
Would I chance shooting Sierra again? ~~~No!~~ When it comes to my Big Game hunting. "no second chances for poor bullet performance.
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That's not as u unusual as you might think. Problem being the HP! Two bad things can often happen with HP bullet's. Either they blow up or the HP close's and they and they act like a solid. Not so sure an 80gr bullet in a 6mm is considered a big game bullet either. I have only killed a few deer with a 243, just don't trust it but, everyone dropped on the shot. Two with 100gr bullet's and one with a 75gr bullet. 75 gr bullet had to be placed just right I think.

As for Speer, I used them years ago but only in a 7mm Rem Mag. I used them for no other reason than they were more accurate in that rifle than Hornady's. The difference in accuracy just wasn't much in the other rifles I shot them in but advantage went to Hornady. I did shoot both into bundled news paper at 100yds to see what happened. they both retained 86% of their weight. The Hornady core was loose in the jacket but did not separate. The Speer was tight in the jacket, couldn't move it at all. Oh yea, the only Speer bullet's I've tried over 22 cal are all Hot Core bullet's. Got a couple box's of them a while back to try again in my 6.5x55. They shoot much better than needed, just under 1". The Hot Core type bullet's are the only Speer bullet's I'd use, wish they made a 130gr 6.5 Hot Core. I would purchase those Hot Core's any day over more modern bonded bullet's. Near as I could tell, they preformed just as well and cost a whole lot less.
 
I will be glad to elaborate more....again.

We shot Sierra bullets almost exclusively early on when my Dad experienced 4 lost deer. I started the search to find our why as he was the proverbial Dead Eye Dick. He shot guns all his life are he grew up in a rural area during the depression so he hunted to feed the family.

I found (eventually) that the bullets only had a jacket of only 0.062" (1/16"). Penetration was only a maybe. We switched to Speer Hot Cor one day at the range, since we went to verify his scope.

He shot one. Then he shot another and thought he missed the entire target as another hole could not be found. I urged him to shot another. Again he couln't see a hole. But, I had a better spotting scope and noticed what appeared to be a hole a smidge larger than bullet diameter. He shot 2 more making 5 shots that measured 3/8" with a ruler from side to side (not center to center). He never lost another deer after that.

A few months later, I had a 303 to develop loads for. I purchased a box of 150 gr. Sierra.

At the range, the pattern (not group) was 22" side to side. I was beside myself.

Long story short: I measured the bullets and they were 0.309", not 0.311" as stated on the box. I threw them away. Bought a box of Speer 150s and the same load grouped 1 3/4" for 5 shots.

Since getting burned twice, I have never shot another Sierra. Granted they have made improvements since that time (it was 1976), but I will never load another.

Note: this maybe be hard to believe, but I will swear under oath, every deer my Dad shot after that with the Speer Hot Cor was a one shot kill, and he hunted every year until maybe 2012 when he deemed himself too old for the sport. He turned 89 his last birthday.
 
"Quite unlike a Speer Game King or my favorite all time jacketed bullet the Nosler Solid Base."

The Game King moniker belongs to Sierra. I used Sierras for year, many more years than I care to count to be honest. Last time I used a Sierra bullet was August of 2009 on an antelope hunt. A .270 Win. with a very accurate load using the 150 gr. Game King. The antelope was shot at 75 yards with surprisingly little meat damage. I've since found that the exact same load with the 150 gr. Nosler Partition is even more accurate in that .270.

One day I bought a Ruger RSI in .308 cheap because the guy selling it said he could not get anything that would give him an accurate load. He was not kidding. Long story short, it took two years to find a load that was usable in that rifle. The bullet was the 165 gr. Speer Hot Core over W760 powder. I took a lot of deer with that combo at ranges from 35 feet to 250 yards. The best it'll do grouping id 1.25-1.50". No matter, it kills deer.

The 200 gr. Speer Hot Core is extremely accurate in my .300 Win. Magnums. Depending on the rifle use groups run from .375" to .75". I've only shot one animal with that load, a cow elk at 530 yards in the White Mountains of Arizona. Perfect conditions, no wind, elk unaware of my presence. Area was a wide open "park" and my stalk ends behind the very last bush. The herd was strung out in a long line headed toward the Apache Reservation as they usually do on opening day so it was take a shot or let them go. I took the shot and the elk dropped, kicked a couple of time and was still. I never ecovered that bullet but it worked just fine.

Currently I'm working with some 7MM 160 Hot Cores for use in a 7x57. It seems the late Jack O'Connor was fond of the round as was his wife who used in on just about everything. I just may try them on my next elk hunt.

I have no problem with the Speer Hot Core bullets. What I have used so far have been accurate and they kill game dead. No complaints from me.
Paul B.
 
Sierra sent me a return email this afternoon.

They took down my information and said they were gonna send me a new box of bullets. They were very quick about responding, and very Gracious to offer replacement bullets. They didn't even request that I send the other box back to them....

Anyway, I think I am gonna pick up a box of the Hot Core bullets in both 150 grain and 130 grain for the 270 WSM..... I was gonna pick up the BTSP as well, but with Sierra sending me more bullets I will have quite a lot of the game kings.
 
I've never had an issue with Sierra.
Nor Speer, Nosler, Berger.
Hornady once sent me a mixed box of 139, and 154gr SSTs. I had originally bought 139gr.
Contacted them, more to let them know of a QC issue than to gripe, as i shoot both weights.
They had a fresh box of 139s to me 2 days later. I hadn't asked for them, they just sent them.
 
Of all the cup and core bullets available, IME and what I've seen from a friends gel tests tested at 100 all the way to 400 yards. The Speer hot-cor and BTSP are the best performers of them all. Hornady being #2 the Sierra tended to blow up at closer range then not expand at longer range.

I shoot Speer Hot-Cors or Nosler Accubonds almost exclusively. And now that Sierra has a 2019 price increase Sierra ain't getting any of my money.
 
I started reloading with Speer bullets back in 1973. In a 270 Winchester it's like an instant death-ray on deer. I've heard for years that they were inferior to Sierra, and just not accurate. Truth is that all rifles have preferences. Maybe we should keep it a secret....
 
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Pathfinder45 said:
I started reloading with Speer bullets back in 1973. In a 270 Winchester it's like an instant death-ray on deer. I've heard for years that they were inferior to Sierra, and just not accurate. Truth is that all rifles have preferences. Maybe we should keep it a secret....
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Yes maybe we should.
 
I've been shooting the Speer 120gr Hot-Cors in my 25.06 for years and it's very accurate and it's on game performance has always been excellent for me. I've killed lots of deer with this bullet and I've only recovered one Hot-Cor over the years because they have always exited. The one I did recover was under the hide and in a nice mushroom after going through both shoulders. Unfortunately Speer no longer produces this bullet but I have enough in the reloading cabinet to last me a while. If I ever do run out i'll drop down to the 100gr Hot-Cor which they still make.

I was also loading the 120gr Hot-Cor in my daughters .260 with equal results but sadly Speer also stopped producing them as well and I ran out. If I could still get them I would still be shooting them. I switched to the Sierra 120gr Pro Hunter in her rifle and they have worked great so far.
 
Kilotanker22-Am proponent of considering increasing case neck tension, and started trying it for the same reason. Like everything else in life, it can be overdone. Believe it aids in burn consistency, especially in situations where that concern exists (large capacity/powder type). It also helps in keeping bullets in place in semi's.

As others (Uncle Nick) have noted in the past, increasing case neck tension can also increase pressure over what you would normally expect. By watching velocity increases, believe this to be true.
 
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