Hey folks. Looking for opinions on the current speer grand slams. What's the inside of them look like these days and what's your opinion of them. 165 grains more exact? Got a chance at a pile of them for a good deal. Just wondering if they are as tough as people say they are. Kill pictures get bonus points.
Opinions on the current 30 cal speer grand slams
- Thread starter trapoholic
- Start date
- Location
- Saskatchewan
I think they are at least as good as Hornady Interlock, Remington CorLokt, Win Power point, etc. I believe they are better than those three. Not quite the premium bullet they started out as, but still pretty good after they cheapened & simplified the design. I would have NO worries about stressing the design when shot from a .308 / .30-06. Might be having second thoughts in a .300 Weatherby.
They would be out of my 30-06. I'd try to keep them in the 2700-2780fps range. I want a exit hole.
I'd look at a monometal like Barnes TTSX or LRX, Hornady CX for deep penetration
I know enough people and tracked down their fmj deer for them to form a very negative opinion on the mono bullets
dgradinaru
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- British Columbia
Midway USA has several reviews on this bullet. See the link and scroll to the bottom.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010538145
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010538145
300_savage
CGN Regular
- Location
- New Brunswick
They are pretty tough the new ones are pretty much a hotcor with a thicker jacket and mag tip, I've used them on a few deer 30-06 150 & 180 gr and always got exits, but the exit holes & internal damage were smaller in comparison to win power points, rem corlokts, Hornady interlocks, speer hotcor, ect, from what I've seen they dont expand as well on double lung shots as many of the other cup and core bullets do.
I'm a lung shooter so I use mostly use hotcors, win power points sierra spts, but if I had to shoot through front shoulders or take a shot at a bad angle with a cup and core I'd have more confidence in the grand slams penetrating through over the softer cup and core bullets.
I've never recoverd one to have a look at it.
I'm a lung shooter so I use mostly use hotcors, win power points sierra spts, but if I had to shoot through front shoulders or take a shot at a bad angle with a cup and core I'd have more confidence in the grand slams penetrating through over the softer cup and core bullets.
I've never recoverd one to have a look at it.
I've already looked at Midway. Would rather hear and see experience from you guys here on the forum. Thanks though.
That's more the info I was lookin for! I'm lookin for a tough, cheap cup n core bullet and it sounds like these will work. I'm gettin dangerously low on 180 grain round nose interlocks and can't find anymore in stock anywhere. Found a screamin deal on 300 165 grain grand slams though. Heard they were tougher n stink so I just wanted some opinions
- Location
- Western Manitoba
Your post about "current" ones suggests they have been changed again? I know that elderly ones - when they were first introduced to the market - had two cores - a soft front one and hard rear one. Then, at some time, they went to a single core - I have multiple boxes of probably both here - .308" 180 grain - must have been various eras, since the boxes are different - I never did discover how to ID a "two core" one from a "single core" one. I epoxied two to a piece of board - one had one crimp groove and other had two crimp grooves - I thought that might indicate the difference - but sawing through them the long way with hack saw, I could not see a difference in their cores - so maybe that was not the clue, or there was no drastic visual difference between the two cores - I did not use lead hardness tester on any of them.
- Location
- Western Manitoba
They're great bullets, and will hold together in 30 cal well over 3000 fps in any weight over 165 grains.
I've used them for 4 decades in a half dozen different calibers and never had a failure from 25 yds to 300 yds
Comparing them to Hornady ILs is OK but IMHO, the GS is a tougher bullet but not as inherently accurate.
The great thing about GS bullets right now is that they seem to be readily available at competitive prices. Great hunting bullets but not match grade accuracy
The ones that are arriving tomorrow are 165 grain. I was gonna load em up to keep them at or under 2800fps in my 30-06. I've always used 180 grain bullets and factory ammo before I started reloading. I've been using the round nose 180 grain Hornady interlocks for the last 5 or 6 years but they're not as tough as the round nose core lokts I used to use. Honestly they're a little unpredictable. One shot will blow through a deer no problem, next one might literally BLOW UP in the first 3 or 4 inches of deer and make a real ugly mess of everything in a 12" circle on entrance side.
Being the simple and cheap mofo I am, and hearing about how the grand slams are supposedly tougher n stink aaand not willing to spend money on some super doooper boolit; I happened upon somebody selling 300 of em in 165 grain for real cheap I picked em up.
Now I was raised old school in the thinking that anything less than a 180 grain is no damn good for brush and swamp country cause they won't exit. I know this to be not true, but it's hard to get away from what was pounded into your head your whole life even though you know better. I do want a exit though, my furthest shot is never more than 80 yards. First buck I shot this year was 15 yards, last buck I shot this year was 15 feet.
- Location
- Alberta, North America
165gr GS are great bullets and supposed to retain about 85% or so ... I use in my old dirty 06 at about 2850fps and .25moa in my Tikka. I have had blow throughs mostly broadside on moose and they didn't go far ... devastating on deer ... if you can get them use them! Much cheaper than monos and perform very very well. I'm on my last box from mid 90's lol will just move to 165gr TSX - I have a few boxes of those and they shoot under .50 moa with the same load ...
These comments are making me feel much more confident that they'll pass through a deer to make tracking easier. I loaded 165 grain flat base interlocks in my wife's 308 carbine they perform very well over top 42 grains of AR-COMP. I shot through a bunch of brush, a 2" hemlock and a mejum sized bears front shoulder blade and spine with one last spring and it stll exited out of his ribs half way down the other side ( from my tree stand ) he was 50 yards or so and I was gettin to the end of shooting light, add in a peep sight and you can't see all that brush in the way very well. She shot her first deer ever with them this year, I ran him out to her and she put one through both sides of his ribs then another one straight through both his shoulders. He was about 30-40 yards from her and she did what I told her to do. If it's still mobile, keep pumpin the lead out! Strange thing is the 165 grain interlocks seem to hold up more reliably than the 180's.
Anyway in closing, gonna give the grand slams a try, also got a pile of 150 and 165 grain hot cors. got some 165 grain partitions and accubonds too but not enough of them to make em daily drivers.
- Location
- Alberta, North America
Hot Cors are very good as well - I am a Speer fan plus TSX and TTSX ...
Ya man not actual fmj's but that's what it looked like I was tracking. 2 deer with 168 grain ttsx from 2 different 30-06's and a 150 ttsx from a 308. All the same result. 30 cal holes in and out, no blood trail, spec here and there and 100+ yard track to all of them.
The one buck shot by the 308 driver was a head shot so obviously it didn't run anywhere.
prarie_boy
CGN Regular
- Location
- Just across the bridge to nowhere
How are these accuracy wise compared to say a hornady interlock or the like?
