Jordan Smith
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Calgary, AB
Never seen an animal not die after being shot at with one.
Entrance and exit wounds aren't the best way to determine what damage was done in-between...
Speer bullets.
- Thread starter SuperCub
- Start date
Never seen an animal not die after being shot at with one.
Entrance and exit wounds aren't the best way to determine what damage was done in-between...
Ever miss? If so maybe it wasn't a miss.Just a thought.
The deer in question was shot atleast an hour later, as it ran out to the other shooter. Take that into account, along with the entrance/exit wounds is enough evidence for me.
I am not at all saying the bullets are junk, but for me they aren't a deer bullet. Two instances proved that to me.
I don't believe they are being manuf. anymore as they are the orignal "X"..Are these currently manufactured?
.338 225 XFB recovered from a moose
6mm 85 XBT recovered from a caribou
Poster never explained
Not that I am a Barnes slut mind you..
Back to the topic of Speer bullets I buy mine at WSS and they usually have a pretty good supply.
The .30 caliber Grand Slam 150 grain is a perfect fit for the 300 Savage.
I've also shot a lot of Grand Slams in the .338's and .375 and have no complaints.
The .30 caliber Grand Slam 150 grain is a perfect fit for the 300 Savage.
I've also shot a lot of Grand Slams in the .338's and .375 and have no complaints.
Jordan Smith
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Calgary, AB
I know what you mean. Once burned, twice shy, right? I believe that the deer you're talking about very well could have had a pencil wound right through it. I'm just saying that the general assumption that small entrance and exit wounds means small internal damage, isn't necessarily accurate.
Of all the X/TSX bullets I've seen shot at game, I've never seen a miss that wasn't followed up by a kill shot. I've seen clients and friends wound a deer or two, that was un-recoverable after extensive searching, but the reaction to the shot was VERY obvious. I could see through my bino that the shooter had made a gut shot by the animal's reaction, and there were no uncertain terms about it.
I've seen a lot of animals shot with X/TSX/TTSX bullets, and have never witnessed a failure, but I don't doubt that other people haven't seen them fail a time or two. I'm all about using whatever bullet inspires confidence in the individual. For me, that's a TSX/TTSX. For you, it may be something else. I'm sure they both kill game dead.
Jordan Smith
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Calgary, AB
Are these currently manufactured?
.338 225 XFB recovered from a moose
6mm 85 XBT recovered from a caribou
Poster never explained
#1 - nope
#2 - nope
#3 - yes, and I believe that was actually one of the very first .308" 168gr TTSX bullets put into production, if memory serves me correctly. That pic was posted on another site.
- Location
- Eastern Edge of the Foothills
When I am looking for a deer hunting load I often try speer, or another cup and core bullet like sierra or hornady.
This year I killed 2 mule deer with speer bullets. 130 gr BTSP out of my .280 going 3000 fps. The one deer was running up out of the deep coulee. I was on the other side, up at the rim of the coulee. It was bouncing. I shot, her back end sunk down immediately, and she rolled down the hill. Another deer then bounced out of a tributary coulee and was bouncing across the plains. I turned and shot. It was hit in the air, and piled up when it came to the ground again. These speers worked just fine.
I've killed several deer in years past with 120 gr speer hot-cors out of my 6.5x55. They're very inexpensive, shoot accurate when the rifle likes them [like any bullet] and kill deer very dead.
You don't need a premium bullet to kill a deer. I only use premium bullets on deer when I've got a rifle set up for deer and elk [usually the accubonds do double duty in my rifles] or if they're the only bullets I can get good groups with [that's pretty rare].
This year I killed 2 mule deer with speer bullets. 130 gr BTSP out of my .280 going 3000 fps. The one deer was running up out of the deep coulee. I was on the other side, up at the rim of the coulee. It was bouncing. I shot, her back end sunk down immediately, and she rolled down the hill. Another deer then bounced out of a tributary coulee and was bouncing across the plains. I turned and shot. It was hit in the air, and piled up when it came to the ground again. These speers worked just fine.
I've killed several deer in years past with 120 gr speer hot-cors out of my 6.5x55. They're very inexpensive, shoot accurate when the rifle likes them [like any bullet] and kill deer very dead.
You don't need a premium bullet to kill a deer. I only use premium bullets on deer when I've got a rifle set up for deer and elk [usually the accubonds do double duty in my rifles] or if they're the only bullets I can get good groups with [that's pretty rare].
Northman999
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Yukon
I spoke to my local retailer about Speer (or lack of).
He told me that he has a very hard time getting them - according to him, Speer has large military contracts that are eating up the vast majority of it's production.
He told me that he has a very hard time getting them - according to him, Speer has large military contracts that are eating up the vast majority of it's production.
Speer is owned by ATK, who produces ammo for military use, so that analysis is quite correct. They've been churning out more military ammo than ever lately and their public distribution has been affected. I suspect it goes something like Military Contracts -> Federal Ammo -> components.
- Location
- Calgary, AB
Are the newer Grand Slams any good? Anyone used them on game and noticed any issues with core / jacket separation?
I shot a buck with Factory loaded Speer Grand Slams in .280 rem this year. Two broadside hits through the ribs. The exit holes were both between quarter, and loonie sized.
I am not sure about core/jacket separation as no bullets were recovered , but the exit wounds IMO says not.I will update when I do recover a bullet. That being said, I am far more concened about a bullet not expanding than core separation, and these bullets do indeed expand.
- Location
- Calgary, AB
Are these currently manufactured?
.338 225 XFB recovered from a moose
6mm 85 XBT recovered from a caribou
Poster never explained
You mean these...
