Thoughts on Speer Grand Slam Bullets

grand slams

I've used them in both .270 and .300 win mag. they are a premium dual core bullet. and I had favourable results with them. I wouldn't hesitated using them in your .375
 
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I have used the 250 gr. .358" in a 35 Whelen loaded to 2500 fps muzzle velocity quite a bit. Shot about 8 elk and one moose and one big mtn caribou with them. Expansion was moderate, penetration very, very deep. The only ones I have recovered were from animals hit lengthwise, after 3-4' of penetration and several heavy bones were broken on the way. Those bullets retained about 2/3 of the original weight. When Grand Slams are used in my Whelen, I suspect they are just a bit too tough and a little quicker expansion may be a benefit. Once I had a long tracking job on a whitetail hit through the liver broadside at about 150 yds. Bullet hardly expanded at all. I think the deer did not offer enough resistance to this tough bullet. They do seem to expand reliably on elk. I will continue using them where an exit hole is desirable on very large game.
Results may be different in your .375, which shoots a couple hundred FPS faster, that extra speed may open them up a little better.
A buddy uses the GS 130 gr. in his .270 and has killed many elk with them.
 
My dad is planning a moose hunt this fall and I was going to load up 160gr Grand slams for his 7mm rem mag. I have a box of 160's and 175's here that I have never bothered to do anything with. Is it fair to say that either one would be better than him buying a box of shells at Canadian tire?
 
I have used the 160 ,175 grain in my 7 Rem Mag and would not hesitate to use them again. I have knocked down moose,bears and deer with no problem.
The bullets that we recovered mushroomed nicely 2/3 s or more.
 
I got some grand slams shortly after they came out, but found out that in the 270 they didn't hold together any better than any regular bullet.
"Would he be better off buying a box of loaded ammo from Canadian Tire?"
Probably wouldn't make any difference!
Canadian Tire doesn't stock seconds, or inferior ammunition, so it doesn't matter where he buys them.
Remington Corlokt, or however it is spelled, in a heavier weight will kill the moose just as dead as our handloads will. So will Winchester Silver Tip, and Federal --.
The vast majority of moose hunters just walk into a store that sells ammo and buys a box of shells for their rifle.
A great number of those hunters, I wouldn't be surprised if it were more than 50% of them, will not even specify what weight bullet they want. They just ask for a box of 7mm magnum shells.
And if they see a moose that is shootable, said moose will virtually always, end up in the back of their pick up.
 
smokeeter said:
I've used them in both .270 and .300 win mag. they are a premium partition bullet. and I had favourable results with them. I wouldn't hesitated using them in your .375
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They are not a partition bullet. They use to be a two different lead alloy, softer in the front, harder in the back with no partition. Manufacturing process was to expensive and they are now just a thick jacket cup and core bullet with the same lead hardness throughout. In my bullet test, they showed to be thougher than the Speer Hotcor and Hornady IL.

250gr .35 Speer Grand Slam
35250grSpeerGSsideviewjpg.jpg


250gr .35 Speer Hotcor
35250grSpeerHCsideviewjpg.jpg


250gr .35 Hornady IL
35250grHornadyILsideviewjpg.jpg
 
The new Grand slams are not the same as the old ones.

The old ones had 2 diferent hardness of lead in the core, soft at the front and hard at the back of the bullet.

The new ones have a thicker jacket and a single lead core wich is fairly hard.




The old ones were better in my opinion.
 
bcsteve said:
They are not a partition bullet. They use to be a two different lead alloy, softer in the front, harder in the back with no partition. Manufacturing process was to expensive and they are now just a thick jacket cup and core bullet with the same lead hardness throughout. In my bullet test, they showed to be thougher than the Speer Hotcor and Hornady IL.
Click to expand...

I stand corrected, I mistook the dual core with partition contruction, but it doesn't really matter with the new formuation. still a great bullet where penetration is required.
 
I have used the old ones and the new ones in .243, .30-06, .300 win mag, .338 win mag and .338 RUM. I have found them to be quite a tough bullet (old and new). Very heavy jackets. Not the most aerodynamic bullets out there. More often than not, they have shot through game.
 
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