Winchester XPR 7mm-08.

[bearhunter]

Sorry Suther, too early.

That is the present information on their site, for modern bullets.

My older bullets don't have tapered jackets.

Still if you go onto their site and look at the bullets they recommend for Deer size game, the 130 grain hot core isn't one they recommend.

Some manufacturers don't define "big game" very well, or at all.

I've even spoken with a few reps who say anything bigger than a Rabbit is big game.

 

[byronick87]

The 130 grain Hot Core is not a "big game" bullet, and was never designed to be.

The bullet jackets are too thin, and the bullet will likely come apart before penetrating deep enough for a clean kill.

IMHO, they are Varmint bullets, intended for Coyote sized game.

Brynonick87 is telling you this with his experiences. Too bad it took him "twice" to figure it out, but it happens.

Suther, go onto the Speer website and have a look at their bullet profiles. They have pictures of "cross sections" showing sidewall thicknesses.

This is the quickest way to explain the Hot Core bonding process;

"The process of bonding Hot Core bullets to their jackets involves the injection of molten lead into a preformed jacket, which is then cooled and solidified. This method is designed to prevent the core from slipping from the jacket after impact, resulting in better weight retention and deeper penetration. The bonding process is crucial for the performance of Hot Core bullets, especially in applications where a bullet's ability to retain energy and penetrate deeply is essential."

They were cutting edge tech back in the day, but that was several decades back.

Many folks are getting too complacent about doing proper due diligence when selecting bullets these days.

I blame this on H mantle, then monolithic bullets, which are much heavier in construction, but also longer for their light weight. They perform very well, but for different reasons than the old tech Hot Core bullets of similar weights but much more lightly constructed.

well...I guess in defence of speer,
the speer hot-cor "should" be a big game bullet with limitations; along with any other bullet/cartridge combination.
the bullet i used was a 165gr thru a 30-06....maybe it was a bit too fast when i hit the bucks..I thought the first failure was a one-off....regardless, just to be safe, I have moved over to heavier weighted projectiles for cup and core bullets, brand notwithstanding.

any cup and core bullet with a moderately medium sized jacket should do the trick as long as the velocity when you hit the animal isnt outrageous.
for a 130 gr hot cor in a 7-08 it would be a bit light for calibre but with that being said, I wouldnt consider the same cartridge with a 120 gr monolithic light for calibre.
what's alarming is there are lots of factory load offerings of a 7mm rem mag with a hornady 139gr sst....and people buy it...and they wonder why things dont go as planned.

I always found it amazing how people say something along the lines of "300 win mag 180gr bullets are way over kill for deer...you should step down a few grains to a 150"

Roy Weatherby's theory - speed kills - is correct....but it has to be paired with a bullet that can handle the speed


all that being said, this is a horse that has been beaten to death so badly its alive again

 

[bearhunter]

well...I guess in defence of speer,
the speer hot-cor "should" be a big game bullet with limitations; along with any other bullet/cartridge combination.
the bullet i used was a 165gr thru a 30-06....maybe it was a bit too fast when i hit the bucks..I thought the first failure was a one-off....regardless, just to be safe, I have moved over to heavier weighted projectiles for cup and core bullets, brand notwithstanding.

any cup and core bullet with a moderately medium sized jacket should do the trick as long as the velocity when you hit the animal isnt outrageous.
for a 130 gr hot cor in a 7-08 it would be a bit light for calibre but with that being said, I wouldnt consider the same cartridge with a 120 gr monolithic light for calibre.
what's alarming is there are lots of factory load offerings of a 7mm rem mag with a hornady 139gr sst....and people buy it...and they wonder why things dont go as planned.

I always found it amazing how people say something along the lines of "300 win mag 180gr bullets are way over kill for deer...you should step down a few grains to a 150"

Roy Weatherby's theory - speed kills - is correct....but it has to be paired with a bullet that can handle the speed


all that being said, this is a horse that has been beaten to death so badly its alive again

Well, you've learned a very valuable lesson IMHO, some folks never do learn from such failures or look into why the bullets failed.

When I looked at the Speer site, Hot Core 180 grain bullets were in their picture of suggested weights for Deer.

When dealing with "old school technology," use old school data. Then the tech will perform the way it was intended to.

You didn't do anything wrong IMHO, but you went through a learning process and absorbed what you learned, then dealt with it in a positive manner. Good on you.

 

[byronick87]

When dealing with "old school technology," use old school data. Then the tech will perform the way it was intended tonow that's some advice!!!

 

[remington jim]

The Sierra 120 gr SPT Pro Hunter is a MUCH better cup and core bullet then the Speer is

 

[CaribooBC]

Shot the XPR today… very underwhelmed. Used some cheap Nosler Whitetail factory ammo to break in the barrel. Bolt was hard to close on this ammo, but fired and ejected normally. Trigger is very heavy compared to my other guns. Three shots, then clean, did this three times. Then attempted to see how it would group, best I got was about 3” at 100m. I guess it’s time to get out to my reloading bench. The R5 scope seemed ok.

 

[Suther]

Shot the XPR today… very underwhelmed. Used some cheap Nosler Whitetail factory ammo to break in the barrel. Bolt was hard to close on this ammo, but fired and ejected normally. Trigger is very heavy compared to my other guns. Three shots, then clean, did this three times. Then attempted to see how it would group, best I got was about 3” at 100m. I guess it’s time to get out to my reloading bench. The R5 scope seemed ok.

Oh man that's disappointing. I hope the loading bench gets you better results.

 

[270WSMXBolt]

Shot the XPR today… very underwhelmed. Used some cheap Nosler Whitetail factory ammo to break in the barrel. Bolt was hard to close on this ammo, but fired and ejected normally. Trigger is very heavy compared to my other guns. Three shots, then clean, did this three times. Then attempted to see how it would group, best I got was about 3” at 100m. I guess it’s time to get out to my reloading bench. The R5 scope seemed ok.

These barrels are factory fired for moa. I suspect the ammo is showing it's price point a little. Keep in mind it's a Winchester flagship budget priced firearm modeled after the 70... I recommend cleaning and doing a light hand lapping using Kroil and JB bore cleaning compound including a mop cleaning of the neck of the chamber. The chamber on my brand new 6.8wstrn XPR was super tight in comparison to my 6.8wstrn XBolt. I couldn't chamber brass from my XB in the XBR. Way tighter to SAAMI... I had the advantage of a Teslong bore scope so I polished the chamber neck nicely then cleaned the bore before firing my first hand load. I also managed to adjust the stock trigger to 2.6Lbs. after getting the anti tamper adhesive off the allen screw. My first shots were a test ladder that grouped really good.. exceptional considering the wide variation in fps/powder charge. Just remember it's a budget priced firearm. Don't give up on it yet... Cheers

 

[DGY]

O shot a small black bear at 80yards with a 200gr hot-cor out of my 8mm-06 bullet leaving barrel at about 2800fps. Complet pass through!

 

[CaribooBC]

These barrels are factory fired for moa. I suspect the ammo is showing it's price point a little. Keep in mind it's a Winchester flagship budget priced firearm modeled after the 70... I recommend cleaning and doing a light hand lapping using Kroil and JB bore cleaning compound including a mop cleaning of the neck of the chamber. The chamber on my brand new 6.8wstrn XPR was super tight in comparison to my 6.8wstrn XBolt. I couldn't chamber brass from my XB in the XBR. Way tighter to SAAMI... I had the advantage of a Teslong bore scope so I polished the chamber neck nicely then cleaned the bore before firing my first hand load. I also managed to adjust the stock trigger to 2.6Lbs. after getting the anti tamper adhesive off the allen screw. My first shots were a test ladder that grouped really good.. exceptional considering the wide variation in fps/powder charge. Just remember it's a budget priced firearm. Don't give up on it yet... Cheers

Thanks for the tips. I will check out the chamber and make sure that it’s clean with no irregularities. I had my CZ600 Alpha in 7.62x39 out too… it was outstanding again, 0.9” groups. I have the load for that gun dialed in. I am sure that the XPR will shoot well too.

 

[270WSMXBolt]

If the chamber is tight like mine, I think your going to be impressed. Keep In mind I started with hand loads that I was shoulder bumping to make fit. But any gun with a tight chamber can perform given the barrel is good too. I think they did this intentionally with the XPR for the price point. New teck. at a reasonable price. I'm really blown away by the quality of the 650 buck XPR I just purchased here on the EE. When I scoped the barrel it was exceptional. really flawless... I could make out a few tool marks in the chamber on the neck and shoulder transition where the reamer dragged as it was removed but I polished it out before ever taking a shot. I shot mine just over a week ago for the first time. I will be using it again this weekend with some more dialed in handloads. Cheers

 

[CaribooBC]

Oh man that's disappointing. I hope the loading bench gets you better results.

So far with 5 different loadings of Varget behind a Hornady 139gr SST, I am still underwhelmed. 2" at 100 yards with 38.0gr of Varget has been my best so far. It's time to pull the scope, pull the stock and check torque on all the screws and check for interference with the stock, unless someone has any other ideas.

 

[riversrest]

42.1 grs H4895, with large rifle primers (CCI and Federal)., TTSX, .284 (7mm), 120 grains (blue tip). The casings were all different head stamp and I didn't notice any difference with them @ 3rd reload.

Neither, .chambering/ bolt face/ OAL or whatever you come up with was off. And it shot well !

 

[270WSMXBolt]

So far with 5 different loadings of Varget behind a Hornady 139gr SST, I am still underwhelmed. 2" at 100 yards with 38.0gr of Varget has been my best so far. It's time to pull the scope, pull the stock and check torque on all the screws and check for interference with the stock, unless someone has any other ideas.

If you have some IMR 4350 can I suggest around 46 grains. It should give you better velocity too. Cheers

 

[BassAckwards]

Went moose hunting with my daughter last season, she used her mothers AB3 7-08 and some 175gr Hot cores I made up for her. She spotted the bull at 200 yds, got out of the truck, I told her to take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Standing freehand, she clipped the top of the heart, destroyed the bottom of both lungs, made one step and piled into the ground. I didn't even get to back it up with the 358 Norma! Found the bullet in a rib on the far side. Pretty much perfect performance, I'm so damned proud of her it was her first moose. I believe the hot-cores work pretty good in a 7-08?

 

[WhelanLad]

Anyone using the 130gr Hotcor? Thats my go to cheap bullet for range time, partitions cost too much to fling at paper and steel... haven't really considered using it on game though...

No, but they would be better than the 120 gr pro hunter I used on deer once.
I took some fallow does and even a young buck no real issue- a 130 gr hot cor would be fairly good for "deer" in general- no big donkeys like Elk etc.

 

[Boltgun]

I agree about the Ruger American… the ones that I have handed felt like junk. My Vanguard also feels nicer than the XPR, except for the bolt. The XPR is smoother. My Vanguard is in 308 Win.

Bushnell now states that their “Lifetime Warranty” is only valid in the USA… no service in Canada apparently. Might upgrade the scope and save the R5 as a “just in case” backup.

I have a few 308 Win and 30-06 guns, 7-08 is a new caliber to me. I bought dies and cases today, need to find a good quality but not break the bank bullet, I was thinking about Hornady SST’s in 139gr.

Also, will need a spare magazine, don’t leave home without one….my LGS had all magazines for the XPR, except the standard short action mag.

“Lifetime Warranty” is only valid in the USA

can you provide a link for that?