Speer Grand slam bullets

I recall the 500 gr .458 bullet was significantly shorter than other bullets available at the time such as Winchester & Hornady, due to the denser core; making them a better bullet for the 458 Win mag because the result was more powder space. But by the time I got a 458 Speer had discontinued manufacture and now I have moved on to the 404.

I shot the 165 grain Grand Slams in my .309 JDJ Contender at a nominal 2,400 fps. No problem with deer sized game up to my Red Hartebeest at 300 yards.

The old Speer manual showed a 100 FPS advantage over the lead cored soft point. The highest velocity load showed a max speed of 2239 with the lead core being 2120. These are all in a 458 win mag.

bruce moulds said:

I have some speer 7mm 175 gn grand slam bullets.
when I bought them, I am sure they had 2 cores, a rear hard one and a front softer one.
the front core from memory was bonded to the jacket., and a cannelure locked the rear core in.
this seemed like a good concept for many hunting situations.
a look at the speer wesite suggests that all those features other than the cannelure are a thing of the past.
I am guessing that the average grunt saw no point in paying extra for what appears to be a superior bullet.
probably could not tell the difference if they did.
they also had a 285 gn 375 of the same design, amongst others.
does anyone remember these bullets, and can comment on the difference between the old ones and the new ones.
bruce.

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Yes they changed the Speer GS to a 3 core bullet......why I don’t know. Not nearly as good on game as the 2 core bullet.

3 core or 1 core?
bruce.

the original Grand Slams over .257" had 3 parts, the copper alloy jacket, the hard rear core and the soft front core. The rear core was supposedly held in place by a tine groove around the base. The front core was supposedly held in place by the cannelure ring and that it was poured in hot. this was not actual bonding. The change to a one piece core was made due to problems in supply and difficulties in manufacturing process. One of the changes made in the larger bore cartridges was a ring around the inside of the jacket similar to the Interlock of Hornady, except that it was substantially bigger than Hornadys.

I have two boxes of 7mm 175 gr GS bullets of different vintages. One is slightly longer than the other, the older one. The cannelure is also wider on the newer version. Don't know what the cores are like without cutting them open, which is a PITA.

I have several boxes of these in various calibres but have only used them in my 6.5x55. Performance was fine, but then the calibre is very easy on bullets.
I plan to load some of the 250grainers in my .338WM, which is very hard on bullets, and will post a report in due course.
On the issue of the Swift A frame vs other lead core bullets, my experience is that they are super tough and very much in a league of their own. Terminal effect is not as dramatic as with the Nosler (the front section of which explodes) but penetration is much, much better. As I have yet to recover one, I cannot say what the average weight retention is , but I think it must be close to 100% as I have not even recovered fragments. In fact, the only "criticism" I have of the A frame is that they are so strong that one has to be very careful about shot angles and what is standing behind the target as they go through just about anything. A frontal shot can ruin a hindquarter and it is easy to accidentally wound or kill a second animal if shooting broadside (I am talking 275gr in .338WM). These "criticisms" however apply equally to most monolithic bullets - so horses for courses.
As said, I will post an update regarding in field performance of the Speer GS's

bruce moulds said:

I have some speer 7mm 175 gn grand slam bullets.
when I bought them, I am sure they had 2 cores, a rear hard one and a front softer one.
the front core from memory was bonded to the jacket., and a cannelure locked the rear core in.
this seemed like a good concept for many hunting situations.
a look at the speer wesite suggests that all those features other than the cannelure are a thing of the past.
I am guessing that the average grunt saw no point in paying extra for what appears to be a superior bullet.
probably could not tell the difference if they did.
they also had a 285 gn 375 of the same design, amongst others.
does anyone remember these bullets, and can comment on the difference between the old ones and the new ones.
bruce.

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Hi Bruce
I have some 160 and 145 gr 7 mm
130 gr 270 and Nick gave me a box of 250 gr 338s. They were a great bullet and held up well. I’m guessing around 2010 they changed the construction. Today there made the same way as the hot core with the Grand slams thicker jacket and cannelure. Bummer at. Still not a bad bullet I’m lead to believe.
I don’t know if you have tried the lapua mega and Norma’s Oryx. From my experience I would rate them equal to the old GS.
The only problem is that these are European and the range is somewhat limited eg Lapua don’t make 338 cal. Hope this helps.
Ken

K95 said:

Hi Bruce
I have some 160 and 145 gr 7 mm
130 gr 270 and Nick gave me a box of 250 gr 338s. They were a great bullet and held up well. I’m guessing around 2010 they changed the construction. Today there made the same way as the hot core with the Grand slams thicker jacket and cannelure. Bummer at. Still not a bad bullet I’m lead to believe.
I don’t know if you have tried the lapua mega and Norma’s Oryx. From my experience I would rate them equal to the old GS.
The only problem is that these are European and the range is somewhat limited eg Lapua don’t make 338 cal. Hope this helps.
Ken

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Ps They were somewhat shorter then most and didn’t take up to much needed case capacity in some cartridges.

K95 said:

Hi Bruce
I have some 160 and 145 gr 7 mm
130 gr 270 and Nick gave me a box of 250 gr 338s. They were a great bullet and held up well. I’m guessing around 2010 they changed the construction. Today there made the same way as the hot core with the Grand slams thicker jacket and cannelure. Bummer at. Still not a bad bullet I’m lead to believe.
I don’t know if you have tried the lapua mega and Norma’s Oryx. From my experience I would rate them equal to the old GS.
The only problem is that these are European and the range is somewhat limited eg Lapua don’t make 338 cal. Hope this helps.
Ken

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@K95
Ken you will have to try the woodleigh protected point, they are a great bonded bullet that give good penetration and can be had in thicker jacket in 375 as well as standard jacket. They hold together well but lose a bit of weight when push hard.
Bob

Hi Bob
I have tried the Woodleigh PP 250 gr 9.3 cal. I load them for a mate who has a 9.3 x 62 and they work very well for the game he shoots. I have some 286 gr to try in my 64 as soon as Spittles gets off his arse and finishes the rifle. Dollar for Dollar they are the best valued bullet you can buy. There made here and are always available.
I have some A swift , Norma Oryx and North fork all in 286 gr. Haven’t tried the North Fork yet but have only heard good things about them. Also have a box of their hydro solids if I ever go after a Buff and want to use that caliber. I don’t normally use more then 1 or 2 Bullets when I go hunting so bullet cost doesn’t come into it. If I’m hunting I owe it to the animal to use the right caliber and only the best projectile that I know won’t fail.
Ken
North Fork Bullets attached

K95 said:

Hi Bob
I have tried the Woodleigh PP 250 gr 9.3 cal. I load them for a mate who has a 9.3 x 62 and they work very well for the game he shoots. I have some 286 gr to try in my 64 as soon as Spittles gets off his arse and finishes the rifle. Dollar for Dollar they are the best valued bullet you can buy. There made here and are always available.
I have some A swift , Norma Oryx and North fork all in 286 gr. Haven’t tried the North Fork yet but have only heard good things about them. Also have a box of their hydro solids if I ever go after a Buff and want to use that caliber. I don’t normally use more then 1 or 2 Bullets when I go hunting so bullet cost doesn’t come into it. If I’m hunting I owe it to the animal to use the right caliber and only the best projectile that I know won’t fail.
Ken
North Fork Bullets attached

View attachment 406632

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Northfork factory was sold to Sweden a little while ago,so they are up and making bullets and some ammo there,but not so many options on bullets for the time being i saw on their page.

Yes I know, I bought all the 9.3 cal Bullets the Aussie importer had when North Fork sold out. Think it will be awhile before I shoot all them off. Bob what’s your go to bullet in the 35.

K95 said:

Yes I know, I bought all the 9.3 cal Bullets the Aussie importer had when North Fork sold out. Think it will be awhile before I shoot all them off. Bob what’s your go to bullet in the 35.

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@K95.
Depends on the game I am hunting Ken. Fortunately it doesn't matter what I throw down the barrel it groups well.
When I was in Namibia 5 of us put 2 shots each down the barrel, 2x 225 grain Woodleigh PPSP, 2 x225 grain accubonds, 2x 250 grain hornaday spire points, 2x 250 grain Hornaday roundnose and 2x 250 grain Speer hot core. The resulting group was 1 and half inches.
The bullet I use the most is the woodleigh 225 grain PPSP @ 2,900 fps. I have got some 225 grain round nose Woodleighs to try. They should be great on pigs..
Bob

It’s great when a rifle does that, my 375 Ruger (a Rob Spittles creation) does the same. I’m off to the range now to try out some new loads and checking zero on the 270 Weatherby. Going out next week to fill the freezer with a young red.
Ken

K95 said:

It’s great when a rifle does that, my 375 Ruger (a Rob Spittles creation) does the same. I’m off to the range now to try out some new loads and checking zero on the 270 Weatherby. Going out next week to fill the freezer with a young red.
Ken

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Bob is your 35 Whelen standard or AI?

K95 said:

Bob is your 35 Whelen standard or AI?

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@K95
It's a standard. I know you are thinking the velocities are to high but I managed to get hold of about 4 and a half kilos of Hogdon CFE223 after they stopped importing it into Australia. Using Speer, Sierra and load from a disc I was able to get the Whelen to perform how it should. Speer list a load for the 250grain hotcore that give 2,700 fps. So my loads are within safe limits. It's a pity more Australians didn't get on to this powder.
Another excellent powder that gives cartridges a boost is superformance. If you do your homework it is a brilliant powder that is slower than 2213sc/H4831sc.
Bob

Yes you mentioned the powder before but where do you get either one . I didn’t think they were available in Australia

K95 said:

Yes you mentioned the powder before but where do you get either one . I didn’t think they were available in Australia

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@K95
Ken I found a little bit in wagga wagga and tried it and it worked well. When I found out they were not importing g it any more I got my local gunshop to order some and while hunting up around Tamworth I found some. So I have enough CFE223 to keep me going for a while.
The superformance I m managed to get 2 kilo from safari firearms that I gaurd well and only use it for my hunting rounds.
Bob.