I couldn't resist posting some results on a deer kill with a great old .284 diameter bullet. See the exit wound on this doe I killed last Saturday with an old 7X57.

http://www.aldeer.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=4284180&#Post4284180

With all the newer offerings, hype, and ballistic bullet talk these days, it's a breath of fresh air to see an old standby make some noise. The bullet is the old Speer 145 grain soft point boat tail and the muzzle velocity out of my 7x57 is 2770. The boat tail is similar to sierra's gameking, and is a bit softer than the flat base hot cor bullet. Being speer's long range option, it's softer to make sure adequate expansion occurs at slower impact velocities when shooting at longer distances. This doe was close and the under 50 yard shot resulted in an easy pass through, even going through some tougher shoulder tissue. A decent test for a softer bullet at fairly high velocity. I wish I could have found the bullet to see what the mushroom looked like, but the result was a DRT doe with destroyed lungs... regardless of what it may have looked like or retained weight, it did it's job and did it very well.

I'm looking forward to more results next year to see if it continues to impress. But for now, I would suggest it to anyone shooting a medium 7mm cartridge. Did I mention that they run .25 - .30 cent a piece at your favorite reloading website? Hard to beat the price for a strong performer like that with a fairly high BC. I'm not sure if a partition could have done any better.

I have some 120gr Speer gold dot for my Grendel. It don’t like them. I also bought some Speer 100gr soft points for the 243. It hated them but shot ok in my daughter’s little Ruger. I really wanted both to shoot great in these guns but couldn’t get there.

I get results like that in my 7-08 with 140 grain Partitions and Accubonds. The 120 grain NBTs produce a larger exit. I don’t think I’ve ever paid more than $25/50 for a bag of Partitions and Accubonds. The NBTs are less than $20/50. Hard to beat the price and performance.

Where are you getting Accubonds for that price? The cheapest I found was around $40. If you don’t mind sharing that info.

Nosler’s website. It’s there seconds/overrun portion. They’ve increased alittle bit, but still worth keeping an eye on to see when they put some there. I stocked piled alot of stuff way before Covid. Lol

The whole point was.... you don't need Accubonds..... All anyone needs to do is load a Speer and go kill something.

I saw a 12 year old kill a nice buck with a 168 Speer out of a .308 loaded hot. Dropped the deer in it's tracks. About 3 weeks ago.

Grown ass men on this AL Deer site can't get their heads around this. Starting with a 12 year old boy that looked to weigh about 80lbs can accurately shoot a .308 and not be a complete vagina about it.

They are 100% convinced it doesn't work on the bullet issue..

Foolish is an understatement. Lack of experience is at the core of the issue.

It's like the kids with the suped up Toyota with a fart muffler trying to race me when I'm driving my Chevelle. The Chevelle runs low 10's. Looks old. Still fast..

Kinda like, you don’t NEED something as big as a 308 to kill a deer.

GK was hitting on it. A box of 100 of those speers for $26... not as flashy - missing the cute red or blue polymer tip - identical results. Don't get caught up in what everyone says you need to get the results. No need to get fancy.

Not condemning or judging... just saying there is a cheaper, traditional option available that will flat wear one out!

All of my rifles are subject to go out West. I don’t have to swap loads around to get great performance at both places at a fairly inexpensive mark. It’s a win win.

Standard cup and core bullets kill deer very well.

Always have, Always will.

I suspect this bullet would perform well out west as well. Boat tail, tough, high BC, designed for longer range shooting. 145s prob wouldn't be my first choice for Elk or bigger game, but they do have a 160gr version in a .284 bullet that probably would do well. I believe that Mrs. O'Connor shot 160s out of her 7x57 all over N America and Africa.

Maybe, but I’m already using the best bullet in my experience.

I didn't get any pics, but I tallied another kill with those 145 speer boat tails. Range finder verified 190 yards on a 80-pound sow hog. Bang - flop - 2 squeals - DRT pass through. She never took a step. 7x57 Mauser.

Nice chootn bud!

Get them on sale while you can... Midway has those BTSP 145s for $22.80 for a box of 100. These are inexpensive, but very good 7mm bullets with a good ballistic coefficient.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010534638?pid=333391