I’m looking at trying some Speer BTSP, my end goal is loading a round that will kill a deer no matter what angle he is to me. Most shots will be inside 125 yards or so and on public land to boot. I’ve shot nosler BT and accubond, and Barnes ttsx for a few years now and have really liked them. But all my shots have been open broadside shots for the most part. I’m not sure if I have the confidence in them type bullets to make a shot no matter the deers angle. I feel like I should be able to make an ethical shot no matter the angle if I have the right bullet choice. I’m looking for bone breaking and penetration. But yet cheaper than a nosler partition per say. What’s y’all’s opinion on changing up bullet choice for what I’m trying to achieve? .308 caliber

I have a recipe my buddy gave to me to try for some 165 grain sittin on varget powder I’m gonna try . But always open to other choices to check out.

If you can find them, the Gold Dot is a bonded bullet and is rumored to be the same bullet as the federal fusion. I load them in my Grendel and shoot pretty good. Not as good as the Barnes but plenty good enough to hunt with. I also load the Speer Hot core bullets in my 35 Whelen and is a straight up shooter. Crazy accurate. Speer is a great product at a very affordable price if your rifle likes them.

A 165 Speer Grand Slam would fit the job, and they're half the price of a partition. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010540957?pid=349407

I shot fusion and the blue box federal for years and always had good performance. I started reloading and went to “higher end bullets” and they have done really well. But they getting little pricey as well. So I was looking at a cheaper option but same value so to speak. lol

I've tried the 130 grain btsp and hot core in my 7mm-08 and it did not like the bullet/powder combos that I loaded. Someday I would like to try the 145 grain and see if it shoots better than the 130 did.

I shoot the plain jane speer BTSPs in my 308 and 7x57. 165s in the 308 and 145s in 7mm. Accurate and deadly. You will not be disappointed.

http://www.aldeer.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=4284189#Post4284189

Thanks. I found some 145 .284 on sale the other day and went ahead and got em. They was just to cheap to pass up. They are the Speer grand slams. Wife had two 7-08 and try em in one of them

The Speer HotCors I've used are little tougher Power Points and Corelokts and definitely tougher than SSTs and NBTs. It really does help to call the company and ask directly what they expect a specific bullet to do for a specific use and velocity.

I like the Fusion/Gold Dots because they're soft enough to expand wide but still hold together. The only ones I've caught were a couple 55gr .22 cal. Those made it to the far side skin and made a little bulge. 62gr version of same bullet always exists.

Never thought about calling the company. May do that.

I shoot the 165 gr Speer BTSP and they do very well; however, they are more of a long range bullet built to expand at lower velocities. I think the hot cores are a much better choice for what you are wanting to accomplish.

I have loaded and shot the Speer 2034 PSPBT for over 10 years and it's always been one shot/dead deer or other critter. Accuracy is sub MOA to at least 200 yards. I even bought a load of these bullets as blems off Midway a year or so ago and can't find the blem. Weighing them and the non blems show both having up to a 2 gr +/- variance.

I think most blems are cosmetic or maybe slight nose profile blems. I would think weight/size discrepancies is the same as non-blem.

Grafs is having a sale on the speer bullets right now.