120gr Speer SBT

[Guy Miner]

Trajectory is easy. Wind is the bugaboo at long range.

 

[35 Whelen]

Well said, until I fella messes around behond 300yds, he just doesnt have a full appreciation the effects the wind has on the bullets Flight. Anyone that can step up to the plate, dope the wind, and begin whacking milk jugs every shot at 500yds, is in my book, quite a bit more knowledgeable than the avg hunter is ever going to be.

 

[35 Whelen]

Here is an update on the Speer 120gr bullets. Yesterday I moved a big doe deer about half frozen out onto my baitpile.(300yds) I positioned it back down, legs up.
To my surprise the 120SPBT Speers(3100fps) both exited, however
They making golf ball sized exit holes blowing meat and bone out into a line on the far side of the deer all over the ice. I then tryed my 90gr Blitzkings and they of course stayed inside the deer. That Speer bullet is tougher than I
Would have thought it was. I also was surprised that Berger
VLDs outta the 6.5 @ 2800 went thru like it was nothing leaving tiny exit holes ...... Not what I expected from the Vld
Bullets at all. Nothing like testing into the actual medium your going to be hunting!

 

[SJB358]

That's pretty interesting about the Bergers. Wonder if the little exit was just pieces of the bullet rather than the whole thing?

Not surprised by the Speer. A 120 Speer should be a fairly tough Bullet. Especially on deer sized stuff.

 

[35 Whelen]

No it looked like it was from a FMJ bullet Scotty, I thought those things were just for punching paper and had thin jackets on them, but that certainly is NOT the case! Now I am calling them VLDs but Berger makes a bunch of different bullets that all look similar to the VLD and these came from Midway back in January and were not even labeled Bergers just LR blems........ So who knows what they are........ I think you could probably shoot right thru a moose with this bullet.....omg.
Maybe I should do a milk jug test on them? Wonder how far in front of the gun I should try it?
Be interesting to recover one of these " cruise missles" and even if they are no good for hunting, they sure shoot fantastic for us out to 600yds. I was able to hit a one lb coffee can yesterday at 500 yds with those "blems" :mrgreen:

I am going to load up some 140gr SST in the 6.5 and try them into that same doe at 300 yds
And see if they exit???? I bet if they do they make a huge exit hole. We will see! :grin:

 

[SJB358]

I don't keep up with Bergers but they do have a bunch of different bullets and their target bullets are actually thicker jackets from their hunting bullets from my understanding.

I'd put them into water jugs at 50 yards or so, just to see what happens.

I am sure that 140 SST will open pretty well. The 140 Ballistic Tips and Accubonds open up real well from the few I ran through jugs.

 

[jimbires]

E , I just read the last few post on this thread , I haven't read it all I'll read it after work . I might be able to help explain the hollow point problem no matter who's bullets these are . when these bullets hit something fluid goes in the cavity and hydraulically causes the bullet to open . with your test carcus being frozen I'm guessing there is no runny fluid to cause this to happen . a human body is a very high percentage of water , I think about 60% . another thing to watch for is the cavity being plugged up with lead or the copper jacket folded over the hole . I'm not sure of the hole size on these bullets you're using , but on my 300 gr 338 bullets the hole is about 1/4" deep and about .024 dia. I check these to be sure the hole is open on my hunting ammo , and use the plugged ones for target work . you can check these holes with a cutting torch tip cleaner , or I've used a straightened out staple . just a regular old staple from an office stapler . most sewing pins , or safety pins are to big in dia . another thing to watch for is your seating die . some dies are not made for the VLD bullets and this causes them to push on the bullet tip , instead of the ogive . if you are pushing on the tip you could be pinching the bullet hole closed while seating it , especially if you are using a compressed powder charge .

 

[AFG270]

Great info here on 25-06 bullets, missed this before, thanks for the update.

 

[jimbires]

I checked the holes in these Berger bullets ; 338 - 300 elite hunter , 7mm-140VLD hunting , 6.5 - 130 VLD hunting , 6.5- 140 VLD hunting . all have the same size hole . about .024 DIA , and about 1/4" deep .

 

[35 Whelen]

Checked the holes Jim, all good there. I am suspect tooo much bullet weight, too low a velocity...( to thick of a jacket???) Donoo
Wondering if I should have bought a box of 107 SMK and send them out there over 3k...... Just for yotes. :wink:
I dont want to drop all the way down to the 95 Vmax because of its looow BC and my wind problems here.
I do hear what your saying about a warm body with fluids vs this frozen one that makes sense.

 

[SJB358]

Seeing as how lightly skinned the Hornady ELD's are, I'd be apt to try out there 123's.. the AMax's were pretty quick opening bullets so I can't imagine these won't raise havoc.. Good BC on them as well at around a .500 or so.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/64497 ... box-of-100

 

[AFG270]

Here is a 115g NBT I shot into water jugs today. First attempt the bullet went through 3 jugs, dented the 4th, but I couldn't find the bullet. Shot again with a 6x6 behind the 3rd jug and found this in the 3rd jug, it also went through 3 jugs and hit the 6x6. Had some 115g VLD's going just over 3000 fps but ran out of jugs. This would definitely make a good deer bullet.

 

[35 Whelen]

Yep they are a good bullet , interesting that one sliped its jacket?? Not sure that is a good attribute in any bullet. To darn bad, they are still not sold in bags of 100.............. We used them for many years with good sucess.
I just bought 5 boxes(of 100) of the 120gr BT Speers (.485 BC)on sale for a hundred bucks.......the Speer 120s have a 30 year track record, of "Stellar performance" on deer sized game; for half price of a NBT.........

 

[AFG270]

That is a great price for the 120g Speers. I bought a bunch of 115g and 100g NBT blems when I had my rifle rebarreled. I also bought some Bergers, will run them into jugs next. I would like to try those 120g Speers, they seem like a good bullet with a high BC as you mentioned.

 

[SJB358]

Those 115 BTs are seriously accurate for me in my 25-06.

 

[DrMike]

Those 115 BTs are seriously accurate for me in my 25-06.

I'll say! That has to be most satisfying whenever you see that sort of accuracy.

 

[35 Whelen]

120gr Speers with a better BC, here is a 12 shot group @ 200yds, :wink: Speer bullets dont shoot "bad" either............(and did I mention they still come 100 in the box?) :lol:

 

[SJB358]

I'd shoot either. I can't imagine being able to notice the difference with either bullet on deer.

Did you ever take any Kansas bucks with that load E?

 

[35 Whelen]

Scotty,
At the last minute I realized a can of powder i thought
Was RL25 turned out to be RL26. I thought I had a bunch of the 120gr Speers loaded but they turned out to be 90gr BlitzKings.....
So in the end I took the .270W. Using 140gr SST bullets. That combo has proven itself to us for years now to be unmatched in one shot kills.( Oh and by the way did I mention they still come in boxes of 100????) :shock:

 

[SJB358]

Scotty,
At the last minute I realized a can of powder i thought
Was RL25 turned out to be RL26. I thought I had a bunch of the 120gr Speers loaded but they turned out to be 90gr BlitzKings.....
So in the end I took the .270W. Using 140gr SST bullets. That combo has proven itself to us for years now to be unmatched in one shot kills.( Oh and by the way did I mention they still come in boxes of 100????) :shock:

I just buy them cheap old 2nds when they are on sale... :twisted:

A 270 with a 140 anything should kill the heck out of deer, big or small.

Do the 140's blow through on broadside shots? Not that is matters, but I was just wondering. The 140 AccuBond is a wicked bullet out of my 270 WSM. Same for the 150 Ballistic Tips.