Hello all,
Although I can see myself eventually switching to hardcast in all my big bores, jacketed bullets suit my needs currently. With Remington 405's being virtually non-existent (and my stockpile getting lower) I have switched over to the 400 grain Speers. I've heard their performance is quite similar possibly with the Remington being a tad tougher. My question is this...has anyone had personal experience with this bullet on game? I don't intend to push it faster than about 1600fps. Thanks for any input.

They work fine at standard vels. Why in hell does everyone wanna shoot hardcast?? Would ya use a 458 mag solid for hnting deer through bears?? A hardcast does the same thing. Penetrate,NOT open up.

I love a good jacketed bullet but I'm really tired of the cost increase and lack of availability at times. It never fails that about the time I really get used to a certain thing, it becomes very hard or impossible to get. I like being more self-sufficient than that. If I can hoard away enough lead and get some good moulds I won't have to worry about that anymore. One less thing to worry about.

250 pieces of 405gr cast = 67.99 @ midway
250 pieces of 405gr Speer = 149.95 @ midway


I have not hunted with cast, but I sure wouldn't care to. I do shoot a lot of paper/steel/targets with cast.

This myth of the holy hardcast can be an eye opener for guys taking their first big game. Hardcast drills a clean hole unless it plows through bone - and Elk don't just fall down because you made a loud noise.

I bought a lot of Remington 405gr JSP a long time ago on sale. They work great on Elk. I don't have a need for hardcast anymore because I don't shoot enough for the cost to be an issue.

Back to the original question, 2 Maine whitetails have fallen to my 1895GS with the Speer 400gr FN over 45.0gr IMR3031. This load shoots a one hole clover leaf at 50 yards and left a blood trail on both deer that a blind man could follow.

Now,good luck finding the Speer 400gr to be anymore available than the Remingtons. While Speer still lists this bullet I am not sure when they last produced them. I bought 8 boxes about a year and a half ago and am glad I did.

Thanks Cush, you may be right. The Speers have been hard to find and the cost will make your eyes bug out. For the deer hunting I do, I know the 300 grain bullets would be fine. For bear, boar, and the occasional elk hunt I really love the heavy bullets.

If ya gotta have a jacketed 400 grain bullet and don't mind cost, take a look at the Barnes Buster and the Woodleigh bullets. They are available right now, and are good bullets, but they cost!!

Edited to add a mention of the Barnes "Originals", too. This bullet would be more likely to expand than the "Buster".


One bullet that is available and can handle deer, pig, and black bear without a problem is the 300 grain Speer UniCor. This is the one I use now, and I have loaded it to 2200 fps to emulate my .30-30s trajectory. But, I am rethinking that. When the current crop gets shot up, I may load down to the 1900 to 2000 fps range.

Bearcat, I have noticed a big difference in performance with a large meplat cast versus a roundnose, as far as the animal's reaction to the impact and internal damage. But, even so, I still see more reaction to the shot with jacketed.

I have been hunting with the 350 Hornady FP @ 1922fps, that should create a reaction.

I have several hundred 405 Rem's laying here, several hundred 300gr HP's, 150 Barnes TSX-FN's, 300 of the 350 Hornady FP's and 700 pieces of cast bullets.


I need to start working with the Barnes bullets, looks like a big old flying ash tray.