Do you use them?

I hope this thread doesn't derail like many do here. This is not intended to be a cup and core vs premium thread. Just a simple question: do you use them?

In Canada, Speer and Hornady make the least expensive cup and core bullets, with the possible exception of PP. Because of their low cost, I migrated to Speers after Rem and Win bulk bullets climbed in price, and Rem's Core Lokt jackets changed. It was a gradual thing.

I certainly haven't tried all of their offerings, but I have had great success with their Hot Cors, and varmint bullets.

Do you use them?

Yes one of my favourites I prefer them to all other cup and core bullets these days. I like to try bullets from any maker since there are so many good ones out there and it's fun but like you I have noticed the Hot Cor's are among the cheaper in price here and work at least as good as any other cup and core bullet. I have a few Deep Curls to try in the 270 Win but am really wanting to find the Gold Dot and also their new Impact long range bullet. The Grand Slam was a favourite for a long time but after they changed them to one piece core's I gravitated to other premium designs instead. They obviously work but I think there are "better" bullets out there now. Like I said earlier their new Gold Dot and Impact rifle bullets look very good and I bet Speer has a couple of winners with those two.

Trying different bullets is enjoyable and enlightening. Sometimes however, it is difficult to convince people totry something new.

steve I use a lot of speer hot cores in 35rem &30/30 good bullets

The eight point buck I harvested in northern Wisconsin this past November fell to a 150gr Hot-Cor out of my Remington 700 BDL. 50 yards broadside through the heart and one lung. He simply lunged, turned slowly in a half circle, and went down nose first. Also harvested a doe a few years back with one and she went down as well without any fanfare. Speer Hot-Cor and Hornady Interloks are my favorite for deer. Also 220gr flat nose Speers out of my 35 Whelen.

Yes I use them , was just looking at them at Midsouth Shooters Supply [160gr. Hot Cores] for my 280AI .
Use the 140 Hot Cores in my Model Seven 260rem. great dead right there performance and were $18 per 100 on sale , picked up 300 of them .
The 140 HC flat base was very easy to get to shoot well inside of 20 rounds the little M7 carbine was shooting inside an inch for 3 shots with the 181/2'' No 1. barrel . Two feral pigs and a couple few coons never took a step - bang flop .
I'm getting away from the LR type bullets - no need for those bullets where I hunt and I find the cheap Hot Cores shoot just as well as anything out to 400-500 yards .

Yes, I use them in a few rifles.

Specifically:

87 grain .257 in my 1/14 twist Savage 1899 .250-3000.
150 grain .277 hot-cor in my .270 Win. Great bullet for elk.
150 grain .308 "old style" grand slam in my .300 Savage.
200 grain .308 "old style" grand slam in my .300 H&H. I am down to about 70 of these left though .

That 200 gr Grand Slam was my go to bullet in the 308 Norma Mag I had. MRP and IMR 4350 got me to 2900 fps and was a hammer, too bad the axed it. The 180 gr Mag Tip was a favourite too from the 308 Norma wish they still made them.

The 150 gr Hot Cor shoots well from my 270 Win, good to hear you like it. Need to shoot a few bears and deer with them. I killed a bunch of deer and had several inexperienced hunters use the 140 gr Grand Slam on bears from the 6.5x55 and 260 Rem. Glad to see it make a return.

Back when I had hair....started loading the 130 grain BT 7mm bullet in a late 70s vintage Ruger M77 in 7x57. It was the most accurate bullet I tried. Gave the rifle to my sister-in-law, every deer she has shot has been with the 130 grain 7mm boat tail.

Other Speer bullets I have tried have not been the most accurate of ones I’ve tested so they have not made it into regular usage.

All I have ever used are the cheaper Hornady and Speer hot cor, deep curl, grand slam, I have never had any reason to use a more expensive bullet, when my rifles are moa then they are good to go.

The Core-Lokt PSPs changed, but I'm not sure the RN's did. I recall JB posted sometime back it was the PSP's that did. If you check Remington's website they show sectioned views that seem to support that as well, but I don't know if those pics (below) accurately reflect their current jacket thicknesses. Perhaps it's a moot point since they seem like unobtainium except as factory loaded ammo anymore.


Remington Core-Lokt

Big fan of Speer bullets, the 200gr 8mm is the best shooting bullet I've tried in my 8x57. I've had good results with 150gr Hot Cor bullets in 308 30/06 and 300 Win Mag...(just wish they hadn't discontinued the "Mag Tip" version, my 30/06 LOVED them).

That's right, they changed at least twice that I know of. For me, the first nail in the coffin was when Remington stopped selling their 215 gr. CL component bullet in the early 80s. Shortly thereafter, a Cdn company, CIL, stopped making bullets. I was out of heavyweight options for moose. The only bullets I could find were 215 Woodleigh Weldcores. In the 1980s, they were over $50 a box for 50. Outrageous at the time. Prices on everything climbed, as they always do. Then I started buying more Speer bullets.

Remington's decision to cut bullets from their bulk line was undoubtedly do to declining sales. I really liked their 50 and 55 gr. PSPs, as well as 80 gr. 6mm. Throughout the 1980s in Canada, we saw many gun shops close due to federal government legislation to restrict and control sales of firearms and ammunition. That meant even fewer places to source components. It was a bad time. Luckily, I found suppliers and in the late 1980, decided to get into bullet making. In the 1980s, my purchases of Speer and Hornady bullets increased. What used to be a treat, Speer varmint bullets, became my preferred bullet.

I still buy them, but making my own jacketed bullets reduced the need.

I use them because here too - just like Canada - they seem best for price along with a few bullets from Hornady.

For a while they became inexplicably over priced down here but now they seem to have come back to where they were in price.

Their BTSPs are my favourites. They’ve been accurate for me and cheat the wind as good as many more fancy bullets.

bobnob17
Weren't you the gentleman who posted a series of tests you had done by firing various bullets into newspapers or phonebooks some time ago?

Tests yes. Gentleman no 🤣

Ha, lol, I remember your analogy from the reloadersnest, it was exellent.

I think our dollar is worth about the same as yours against the US dollar. 30 to 35% less. I know that we've been paying through the nose for about four or five years. I'm going to look into a group buy here and see how many people are interested.

Depending on the timing Steve I would be interested. I really like the 180 gr flat nose for my 358 Win and like I said earlier want to try some of their new designs. The Hot Cor 180 gr RN is a favourite for the 303 British and very accurate in our gun!

At least some of them did. I believe the 30-30 round nose Core-Lokt, and some others too, no longer come with the signature scalloped jackets. I guess it was cheaper. And if the scallops are gone, what about the other design features? This is what MidwayUSA is showing as a product picture for the .30-cal 170 gr. Doesn't look much like a Core-Lokt to me.

I used to use a few Speer (and Corelokt) bullets, but they don't seem to want to market their lines in Canada anymore so have been buying C&C bullets from Sierra instead.

Hornady has dropped a few from their line incl. some RNs and 100gr 25cal. Switching from those as well.

I wonder how we would manage that with people living in different parts of the country? They would have to come in and be remailed out. Logistics and cost might nullify any savings.



It's a continuing evolution. If RNs somehow became popular again, all the companies would be making them. The current trend seems to be ultra low drag. Who knows what the next few years will bring.