Spear Grand Slam bullets?

[Wyfox]

Any experience with the Grand Slam bullets?
I'm taking my 338 wm to Africa for plainsgame including Eland, Kudu, Wildebeast, etc.
I have around 400 Spear 250gr Grand Slam bullets but have never killed anything with them. Do they hold up well? I'd like to use Swift but they're pretty much non existent on the market.
Would like to find some real world reviews.

 

[Ray B]

About 40 years ago when they first came out I used them in several calibers and found them to be very good given their construction. According to their advertisements they had two densities of lead core and an internal belt that kept the core in place. None of the bullets used to shoot animals, mostly deer were never recovered so I don't have real-life evidence other than the deer all dropped dead on the spot.

But add a few decades and possible changes in construction as well as no further advertising of the bullets and i don't know if the recent runs of the bullets are the same as the old or if there have been shortcuts to their production. If I were considering using them on animals I'd take one of the bullets and grind away one side of it so that i could examine the construction. How thick is the jacket? Is there a inner-belt to hold the core? then I'd take a second bullet load it up to field ballistics, line up about 8 milkjugs that have been filled with water. Then shoot the bullet into the jugs and hopefully find the expanded bullet in about jug 6. Then I'd have an idea of how the bullet could be expected to perform on game.

 

[Mountaineer]

I have shot some elk with them in the 165 grain in my 300 mag. They always pass through.

 

[Firebird]

I’ve shot some deer and elk with them-I absolutely love them, old construction or new, they expand and they pass through. Reliable.
I don’t use them as much anymore because I don’t use the rifles I loaded them for very
Much any more, but I would not hesitate to take them to Africa.

 

[Firebird]

I should add-I’ve been to Africa several times and mostly used tbbc handloads which I still have a supply of-last trip I used a more modern design because that rifle loves that bullet.
I haven’t used my old .30-06 or .270 much recently simply due to lack of opportunity and a love affair I started with a 28 nosler. But I still have loads of confidence in the Grand Slam in several calibers-

 

[Kelly G]

They are great bullets! Use them in my 375 H&H Mag - .285 Grand Slams.
All one shots kills on 9 Plains Game including frontal on Eland in Botswana 2019. Pictures of animal recovered bullets below.
I would love to use this load on "Lion"

Load them up and shoot some game. You won't be disappointed!

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Any experience with the Grand Slam bullets?
I'm taking my 338 wm to Africa for plainsgame including Eland, Kudu, Wildebeast, etc.
I have around 400 Spear 250gr Grand Slam bullets but have never killed anything with them. Do they hold up well? I'd like to use Swift but they're pretty much non existent on the market.
Would like to find some real world reviews.

Avoid heavy bone & you will be fine.

I once fired a 300Gr Speer Grand Slam soft point (out of a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum BRNO ZKK602) into the ball-and-socket joint of a large African male lion which I shot over bait in Zimbabwe.The bullet blew to pieces upon impact. We had to spoor the lion & shoot him when he charged on the following morning.

Had my point of aim been a double lung shot behind the shoulder, that lion would have folded before going 100 yards while coughing up frothy blood.

 

[meigsbucks]

There are three iterations of the GS.
version 1) Had a hard rear core with a softer front core. There was a grove around the circumference of the base that the rear core was swagged into to keep the core from slipping forward. This worked OK, but I took a hot with a .30/06 using the 165gr GS. It looked like a perfect mushroom, but when I picked out the bullet, the core fell out. 72% weight retention.
Version 2: The same as version 1, except they added a ring inside the jacket, emulating the Hornady Imterlock. I took two elk and a mule deer with this bullet (250gr .338 Win mag). On the two elk, the bullet broke the shoulder and made exit. On the mule deer, broke the shoulder, exited the far armpit and crushed and lodged in the leg joint. 74% weight retention. Fortunately I have a small stockpile of these bullets. Fine bullet.
Version 3: Speer did away with the dual core. I don’t have any experience on game with this version.
All three versions do have a thicker than normal jacket and flutes near the nose to facilitate expansion.

 

[Wyfox]

They are great bullets! Use them in my 375 H&H Mag - .285 Grand Slams.
All one shots kills on 9 Plains Game including frontal on Eland in Botswana 2019. Pictures of animal recovered bullets below.
I would love to use this load on "Lion"

Load them up and shoot some game. You won't be disappointed!

Thank you, just the report I was hoping for.

 

[Wyfox]

There are three iterations of the GS.
version 1) Had a hard rear core with a softer front core. There was a grove around the circumference of the base that the rear core was swagged into to keep the core from slipping forward. This worked OK, but I took a hot with a .30/06 using the 165gr GS. It looked like a perfect mushroom, but when I picked out the bullet, the core fell out. 72% weight retention.
Version 2: The same as version 1, except they added a ring inside the jacket, emulating the Hornady Imterlock. I took two elk and a mule deer with this bullet (250gr .338 Win mag). On the two elk, the bullet broke the shoulder and made exit. On the mule deer, broke the shoulder, exited the far armpit and crushed and lodged in the leg joint. 74% weight retention. Fortunately I have a small stockpile of these bullets. Fine bullet.
Version 3: Speer did away with the dual core. I don’t have any experience on game with this version.
All three versions do have a thicker than normal jacket and flutes near the nose to facilitate expansion.

Thank you.
Not sure which version I have, bought them direct from Speer about 3-4 years ago.

 

[meigsbucks]

Thank you.
Not sure which version I have, bought them direct from Speer about 3-4 years ago.

If you got them from Speer, it would be version 3 as they quit making the second about a decade ago.

 

[Choupique]

The new ones seem to behave like an interlock to me.

 

[shootist~]

They were "the" premium bullet back n the day, but my experience was with 160 gr 7mm08. I would be very comfortable with 250 grain GS in a 338WM if that's what my rifle likes.

 

[Nosler guy]

Thank you.
Not sure which version I have, bought them direct from Speer about 3-4 years ago.

Just cut a couple of them in half - you'll find out plenty quick

 

[Nosler guy]

Guys up here had real good results, with the early versions. These bullets were designed to mimic the Nosler partition. Kind of a misunderstood design - seems for some reason the modern shooter is all hung up on weight retention. Neither of these excellent bullets were designed with max weight retention as top priority.

The soft front part was designed for massive maximum expansion, often to the point of fragmenting. The harder solid base part was left to do the penetration work. Recovered bullets hardly ever exceeding 80% original weight - but a very effective bullet.

If the are the older two part bullets - wouldn't be afraid to tackle the biggest plains game Africa can throw at yu (like Eland)

Happy hunting - if yu take them bullets - be sure to report back - Interested, with a capital I

 

[pilar]

GS is a good pill my favorite Speer made bullet next is the fusion,
I wish manufacturers would make more bonded pills, like the old inter bond, partitions Norma our ox, ect in suitable weights .trends now is thin , high BC explosive stuff. Or mono ( who are imo better at general hunting than the high explosive stuff)

 

[Wyfox]

Well I took advantage of @RAVEN ROCKS PRECISION
Black Friday sale and bought some bonded Norma Oryx 230gr to use for the trip. I feel better having a bonded bullet for penetration. I'll use the Speer for elk and practice loads.
Thanks for everyones feedback.

 

[Choupique]

I like the 230 oryx load a lot. Its my favorite 338 load

 

[Northview902]

The Grand Slam is Speer's premium, controlled-expansion, bonded-core bullet. It was designed specifically for deep penetration on large, tough game.

 

[Ray B]

The Grand Slam is Speer's bonded-core bullet.

When did Speer start bonding them?