Speer 90gr TNT

[PA452]

Anyone have experience with this bullet? I'm interested in hearing reviews/experiences in terms of both accuracy and terminal performance.

[LRRPF52]

I was just shooting with these yesterday. Bill A. sent me several boxes of them. I think Bill A. prefers the 95gr VMAX and the 100gr Berger as a better pills for the varmint type bullets in the Grendel.

I was getting 1 MOA with them at 100m from my button-rifled 16" Grendel. They were quite impressive on squash as well.

[LRRPF52]

We learned that they will put a 12" steel popper down at 300m from a 16" Grendel.

[hellcat370]

I used them once to kill a possum at 250yds from a 19.5 inch Model one upper. they also left some pretty good dents in 1/4 inch steel that got turned up by a plow out in the corn field last year.

[Lead Chucker]

LOL.. Love her heart! My girlfriend got me some for my birthday last month, thats what I wanted. Loaded them up with some Tac, shot .33 inch group at 100yds at 2750 fps out of a 18" satern barrel. Love them, already ordered another box of them. I also shoot the 95gn vmax, but I may just like the TNT's better. The BC on the TNT isn't as good as the vmax, but out to 400 to 500 yds you won't see a big difference. Anyway I like them!

[hm2 clark]

I have used some out of my TC Encore barrel (believed to be 26"but might be 24') with good effect. Maybe .6 inches at 100 yards. Shot rabbits skunks nutria and armidillo out to 300 yards with explosive effect. Got a shot into a 20lb coyote at maybe 125 yards using a 14"barrel AR and he was DRT with fist sized exit. No recoil I could notice so was easy to get back on target with the
ar

[Lead Chucker]

I shot some of these out to 520 yrd today on 10" steel. Only took 3 mils, love it. Very accurate.

[hellcat370]

Anyone tried them on deer yet? I'm heading back home tomorrow and have thought about it since I'll be hunting primarily open bean fields.

[JASmith]

The 90 gr TNT is attractive from the point of view of keeping the bullet close to line of sight out to 150-200 yards. It also should be an excellent varmint round.

In 6.5x55, 260 Rem, 6.5 Creedmoor, etc. it will likely be too explosive for medium game.

Am hoping that some folks might have compared the bullet at Grendel velocities in water jug tests side-by side with some of the 90-100 gr bullets that are recommended for medium game. There's a lot of hogs that need culling in different parts of the country. Exercising, again side-by-side, bullets against them should prove instructive in whether the TNT is OK at Grendel velocities.

[Dinny]

Anyone tried them on deer yet? I'm heading back home tomorrow and have thought about it since I'll be hunting primarily open bean fields.

I would not recommend them for game larger than coyotes. I used a 90gr TNT in a 25-06 and they were violent expanders.

http://www.speer-bullets.com/products/ri...t/tnt.aspx

Thanks, Dinny

[hm2 clark]

I have shot a few hogs with the 90gr TNT (have also used the 87gr and 90gr varmitere) Results were about like you'd expect. (14" barrel trying for a neck shot with follow up as necessary). 30-50lb piglets they work well making a big hole; head shot-neck shots-chest shots all work well. Somewhere around 80 lbs the chest shots still work, but a follow up shot is necessary. Around 150 lbs, even when I put 3 rounds into the center of mass the pigs keep running. Head shots always work.

[hellcat370]

Well I had to wait a while, but I finally got my shot today. I to was curious as to what a 90gr TNT would do on a large animal. Had 4-5 deer come in on the pile this evening, and after picking a decent sized doe, I fired a shot from 300 yards. I hit her through both shoulders, with a small entry hole and nickel sized exit. However the damage inside was unlike anything i've seen from a medium caliber. When gutting her out, the entire area from her chest to mid-ribcage was bloodshot, front of lungs were shredded, liver had some cuts and was bloodshot, and the opposite shoulder was somewhat bloodshot underneath as well. She ran a total of 120 yards before piling up. Down is there was little to no blood trail, but I believe with a hit tight behind the front shoulder, she would either not have ran, or not ran nearly as far. Admittedly, I hit her a lil far forward, but its better than to far back! All in all I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I'll use it again in open environments.

[LRRPF52]

Wow! At that distance, I'm surprised you got a pass-through, especially with that bullet through the shoulders. I personally would not use the 90gr TNT on a deer. When I tested it on squash, it had a huge exit, with the squash split apart.

Sounds like the shot placement worked out for you anyway. Where are you zeroed and where did you hold for that distance? Have you considered the 100gr TTSX, 100gr Partition, or 100gr Hornady SP?

That's still amazing to me that you got a complete pass through with a 90gr TNT at 300yds. I guess the lower impact velocity let the bullet stay together enough to do what it did. Nice harvest and shot placement.

[hellcat370]

Not gunna lie, I didn't think I'd get a pass through on both shoulders either! I was hoping for a hit right behind the front shoulders, but the sun was hitting my scope a lil. If I reloaded I'd use some of the other rounds. The deer was about 150-170lbs. I'm shooting 1.5 inches high at 100yds, and held the crosshairs on the top of her back. Impact was 8 inches (roughly) below that, in the middle of the shoulder blade. I've got an 18 inch barrel with 1/9 twist.

[Lead Chucker]

Im shooting 90gn TNT reloads. It takes me 1.3 mils to hit 300yrds. I have shot it 500 with ease. I didnt think of it as a deer round but i could see it! Its super accurate in my 18" satern.

[hm2 clark]

Hellcat360, did you hit any bone on the way in or out?

[hellcat370]

O yea! Bullet went through both shoulder blades just forward of dead center. Took out the front of both lungs, but hit so hard that the liver was bloodshot. I'd never heard a bullet hit a deer like that at that distance, and I've shot a few with 30-06's around 250-300yds. Had the shot been 4 inches back, her entire chest cavity would have been destroyed. Sadly, I cleaned her out in the dark, and flew out the next day, so no real time to pick apart the effects, just what I saw by flashlight. I'm going to try it again next year, hopefully at a closer range though.

[JASmith]

Hellcat,

The 90 grain bullet is exciting, and your experience is intriguing. From all that I've seen and read, however, everything came together just right to make that shot as effective as it was. The range is one. The shoulder blade is not particularly thick in the middle is another.

For your next hunting trip, there is wisdom in taking a close look at either the 120gr Ballistic tip and the 129 gr SST factory loads if you don't want to reload. If you are reloading and want an inexpensive light weight bullet for medium game, then look at the Hornady 100 gr Interlock. It may be easy enough of the pocket to allow you to do all your shooting with it.

Alternative but more expensive options are the 100 gr Nosler Partition, the 100 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip, and the 100 gr Barnes TTSX. Of these, these the Ballistic Tip is occasionally reported to come apart too easily but is likely to hang together a lot better than the 90gr TNT. The rest should give you far more reliable performance on medium game.

[hellcat370]

This wasn't my first deer with the Grendel. I've killed more than half a dozen using Wolf's 120 MPT, and that is my standard load, though I did pick up some Hornady 123 Amax's to see how my gun liked them. Being I was hunting open fields where longer shots were likely, I decided to try the 90 TNT's because of its flatter trajectory, and to see thier effectiveness. While the shoulder blade is not overly thick, it did blow holes slightly larger than a quarter through both sides of the ribcage, and left a small exit hole in the offside shoulder. Had it not gone through both shoulders, but entered behind them, I'm quite sure the exit hole would have been far bigger, having less bone and muscle to go through. My buddy's dad made the comment that it looked like I blew part of her lungs out her nose because of the lung matter around her nostrils. I really wish I would have gotten some good pics to show yall!

[Deer Hunter]

Hellcat,

The 90 grain bullet is exciting, and your experience is intriguing. From all that I've seen and read, however, everything came together just right to make that shot as effective as it was. The range is one. The shoulder blade is not particularly thick in the middle is another.

For your next hunting trip, there is wisdom in taking a close look at either the 120gr Ballistic tip and the 129 gr SST factory loads if you don't want to reload. If you are reloading and want an inexpensive light weight bullet for medium game, then look at the Hornady 100 gr Interlock. It may be easy enough of the pocket to allow you to do all your shooting with it.

Alternative but more expensive options are the 100 gr Nosler Partition, the 100 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip, and the 100 gr Barnes TTSX. Of these, these the Ballistic Tip is occasionally reported to come apart too easily but is likely to hang together a lot better than the 90gr TNT. The rest should give you far more reliable performance on medium game.

This is good advice, get the TSX or my personal favorite the Hornady 123 gr Amax for deer. Most of us here can probably head shoot one with a .22 but why risk it when youre shooting one of the beet guns on the market with the right bullet weight. Go with a bigger bullet, but thats just my opiniin.