I know, I know... there are a host of "premium" bullets available, but my question is how well does the plain old Hornady Interlock perform on buffalo?

I have no experience hunting Cape Buff. However, I did have a Hornady 300 gr Round Nose (fired from a .375 H&H) go to pieces on a Gemsbok on my first trip to South Africa back in 2000. I learned my lesson on that one. I use better bullets now (Woodleigh or Nosler Partition.) I don't think I'd use the .375" 300 gr Hornady round nose soft point on a Buff.

-Bob F.

New Guy
I am a BIG believer in Premiun bullets for BIG game. I have 1 recovered 480 Woodleigh Soft and 2 recovered 500gr Swift A Frames from the 2 buff I shot in Zim last June from my 450 No2.
They performed perfectly. Do not take a chance, use a Nosler Partition, Woodleigh Soft, Swift A Frame, Trophy Bonded Bearclaw, or North Fork Soft. The buff deserves no less.

I killed a cape buffalo a couple of years ago with a 500 grain Hornady Interlock bullet fired from a Hornady factory load in .458 Lott.

Plus, at least several gunwriters have done this too, since, when they first came out a few years ago, both the Ruger rifle and the Hornady ammo were featured in a few stories in the gun rags about buff hunting.

Here's what mine looked like after being recovered from my buff:



The bullet mushroomed back to the lock ring and worked very well. Stuck in a finishing Hornady 500 grain solid to the spine on the walk up that probably wasn't needed.

They usually work, but that usually is always the catch in bullets...Sierras usually work but I won't hunt buffalo with either...

I only use premium bullets these days, they don't cost that much more..I like Nolser Partitions, Northforks, Woodleighs and GS Custom bullets, I will pass on the rest, not because they don't work but because the above do work and if it ain't broke don't fix it.....

There are a number of bullets I have had bad luck with and so I don't use them. Makes since to me.

quote:

Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
New Guy
I am a BIG believer in Premiun bullets for BIG game.

Me too - I shoot the woodleighs on the tough stuff... but there has been a lot killed with the Hornady, and i just wonder what the various experiences have been like.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
They usually work, but that usually is always the catch in bullets....

Hell, all I said was I did it, which is to say, it can be done. I didn't say that I'd recommmend it!

BTW, I had a perfect, broadside, behind the shoulder shot on that buff. The bullet punched through the near side rib cage, the heart and lungs and banged off the ribs on the other side.

Buff just ran off a few dozen yards, fell down and was breathing his last when I put in the insurance shot.

New Guy, I use the Hornady bullet for practice in my 375 H&H and will use Barnes TS for my hunt buff in Sept. The Hornady shot very well and are cheap to practice with. They shot very close to the same impact as the TS. This will be my first buff hunt and I will not let a lesser bullet spoil my hunt.

Well hell0! Hornady doesn't make them anymore do they?

Haven't they changed it to the "Interbond" now???

Now it is a bonded core bullet cheaper than Woodleigh for USA, and I suspect they will be even stouter made than the Weldcore.

Hornady has finally fixed the tendency of the Interlokt to shed its entire friggin' core like one of the .458/500gr Interlokts did on a moose for me. Moose still died instantly, but there wasn't a bit of lead left in the empty jacket.

The New Hornady INTERBOND .458/500gr ought to be OK.

I've had Hornady Inter-Locts come apart on elk as well as bison and I certainly wouldn't consider hunting buffalo with them, or even as a general-purpose bullet for any African hunting. I have no logical reason to, and plenty of reasons NOT to. If the jacket of a Hornady bullet develops a verticle split that extends past the cannelure (the most common cause of failure), the "inter-loct" band inside the jacket cannot be counted upon to hold the core in place.

Quite simply, if I had a rifle that only shot Hornady's well in lieu of a true premium, I'd either rebarrel or get rid of the rifle.

Yes, Hornady's are indeed cheaper, but I don't believe in stepping over a dollar to pick up a dime. Buffalo hunting is literally a matter of your money of your life, and you owe it to everyone involved to choose the best bullets available. There are plenty of them out there, but Hornady isn't one of them, especially not for buffalo.

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quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
Well hell0! Hornady doesn't make them anymore do they?

Haven't they changed it to the "Interbond" now???

The New Hornady INTERBOND .458/500gr ought to be OK.

I believe RIP is correct. While I have only used the new .416"-400gr InterBond, it seems Midway and others are selling Interlock out while the supply lasts. The .375 Hornady is the last to show up "bonded".... (in what I would consider buff calibers.)

The new Hornady InterBond .416 is a good bullet, maybe a tad softer than the Woodleigh and I can't make it get under 90% retaining weight and I've shot it into stuff tougher than a buff. It gives a big frontal area of an inch or so and penetration may suffer slightly but it makes a big hole.

BigRx

BigRx,
Sorry to hear that they are softer than the Woodleigh.

I've got several boxes of the New .458/500gr InterBonds from Hornady. I guess they would be a great improvement over the InterLokt never theless. I'll have to try them in the RIP Bullet Coffin (WIP like a dozen other projects and Honey-Doo's) before I kill game with them.

Leopard Load with .458/500gr?

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
BigRx,
Sorry to hear that they are softer than the Woodleigh.

I might add that's comparing the Hornady InterBond to the newer Woodleigh .416 Weldcore bullets which were toughened up a good amount a couple?? years ago. Quite a bit tougher than before in .416 and would be my pick for buff. The new Hornady wouldn't bother me either unless you "stem to sterned" one.....

BigRx

I used Hornady's on a buff last fall. I will never do it again. Total separation of core and jackets on 6 out of 6 bullets. Less than impressive penetration. They do make great practice bullets or are ok for soft targets.