Just got back a email from Hornady about their new 8mm 195 grain interlock.

Hornady Mfg. Co. has designed the 8mm cal. 195 gr. SP bullet to perform
like the 220 gr. bullet for deep penetration and optimum extension with
its heavy controlled expanding jacket with the InterLock to keep the
lead core from separating on impact on the animal. You will have no
problems on inland grizzly or moose or and other Alaskan large game
animals and it would be an excellent choice on Dall sheep at long range.

The best to you in reloading, shooting, & hunting!
Lonnie Hummel

What do you guys think. It shoot very well in my rifle but I still have reservations about using it for bear or moose. But on the other hand the techs at Hornady are the experts.

Redside,

It's great to see another Oregonian on here...I like Hornady bullets, a lot....especially for target shooting, or in standard calibers. I don't know what rifle you are shooting. If it's a 8x57 or 8mm-06, I think you are in good shape with that bullet. If it's an 8mm Rem Mag or 8x68s, I would just use that bullet for targets....with a high velocity round, I think you are better off with the Nosler Partition or some other premium bullet. Of course, as an Oregonian (and a central Oregonian, at that), Nosler is the logical choice...

Hope that helps some.

Joel Slate
Slate & Associates, LLC
www.slatesafaris.com

7mm Rem Mag Page www.slatesafaris.com/7mm.htm

What else is hornady going to tell you, that their bullets fail? not hardly. Hornadys are GREAT bullets, but they are not infallible. There is a reason why premium bullets cost more. I would not pass up ANY animal on earth if all I had were Hornady bullets, but given a preference and the cost of your hunt, I'd opt for the premium bullets, especially for bears. jorge

Redside,
I have shot and hunted with Hornady bullets in .30 caliber since the middle 1960s in non magnum calibers with perfect results, and so have my friends. This premium bullet thing for game under 500lbs. I think is pure BS.
Just my $.02 worth.

I've killed a few critters with Hornady Interlocks.....the latest is this bison cow from this past weekend. I'm using a .35 Whelen and 250 gr. Hornady Spire Points. The cow went straight down.....mainly because I was trying for a high, double lung shot and I didn't realize the spine came down so low and hit it. It never bothered me a bit to poke her with a 'non-premium' bullet. I am in the process of working up some Partition loads for upcoming black bear and RSA plains game hunts this spring and summer.

The hornady interloc is my most loaded bullet. Most of my hunting is for deer so that all fine. When I'm going after elk as my primary catch I'll load up 160gr partitions for my 7mag. If moose is the primary then it's 175 gr. Bear claws. Ilocs will kill all but being a reloader I like to play my choices.

On the other hand, now that I own a 2506, I'm trying premium bullets because the speed that those little bastards are flying at can become a problem in some situations. Now that Hornady and Nosler are coming out with Interbond and Accubond then it gets even more fun to reload.

I'm working with the SST's for my friend. We got an improvement over the flat bases of equal weight right off the bat. They're Ilocs also.

Since I've used the 150gr Hornady interlock on deer, with my 8x57, I think the 195gr would work well for Elk or Bear.

I've been using interlocks in .30, .284 and 243 for over 20 years and have never had a single problem. The biggest animal I've shot with them is Elk though. You always hear "yep the interlocks work great, but I like X super bullets better". I don't think you'll hear many failure stories about them like you hear about X,Y or Z premium bullet, blowing up, failing to expand, etc.

I use plain ol' Hornady's for my "all around" bullets. They are as accurate as anything else short of an expensive match bullet. Have used them on deer and elk with great satisfaction.

The secret to their success, if there is one, is very simple. Use an appropriate weight for the animal (duh!) like 180 grainers for elk in the .30 calibers or 150 grainers in the .270, and load them and shoot them to hit the animal with an impact velocity between about 3000 fps to 1900 fps. Oh, yeah, hitting the animal in the right place helps some, too.