I am in the process of working up loads for two rifles for this year's coming hunting season. I know many folks are going to the premium bullets, but I have resisted the change so far due to cost. My loads are as follows:

270 Win. 150 gr. Interlock Spire over 56.0 grs. H-4831SC sparked by a CCI 200 for a measured 2800 FPS from a 22" barrel.

30-06 Sprg. 180 gr. Interlock Spire over 57.0 grs. H-4350 sparked by a CCI 200, again for a measured 2800 FPS from a 24" barrel.

I have used Speer Hot Cores in the past, but after some testing have found the Hornady's to be more accurate. How well can I expect these Hornady's to hold together on Deer and possibly hogs?

I chose the heavier bullets and kept velocity to a max of 2800 to try and ensure I don't end up with blow-ups. The Speer's always held together when started at 2800 or less. I know these loads will take deer easily with broadside lung shots. Will they hold up for a shoulder shot if I am forced to take one?

Are these bullets too soft for wild hogs?

Thanks,
Mark in GA

I have used Hornady Interlock Boat Tail 165 gr and 150 gr flat base with good results. Expansion and penetration were just fine.

It's a great bulllet provided you keep to the velocities you cited. In my view they are superior in every way to the Speers. jorge

I must admit to being a bit dissapointed with the performance of both 154gr RN 7mm interlocks and 139gr BTSP 7mm interlocks at 2,600 and 2,800fps respectively.

I was able to recover both on muntjac deer (shot at front on angle) which weigh about the same as a small labrador dog. Both types of bullet looked pretty mashed.

To hit the biggest mule deer that walked this earth on the exact point of the shoulder would be a tough test, I think they would be killed but the interlock is quite far back and doesn't stop the front from being pretty badly splattered.

I have sent Hornady a letter about his 250gr 338 caliber round nose bullets. I own the 338 RUM and have down loaded these bullets to 2730 fps. Would also like to shoot these at a higher fps. I need to know what velocity these can go at. I hope my down loaded bullets at least meet his velocity spects. I am waiting his reply.

I have used the 165 grain Hornady in a 30-06 in the past on a few whitetail and hogs with good results. These were not extremely large hogs.

MY $.02 CENTS WORTH--Hornady is the best of the nonpremium in my book but it just simply isn't a partition, a-frame etc etc. I just don't understand people and "the cost factor" of premium bullets. Why not do your practicing with less expensive bullets and then switch to premium bullets for your hunt. HOw many shots do you figure you're gonna use on a hunt---more than 3??? If so you haven't been practicing.
The cost of the bullet is so minor in a hunt that if you are even the least bit worried about a non premiun holding together you should actually be thinking premium and getting down to business.

I have to say that I have seen poor results from Interlocks on Elk at close range (20yds) This 150g bullet from a .270 win. Failed miserably. Most of the pieces recovered from 4 bullets were just jackets and fragments. I realize that this is extreme, however; most of the hog huting I do here in TX, the shots are rarely more than 40 yds. on hogs up to 450 lbs. In this case I would not reccomend using the Hornadays they are just not tough enough for large hogs at close range.

The Hornady is a soft bullet for sure. You should be fine keeping the vel. where you indicated, but I would hesitate to take extreme angle shots on bigger animals, especially up close, jmo.

Ive shot moose with the 140 btsp interlock in the 270 win and never recovered a bullet. Ive shot a total of 5 into moose and experiened complete pass through on behind the shoulder shots. I use hornady interlocks in all of my rifles but then I dont own any magnums. I sure wouldnt worry about their performance on deer.

I have shot stuff from Alaskan moose and zebra with the .338 225 grain Hornady. No complaints.

Kraky has a point but I still find my self shooting the plain old lead bullet at game and targets,he is right on the money with the hornadys and comparing them with the nosles and A-frames and such.I buy 500-1000 at a time and just look at the overall cost of the whole transaction.I havent spent more than 3-8 cents
per bullet for hunting or practice in years.At .50-$1.00 per bullet and loading a magazine full I might try some.any ideas for a .270 or .30-06 other than nosler partitions,they are good but I havent tried any of the new ones in years.Afterall it could be a one in a lifetime shot at the animal I have chased all my life.

I'm very much on the premium bullet bandwagon. However for whitetail deer the story is slightly different. The Hornady interlock is as good as ever and deer truly are not big game IMO.....they are more like big varmints and the interlock is fully up to the task. They are very accurate, and they deliver terminal performance adequate to the job. What more can you ask?

A 150 interlock in the .270 is about as good as it gets. $1 a piece bullets will not put the venison in the freezer faster.

I am a big fan of Hornady Interlocks on whitetail. I have used them in 45-70, 308, 7x57, 6.5x55, 257Bob. (all flatbase) I have NEVER recovered a bullet. Haven't used them in any magnums. I think they'd do just fine on hogs, especially at non mag velocitys.

kraky,

I don't think the difference in the cost of one or two rounds expended hunting is an issue for anyone who posts here. However, it is not just three rounds in question, at least for me, it's several hundred. It takes about a hundred for me to be satisfied that it groups consistently over several days at the range, and that's bench work, not "practice," which requires still more. That's still not much of an issue, since we're talking about $15 - $25.

More than the cost of the bullets, however, is the investment in time, of which I have significantly less than I do the $25. Those trips to the range require several evenings to load different powder and weight variations, as well as seating depths - at least the way I do it. Because I'm not sure any given powder or bullet will work in any given rifle, I start off with the best cheap bullets I can find - which I think describes the Interlock just fine.

When the Interlocks prove the barrel works well enough, I'll introduce a Nosler Partition or a Barnes XXX - if I have time. I have hit November unable to complete the workup, and have been forced by circumstance to go deer hunting with the Interlocks. I haven't felt myself to be at a disadvantage, either.

jaywalker

The only advantage a premium bullet will give you for deer hunting over an Interlock is in your head. In a .270 or 30-06 they are great deer bullets.

Jeff

We kind of got off the original posters idea. He was hunting wild hogs (sort of dangerous game) and wanted to know about shoulder shots---he wasn't talking deer. Next thing you know everyone is saying what a great deer bullet the hornady is and you don't need a premium bullet. On this I agree. Re load development. Yes it is good to spend some time if you are long range hunting. I don't think pig hunting is very often done at long range but I dont' know for sure. My load developement for 100 yd hunting in wisconsin is anything that shoots an initial 5 shot group of under 1.5" is ready to go-----no more testing needed. Last yr. my load development for 2 rifles from the year before was a total of 3 shots at 100yds. When the bullet nipped the top of the orange circle at 100 yds it was ready to hunt deer.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
I'm very much on the premium bullet bandwagon. However for whitetail deer the story is slightly different. The Hornady interlock is as good as ever and deer truly are not big game IMO.....they are more like big varmints and the interlock is fully up to the task. They are very accurate, and they deliver terminal performance adequate to the job. What more can you ask?

A 150 interlock in the .270 is about as good as it gets. $1 a piece bullets will not put the venison in the freezer faster.

Vapodog, You took the words right out of my mouth. Jay

Vapodog, Jay - You guys are correct. The bullet that I would like to hear about is the new Hornady "InterBond" in .458 cal. Do any of you gents have any experience with these?
Best, Starcharvski.

kraky, You're right, hogs were a part of the question, and I missed it. I think if they were on the menu, I'd try a little harder to complete the workup to include NP or XXX.

Brad Starcevich, I have some experience with 7mm Interbonds, but not in dinosaur calibers. They might be considered a step up from the Interlocks, both in accuracy and toughness. When I step up, though, it's usually a bigger step, to Nosler or Barnes.

Jaywalker

Jay, Yes, for the large, tough stuff, I like a real premium bullet. I've never found deer or hogs too difficult to put down. I've had excellent experience with Nosler Partitions and Barnes "X" and Monolithic Solids is the .375 H&H and .458 Lott calibers. Regardless of what anyone says, those are NOT deer calibers. By the way, welcome aboard.
Best, Starcharvski.

quote:

Originally posted by kraky:
We kind of got off the original posters idea. He was hunting wild hogs (sort of dangerous game)

I suppose wild hogs might be considered dangerous by some. The guys I hunt with actually hunt them with handcuffs....yes they run the hog down (with dogs) and handcuff the hog and haul it to the truck alive. Trust me.....I'm not going to tell them that hogs are dangerous.

My wife and I have used Hornady 130 gr. SPFB and 140 grSPBT Interlocks in our 270's at 2900 and 3100 fps.

Shots have ranged from 100 to 450 yards and if the bullet went into the boiler room, bang-flop, or run 100 and flop.

Most bullets are complete pass-throughs on side lung shots at any range. Chest and or shoulder shots on large mule deer bucks are the only slugs we have ever recovered, and then only about 1/2 the time.. Yes, they lost over 50% of the bullet but they also exploded heart and or lungs and liver and any other internal organ that got in the way. In fact most of the bang-flops I recall were larger bucks hit in the shoulder.

We have shot about 50 deer and 40 antelope with these bullets over about 10 years so I guess that's a good indication that they work for us.

One note: the 140 SPBT Interlocks seem to be about 1 MOA more accurate in my rifle than the 140 gr. SST's.

My wife hunts elk with 150 gr. Partitions in the 270. And I do my elk and bear hunting with a 35 Whelen with Noslers and or Speers in 250 gr. So, from my personal experience I can't say that the Interlocks in 270 would be good for elk, etc, but they are a winner for even large deer and antelope.

Both my father and myself have had very good success with the Hornady Interlocks on Texas whitetails and feral hogs. We have experience with the .270 130 grain and the 30/06 165 grain.
We are very fortunate to have access to a couple of ranches with hog problems and have harvested way over 100 hogs over the past several years using the Hornadys. This includes some well over 300lbs that I intentionally shot square in the shoulder plates to see how the bullets performed. Penetration is very good and the few bullets we have recovered have all been almost perfect mushrooms. I have complete confidence in them and there is not a hog in Texas that I would hesitate to use them on. They are a great whitetail bullet as well.

The 129 grain Interlock in the 260 Remington is a very good combination. At 2,800 fps it is a dead in the tracks bullet!
Gee! writing that was allmost as good as shooting.

Mohawk definately gets my vote for "most valuable testimonial"---very hard to beat that much experience.

Vapodog--maybe those hogs aren't "dangerous" but WOW--sounds like your buddies are. What the heck do you do with a wild handcuffed hog??

I'll second Mohawk's comments. From my experience on hogs there isn't one born that a 130 or 150 grain .270 Interlock wouldn't flatten as long as the shooter does his part. They simply aren't tough enough to "need" a premium bullet. Even a big boar with a major gristle plate can't withstand normal rifle bullets of reasonable caliber. Reasonable, in my book is anything larger that .17 caliber but I hate to start a fight on someone else's thread...

On the other hand, if a premium bullet raises the shooter's confidence level significantly then it is money well spent, regardless.

quote:

Vapodog--maybe those hogs aren't "dangerous" but WOW--sounds like your buddies are. What the heck do you do with a wild handcuffed hog??

They are hauled to town and sold by the pound. I'm told that game farms buy them for "resale"

I find deer comparitively easy to kill with standard factory loads or with handloads using any of the non premium bullets. Hornady's will hold up on any NA game provided that you do your part and use an adequate weight bullet.I believe that would be true for non dangerous game in Africa as well but keep the bullet at reasonable speeds and large for bore weights and I don't believe you'll have a problem. It seems that many today look for some sort of lightning strike from their rifle but I have found that heavier bullets at the 3006 range of speed (i.e. 2800/2400)depending on caliber, seem to work best. To make things clear though I do recommend the premium bullets for African game bigger than Impala/deer sized animals.I think African game for the most part is just tougher. Something like fresh water fish vs ocean fishing. Bigger fight from the ocean fish of the same size.

I use and like both bullets you want to use though load them a bit faster. I have found the Speer 150 Hot cor to be a deeper penetrating bullet than the Hornady version but both are excellent bullets for what you propose. I normally load 180 grain or heavier bullets in my 30-06 just to gain some advantage over the 270 and to supply a reason for owning rifles in both cartridges.

I've been seeing some good accuracy out of my 270 WSM with the 140 gr Accubonds. Haven't used it on game yet, initial load development is very promising and actually reasonably priced for a bonded bullet. I imagine the 180's in the 06 would do well. If your spending money on guided hunt then I see no reason not to have all the insurance possible. Does it take a premium bullet to kill deer, bear and hogs, NO but that's what you have to decide.

I got tired of waiting for Hornady's reply about those 250gr R.N. bullets so I called and spoke to a tecnichen. He said those R.N. bullets were good from 2400 to 3000 fps and they brake bones. I shoot the 338 RUM so thats good news.

Hello the campfire:
Hornaday's work for me. I load for the partitcular rifle and use wich ever groubs best at the range I am shooting. Hornaday's give me less than 1 inch five shot groups at 100 yards in 280. but Noslers are better in my 7 mag. Both kill equally dead, and I would not hesatate to use either. My goal is to keep it as simple as possable.
A discussion I often have with my son, do we want a bullet that goes through, and leaves a better blood trail, or one that stays inside and does its max. damage, for a quicker bleed out. I am old and was taught that the bullet should expand, tear stuff up, and stay inside even if it comes apart. He is of the better blood trail school. Just wondering.
Oh Yea, hogs are easy. I killes several hundres with a 22 short between the eyes (not wild of course).
Judge Sharpe.

Mark,

They hold together well, I have loaded that exact 270 win load for a hunting buddy for the last two years and it has performed flawlessly. He is a shoulder shooter and he has taken some nice deer at close range w/ the .277 IL 150s blowing through both blades.

I also load the 150 ILs for a 270 WBY Mag (Same buddy) that has taken a pile of Big Whitetails. Just last season that 270 Weatherby load Blew through both blades on a 230# 9pt at close range and a 160# 8 pt as well. That Weatherby load performed the same in previous years as well.

I've loaded the 180s in 06 and 300 Winnie but, never took them hunting. Fairly accurate though.

Good Luck!

Reloader

In the cartridges he is loading, a 150 gr .277 or a 180 gr .308 Hornandy Interlock will work just fine on any hog or deer with proper placement. He is certainly not under-gunned or under-bulleted. I've shot dozens of big boar with 180 gr .308 Hornady and Corelokts from a .300 Win Mag, and always got great performance.

We have used the Hornadys 416 round noses in waterbuff with great success. Once I took one that was a perfect mushrom from a buff that was shot through the shoulder by a friend .

Why you are worried how they will work on pigs????

L

I got the word back from Hornady about those round nose bullets for the 338 RUM and he said that they were good from 2400 to 3000 FPS. So I shot them threw 14" of phone books and one went clear threw. Little hole in and about a 1.5" hole coming out at 3000FPS.

You will be OK with the interlock on deer and hogs.

Your resisting because of cost? Thats a lame reason, considering the price of gas etc...A premium bullet cost you about 25 to 50 cents at most for a hunting bullet, so you refuse to spend 50 cents to insure perfect expansion, that just does not make since...A box of premiums cost say $50.00 for 50, even with sighting in that should net you about 25 deer.

I shoot cheap bullets for practice, not for hunting...but thats your call in the end.

Where I grew up, (Nebraska) most of the locals used Hornady for everything. They will be fine for hogs. Heck, most of my friends hunt the dang things with pistols (non magnium).