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| one of us |
I've seen several references to the Hornady Interlock as being a second rate hunting bullet. I've used Hornadys for years for deer, but am concerned whether it is the best to have when hunting for larger game. Any comments? How about the SST's? Thinking about switching to Nosler or Barnes but have had good success with the Interlock, so would like to hear other opinions. | ||
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| one of us |
It really depends on what you classify as big game (antelope, deer, caribou, elk, bear, bison?) and what caliber rifle you are using. As a rough guide, the bigger the animal and the faster the caliber, the more you will need premium bullets. I use Hornady bullets in quite a few of my rifles, and they work quite well. Interlocks are sort of a non-premium premium, ie; they hold together decently until the impact speeds get very high. I haven't shot any game with the SST's yet, just paper. I plan on trying them this spring on black bear. FWIW - Dan | |||
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| one of us |
Dan- I use the 220 gr. in my 8mm Magnum, 190 gr. in .30-06, and when I get my .338-06 built would like to use either the 225gr. or 250gr. I primarily hunt for deer, but would like to use the round possibly for elk and self-defense against Grizzly. Thanks-karl | |||
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| <Bill> |
I am a big fan of the Hornady. They make some of the most accurate hunting bullets. I will take it 8 out of 10 times for most game. In my experince thus far, the hornady has provided for some of my best kills. I think that the people that dislike them come from the super preimum bullet camp. ------------------ | ||
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| <45/70 marlin> |
I have used the Hornady interlocks in several diffrent calibers for years.I have always had good success with them.However I have only used them on deer and wild boar.For bigger game I prefer a stouter bullet like partitions,failsafes,barnes x,etc. | ||
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one of us |
I really like them in my 6mm Rem and 7mm RM but only in the flat base not the BT.If you push them above 2800-2900 they will come apart. I have not used them in my 338-06.IMHO anything larger than Caribou needs a better bullet. | |||
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| <DuaneinND> |
An easy way to compare bullet performance that anyone can do is to use 1/2 gal paper milk containers filled with water, lined up about 15 deep, and shoot at the distance you want to see the bullet perform. | ||
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| one of us |
I shoot a lot of Hornady bullets and have always been happy with their performance. I shoot 162 gr BTSP in My 7mm Mag and 200 Gr SP in my 350 Rem Mag and 300 gr SP in my 375 H&H. Never had any of them fail and they have anchored a lot of elk and big mulies over the years. I think sometimes people get too hung up on what the bullet looks like after it has done it's work. Hornady bullets may not look as pretty as a Barnes or a Trophy Bonded, but remember if the bullet is recovered it did it's job. If it didn't do the job, it would not be recovered at all. Put a Hornady bullet in the right place and your animal will hit the ground. That's the view from here. Mac ------------------ | |||
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| <sure-shot> |
I would rate them as one of the best of the non-premiums. The more I shoot them the more I like em. For the stuff elk and up it will be hard to make the switch from the Nosler Part. This is just my preference. sure-shot | ||
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| <X-Ring> |
Wow this is weird. I was logging on to ask this very question! I used Hornady interlocks for years with out fail in several differnt rifles. I even have a friend named Jim that killed an cow elk with one out of his 338 win after it went through a tree about 4" in diameter. But thats a differnt story. I have come to wonder what I'm paying all this money for the premium bullets for. I shoot mostly deer and elk. I can get the Hornady's for like $15 a hundred count. The premium are twice that, and my game isn't any deader. I think until I go after something bigger or Dangerus I'm going back to Hornady. I mean I love my Barnes's but for the money I can shoot twice as much and shoot the same load in practice I use in the field. Something I couldn't bring my self to do with the cost of "premium" bullets. JMHO X-Ring ------------------ If your living like there is no HELL, you better be right! | ||
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| one of us |
Hornadys are the best non-premium bullet going IMHO. They shoot accurately and take game cleanly. I have not used them on anything bigger than elk but in the right caliber, I wouldn't worry about using them on anything in NA. | |||
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one of us |
Hoehne, I have used Trophy Bonded, Nosler Partition, Winchester FailSafe and Swift. These are all considered premium bullets, and I get pretty high retained weights with them. I have been using Speer Grand Slam and Hornady Interlock bullets, most recently on a hunt in Zimbabwe in September, 2001. They killed things dead and had retained weights in the 80%s. I was using the.375/ 270 gr Hornady and the .308/180 Speer. The Hornady Spire Point is a fine bullet. I also had good results shooting the .264/140 grain in my 6.5-'06...jim dodd ------------------ | |||
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| <Don Martin29> |
The Remington Core-Loks are really a component bullet also. They are even less expensive than the Hornady's as far as I can tell and the 180 gr Ptd shoots well in my .300 Win Mag. The only thing it has shot is a antelope at a little over 300 yards. That's not much of a test but it killed it good. Perhaps more game has been killed with Corelokts over the last 50 years however than any other bullet. Maybe it's a wide margin in fact. | ||
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| one of us |
hoehne, in my 8mm Mag the 220's work great. 3000 fps from a 26" barrel, 1" accuaracy at 100 meters, and right through a bull moose diagonally. The 190 in my 30-06 Ackley improved has worked on everthing I've pointed it at (and in my 308 40x has given me the single smallest group I've ever shot). In the 338-06, both 225 and 250's will work fine. The only one of the cartridges you mentioned that produces enough speed to be iffy is the 8mm Mag, and I've had no problems with mine. Just for info, my personal worry speed for using the Hornadies is 2900 fps, give or take. Over that and I won't take a shot that will have to go through more than one bone. Having said that, I've used the 338 250 gr. bullets in both a gain twist barrel 340 Weatherby and a 338 Lapua, at 2950-3000 fps and they've always worked. The smaller faster calibers seem to be much more fussy about bullet construction, at least until you start chasing Cape Buffalo with your big bore, which is where premium bullets really start to seem like a great idea. FWIW - Dan | |||
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| one of us |
And as a PS of sorts, I'll agree with Don Martin29, the Remington Core Lokt is a vastly under rated bullet. in the calibers and weights for which they are available, same rules as the Hornadies. Just don't tell everyone, I don't want the price to go up. - Dan | |||
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one of us |
quote: I have used Hornady's and they perform very accurately...at a paper target...after hunted several antelopes...I drop them FOREVER...nothing comes close to the excellent one-shot kills of the Nosler Partition or the Barnes X, my favorite | |||
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One of Us |
I'm a big fan of Hornady bullets and use them more than anything else. However, I do recognize their limitations. In my view, that limitations is around 2700 fps. If you go here: www.kateydid.com/hunter you'll see some bullets recoverefd from game. three of them ae A Frames from a 375, the one on the right is a 180gr Hornady recovered from an impala shot on the pont of the shoulder at 80 yards with a 300 Weatherby. the bullets weighed 85 grains and lost just about all of it's core. A 300 Weatherby should have shot right through that little 80lb animal. To conclude, they are great bullets but they do have some limitations. jorge | |||
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| <Zeke> |
I was planning on using Hornady Bullets in my .270WCF for deer this fall. I haven't hunted deer in years. After many rounds of testing and practice, I narrowed the list down to either the 130gr SP Interlock going at 3000fps or the 140gr BTSP Interlock moving at 2900fps. Both of these bullets are very accurate in my rifle. After reading some of the postings, should I be rethinking my choice of bullets? ZM | ||
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| <Don Martin29> |
Zeke, This is getting out of hand. Yes in my opinion those bullets you mentioned will be just right for deer. I have shot a number of deer with the 130 Speer and the 140 Sierra flat bases out of a 7mm Mag. All of the deer died. None of them ran more than 50 yards after they got up. If the animals are heavier than deer and shot at close range then a heavier bullet will work better all around. If you have a chance at black bear at the same time then you might consider a heavier bullet. Not all premium bullets are the same either. The Barnes X bullets loose 1/2 their weight out of .300 mags at close range too. That's the fallacy in knocking the Hornadys. [This message has been edited by Don Martin29 (edited 01-07-2002).] | ||
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| one of us |
quote: I recoverd a bullet from a 1300# Moose. A 250g Hornady@ 2900 fps in 340 Weatherby. The bullet smashed the right shoulder, destroyed the lungs, broke the far shoulder and lodged under the hide on the far shoulder! it still weighs 229 grains. If they stay together like this, are super accurate (.273 groups same gun & load) I will continue to use Hornadys!! Have fun!! | |||
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| <Zeke> |
Whew! I would hate to have all the load devolpment and practice go down the drain. I have a huge supply of the 130gr Hornadys purchased after a local gun store changed hands. Got four boxes at six dollars a box. Bought a big supply of Core-Lokts online as well. I shoot about 10 to 30 rounds a month for practice and I like to practice with the bullet I'll be using for real if I can. Thanks ZM | ||
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one of us |
quote: FYI (you may already know), my best sources say Hornady makes the Core-Lokt's for Remington, these days. However, Core-Lokt's are NOT Interlock's, as I have seen stated sometimes. RSY | |||
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| <Don Martin29> |
RSY, Explain "Corelokts are not Interlocks". Maybe "Interlocks are not Corelokts"? I just filled a 165 gr .308 Corelokt in half and it has a interlock at the candelure. Then I filled the only similar Hornady I have in half. It's a .308 BTSP part #3045 and is marked "Interlock" on the box. There is no real interlock on this bullet! There is a candleure on this bullet and it has a slightly tapered jacket like the Remington but no interlock like the Corelokt! There are tiny little ridges on the jacket but not a pronounced as the Corelokt. I file a bullet in half by whittling a 1/2 shape of the bullet on a piece of wood, drive a finishing nail where the bullet base will go and put it in a vise and file towards the nail. [This message has been edited by Don Martin29 (edited 01-07-2002).] [This message has been edited by Don Martin29 (edited 01-07-2002).] | ||
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| one of us |
Don: I think the best thing to do is have you look at a picture from the Hornady website. If your bullets don't look like this, I'd call Hornady. Yes, any cannelure can act as a minor InterLock ring, of sorts. But, there should also be a distinct ring closer to the heel of the bullet. Check it out at: https://gateway.hornady.com/web_store.cgi?page=interfeat.html&cart_id=1020107.131611 Hope this helps, | |||
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| <jeremy w> |
I have had good results with the 140 btsp .270 win on deer and antelope. Sucess on elk with the same load has been fairly poor. In larger calibers I would assume would do a much better job with the interlock. I choose to use a .270 on elk but refuse to use anything but Barnes X 140bt when I do. Find a combo that works for you and use it. As an aside, I shot a full grown bull elk from 30 yards this year. I wasn't able to study the Barnes bullets because they all exited the opposite side (3 in total). I shot a cow a few years ago with the Hornadys at a similar range and the bullets blew up. | ||
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| <Don Martin29> |
RSY, No my Hornady bullets are not like the drawings. Note that they are not photographs but drawings! The candelure on the Hornady bullets is just a kiss of a knerl. There is abosutley no indentation into the core from it. There may be a tiny ring below on the base as the drawing says there should be but if there is you can't see it. But you can see the deep dent the candelure makes on the Corelokts. These are facts, not drawings. The sectioned bullets are right here on my table next to the keyboard. Maybe I will try to get my scanner going again. These computers are so hard to use. I think I am going to shoot one of those 165 Corelokts out of the .300 Win Mag at 3100 and see what happens to it hitting water filled cartons. The Barnes X 165 FB blew up! | ||
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| <heavy varmint> |
Don, I'm going to take an educated guess and say that the corelokt at 3,100 will blow up also. | ||
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| one of us |
hoehne, I was fortunate to take a spring and a fall black bear this last season. The first was shot over bait; the second was spot and stalk. Both were killed with the Hornady Interlock! Both had complete penetration. The first was at 45 yards and took both lungs out. This 225 pounder went 5 yards. The second was across a small creek valley at a peach over 200 yards. He dropped on the spot! Velocity at the muzzle was 2640 (average for 5 shot string on the Chrony.)This bear squared 6'2"; I am not sure how much he weighed. The Hornady took out the spine behind the shoulder and top of both lungs! I must agree with the previous posters that the "velocity/game sought" equation will deem the Hornady as appropriate or not. My rifle was a 338 Win. Mag. with 250 grn. Spire Points. best, bhtr [This message has been edited by bearhunt'r (edited 01-09-2002).] | |||
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| <jeremy w> |
quote: I wonder if you didn't connect with more velocity than you think. [This message has been edited by jeremy w (edited 01-09-2002).] | ||
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| <Don Martin29> |
The "Terminal Ballistics" site o Haralds we have been enjoying here says that standard bullets with over 2700 fps impact velocity may fail. The Barnes X bullet that was chronographed at 3100 fps instrumental out of my 26" .300 Win mag. The bullet was the 165 gr flat base and the load was 73.0 gr of IMR 4350. This was a maximum load for that bullet. The paper cartons were about 20 ft away and the bullet lost all of it's petals which were all recovered in the cartons. The shank of 80 grs penetrated further. I have no idea why a similar .270 bullet would behave a lot different. It has been stated on this forum that the X bullets biggest problem is quality control. For me the X bullets biggest problems are severe metal bore fouling and cost. The bullet that lost it's petals would have killed a lot of different animals. Bullets are getting better but the testing is still word of mouth. Some standard proceedures need to be used. Bob Hagel had the best bullet box I think. | ||
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| <jeremy w> |
I think you may be right. Perhaps I have had better luck because of the rather high ballistic coefficiency in the load. There is also no way I could've had that high of velocity even if I were shooting the trap right out of the muzzle. The cost is rather high however. | ||
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| <X-Ring> |
Don your findings with the Barnes X failor puzzle me. I don't own a chrony, but I have run X's through Wood slats, buckets of water, boxs of wet paper, bags of sand, bags of gravel, and 55gal drums of water. I have done this with a 338 Win, 30-06, 308Win, I have never had a barnes X fail to retain all most all its weight. I have never even had a pedal come off. Please don't think I'm doubting you I'm just saying I have had stelar results with barnes. I can only see one differance. I'm not breaking 3,000 fps The last time we chronyed my rifles with a friends chrony My 308 was pushing close to 2,800, and my 338 was over 2,900. These are the same loads I shot through every thing I could find in an atempt to see what it would take to kill these bullets. I will try to find my note book and see what the speed was for sure. 308 was a 165gr XBT, and the 338 was a 220 X FB The 30-06 was Jims I don't know what it was doing as far as speed. I do know it was 165gr X's Flat base X-Ring AKA Scooter ------------------ If your living like there is no HELL, you better be right! | ||
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| <jeremy w> |
Don, have you shot other brands of bullets into the same setup trap? I would be curious as to the results. Corelokts would be interesting in particular. However I would guess that if the Barnes shed petals then anything short of a solid will probably not perform well. | ||
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| <Don Martin29> |
Jeremy and others, I have no real baseline on this test. I just did it when I was all excited about the "new" to me X bullets about 5 years ago. Other bullets I have tested have been at lower velocities. My thinking was that this Barnes bullet was "special" and that even though my standard load for the .300 Win Mag is the 180 gr bullet that the premium X bullet could drop down to 165 grs and give me 180 gr performance with 165 gr trajectory and recoil. About the same time as I did this expansion test I got fouling with the X bullets. As I have stated before it's the fouling and to a secondary degree the lack of velocity with the X bullets that made me stop using them. It's not really the cost as I checked my inventory and found I have a lot of 165 gr bullets to practice with in the "summer" from lower cost brands. I just went back to the 180 Corelokt. I have a lot of rifles and it gets confusing unless I standardize on a load. I have to go up to my place in Vermont to do this shooting as I can't do it on the club range in CT where I live. Bob Hagel had a bullet box right in his back yard! It's a much bigger hassle than it sounds like to do this test. It's a lot easier to read Haralds site and do what he suggests. But I promised to do it. I do have the empty cartons there. It will not be right away. | ||
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| one of us |
I have found the Hornadys are "good" bullets, the Corelokts are perhaps a little better on big stuff, but both are a long way from a good premium like a North Fork, Woodleigh or a Nosler especially as the animal hunted gets bigger and tougher... In the monolithics I don't care at all for Barnes X bullets, I think they lack quality control...I am getting a great respect for Gerards GS customs HV monolithic, the more I use them the more I like them....no failures so far and great wound channels and awesome penitration..... For deer, antelope size game, the Hornadys, Rem Corelokts, Speer hotcore, Sierra game kings, WW Power Points all work great...the Silvertips today are too soft for anything and need to be changed IMHO....Actually most any bullet is a deer bullet today. The only actual bullet failure on deer size game I have had in a decade is with Hawks. I have had failure to open with Barnes X on big stuff, but they work great in my 6x45 with the old 75 gr. bullet they no longer make, but I have a supply of them... ------------------ | |||
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| <jeremy w> |
What is a good source for Remington Corelokts? If I recall they are about as cheap as you can get but still a good bullet on game. | ||
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| <JC inWV> |
Usually when you use a cartridge that's up to the job for the game you're hunting in the 1st place, standard bullets work well. Its when we ask alot from whatever we are useing--penetration wise & performance thru tough muscle & bone that usually demands better bullets. Standard bullets have worked well for years in most cases. Only when we get into tough/dangerous/high stamina game would I pay premium prices for bullets. Alot of people pay that big price & then wonder why their Whitetail runs so far if it isn't a really good hit. Too much penetration & not enough energy transfer.Example--Elk. The ol 30-06 many people use 150&165gr on deer. Useing Winchester Ammo I'd use Silvertips & not the Power-points & go 180gr or more. Remington's core-lockets etc. Don't stay with the deer bullets. If you reload you can still use standard bullets as long as they are appropiate in use to the game. If you are in Grizzley country you may want to err on the heavier/tougher bullet side but just so you realize that its erring because of the extra insurance for the bear & not because you need it for the Elk. JC | ||
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| <rugerman> |
Zeke, You need to get you some premium bullets for the 270 at the weight you are wanting to shoot. They will be traveling too fast for the Hornadys. As far as what 140gr 7mm X bullets look like after they have taken game, after about 50 deer I have never had but one to stop in an animal. I shot a doe length wise while she was looking at me. After I recovered the bullet from just under the skin in the hind quarter, it still had 126gr left from the 140gr bullet. I tried some Winchester Ballistic Silvertips the other day at 140gr and shot 1 deer with it. The bullet I recovered from the deer weighed 56gr. | ||
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| <Zeke> |
The deer on the west side of the Cascades where I live are of modest size. I think that either the Core-lokts or Hornadys I have on hand will do just fine. I have over 400 bullets on hand so I can practice with my hunting load. The deer on the east side of the Cascades are another matter. They get pretty big and Partitions or something like them are needed. ZM | ||
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