Friend Steve,
Is this another bullet that is of tougher construction than others in the line - like the 120 grain BT silhouette bullet? We "industry outsiders" need to know such things (please).
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Actually, I have no idea. I've just had excellent performance with the 154s for many years; even before they were "Interlocked" I was killing elk with them.
In .284" the Hornady 154-grain has always been my "heavy bullet." In this way, it is very much like the Hornady .308" 180-grain Spire Point Interlocked. Hey, it's a great bullet that simply kills stuff.
Speaking only for myself, 120-grain Ballistics and 139 Hornadys work splendidly on deer, antelope and elk. In my experience, the 140 Ballistic is a tad "soft" for elk, but works fine on goats and deer. And I've used the 120 Ballistic quite successfully on good-sized bull elk and moose (100% bang flows on large bull elk).
Anyway, when the opportunity came up to whack an Asian water buffalo, there was no doubt what bullet I would use. I loaded the 154 Hornady down, for the undoubtedly close range, and went afield with no fear.
The shot was about fifty yards and the big bugger was precisely broadside. I held at the point of the jaw and placed the bullet. The 154-grain Hornady penetrated the near-side two-inch thick neck hide, traversed the neck, surgically whacking both carotid arteries, penetrated the far-side two-inch thick neck hide, leaving a one-inch exit hole and .... for all I know the perfectly expanded bullet is still in low orbit of the earth.
For those who don't know, Asian water buffalo are HUGE creatures that taste good. Shot through the ribs, they tend to go for a while. Properly executed, like mine was, they simply fall over and squirt a
four-foot blood fountain straight up into the air.
Personally, I'd rather kill a water buff precisely with a 154-grain Hornady and get the job done instantly. A month or so after I killed my buff, several Campfire folks were on a buff hunt in Texas. It was the typical thing of "big bullets for big critters" and shooting in the brown. And, of course, it took a barrage of 400-grain bullets to eventually whittle down the beasties. I'm too old for that crap ... precisely place a 154 and it will just plain kill schit.
My experience has been that the 154-grain Hornady Spire Point Interlocked is simply a great bullet.
I'm kind of amazed that the usual cup-and-core bullet haters and dissers have not injected their usual bile upon this discussion. That's nice.
Steve
