Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Hornady .308 150 grain interlock

Vol. II of the 6th Edition Hornady Handbook list velocity windows for their bullets. Looking at the .308 interlock flat base offerings the following is given:

150 grain, 2700-3600 fps
165 grain, 2200-3400 fps
180 grain, 2400-3400 fps

How does this correlate to your observations on game?

I’ve used all three of these bullets, mainly the 165 and 180, which have behaved well for me from up close out to about 200 yards on a variety of animals. Couple years ago I started using the 150 grain. Last year I shot a smaller doe in the boiler room at 280 yards out of a 30-06 (2875 fps) and she went about 150 yards before expiring. Exit hole showed minimal expansion. So wondering if there is any credence to the listed velocity windows, meaning the 150 has a thicker jacket, thus higher min velocity rating. My experience is only a sample of two with this bullet, so wondering what other folks have experienced. I’m thinking about switching to the Speer 150 Boattail which is supposed to be pretty soft for my 308/30-06.

My experience with many varieties of Interlocks is they work best when the impact velocity is between 2300 and 2800 fps.

At one time I used the Hornady 150 gr. Interlock Flat base as my main deer bullet out of a .308, @ 2800 fps muzzle vel. I found them to be quick killers because they didn't seem to be built very strong. Quick expansion, and basically blew apart when any bone was hit. Deadly at any reasonable angle on deer. I didn't alway get exits on whitetails. I was always satisfied with them on deer, but wouldn't use them on black bear or anything larger.

Any cup and core will do that to a certain caliber, bullet weight and or load.

the 150 and 165 Hornady IL flatbase bullets have been my go-to bullet for deer for over 20 years in the 30-06 and 308.

My longest shot to date has been 200 yards just last year with the 150 grainer and the 30-06. The buck went over.

I've never recovered a bullet. The exit wounds have been nominal.

I have found the Speer BTSP to be a really soft bullet. I think you'll prefer the Hornadys.

I shot a few deer 2 years ago with the 150 at 2700fps from my 30-06 over h4895. A big doe at 50ish yards quartered away, broke near ribs on entry, lung soup, broke far shoulder and did not exit. Two hours later I shot a really nice buck around 30yds on the move, more or less broadside. No major bones hit and I got a golfball sized exit through the ribs. From my minimal experience I think the 150’s are not overly stout.



I still load them in my 30-06 because I was not unhappy with performance. Both deer combined didn’t go 20yds.

.270 WCF 130 grain interlock. Buck at the top of the ridge about 300 yards, broad side, angled high, bullet plowed through behind the shoulder, exited with a near nectarine sized diameter hole, ruined some back strap. Dead before it hit he ground.

I think overall form or shape is the only difference in those three bullets. Jackets are the same. Form / shape in a cup and core bullet have an impact on expansion as well.
The 180 has more mass behind the tip to initiate and maintain expansion than the 150 as well. Both serve to define how the bullet preforms in game.
Also one deer experiment means very little. All three of those bullets are fine on deer at all reasonable ranges when properly placed with a 30-06.
Good hunting!
F01

Right or wrong, I try to work up cup and core loads to 2800 fps, give or take. It's worked out well for .257, .264, .284 and .308 cal chambers. I use Interlocks and Hot-Cores almost exclusively when loading cup and cores.

Thanks for the feedback all.

Currently have the 150 Speer BT loaded to 2500 ish for 300 Savage like loads in 30-06. Sounds like that might be their best application. I’ll keep using the interlocks on normal power loads and see how they do moving forward. 280 yards is a non-typical shot distance, usually much shorter, but I have a long hayfield I sit when it comes time to filling doe tags.

2800 fps from my 308 at 35 yards. Big damage with Hornady 150 SP. Using 180 RN out of the infamous pre-64 06 this year at about the same speed. I try different bullets every year with a few friends as well.

I actually think there is some basis for the claimed velocity window. I’ve used the 165s in a 300wby on mule deer for decades (factory ammo shoots bug hole sized groups). I’ve taken deer from 10yds to more than 500. Performance at >100yds has been outstanding (I’ve never recovered a bullet) and the terminal performance was stellar. At close range, there was no exit on a shot behind the shoulder. As I recall, these chronographed nearly 3400 at the muzzle.

Count me as a huge fan of these bullets in .308 and .270 calibers. They are accurate and deadly.

I spend time off season, ringing gongs at 300 and 400 yds...over at the local range.

If a bullet is soft, you lower your velocity. I actually prefer softer bullets that will open up to lower velocities.

I have helped a lot of people that can't do recoil very well, scouts.. women... older guys that ain't as tough as they use to be...

243 to 35 Whelen.. 30 grains of 4198 ( either one).. about any bullet ya wanna pick..
Mil dot scopes help, especially if one learns how to use them... I usually teach them that also.
Works fine for deer out to 300 yds and beyond... ( most of the time, unless its a real hard bullet and not what is intended for the application at hand )

RL 7 can be a good substitute for 4198.

if ya got range access with gongs at 300 yds, a little practice off season, you'll learn its not such a big deal.

plenty of experience helping others... a 150 grain Hornady or Speer, with a 30 grain charge of 4198, will easily take down a deer at 300 yds.. shooters just have to practice in being able to place the bullet in the right spot at that distance... and the answer to that issue is practice.

1. a spitzer of ANY type, moving at 30/30 speeds say between 2200 and 2300 fps MV.

2. any full size antelope is 14 inches from back bone to breast bone. ( its smaller than a deer, hence it being a better example of where I'm going here) smaller target ( by 2 inches if compared to a whitetail.)

3. Cut your 14 inches in half, ( 7 inch window of opportunity ) on game animal.

4.. with the MV being at what is stated in # 1 above, ( 2250 fps or so MV ) if placed or zeroed 3.5 inches high at 100 yds, you'll be dead on at 200 yds, and 3.5 inches low at about 230 to 240 yds. THAT is your window of opportunity.

5. most game, where ever shot on the planet, 90 % is taken at 100 yds and 99% is taken at 200 yds. you can get fancy chasing the 1 % past 250 yds.

Practice and range time just makes ya better. Bullets going at a faster velocity, just makes it easier. Lower velocity helps most people deal with their " dislike" of recoil.

Use your head a little, and this stuff isn't rocket science...If Schtick's two working brain cells can get it, then anyone can. I bet Stumpy poaches enough game to feed the entire population on PoW Island, where he dwells...

Very pleased with them in my 300 Savage using TAC. Accurate and kill great, but I'm only using them in NE WI in heavier woods, shots under 100 yards.

All weights of Interlocks have been my main bullet for most of duration of my reloading. The 150/.308 is a fine, accurate bullet. I load it to just over 2900 fps and it performs great on deer.

I also use the same bullet at just over 3000 fps in a 30-06. It hammers deer and I have yet to catch one in the animal.

I have a lifetime supply of them that I got for cheap, because everybody thinks they want the new fancy bullets. LMAO

They list the same figures in the 10th Edition. Impact velocities would be a lot more useful than muzzle velocities.

In 2021, I killed a smallish black bear at 353 yards with a flat-base Hornady 180 from a 30-06. One shot did the trick. MV was just under 2,700 fps so impact velocity would have been about 2,050. Per my notes, "It damaged the vitals heavily and left a large exit wound. We found a single jacket fragment so it may have overexpanded."

This was during COVID. Components were tight and I couldn’t get this rifle to shoot Partitions well, so I went with the Hornady. I'd be concerned with it holding together at higher impact velocities.

Either way, it worked.


Okie John