Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Recovered Hornady Interlock BTSP

i use the interlock and interbond quite a bit. I shot a large mule deer buck this last Thursday, at 365 yards, with a 270 Winchester, using the 140 gr BTSP. The buck was way uphill from me, facing downhill. I shot him thru the front shoulder, low in the shoulder. The bullet went thru the leg, blew a hole through a couple of ribs, went through the heart, penetrated the diaphragm, and then lodged in the liver. I recovered only part of the jacket, which weighed 28.5 grains. The buck fell downhill about 15 yards and then collapsed and expired. The bullet did it's job, but did come all apart during the process. I'll post a pic later on.

I love the 165 grain BTSP out of my 30.06. I shoot it at a slow 2680fps but it kills everything dead! Can't beat them for the price and how they perform.

I am relatively new to handloading for whitetails. My dad raised me on the trusty .270 and we've always had good luck with 130gr Winchester SP's from your friendly neighborhood Walmart.

I'm still learning some of the theory behind what is good bullet performance on animals. I understand and appreciate the weight retention of the recovered bullet, but I guess I'm missing something. Wouldn't a pass-through be preferred? I was raised to appreciate a good blood trail more than a DRT, but I'm still learning.

I never used win. soft points in 270 and wouldn't after having so many 30-30 170s coming apart in the shoulder of white tails as a kid. I have used the 270 with hornady btsp interlocks with total success on deer and elk.

Looks good. I've seen similar results many times. I used the same bullet (165gr. btsp interlock) on my buck this year and never recovered the bullet. I was using my 300 wsm at a range of 600 yards though, but still no recovery of the bullet.....They are great and pretty much all I ever use in all of my rifles. Thanks for posting your results and hey at $23.00/100 (if you load your own) they are damn hard to beat!!!! Perfect for practice and hunting is what I always say....

Sounds like maybe you should have been using your 7mm instead

I really like these bullets! I shoot them in several different calibers and I've been impressed with them all.

They shoot good, kill good and don't cost a fortune either...what's not to like?

Todd

Thanks for posting that picture!

The most "premium" of cup and core bullets IMO...

Ain't recovered any of the four 100 grain .257 BTSPs I've put through pronghorns. None went more than 50 yards.

I will take a Hornady over a Sierra any day of the week and twice on Sunday!

The most consistently accurate bullet I have fired in my .30/06 is the 180gn Hornady BT. It is a fovored bullet for me though the 165gn does much the same thing. Either way, a hreat choice for any deer, goat or antelope hunting.

One interesting observation I've made in bullet choice threads is the Hornady IL rarely has any naysayers. With almost every other type of bullet there's always controversy or conflicting experiences.

Very true--them seem to be very consistent over time. That's nice to have something to count on without having to stock up on specific lots.

Call me something less than a fan. My first big game animal, a bull elk in the early 1980's, dropped to a 162g BTSP from my 7mm RM, range around 110 yards estimated. The bullet center-punched a rib leaving a crater on the back side, missed the far side ribs and came to rest under the hide. Retained weight was 77.2g or 47.7%.

I didn't (and still don't) consider that was much of a challenge to a bullet's integrity and switched to 160g Speer Grand Slams the following year. It took me 20 years to recover one of the Grand Slams and when it did it had destroyed both shoulder joints of a 5x5 bull before coming to rest under the hide. Shot range was again about 110 yards estimated. The Grand Slam retained 113.7g or 71.1% of its weight, or 47.3% more than the Hornady.

Yes, the first bull died, so by some yardsticks it is hard to say the bullet failed. Every animal I shot with the Grand Slams died as well, though, and I had and still have a lot more confidence in their ability to penetrate. I quit using them after Speer changed the core but my hunting buddy continued to use them and they continued to do the job. I think he is still waiting to recover one.

I recover about 50% of Hornady soft point boat tail. #3045 165 BTSP. My 308 load is 41.5gr of H4895. The ones I have recovered have been just under the hide or hanging from the exit wound. I have had pass throughs at 25 yards and 300+. I have had recovered bullets at 440 and 25 yards.
It all matters what you hit while your inside.

55 yards from sitting. into the chest and out the off side lung. did not recover the hornady bullet. 1" exit wound and soupey lung heart mix.
Dropped on her feet.

The interlock is excellent. I used them for 10 years, 180grn 300wm.

I also used them for a few years in my 257R, 117grn.

I did try the 165grn SST, and it was the only bullet I've ever recovered from my 300wm, from both shoulders of a 10pt buck at 45yrds or so.


The Hornady custom factory loads with the interlock have been very accurate in everythhing I've shot them out of also. Great product.

Sounds like I'd be a fan, personally... that sentence is all I needed to read.

efw �

Lots of people would agree with you and I have no problem with that. The bull dropped because of placement. I�m pretty sure it would have dropped if I had shot it with similar placement using a .22-250 and a 40g BT varmint bullet.

I didn�t feel there was much challenge to the bullet�s integrity yet the bullet lost over 50% of its weight. My concern was not would the bullet work on a broadside but rather would it work in more difficult circumstances. Grand Slams, which I used for the next 20 years, dropped elk just as quickly plus they retained more weight and penetrated better (it took me all those years to recover one), which is what I wanted.

Over the years I�ve only taken one animal where penetration was needed from rear to front, a quartering away buck that stepped forward and turned away as the trigger broke. The buck dropped so fast I thought it has stepped off a ledge. The rifle was the same 7mm RM but with a 140g North Fork bullet which was later found up against the sternum. When recovered the North Fork weighed 131.2g for 93.7% weight retention. I don�t know how far a 162 BTSP InterLock would have penetrated but don�t have a lot of faith it would have done as well. One of those things we will never know.

Did it work? I didn't see any deer pic.