Who has had success on elk with them?
My sons rifle shoots them lights out and hate to tinker with anything else...

What cartridge and bullet weight?

270 Win 130 Grain

I have had trouble with the pointed soft point design staying together on mule deer. The round nose offer a sturdier bullet. About any bullet slipped into the lungs will get an elk into your freezer, however elk seldom present the perfect bullet placement scenario. I am always puzzled by someone who chooses one brand of ammo over another simply because it shoots 1/4" smaller than another brand. It is all about the bullet, as this is what kills the elk. An elk is a large animal that does not require 1/2" grouping rifles to harvest. That degree of accuracy seldom if ever comes into play. Every elk I have shot and have been around that has been shot has been afoot, in all kinds of weather, all kinds of improvised rest. High winds and cold temperatures are often the weather of the day when elk hunting, so super accurate rifles and loads are nice but not necessary.

.308 just $0.02 cents worth.
I pulled one out of a far-side skin of a fair sized mule deer. Curled and did not open (opened very little on the inside of the curl. Years before that it was a go-2 for a factory load.

Just an opinion here, it is a further down the list bullet.

When everything was hard to find.
You could still find bags of core-lok reloading components.
For another opinion, but that one only cost a penny.

It was a 270 Winchester using 130 Remington pointed soft point Core-Lokt that stopped and came apart after 4" of penetration on a small mule deer. In fairness it did hit bone but for me way to fragile.

Have used Rem Green Box in a 30-06, 180 grain for 30+ years with pretty good success on mule deer, antelope, and elk. Also reloaded the core-lokt for years. Probably 40+ animals taken with them. I can only remember one time that they failed. I took a frontal chest shot on a whitetail doe and the bullet did not penetrate, probably glanced off.. Lots of blood but the deer was never recovered. The Core-Lokts always shot so accurately in two Remington 700's.

Now I load the Remington Ultra Bonded Core-Lokt in 180 grain and get similar accuracy as I did with the Green Box. Several elk and deer have been taken with this round and the bullet performs well.
PS - Also really like the Nosler Partition in my 7-08, just not quite as accurate for me.

My elk hunting partner has used the 180 gr 30-06 multiple times on elk. They all died pretty quickly. We both drew this year and he will use them again.

Before the internet, the Core-Lokt bullets worked damn good. Guess we didn't know any better till guys with a keyboard saved us. Wait, they probly still do work well. mtmuley

Never had a bad experience with them.

They work, but 150 grain would be better.

I switched away from them many years ago when a 150 grain 7 mag zipped through a doe at close range leaving no blood trail. Found her 2 weeks later and did not want that to happen again.

That started me into reloading and it has been well worth it so the crappy corelokt performance helped in the long run.

Chances are they will perform just fine on normal shots where you avoid big bones or slow them down enough for a follow up shot. For the guys who think they worked fine before the internet I'd say no we just didn't have the options we do now. Pay phones worked fine and so did 8 tracks but we don't see many of those anymore.

If you don't want to invest a coupe of hundred bucks in reloading equipment and supplies to have fun and save money at least pony up the $20 extra for s premium bullet for the 270. That $20 will be the cheapest hunt insurance you can buy. The bullet placement is certainly most important but why not shoot a great bullet instead of an OK one for the cost difference.

I'm using the Barnes TTSX these days after Accubond and Ballistic tips killed elk but didn't perform as well as I had hoped. Dead and in the freezer is hard to complain about but if you can get good penetration and expansion both why not? I dont want to pass a shot because the bullet isn't up to the task.

My gunsmith swears by them. I swear at them. The closest I ever came to losing an elk was with the core-lokt.

Switched to Partitions, and life was good again.

This member make a valid point about keyboard hunters. The point is, few of us ever use a bullet enough to get any real experience, thus we have to rely upon other experiences, IF correct data was obtained. You do have to take some with a grain of salt. A friend swears by the pointed Core-lokt's and will tell anybody that listens that he has 28 years of elk hunting under his belt while using them. To date he has only shot one small cow elk. The other deciding factor is, did the hunter study the bullet after impacting and recover the bullet? I have escorted 42 hunters over the years and only one asked how the bullet did or even looked into the animal. I know of no one but myself that carries a tape measure around to measure distance of bullet travel and paper and pen to take field notes. I have over 100 bullets that have taken from big game animals and they are enlightening. And I am still learning. The question is often asked, how could the bullet fail if the animal is dead. A good question. My personal beliefs are that a cup and core bullet should retain 1/2 it weight without hitting bone and 1/3rd if hitting bone and the core still firmly attached to the jacket, but those are just my criteria's. A few example of the questioned bullets may illustrate the point. I have already mentioned my 4" of penetration and disintegration on a buck , a second 130 grain 270 hit a rib on a mule deer at 225 yard. The bullet blew up and broke the rib but didn't enter the lung cavity. The bizarre thing is a small piece of the jacket base did creep in near the breastbone and make a tiny cut across the heart which is what finally killed it. A fellow guide took a lady out elk hunting using a 6mm Rem and 100 grain Rem Core-Lock bullets. A 300 yard shot and a long follow up recovered a very nice large 5 point. The bullet had struck the heart and was stuck in the opposite rib, completely intact. No expansion at all. You could have reused the bullet. I have seen them blow up, not expand at all, and give perfect performance. One of my personal favorites is a 220 grain 30 caliber round nose Core-Lokt I took out of a mule deer years ago. Absolute text book performance. As mentioned before on these forum pages the round nose is a heavy jacketed bullet while the pointed is a thin jacketed bullet. Someone mentioned Remington 150 grain as a good choice. These are the round nose variety. According to people who have used this load it is the gold standard for cup and core 270 ammo. I hope some member will post photos of some of their recovered bullets. Just a few observations to keep the post stirred.

I have 50+ kills on Whitetail, Sika & Axis with .284 150 gr Core Lokt Pointed Soft Points. Three of those Axis were nearly 300 pounds.

I like them in my 280's. I'd be hard pressed to give them any bad press. They are simple cup/core bullets. They work, but they're not magic.

Nice to hear RELODER28. 50 kills with one type of bullet give gives great prospective.

This would be my suggestion too. Same price.

Do any of you have experience with the old style Remington Mushroom Core-Lokt? This was the original controlled expansion bullet design. It was a hollow point with a little tit on the inside, completely covered with jacket and when sectioned has a heavy jacket and a wasp waist. I have shot 6 animals with them and was wondering if anyone else has and what their experience was.

Ain't that the truth.

Nice going, but how many elk with the core-lokts?

A fella in my group had a bad experience with core-lokts a few years ago. Bullet didn't open, hit bone and traveled along. He was lucky to get the bull on subsequent shot.
Lotta nice premium bullets to chose from these days.

I have had some close calls on deer sized animals. So I don't use them on elk

Oh, I've had success with them (270, 130 and 150gr) but it wasn't pretty. There are a LOT better bullets out there.

Having said that, my dad has been using 180gr CL's for 50+ years out of his 06's. Of course, he usually shoots them in the neck at 50 yds......
Seriously.

Casey

No experience on elk with them, but I do have enough experience with core & jacket separation on deer that I won't use them.

As previously stated, they worked until we had the internet; well, I suppose they did and one of the reasons they did is that options were extremely limited years ago and at that time, they were a major player in the market. Fortunately, that's not the case today.

Thanks guys for all the responses. Ordered some Barnes TTSX to try...

The comment that they worked before the internet is misleading. If they didn't work before the net. Who are you going to tell? Just a few close friends?

Now, if something doesn't work the whole world knows it in a day.

Very true, I concur.

My only elk was a sizable cow with a 140 TTSX.

I wouldn't suggest the CoreLokt's on any animal over 300 lbs.

Good luck to you and your son this year. I've really been impressed with how well the TTSX shoots and how they break through bones even at longer ranges. Your son can take out the front shoulder if he wants to and feel pretty good about getting to the vitals, if that is the only shot presented.

I've seen them go through lungs, heart, then break the off side shoulder of a good bull at 350 yards from a 180 in 300 Win and break the spine of a big Russian boar limping away at 520 yards with a 150 in 7 RM.

Before the internet the Core-Lokt in the PSP configuration was a tougher bullet than it is today.

I think the internet got people to thinking and discussing. Me not being a fan of the pointed style, I looked through my spent bullet collection today and found a 175 grn pointed Core-Lokt I pulled from a bull elk. It was shot at 30 yards with a 7mm Magnum. The bullet smashed the spine and completely penetrated though and was found on the opposite side weighing 61 grains with the jacket and core still together. Stellar performance with such a close range hit on the toughest bone in an elk. Exactly opposite results I had decades later when I hit a small mule deer in the spine at 220 yards. Bullet disintegrated on the spine, and failed to break it. Recovered weight of the bullet fragments was 31 grn IIRC. Another example of, is it a good bullet or a bad bullet.

I've seen and heard of too much variability in how the Core-Lokts act after striking animals. I used them as a kid. I avoid them now, and though I think that a 130 in the ribs would turn out just fine, I'd not recommend it. I just don't have any faith in them. I'd say either go heavier, as in the 150's, in the RN style, which I have heard and seen far more positive things about, or go to a different design.

I have always used Nosler Partition 30-06 180 grain. Way back when the ammo shortage started, all I was able to find was green box Core-Lok 30-06 180 grain. I bought 6 boxes and I am still using them. I have killed two cow elk with no problems. I suppose when they are gone I will go back to the Nosler Partition.

I should add that I like the price better but as few as a shoot every year it isn't that much more for the premium bullets.

120 bullets, and two cows. You have a ways to go yet.

I wish it was that easy, I burn up about a box a year after checking my sights and pre-season practice.

stuvwxyz,

The pointed soft-point Corelokt was "redesigned" about 20 years ago. Before that all Core-Lokts had jackets with pretty thick sidewalls, the reason they held together pretty well, though they never actually had an "hour-glass" shaped core like Remington used to claim, due to the sidewalls being thicker in the middle. When redesigned they ended up with jackets about as thick (or thin) as most cup-and-core bullets, so didn't hold together as well.

The only Core-Lokts that still have the thick jackets are the round-nose models. Or at least they did a few years ago, last time I sectioned any.

I figured at least that much, but with 6 boxes you should have a couple of years left. No so bad really. They're working for you.

I shot a couple of elk using the 150 gr. PSPCL's out of my 30-06. Hitting them broadside thru the ribs they ended up under the hide on the far side a bit over flattened and the elk ended up down for the count pretty quickly. But any bullet would have done OK under that circumstance. And elk hunting does not provide perfect broadside shots very often at least in my experience. I am a partition fan and have been for many years.

these were taken from an elk before the internet. the one on the left is a Coreloct (Coreloss?). the one on the right finished the elk.

Its funny when I go elk hunting in NM how many locals go with the Green Box Core Lokts...of course their line of reasoning, and mine too, is that I, being from GA, and only there for 5 days, don't have the same opportunities that they do.They seem to love em and I've never heard the first complaint from the elk crowd out there. That being said, Core Lokt's work and in my little world, they work very consistently. I've killed a huge pile of deer with them culling does (legally) from local plantations. Zero failures.

Well, when I was a kid I guess I was just to godamn naive in the ways of elk hunting. I shot and killed a bunch of those bullet proof bastards with 180 grain Core-Lokts in my 721 .30-06. I don't use the combo now, but you can bet your ass I could go out this fall and kill any elk I get in the sights with the same rifle and bullet. mtmuley

that CL didn't puke because the elk was bullet proof...

My dad cussed them out long before the internet was around. I never touched them because of it. Shot Winchesters and Federals instead.

Are better bullets for elk available

Then why did that bullet "puke" toad? I will wholeheartedly agree there are better bullets available. But, when used in cartridges of "normal" velocities and put where a bullet is supposed to go, elk die. As I said, done it myself. Lots of times. I know guys still doing it. If you told them there were better bullets, they would shrug it off and continue filling the freezer. And make fun of those of us spending big cash on "premiums". mtmuley

Remington Core-Lokt 150g for a .308 Win normally run about $1.15-$1.20 per round at Midwayusa and Cabelas, about $1.00 if you get them on sale.

I can load Nosler AccuBond or Barnes TTSX for about $0.84 per round. Or I can load North Fork SS, my favorite bullet in a variety of calibers and weights, for about $1.40 per round.

In short, I can save anywhere form $0.20 to $0.40 per round by shooting Core-Lokt ammunition. Given what I spend on gas, food, licenses and processing, let alone other incidental (but not always insignificant) expenses, the difference in ammunition cost is not a concern, whether I save a few cents or spend a few more. As I've said many times, after a few years of filling all my tags (antelope, deer and elk in a good year, one antelope and two elk this year), the savings might buy me a cheap glass of wine with my dinner out.

Given that my handloads shoot much better than any Core-Lokt ammuniton I've tried, given I prefer premium bullets when things don't go as planned, and given that I've never had a post-trigger-squeeze situation where I expect a cup-and-core would have performed better, the decision for me is an easy one.

Core-Lokt? Or other factory cup-and-core loads? Thanks, but no.

I have had good luck with the core-lokt, no matter the game.

I do seem to get a little bigger exit holes and a little better penetration with the round nose soft point core-lokts.

RNCLSP tend to be heavier weight for caliber and still have the heavy 'hour glass' jacket shape, as I found in the 165 gr RNSPCL remington has for its own .280 in recent loads. The other 140 and 150 grain pointed core-lokts loads do not have the heavy 'hour-glass' shape.

Have yet to have one turn to vapor upon contact with big game and tent to be my 'go to' in factory loads when available.

Taglarry, Picked up 4 boxes of Federal Premium 30.06 180 grain NP last week at Academy Sports. $25.84 per box on sale! Hard to beat that, if they are still on sale.

Yes, 130 gr corlock 270 win will kill elk. I have done it, but I would rather use the 150s. You don't need premium bullets to kill elk, but if makes you warm and fuzzy then use them.

I suspect that the case is with most of the thousands of hunters that use core lokt bullets have no issues and accounts of failures represent but a small fraction of a percent of the ones used . Mostly you don't hear from the successful users because theres not much to say except "Well theres a hole going in and one coming out and a dead deer/elk. Thats also the reason most hunters don't collect bullets.

I like the 150gr corelocks in 30-06 for deer but i would rather shoot handloads because i have all the stuff to reload might as well load them myself.

I've shot at 3 bulls with 180 grainers from a .30-06. All 3 of them died right now. My brother is 1 for 1, my dad is 2 for 2. So we're 6 for 6, no complaints.

That said, I reload now and I don't use Core-Lokts. But if that's what I had I would hunt with confidence.




P

180 RN CL opens slower and stays together at higher velociy than any other CC bar the hornady rn 180/

And I would be hard pressed to load a better shooting cartridge for the money, for my 1895 Browning than those 180 factory RN's! Which I will be packing this year.