Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 129 grain interlock in the .260

Ran them in my 6.5-08 and Swedes before the 260 was commercialized.
They work well on paper and game.

Fwiw 2 big bullet tests reports were posted here long ago.
Results showed penetration expansion and retention were very similar with the 129 and 125 PT. Says a lot

That said a 130AB is my go to.

Only a sample of one - but I shot a mature Roosevelt cow elk with the 129 IL this year out of my .260.

At about 100 yards it hit the shoulder, doing extensive damage and trashed the lungs. The elk basically died right there.

That's probably more critter than the bullet was designed for, but I sure can't complain.

I'll continue to use it on deer, etc, but will bump up to the 140 IL for elk chores in the future.

I'm pretty content to run the Hornaday IL's in all my rigs these days.

Redundant, but yes the 129 is a killer in the .260 . We've used it in my son's Model 7 Stainless 20" barrel since about 1999. Max load of 49.9gr H4831 gives very good accuracy and very dead deer. We've had probably a dozen or so adult whitetail does and bucks down anywhere from DRT to one that managed to travel 100 yds+ on a well behind the shoulder lung shot. Only bullet that stayed behind busted the near shoulder of a 150lb buck at 30 or 40 yards and ended up somewhere in the neck amongst bone shards, shredded meat and blood clots. Never found it. This is the only one that gave any hint of having done anything but forming a mushroom and carrying on.

Tag

That's interesting. I had to quit using the 100gn Nosler Ballistic Tip in my .250 (Ruger Ultralight with 20" brl) as it was punching through with limited expansion. I once shot through a pig and hit the one standing behind taking the two with one shot. I've gone to the 100gn Interlock and have had no dramas since at 2770 fps.

I haven't used the 129gn Hornadys in my 6.5x55 on game yet but I would expect them to be satisfactory based on interlock performance in a bunch of other cartridges.

Bump

That explains why it is such a damn good bullet in the .257 Roberts. Interestingly, I used to load the 100gn Ballistic Tip in my 20" barrelled Ruger Ultralight and that was a very hard bullet at 2770 fps. I once shot two pigs with the one shot as the Ballistic Tip zipped through the first pig and hit one behind. I switched to the 100gn Hornady IL and got much better kills, even on foxes. My .250 has a 1:10 twist though. Maybe this helps the Hornadys expand better.

I've used the 129gr bullet in the 6.5x257AI. Never clocked it. It just nails deer, so...

As the original poster here, I find this resurrected thread interesting. I did load the 129 grain interlock, again to a little over 2700 fps, and the first two deer killed with it showed a little quicker opening than I like. The second, a smallish mule deer buck (probably about 120 lbs dressed), was shot right behind the foreleg, low, and it didn't hit a rib going in that I could tell upon dressing it. It absolutely exploded the lower portion of the heart, and the deer dropped quickly. It made it about 30 feet to the edge of a finger coulee and I found it right at the bottom. There was no exit wound, and it looked like the bullet had expanded rapidly and perhaps blown up. With that experience, I tried the interbond in the same weight, same velocity. The only deer I shot with this bullet was a large bodied 2 point mule deer buck. He was close to a deep coulee so I shot him right in the shoulder in hope of him NOT making it to the edge and the bottom.. Bullet exited, quarter size exit hole, and he dropped DRT. I don't yet know how this bullet will work with a lung shot; it may be too tough or it may be just right. Both shots described were at less than 100 yards.

I realize I have only limited experience with either the 129 interbond or the 129 interlock. But as I can only chew through one deer per year it takes a while to get the first hand field experience for me. Reading back through the thread, I realized that this site is a great thing..question asked, quick answer from Mule Deer with good info, and then the shared experiences of many others. Probably why I'm still here and logging in regularly!

Interesting I have not seen the amount of variation you are getting with the 129 but have only used it on three deer so far. The Interbond in .270 & .284 @140 grains has been excellent. A good balance of expansion and usually complete penetration. But the 6.5 x 129 grain Interlock has been so good so far I see no reason to switch.

Tegano, my sample number is too small to make blanket observations about either bullet. But the 129 interbonds shoot well in my rifle, and I think I will keep using them for deer hunting and the interlocks for playing and general purpose (use it as a coyote gun as well, might use them instead of the 95 grain vmaxes I've been using). That said, if I have interlocks in the rifle during deer season I wouldn't be scared to try them again.