Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Hornady Interlock velocity envelope?

Hornady lists the velocity envelope of interlock bullets as 2000 to 3000 ft/sec. I've run alot of them at 2800 to 3000 without any problems. Anyone have any data or experience how they work when they get down to 2000 ft/sec?

I'm shooting these in a snubby barrel 30-06 - think 308 performance. They don't start off all that fast and drop below 2000 at around 300 yards. I do know the older 7mm 175 is a stout bullet. My dad shot one into a doe at ~ 30 yards and she caught the bullet. The tip bent and it just started to open. This was from a 7x57 about 30 years ago. I'm guessing it was moving 24-2500. I've shot them in my 243 at max speeds with no issues but don't know about them at slower speeds.

What say the brethren on a 2000 ft/sec 180 IL?

Bill, don't worry about them. They are damn good bullets. I've taken a mulie buck with the 165gr. at 30-06 velocities at 600 yards. Velocities at that range were a little below 2,000 fps. However, If I were going to use a bullet in the 30-06, it would probably be the 165. Especially if speeds are closer to 308 velocities. I've also taken a mulie buck at 648 yards with a 162gr. 7mm btsp. Again, velocities were below the 2,000 fps mark. The interlocks work damn well at pretty much any reasonable range, from my experience.

Hey Lawrence,

I've personally never had an issue with them and have run the 154 in my 7x57 and 150's in my stubby 06. I get 2800+ with both.

I've never run a 30 cal 165 in my life in anything. I was about to buy a couple boxes and decided to run the numbers. By the time you reach 400 yards the 180 is actually moving faster than either the 150 or 165 even though the lighter bullets start out faster. At 400, the 180 is still moving 1900 which I don't think is an issue but always ask here first when I don't have first hand experience. Plus my 06 shoots the 180's well. It also likes the 150 and expect the 165's will shoot just as well as either the 150 or 180.

Sounds like the 180 will work great my friend. I have a bunch of them myself, just never used them on deer or elk. Actually never even fired them in any of my rifles. I also have some old 180gr. Hornady national match bullets, that I've never tried .. . When I was shooting my 06 a bunch, I switched to the 165gr. sp and when I was shooting centerfire competitions with my 300 wsm, I ran the btsp version in the same weight. They were always extremely accurate and worked very well on game too. When the 165's came out, they (gunwriters) talked them up quite a bit saying it was the most ideal weight for the 30-06. I've shot a lot of 180gr. Nosler partitions in my 06's and the el-cheapo Winchester powerpoint as well and they have always worked flawlessly on both game and paper. Remember, they don't refer to the Hornady interlock as the "poor man's partition" for nothing...

Looking back over my notes from that gun, it shooting the 180's has a link back to you. I set that gun up to shoot Horn 150's for deer. A couple years back during the Obummer bullet/powder crisis, I couldn't find any Horn 150's. You sold me a couple boxes of 150's. But I had the 180's and tried them in that gun because I didn't think I was going to find any. They shot a bit better than the 150's.

Thanks again!

No problem. I've been a long time Hornady interlock user. They have always worked flawlessly on big game around here. However, I've almost switched to using Nosler seconds exclusively because they are almost the same price and they are a lot easier to find. I remember selling those 150's to you because they were impossible to find and I had recently sold all of my 308 winchesters and didn't need them anymore. Back to the Noslers, one of my favorite places to buy them is SPS. Here's a link to the 165gr. partitions if you ever think you might want to try them:

165gr. Nosler partitions

Bsa how those 165 partitions shoot out that 06??

I can tell you one thing, at least for their 180gr 30 cals, 3K is about the upper limit...

^ The very upper limit.

Going to try them in a .30-06 carbine at 2500fps at the muzzle.

I run them right close to 3000 in my WSM. I shot a bull 2 years ago at about 30-40 yards quartering to me. Broke one shoulder and plowed through about 2 more feet of elk. Surprisingly it wasn't a mess. About perfect bullet performance to me.

Not a Partition but I shot another bull with the 180 AB at about 50 yards dead broadside with a 300 SAUM. No mess, just a nice golf ball size hole through the lungs.

I'd not be afraid to run the Paartition a bit faster.

Far right. 180r Hornady recovered (there's the first hint) from an impala quartering on at about 100 yards. Recovered on off side ham approx 79grains and no core. I don't know what would have happened had I been shooting an eland . I went to Partitions on my next safari. Two holes, perfect performance. I've since switched to TTSXs. Love the Hornadys, just watch the speed.

My mistake - I thought you were talking about the 180 Partition for some reason. I agree with the 3k on the Hornady.

Hornadys' work fine even at 3k. They will however peel back and shed weight causing an impressive wound channel. If you like narrower wound channels and exits use Barnes. If you want huge wound channels and maybe or maybe not an exit there are many to choose from.

If you shoot at animals just a little farther away, the bullet will have slowed down some, and most of the time they'll exit.

Or, use the tried and true Partitions. ( A-frames are nice imitation, and Woodlieghs will perform equally also.