Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles hornady interlock vs nosler partiton???

Fotis,

I saw a 117 .25 Interlock boattail come apart on the shoulder joint of a mule deer doe, and fail to enter the chest. Now, she was a big doe, and the range was only 100 yards, but the cartridge was the .257 Roberts, and the muzzle velocity only 2950 fps.

The shooter was my cousin Eric, and luckily he worked the bolt quickly enough to put another one broadside through the lungs as the doe turned sideways. But that also meant we weren't guessing about what happened with the first bullet.

He said he wants to be able to shoot from any angle, with an exit. The speed of a .257 Roy would be tough on C&C bullets, especially up close. A Partition or MM bullet would be most likely to give him the two holes he says he wants. Even a NP would be likely to chew up a lot of meat though. If it were me, I'd go with a Barnes.

I'll spare you the long version, but the one deer I shot with an IL, a 130gr .270 at maybe 2900, failed to penetrate both sides of the chest of a smallish buck at about 40 yards. His hide was wet, but come on! Devastating damage, but no blood trail.

Any angle? If you want to start in in the left ham and have it go out the right shoulder I recommend a 50 BMG. AP round.

come on math! isn't a 257 pill moving approx. 3,300 fps ALMOST 50bmg territory??????

Don't leave out the bonded bullets. But the OP is asking on two specific bullets.

If your rifle will shoot the partitions, that would be my choice. At the velocity of the 'Bee, I'd be a bit hesitant to shoot anything with the Interlock up close.

Partitions of the two. Close range interlocks I've shot have fragmented very badly.

Given a choice though I would shoot a 100 grain Barnes TTSX in that 257 Weatherby and not worry about anything else.

I don't think the Interlock is going to vaporize on a close shot. I killed my first buck in California at 15yds square through both shoulders with a 139 BTSP Interlock from my .280 rem and the entrance and exit looked like a 100yd shot. Same rifle took a shot at a ground squirrel laying on a stump at 10yds, didn't hold over enough and shot under him. Bullet went about 24" through the stump and was dug out. It weighed 105gr and was peeled back to the interlock belt with a beautiful mushroom. I like both and would select the one the rifle liked, leaning to the Partition if they were equal.

gzig,

Evidently you missed my post about a 117-grain .25 Interlock BTSP failing to penetrate a mule deer shoulder, a few before yours. But that's not surprising. Most Campfire members don't read anything but the first post on a thread--or even just the header--before responding.

139-grain 7mm bullets aren't 100-117 grain .25 caliber bullets.

Muzzle velocity makes a BIG difference with cup-and-core bullets.

Your're right, I didn't see it. The website will jump past unread posts if you came on went back out without reading that particular thread. I'm the third responder in this thread and I usually try to make a point of reading previous posts. Mea culpa. I've I've had nothing but good luck with the Interlocks and I'm smart enough to understand the design differences. I've already stated that the Partition is probably a better choice, but the point was the Interlock is not going to come apart like a varmint bullet. IMO your cousin's experience was out of the ordinary and I'd bet a lot of big game animals have fallen to that particular bullet on similar shots.

Dunno if this is directed at me or not BRO, but I’ve shot enough bucks with the 257 hornady combo you’d probably shiit, and if you can imagine, they weren’t all perfect shots. I live and hunt in one of the brushiest, rainy wet shiitholes in the us, and have never wanted a exit for “tracking”, simply cause you don’t need to track with that combination.... maybe try a 375 with solids???

My 257 Wby. using buddy never had to look very far for a deer shot with a 100 grain Hornady, that's for sure.

gzig,

I've seen literally semi-loads of deer, and other big game, killed with Interlocks from 100-grain .25's to 250-grain .35's, and you're absolutely correct, the mule deer my cousin shot was an exception. But have also seen a couple of other Interlocks come apart when they hit bone, with nothing but the rear end of an empty jacket recovered. Luckily, those bullets came apart on the spine, so the animal dropped right there.

My point was that despite Interlocks being among the very best cup-and-core bullets, they can come apart.

Yep. Had a 400gn .416 Hornady come apart on a feral billie once. Jacket pealed back to the interlock and dropped the core. A little research and observation post event, showed that Hornady released a different bullet to the handloader which was a tapered RN whereas the 400gn in factory ammo did not display the same degree of taper to the nose. I suspect the handloading option was designed for the Remington round and not the Weatherby magnums I was use a lot at that time.

Every other Hornady I used from .24 through .458 was mostly shot in magnums except the 129gn .264 I used a lot in the 80's in the 6.5x55 and all performed very well.

The only other bullet I walked away from was to 500gn in .458 when using the .460 Weatherby. It was fine in my .458's but 2500fps and maybe even less was the end of the road for reliability. Once put one into the shoulder of a scrub bull and it penetrated to the membrane between the shoulder and rib cage, stopping outside the ribs. Still have the bullet.
John

Yep Jud it was directed at you. I have had several very helpful responses NOT included your smart azzz comment about our MS deer. I do realize not everybody is wanting the same things that I want in a bullet. I PERSONALLY like 2 holes in my deer,not everybody has to agree and I’m sure you don’t, an entry AND an exit and I’m comfortable in saying that with the right projectile the 257 bee can give me that performance. I respect the fact that you like all the bullet energy dumped into the animal but in my experiences deer don’t always DRT. So, I would like a decent blood trail when they don’t go straight down. Again Bud just my wants and thoughts.

Never seen that John. All my 117's were from a 25-06 at 3100 fps. That said I do not doubt your word at all. Bullets do funny stuff sometimes

If 2 holds is a requirement, do not use the hornady. I’ve had them not pass through antelope before, which is a hellava lot smaller than any deer I’ve ran across. Might look at the sirocco too.

Can't relate as to the 257, but as a 6.5 shooter the Hornady 129gr bonded will out penetrate the Nosler partition 125gr by a considerable margin. Usually the Hornady will give complete penetration on elk. . On mature muleys the 100gr Barnes 6.5 TTSX gives complete penetration no problem. A 100gr Barnes TTSX will give your 257 phenomenal penetration. These bullets have to be tried to understand penetrating ability. Thick muscle & bone doesn't stop them. You can drive these bullets as fast as is safe for your rifle with no worry of shattering. I have dug these bullets ( 6.5 120gr 3235 FPS 6.5-06 ) out of the dirt bank behind my 100yd target & they have mushroomed to 50 cal & still weigh 120grs. On elk these 120 have always given complete penetration. Once you start with these bullets you will not want to go back to any C&C bullets.

thanks fellas for your input. got some 115 grain nosler partitons on the way. I'd like to use the 117 interlock but just saw that the are boat tails and I'm partial to solid base bullets which is what the 6.5mm 129 grain il and the 7mm 139 grain il are/solid base that is.

Flat base.

yeah math that's what I meant. got my terms a lil screwy after the 3 day wkend. flat base non-boat tail.