Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 3006 150 core lokt

I recently purchased a bergara hunter in 30 06. it likes 150 grain core lokt bullets. on a broadside shot they would kill elk however I'm not sure if they would bnb on a shoulder shot. what say you?

Lots of locals use them-----they seem to kill elk every year. I use 180 grain "Core Lokts"-----only reason is that my rifle likes them better than 150's. Bob

I killed my second-largest bull with a 180 round nose Core-Lokt. No worries.



P

150 gr. Corlokt 30-06 works very well on elk almost all the time. But I've seen three of them stopped dead in the top of the humerus/ head of the scapula joint. Without another quick shot none of these elk should have even slowed down much. I prefer heavier & tougher bullets for elk. 165-200 gr, or if 150 gr, bonded / partition or all copper.

I'd sure step up to at least a 180 gr bullet.When things are not perfect, you might not get the penetration of the150 before it comes part. Leave the 150's to a tougher bullet.

how did this duplicate post get here?

A lot of those 150's have killed a lot of elk out of a 270. Since it's a heavy bullet for a 270, it might be made stiffer. I don't know about that.

150's work, 180's work better. Both shoot well out of my rifle.

If I was wanting to hunt elk with 150’s I could think of better ones myself. No offense to the 150 CL at all, but if you do center punch a large front leg bone I’d feel a lot better with a Partition, Accubond, TTSX, Swift, etc. I think of elk differently than some and know I put a bunch of money towards hunting them a 1-3 dollar cartridge is the least of my expenditure but the only thing that actually can put my elk on the ground. I’m sure it’d work excellent on a rib shot elk but I don’t tend to wait for elk to turn broadside to take the shot.

There are so many other bullets that probably shift the odds more in your favor--why take the risk of disappointment?

If I am interpreting your screen name correctly and you are from Pennsylvania, then an elk tag will be one of the very hard to draw eastern tags or an expensive western hunt. Stepping up to a more controlled expansion bullet does not seem excessive in either case.

Maybe a 150 TSX in 308 diameter. But def 180grain cup and core. That ball joint is real, real tough.

The 150 grain Core-Lokt will seldom (if ever) pass clear through an elk's chest if it hits any bone. Maybe they can, but so far in 50+ years of hunting them and guiding elk hunter, I have not seen one do it. Some other 150s do, one of which is the Winchester Power Point, and also the Barnes and the Nosler partitions, but I don't think I ever saw a Remington Core Lokt 30 cal 150 grain exit an elk. Same with the Federal "Power-Shok".

The 180s Remingtons work very well and so far all the 165s Core-lokts I have seen elk shot with worked well too. But the 150s have a thin enough jacket they often shed it, and the penetration is a bit less then I would prefer. I think the jacket in the same thickness on all 3 Core-Lokts in 30 cal, but the slightly slower velocity of the heavier bullets seem to be just about the needed amount to keep the bullets together most of the time. That's not "thus saith the Lord"... but that is the overall pattern I have observed.

Sure, they kill a lot of elk. That's not my point. My point is that if you used the 165 and the 180s you will also kill elk, but if you have an exit wound you will find it is a LOT easier to recover any elk that runs some after the hit, which is not at all uncommon for elk to do. If they are in the open it's not much of a problem, but in heavy timber or brush, finding a shot elk, even if he only goes 30-06 yards can be a chore if he is not leaving a good blood trail. I would buy a box of 165s and a box of 180s and see if you gun shoots them well.


DO NOT fall into the trap that says "the 150 shoots 3/4" and the 180 "only" shoots 1-1/4" so I'll use the 150.

Wrong way to think------- and not logical! Elk are big enough that such a difference in group size is so unimportant as to be non-existent.

You have a target that is as large as a bread box, "missing" the desired point of impact by 1/2" (or even 5 inches) is not something the elk would know about, and because they have no scoring rings on them you would not either.

A good bullet, a little light for a cup and core for use on an elk, should perform adequately......not my first choice! memtb

Keep experimenting with your Bergara, they are nice rifles. You will find a better load. When I have non-handloading friends ask me what factory load to use in their '06s, I tell them the Vortex with 168TTSX. Won't tear up deer yet is a real doozy on elk!

If I was bent on running a 150-grain bullet on elk (which I would probably not do in the -06), it would be either a mono, or a premium copper/lead, pushed as fast as your rifle would allow. My -06 shoots 150 Interlocks at 3000 fps, and would most likely not have any issue doing the same with a bit more "premium" bullet.

I would not deliberately choose a 150 gr bullet in 30-06 to go elk hunting with.

It's not just about bullet weights. It's also about bullet design and bullet jacket thickness.

I would respectfully suggest 165 gr or 180 gr bullets, with my preference being 180 gr. Elks are big. A small sacrifice of accuracy I would readily make in exchange for a sturdier bullet then the 150.

I have 0 confidence in core lokt if you hit a bone and are too close.
I shot a Ferrell pig behind a ear. Less than 10 yards...closer to 5 yards.
06, 180 gr PSP ..: never existed

While the 150 CL wouldn’t be my first choice in the 30-06, I have 100% confidence it would work fine on any elk broadside.

Back in the eighties when I worked way too many hours I loaded a bunch of Speer 150 gr. Hotcors with just the right amount of IMR4350 for my 30-06 to hit the same point of aim as the 150 gr. Corelokt so just if I had to use factory ammo I could buy some and not have to resight in. I lived in Wyoming from 1988 to 1999 and my job actually made it easy to get a lot of hunting in. I used the 150 grain bullets into the early 90's and found the Speer bullet to penetrate and hold together much better than the Remington bullet though both made excellent deer and antelope projectiles neither gave me what I wanted in an elk bullet so I switched to the 180 gr. Speer and never looked back. I found the 150 gr. Corelokt generally very reduced under the hide on the far side of several elk some of which did run a ways. Back then I shot everything in the ribs so a rib or two is all the Corelokt had to negotiate. The Speer bullet sometimes exited and when recovered it looked like a mushroomed bullet. I decided I wanted a better bullet and since I was no longer living in motel rooms reloading with a press instead of a LEE loader became the norm and I started using both the 180 Speer and Nosler Partition on everything. I still generally use 180 grain bullets in my 30-06 but now my two choices are the Ballistic Tips or the Partition depending on what I am after or how thick the brush is.

I've killed quite a few elk with Speer Hotcores out of a 270 and a 300 WSM. I've have very good luck with them holding up, comparable to PT's.