Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game New tipped Core-lokts?

Any one use these yet? I have always bought them and used them because they were available at the local bi-mart. They shot ok and i have killed many an elk and deer with them. Since the ammo shortage and remington downfall I have ran out of them. Just wondering what you think about the new ones compared to the old standard.

I've only seen pictures...

Haven’t shot any and probably won’t. They are likely just as useful as the originals.

I hear they're like $50 a box. Haven't seen any though

Just got an email from Natchez. They have .308, 30-06 and 7 RM from $40-$48

Why would you tip a cup & core, soft point, expanding projectile ?

You would have to ask Hornady, Nosler etc. I believe they have been doing the tip thing for a while now.

Marketing. I hear Ballistic Tips have become fairly popular...

i sure hope they load a 120 grain in the 7mm-08 and 260 rem to 3,000 fps mv. i'm in if'n they do.

Big Ed

as a handloader for 40 some years ,i have the ability and do use much better bullets for my hunting ammo , i have used Core-Loks when i was young and have been in elk camps with hunters who used Core-Loks and wild game processing shops. i worked at in the fall for a friend`s wild game processing plant for a few years and seen what all brand bullets do too deer , antelope , bear , moose , elk by asking the hunters what brand bullet they used . now please don`t get upset and with respect i will say this > i would never ever use Core-Lok bullets to hunt with ever again when we have so many other brand better bullets . this wild game processing plant was in Gillette,Wyoming ,we processed around 600 -750 wild game animals every year , no one at the shop used Core-Lok bullets. sorry but don`t be offended ,Pete53

Heard that way down here also, what will they think of next???


They had to be like everyone else.

Likely so they can put some hyped up BC ratings on the box and charge more. For whitetail deer hunting they did just fine with the original PSP or RN design. Shot accurately enough and put game down. When I used factory ammunition I ran them out of 25-06,270, 30-30,308,30-06 and 300 WM. I also recall paying $4.99 for a box of 30-30 170’s. That won’t ever happen again.

I'm not offended Pete, but I really don't care how others do it.... their use preferences are for "under consideration" only. I always rely on my own experience, tho that may come about by trying-on someone else's opinion/experience. Always willing to listen.... not necessarily jump on the for or against band wagons.

Corelokts, used within their design parameters, have worked fine for me on caribou, moose, elk, sheep, goat, mule deer, wolf, and black bear, in a variety of calibers. I've largely abandoned premiums, which have not performed for me any better than C&C, with a couple specific exceptions of C&C. Those I won't use on game. Do premiums have an extra margin for error? Sure. And errors/or anomalies do happen, but rarely if one pays attention....

But then, I won't use 210 NP in my .338 for moose anymore, either, per a single experience. Probably an anomaly, but still... If I'm going to take a Texas heart shot on a moose, however, I'd want a premium- at minimum, a 250 NP - better yet, a 250 Trophy Bonded which I did get about 4' (or maybe more) of penetration on a moose (4th shot) , including through a filled paunch (ick!), once upon a time - He was already dead without getting the memo and was leaving into heavy brush....# 1&3 through his lungs, broadside, with little expansion, making one exit hole, but with different entries.. as did the 4th, which just creased the front of his haunch on entry. Those 3 exit wounds could be covered by a quarter.

The second TB round into him took out his kneecap - and that Premium bullet made no difference at all, as far as I could tell... 3 legged and with two lung shots, he was still pretty fast! .

Hence the 4th shot - my last TB. He was still going, but got turned sideways, again. The 5th shot was a Sierra Game King 250 hand-load a few inches lower than the previous TB lung shots. That knocked him flat with a 2" exit wound - range - 140 yards by that time. But he was already staggering. Both bullet types performed well, within their design parameters. I don't argue with that.

I'll continue to use Corelokts and other C&C until I have a problem with them. Then I won't.

If they perform within their design parameters and I stay within that, I don't need to blow (not a "waste") extra money on "better bullets", and I can afford Premiums- just don't have a real need/desire for them. Cadilacs are nice rides, but a Dodge gets me there and back. YMMV, and welcome.

I too, don't get it with tipping Corelokts - marketing for sure - and have enough "not tipped" in stock that I probably ever won't. Then there are the SST's, and Interlokts also in stock .... and some NP. I've got reloading work to do! . If I ever run out, I'll be standardizing on just one bullet type- probably a C&C, as long as they work well in both accuracy and terminal performance.

From others' experience, I may one day try the advertised "eat-up-to-the-hole" TTSX, and for the accuracy claims alone- which probably won't be significantly better than what I'm getting with C&C.. And curiosity. I don't "need" them, and I'm probably just too damned cheap to go the cost to save a few ounces of meat over effective C&C kills.

Note: Factory Barnes TSX 120's in my 260 are the least accurate ammo I've tried in it - 5" patterns at 100. Coreloct's (and other C&Cs in 140) , are MOA...

I can live with that.

I doubt many will agree with me, but I wish they and others would still make more roundnose ammo and bullets. My only data is based on what I've seen, but at moderate ranges and moderate speeds, the roundnose bullets, and flatnose, seem to smack animals a little harder.

There is no shortage of tipped, vld, eld whatever ammo/bullets these days to fill every whim, so a few more old school offerings would be nice.

I've taken deer to moose with CL's. No complaints. If I ever get drawn for Elk I may very well use a CL

Are tipped core lokts consider a premium ammo? 😀

las , nice post and good to read your thoughts and experiences , i too don`t care much for Barnes bullets but the Hammer copper bullets i have shot on paper were accurate so far , i plan on trying them next year 1st on antelope out of my new rifle with a Brux barrel in a 257 Weatherby mag. then maybe a whitetail buck , or just a deer in a 243 Win. that my 10 yr. old grandson will shoot , we will be using the Hammer 243 cal. 80 gr. bullets , > grandson won`t know he is doing a bullet test for grandpa .

federal ammunition now ownes remington ammunition so I'm pretty sure the stated bc will be accurate and it will be a massive improvement
over the originals
i run federals 130 gain terminal accent for deer in my 6.5 cm and their 155 grain in my 280 ai for elk they have performed flawlessly from 30 yards out to farther then i care to shoot [650 + yards ] they do and perform exactly as federal claims they do, from any angle great penetration [many pass throughs even shooting through shoulders & weight retention & stated bc is 100% on the money .and resulting in very dead animals ,id have no problem trying any product federal puts their name on
then again i also have excellent luck with hornady's eld x in 143,150 & 168 grain projectiles on game

remington cl have killed a pile of game over the yrs from yotes to grizzlies and everything in between nothing wrong with the original its held its own over time

If Federal owns Remington, and knowing Federal has loaded Sierras in their ammo for a long time, I wonder if the new tipped Corelokt might just be a tipped Gameking?