Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Hornady Interlock vs Nosler Ballistic Tip Hunting?

I've had 165gr BT in a .308 win at modest velocity disintegrate on a small black bear. Killed the bear no problem, big entrance hole, no exit, only bits and pieces of lead and copper jacket found. Haven't used that bullet since. The 180gr BT from the 8mm is a different story, it has a heavier jacket and preforms very well. Punches through double shoulders with ease on quartering shots. I recovered one on a nice bear and the heavy jacket is very evident.

The interlocks have also been good to me, and am a fan of them at non magnum velocities. Never failed me once.

Don't be afraid to use them, I load them for my nephews 7-08, he's shot 2 bull elk and 2 cow elk with them. Shots were 70 yards, 238, 105, 110...all one shot each.









My youngest nephew shot this bull last fall in WY with his 7-08 and a 139 grain interlock, one shot at 115 yards, elk went 5 yards:



I don't think a person can wrong with either bullet, but I agree with others that the BT is a slighter tougher bullet.

Great stuff Buzz!

I’ve shot and seen a few deer shot with 150&165BT out of an 18.5” m7 308. Both killed the deer and both spit out their cores and I found the jackets lumped up in the off side hide. I’ve shot a pile of deer with the 150 IL out of my kimber 308. It’s been very effective and I’ve never recovered a single bullet. Others here have mentioned they’re suspicious of the new IL’s…. The last time I bought a few boxes, probable 2 years or so ago, I popped them open and looked at them and they appeared to have a different nose from the last ones I had bought probably 5-8 years before…. I haven’t shot them yet but I did see a difference in them vs the older ones. I hope they offer the same boringly superb performance the old ones gave. The deer shot with the BT’s were probably 12-15 years ago…. So I’m not speaking of current gen BT’s.

I personally prefer the Ballistic Tip... I think it is superior to the Hornady Interlock...

BUT THAT BEING SAID : the Interlock is never a bad choice either....

Its just preferring one over the other....nothing more or nothing less...

Wouldn't it be nice in life, is out of two choices... both of them would work well, and as well as the other?

I use both the Interlock and the Ballistic Tip depending on the caliber I'm shooting. I have great confidence in both bullets. The Interlock is generally cheaper than the Ballistic Tip which is why I started using them when I started handloading.

Dan

I use both 129, 139, interlock or 120, 140 bt. I used the 120 BT exclusively in my 280 and 7-08 this year. I get very good accuracy but in my opinion the interlock seems to do better for whitetails.
I buy what's on sale. Like 2 years ago I found the 120's BT for $10/50. I bought a lifetime supply so I even use them in my 280ai with great success.

When the ballistic tip bullets came out they were pretty poor in my opinion, judging from hunting partners’ bullets used on whitetail. I’ve never been tempted to try them until recently. Still have not used them on game, but I would. I’ve used interlocks pretty much since they came out. I probably used 100 grain 257 interlocks the most. I also have used 139 grain, 154 grain and 162 grain interlocks in my 7x57, 280 & 7mm RM quite a bit. I’d recommend the heavier interlocks for the larger cases. Other interlocks include 35 and 30 caliber bullets.

Since the ‘management’ of Hornady abandon my favorite bullets, I am no longer developing loads for most Hornady bullets. I developed some loads for my 300 H&H with Hornady GMX - then they dropped the bullet. I’ll keep shooting the loads I have used, just no new testing. Not enough time left in my lifetime to be let down with Hornady again.

My favorite bullet in a xp 100 in 7 mm br was the 140 gr Ballistic tip . It expanded well and killed deer at the somewhat mundane velocity and shot under a half inch. The 120 gr bullet was much stouter in my unscientific opinion. 150gr Balllistic tips out of a 7x57 and 280 seem to be abit much on the expansion .
Hornady Interlocks always seemed to work well in the various calibers I have used them in .

The Nosler BT Hunting and the flat base Hornady Interlock have both given me a few early break-ups but not chronically. They are perfectly OK in my book for deer sized game and probably 95% of the time work well, but I prefer something more resistant to break up for elk and larger game.

Now the Interlock BTs have not shown me a good track record at all. They tend to come apart far more often then they don't. Erratic terminal paths and less penetration from the boat tales made me swear off them for my hunting. The flat base interlocks just work better on game (in my experience anyway)

My favorite Interlocks were the older RN designs, but Hornady has dropped most of them from the line so it seems. I used them in 25 cal 117 grain, 7MM 175 grain, 30s in 180 and 220 grain and 375 in both 270 and 300 grain.

What year did the 165 disintegrate?

These bullets were recent production. Bought new in around 2019 and bear shot in spring of 2020.