Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game H. Interlock vs. S. HotCor

Alot is mentioned on the site of just how good a bullet the Interlock is. Besides the price, you read lots of positive notes on expansion, reliability and the like. Very few people mention Speer's HotCor, however. Is it any less of a bullet? Is performance on par with the Interlock as long as it is kept within its limits? Anybody care to reason why the Speer doesn't get as much mentioning?

I think it doesn't get mention because there are no sexy features. I personally prefer them to Hornady bullets in many circumstances. The game I've shot with Hornady bullets always left me wishing for a little more expansion, but they're accurate and cheap and penetrate well. In most cases I'm using more than enough gun, so I'll take a little more expansion and a little less penetration for deer sized game.

Both are excellent. I use more Hornaday's with an unproven or unfounded thought that they were more accurate, just because one rifle preferred them. The hot cores are excellent game bullets and may prove more accurate in some rifles. It seems they are getting phased out or are harder to find. Please correct me if this isn't the case.

To me the Hornaday is a controlled expansion type bullet and the Hot Core is an almost bonded bullet. Both ideal for medium game they deserve to be used more. The Speer bullets were popular for game culling in Africa with those that reloaded.

Use whichever one shoots best in your rifle. Either will work very well when started at 2700 fps or so.

I prefer the Speer by a wide margin. The Speer 140 grain is the best bullet I have ever used in my .264 Win mag.

While the Interlock has typically been more accurate in a variety of my rifles over the years, I think the Speer HC is a better controlled-expansion hunting bullet.

If both shoot equally I'd always prefer the HotCore.

Brads an 06 guy I'm a 270 guy. Point being, I go a bit differently....go figure eh Mac...grin

I've used em both, but I have used the Horns quite a bit more. Seems to me and I sure could be wrong but I've as a general rule had the Horns shoot a bit better.

As for how they hold together, I've shot and seen a lot of game taken with the Horns and they hold together incredibly well.

I've not seen or taken near as much game with the Speers so I really shouldn't say how they hold together. But from what I hear it sounds like they do very well.

If I ran an 06 I could easily spend the rest of my days with either a Horn 180 flat base and or a Speer 180 Mag Tip.

I do feel that the accuracy of the Speer TNT's is pretty much unbeatable by anything out there. And like I mentioned I really dig their 180 Mag Tip as well.

Fords and Chevy's I really think.

Dober

Hornady Interlocks get the blue ribbon from me, on accuracy and meat performance. If a .270 win won't shoot 130 gr pills in tiny clusters with a max. dose of IMR 4350 or 4064, there is a problem.

I had one bullet to "blow up" last year. A shoulder shot at 75 ft +-. The hole was big as a cantelope, 1" deep. No exit. Only found small fragments. Complete pass thru's most of the time out to 250 yds.

I did get some Speer's for .270 and the .30 cal's the other day. I cut some paper this morn, can't wait to cut hair with 'em in a few month's.

Roger

Roger

I suspect that's the key in any difference between them;as with most CC bullets,likely impact velocity is gonna have a greater bearing on how they behave than anything else.And as you go up in weight in a given caliber,and down somewhat in velocity,there is greater liklihood they will do "better".Speed is the gremlin that tears up bullets.

+1

I took my first elk with a 162g Hornady Interlock BTSP running around 2950fps at the muzzle. THe elk was broadside, around 100-110 yards. The bullet hit a rib on entrance, slipped between them on the off side (might have nicked one but mostly a miss), and came to rest under the hide on the off side. Dead elk, straight down. The Interlock retained about 47% of its weight even though the challenge to its integrity was minimal.

The next year I switched to Speer 160g Grand Slams. It took me 20 years to recover one (all broadsides) and when I did the bullet had destroyed both shoulder joints on a 5x5 bull elk and was recovered from under the off-side hide. Weight retention was a tad over 70%, which I believe had a lot to do with it getting through all that bone.

These days I use North Fork, Barnes TTSX/MRX/TSX, Swift A-Frames.

I have had no real issues with either bullet. The Speer Hot-Cor and boat tail are more accurate for me with the two rifles that I loaded extensively with Hornady and Speer bullets, one 30-06 and one 280. I use 165grn in the '06 and 145grn in the 280. None of the animals shot knew or will ever know the difference, for they all died. There are some small differences depending on what caliber and bullet weight being used. For example, the 7mm 154grn Hornady is much tougher than the 139grn. The Speer 30 cal 165grn Hot-Cor is equally tough or tougher than the 180grn Hot-Cor. Speer's boat tails are softer than their Hot-Cor flat base.

I have had a few Hornadys fragment. I had one Speer boat tail leave the jacket in the off-side hide. I have yet to recover a Hot-Cor. The 180grn Mag-tip that I use in my 300 Savage is a perfect match at 2400fps. That bullet opens wide and penetrates very well.

Back to your question, I wouldn't change what has worked so well for you. If you do change, Speer recommends the 220grn bullet for bears in the .358 win.

, I never specified what cartridge I was using, BUT if I do ever trade my .25-06, .30-30, .338 Win, (etc.) in or buy a .358 Win, I will keep their recommendation in mind .

Just picking Goose! Thanks guys, I really appreciate the insight and experiences you all have provided.

WarEagle : since you are a 25/06 shooter, I've had outstanding performance from both the 120gr Speer HC, and the 120gr Hornady HP. Used the Hot Core for years with perfect satisfaction. couple of years ago, I tried the Hornady HP, just 'cause. It has been great too. Don't think I or the deer can tell the difference.

I shot a lot of speer sp hot core out of a 270. Back then I was doing a lot of shooting on tree farms. Crop Damage. The load I used was IMR-4831 57.5 gr a Winchester Western Case Fed 210 primer and a 130 gr Speer SP Flat Base. Worked every time I pulled the trigger, on day I pulled the trigger 8 times. The other bullet I used was the 160 gr 7mm Speer SP in a 7x57 and 7mm RM. They work fine, thou in rifles like the 7mm Ultra Mag might be a little much vel wise. I don't think you really can go wrong with either. It's more a function of the launcher than anything else.

Hey Southtexas, I don't know why but I did pick up some Speer 120gr BTSP's for my .25 a few weeks ago and didn't even look twice at the HotCor's....I think the B.C. got the best of me . I haven't even loaded them yet, been preoccupied with another rifle right now. I have high hopes for some reason but know I shouldn't as the Ruger #1 that they are for is the most finicky rifle I have ever shot....

Pretty similar in performance from a test I did a while back. The Speer was more accurate in MY rifle.

Hornady IL 250gr from .35 Whelen


Speer HC 250gr from .35 Whelen

Nice comparison BCSteve. That is a great visual.

I believe the Speer hot core is a softer bullet than the Hornady inter-loc. I used a 140gr Speer in my 6.5X55 on an average sized whitetail buck and the bullet didnt exit. The buck jumped back into the mountain laurels and while he was dead on his feet, it took me a little while to find him. There was very little blood, and i was nervous until i found him. This was the first time the little swede didnt completely penetrate a deer. I have had 129gr Hornady's always fully penetrate, and thats what i want in thick brush.

While the pictures of the 35 cal bullets from a whelen are cool looking you have to remember a whelen is only pushing them @ 2,550fps max, once you get up to 2,800fps things will be different.

Someone else here posted on great results with the Speer grand slam but that is a very different bullet than the hot core. The hot core was very accurate in my rifle but not enough to go with instead of a Hornady that will leave a good blood trail.

I guess that's what happens when you read too many threads and then go back and reply to one. If you do pick up a nice .358 Win, you know where to start!

+1. Puttin' either one where they belong will result in death.

Generally speaking, the Hornady has shot better in my rifles than the Hot Cor.

The other thing I've read written by trustworthy gun writers is that the molten lead process of Hot Cor leaves gas bubbles in some bullets.