Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Remington Corelokts vs more expensive bullets?

I've got a huge stash of 30 cal 150 gr that I use for target shooting. But back before I started reading internet forums I killed a moose, blackbear, elk and deer with Corelokts because I didn't know they were so bad.

Never had a problem with Corelokts, myself, for any sized game up to moose. have no interest (well, not much) in tipping over a griz/brown, so I don't worry about it. Keep in mind the "plain-jane" bullets of today are likely considerably better than they were when Nosler first invented the Partition, or Barnes the X.

After I got the premium fever out of my blood, I've gone back to Corelokts, Hornadys, and Speer plain-janes. Nothing wrong with any of them. The Fusion looks promising, but I haven't used it yet. I'll still go to a premium maybe for a light-for-use caliber (like .260 for moose, tho that 140 gr Corelokt did fine on elk), or just because I want to.

Taken at @ 40 yards with hand-loaded 150 Gr Sierra plain-Janes (work identically to Corelokts as far as I can see) thru a 17" barreled '06 last fall. I prefer 165 or 180 grain bullets in this caliber, but I've got several hundred of these things from a 1976 purchase......... Gotta get rid of them before I die.



Bad picture, but you get the idea.

I reload em, they work fine.

Another very good standard bullet is the Speer Hotcore. I've shot many elk with them in a 270 and 2 with a 300 WSM. They penetrate very well and hold together even after hitting heavy bone. I'm told they've dropped them, though, and replaced them with something called the Deep Curl. I hope it's as good. Their website says that to reload Deep Curls, you MUST use their data from their website. Apparently they're a little different.

I've always like the factory loaded 220 GR CoreLokts.

Great bullet performance on larger game and they group very well out of my old Win M70 30-06.

How can you not love them 220 Corelokts. It was the standard with all the old timers upstate NY when I grew up. Maybe they knew something. Nice group there, wow. Light recoil too for some reason with them if I remember correctly.

I think anything would group good out of that rifle .

killed everything from coyotes on up to elk (one at 485 yds. that went nowhere) with 180 grain core-lokts in 30-06 and nothing walked away; they also shot extremely well out of my rifle....tried them in my 25-06 and they were crap both on game and accuracy.

I love Core-Lokts.....they are very accurate in my rifles.

[bleep] Ole CL's......Probably only harvest 20-30% of ALL big game taken in North America EVERY year.

The two most miserable bullet performances I've seen have been with Core-loss, with the exception of a 200gr in the 35 Remington, I'll not use the [bleep] things.

Best use for a Corelokt is to pull it, insert an eye screw in it and use it for a fishing sinker.

My CL failures involved my shot placement as a preteen.

These days, I have no problems with them when they're launched from my arsenal of wimpy non-magnums. I don't use them often, though, on account of Interlocks seem to shoot better out of most of my rifles.

FC

I took my last Moose with 220 Core-Lokts in my '06. I was much more pleased with the results than in my previous moose that I took with a 450 Marlin and 350 Hornady's.

I placed a 270 Gr RN Rem Corlokts out of my 375 H&H, on my buddies wounded small Br Bear, 2" behind the front of his nose.
At close range, bear got back up and a shoulder shot killed it.

We later found I hit a small alder and bullet broke up, found lots of pieces when caping skull. Was a interesting day.

I think you're asking several questions.

Ultimately, yes, I can tell a difference and that difference improves my confidence, so the premium bullets are worth the cost to me. After spending an additional $15,000 to buy a 4 wheel drive truck instead of 2 wheel drive truck, thousands of dollars in camping gear, time off work, and so on, do you really think I care about less than $10 more to use bullets I believe in? If it was all about saving money, I wouldn't be eating $200+ a pound venison, I'd stay home and eat store beef. Could I get by with CoreLokt only? Probably, but that's all I'd be doing, getting by. "Getting by" is not why I'm out there.

Tom

Earlier on, dad, brothers, and I killed a flock of deer with 7 Mags with the 150g core loct with 63.0g of IMR 4350 and a 9 1/2 primer...they just work.

We got bored, switched to the 160g Sierra BTSP with 60-61g of IMR 4350 with a 9 1/2, deer flopped just a tad better.

154g HOrnady flat base is a very accurate and though bullet for deer and elk....will shoot thorugh 3 feet of meat easy with 63.0g of IMR 4350 and a 9 1/2. Hard to believe, but the 154g Hornady will shoot a clean through both large boar's shoulders.

Jack O' Connor would have thought nothing of taking out a grizzly or an African lion with that round. Now we "need" premium bullets and magnum rifles to kill deer. The American marketing system indeed has some powerful mind melding mojo.

Do I think that there are better bullets out on the market? Yes I do. Do I think that they will make any significant difference after hitting the animal? No I don't. Do I think that there is a reason to use premium bullets? Yes if it is more accurate in your rifle and it makes you feel better. My various rifles have taken many deer with Cor-Lokt's and other cup and core bullets and they all worked very well. Even two bucks that I took with 100 grain Hornady Spire Points out of my 243 that hand grenaded inside the chest cavity killed like lightning. I can't see spending the money on premium bullets for deer but that's just me. Having said that, a trip of a lifetime for some exotic game in a faraway place would get a full looksee in the premium line. Why? Because I would want every advantage that I could get and years of being told how much better they are than standard cup and core bullets would find it's way in to my mind. I would not want to take a chance on second guessing myself.

A couple of things about Cor-Loks. First, the pointed versions aren't the same bullet that Jack O'connor used so effectively on the grizzlies he shot. They don't have the hour glass shaped jackets anymore that locked their cores. But apparently the round nose versions still do. I've never seen the round nose versions for sale to handloaders.
Under unusual conditions, the premiums do make a difference. I've seen the little 95-100 gr. Nosler Partition break some very heavy bone and still punch a hole in the critter's lungs. Something the same Cor-Loks won't do.
Some premiums also do a much better job of staying on course and killing when they hit brush on the way to the animal. I understand the law enforcement community now uses the Federal Throphy Bonded ammo for some hostage situations. That's because when shot through angled window glass they stay right on course. Something the Sierra Match Kings don't do.
It's your call. I have a strong tendency to pick bullets that work at any angle, under any conditions that I'm liable to shoot. That will seldom include the more fragile designs. E