Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Hornady Interlocks

I'm researching deer bullets for my 30/06, and I'm interested in the Hornady Interlock. If you have useud Hornady Interlocks, how was there performance on deer sized game? How do these bullets compare to Remington Core-Lokts (this isn't only a comparison of Remington CL's and Hornady IL's, but if you have used both please include your comparison).

I have used interlocks in several different calibers,including .308 ,and had great performance in all of them.

A favourite bullet of mine, never had any issues with their ability to both shoot and kill well.

I shoot Interlock's in my .358 for whitetail deer hunting. I have been very pleased with their performance. They are extremely accurate in my rifle. No need to use anything else.

I used Interlocks out of my 338-06, worked great on whitetail, mulies, and elk. Never needed a second shot.

Interlocks have worked well for me on deer sized game.

If I could only shoot one brand/type of bullet, it would be the Interlock. I have used them in .243, .257, .277, .284, and .30-06 and have been very pleased with the results.

My go to bullet for deer is a Nosler BT however I have used the Interlock to take a few deer and have no complaints. One was a 129 grain 6.5 Interlock out of a .260 Remington. Doe at about 100 yards. Shot right behind the front shoulder and DRT no fuss no muss! Another was a large doe at about 150 yards with a 150 grain .308 Interlock shot out of a 7.5 Swiss. Shot behind the front shoulder and deer ran about 75-100 yards before piling up. First deer was feeding and did not know I was there. Second was alert and starting to get flighty. I blame that on the sprint after the shot. Both bullets performed well with exits the size of a quarter. I have enough faith in the Interlock that I load the 180 grain bullet in my 30-06 for black bear. Just have not had the chance to field test it.

The Hornady Interlock is my favorite bullet for deer! Problem is they are becoming hard to find with Hornady trying to push the public onto their SST tipped bullets. The 180 SST Superformance ammo shoots with about the same accuracy in my 30-06 but I've never shot a head of game with SST and it is rumored that SST do not really have the interlock ring inside the metal jacket as claimed on the box.

So until I can get a few boxes of Interlocks I'll be using Federal Fusion, or Federal blue box, or possibly take the SST when I go to Missouri this year.

Good luck finding your Interlocks.

When I first began reloading I don't believe their was a bullet recommended to me more than the Hornady Interlock. The phrase "the poor mans premium" was often bandied about. They are great cup-and-core bullets.

On mule deer I've used the 6.5mm 140 grain and 129 grain Interlock. Both gave good performance and accuracy and I feel they are an excellent deer bullet.

The Hornady bullets are the next best thing to a bonded bullet. The 117-25cal, 129-6.5cal, and the 139-7mm cal. are 3 bullets that have killed a lot of game. Not to mention the 200gr in .308 and .358. They are the most under rated bullets made in my opinion. The interlokt makes it almost unable to come apart unless pushed too fast by the large caliber rifles.

The SST is the worst bullet I have ever shot. One time...blew up on the shoulder, no penetration and a gawd awful mess. You couldn't give me a 10 year supply for all of my rifles. powdr

I like them. I use them in my 270 & 300wsm. Kill deer & elk dead.

Hornady Interlocks, as others have said, are awesome all-around bullets particularly for standard (non-magnum) cartridges. For deer there aren't any better.

I like the SST Interlock (the red-tipped version) which have been beefed up over the years.

Deer really aren't hard to kill, and the extra shock rendered by the hyper expansion of a tip can make a difference in the field, though a lot of people don't care for the meat damage you get if you hit em in the shoulder with such a projectile.

I've always thought (never KNOWN) that the Core Lokt from Remington was an Interlock w/ protected point... I know that a Hornady makes Remington's Accu-Tip which is actually just an SST with a gold tip rather than red. Given the secant ogive & "Lokt" nomenclature it wouldn't surprise me a bit if they're nearly identical.

Hornady Interlocks have always done nicely in my rifles accuracy-wise, too.

I have seen pics of sectioned SST that did not have the interlock, do you think this was an earlier version, and the current SST has an interlock?

I just bought 500 of the 129gr SST blems to use in a couple of .260's, as they should be good practice/hog bullets for the price. 50 of them had no cannelure, which Hornady claims should be working with the interlock ring that is situated between the cannelure and the bullet base. I'll be interested to see how they perform, but I bet they'll be fine on lungs at .260 speeds.

Regarding the OP, I think that plain old Interlocks in medium to heavy for caliber offerings are great game bullets for the price.

Great bullets, but I only use them if for the very odd reason a gun wont shot Nosler BT's. BT's, are in most cases a tougher/better bullet IMO.

As far as I know the SST has always had the ring. The AMax came before the SST, has a red tip, and no ring. Could that be what you're thinking of?

Here is what Hornady says aboutSST:

http://www.hornady.com/store/SST

Most of the deer taken at our camp are taken with either the 150 or 165 grain Hornady Interlock SP's . Most are taken with 30-06 or 308 WIN. I've been using them since 2001. The performance has been perfect.

I've take a lot of deer with the 165 .308 Interlocks. No complaints.

its a great bullet,period.