How do the current C&C bullets rank? Looking specifically at 270 WCF and 30-06.

Let’s say accuracy it’s similar. Which would you choose for deer and elk?

Speer hot cor first. It would be a toss between hornady interlock and remington core lokt's. All heavy for caliber

Horny, Remmy, then Speer. 180's in the '06 and 150's in the .270

Hornady Interlock first....

Hornady always first. Then Sierras or Winchesters.

I used to be a Speer guy until they got weird with lineup changes and availability issues even before the panics.

Switched to Sierras and later Hornady, still use some of both but mainly Hornady. Nosler Btips and Solid bases get lots of use by me too.

Hornady Interlock, WW Power Point, Speer Hot Core, Core-Lokt

The Nosler Ballistic Tips and heavy ELDs are pretty danged good too.

Yep--but I suspect some purists only consider soft-points "real" cup-and-cores.

I'd grab any and all for deer and elk, as long as the SD was there, so 150s in the 270 and 180's in the 30-06. Then I'd avoid ass-shooting, or "raking shots", as the pros call them.

I’m just a hack, so I didn’t think of that

If NBT's aren't in the race, then it's Hornady IL and WW Power Point. Years ago I would have included the Remington Core lokt.

Like both the Hornady and the Speers. If we are allowed to add the Ballistic Tips I would say them first the other two a dead heat.

Where does the Federal JSP in the Power Shock line come in?

Rank according to what criteria?

Price?
Toughness?
LR compatibility?
Availability?

I did a survey some years ago to find the preferred C&C bullet used by Campfire members for handloading - the Hornady Interlock ranked first with about half of all responses.

Isn’t it mostly a Speer bullet they use?

So, do we think the current Power Point is a better/stronger bullet than the current Core-Lokt?

Hornady Interlocks are very bad! Leave them alone!

If you see any, especially the horrible 6.5/.264 129 gr., PM me so I can get them off the streets & no one else will have to deal with them.

They are HORRIBLE!

The Hornady Interlock would get my vote, both for accuracy and on game performance.

I’m a factory ammo guy. With the current demand on ammo I’m trying to have as many options open as possible in my hunt for ammo. I’m not into LR hunting so that’s not a concern

Federal Blue Box is always pretty darned great in their 270 and 30-06 loads from what I’ve seen. Their 270/130 blue box has been excellent.

Mossy- where do you hunt elk? Bulls? cows?

Interlock
Ballistic Tip
Game King.

I hunt eastern Washington. Spike only regs unless you draw an antlerless tag (every few years) or any bull which is essentially Once in a lifetime

I hunt timber (my favorite) but have opportunities to as far as one can shoot. My limit is 400 yds.

I’d be fine with about anything that’s been mentioned if you keep the weight on the higher end. Just me, but elk and deer have been getting rolled over from plain old 270’s and 06’s with regular ammo. Again, the Federal stuff is pretty good ammo.

From the little I’ve shot it and seen it used the Hornady budget stuff has been good shooting as well. Plus, it’s pretty tough to beat plain old Interlocks at normal speeds.

I've hunted with the 30/06 for the past 50 years. I started out with Remington Core-lokt. The 180's grouped better out of my Model 700 than the 150's. So I went with the 180. Killed everything from mule deer, elk , antelope and black bear. Found several bullets in elk----they were perfect mushrooms---just like the photos in the magazines. Then I drew a bighorn sheep tag & my reloading buddy said I needed to shoot reloads for accuracy. I tried both Hornady interlock & Nolser solid base. Interlocks were a little more accurate. FYI----I used up the 180 Nolser solid base on a couple cow elk----they worked. I used my interlock reloads on bighorn sheep, mtn goat and WY moose. They worked just fine---everything died. I never found any bullets. I decided that reloading wasn't for me and I went back to factory loads. I tested Federal, Winchester & Remington in wet phone books. The Winchester PP was a perfect mushroom & weight @ 140 grains--if I remember correctly. The Federal & Remington really didn't mushroom----they both weighed about 100 grains. So I choose to use Winchester PP & they worked great on black bear, elk and mule deer. I've never recovered a bullet from an animal. I've lost only 1 animal. A cow elk that I tried to break her spine----only shot I had & have regretted it very since. Young & dumb.

I site my rifle in 3" high @ 100 yards & go hunt. Everything is 180 grains in everything---factory or reloads.

I try to get a couple boxes every fall when there is a $5 rebate per box.

In all honesty any of the Big 3 in 180 grain will work in a 30/06 for anything in the lower 48. For AK grizzly, I would up it to 220 grain & use a Nolser partition. That's what I'm planning on using this June on my AK grizzly hunt. But many a grizz has been killed with 220 grain Core-lokt factory loads AK natives.

Colorado Bob

That’s a great report Bob.

I do not know how they "rank", but we have shot way more critters with the Interlock than anything else.
Short list:
243 100gr deer/antelope
257 117gr deer
264 129gr deer
277 130 & 150gr deer/antelope/hogs/black bear/ caribou/elk
338 200gr deer Now discontinued
375 270gr deer

Have used some NBT's and Ballistics silvertips with no issues.
Zero experience with Speer and Sierra



So based on my experience, I cannot argue with the above statement.

I really like Hornady Interlocks. This summer I shot a 140g Interlock into a railroad tie at 100 yards. Starting velocity was ~ 3150 fps. When I found the bullet it looked to mushroom back to the lock where it stopped and have real good expansion and weighs 105.2g. I have shot several antelope and deer with this bullet and it has always been accurate.

The only animal I have shot with a Speer Hotcore was a cow elk at 280 yards fired from a 30-06 at 2800 fps. It broke both shoulder killing her pretty much right there.

The NBT I have used have been a bit erratic. I only recall one exiting and at least on lost its core with the jacket found under the hide on the offside.

Sierras have been erratic too unless the range has bee extended.

The NBT and Sierra have had a MV of 3000-3200 fps.

Accuracy wise Sierra's and NBT have been the most accurate than Interlocks and then Speers.

If I had to choose one it would easily be the Hornady.

Exactly, and for obvious reasons... I think I'd throw the WW powerpoints in between the interlocks and corelokts though. They are a damn good bullet. Speer is pretty much garbage. I'd put the Sierra before those as well. So my list would look like this:

Hornady interlocks, Winchester powerpoints, Sierra Gamekings, Remington core lokt. Speer wouldn't even be in the running..

I would say Hornady Interlocks and Sierra Gamekings are a tie in this household, and then the HotCor. I like heavy for caliber bullets and tried the 200 gr HotCor as a do all in a 30-06, shot one doe whitetail and 2 cow elk. That big hotcor just poked a hole through the lungs on all 3, not much expansion at all. The doe was shot at about 200 yds and ran that far plus up and side hill after the shot. I was lucky to find her. Not much blood either. The one cow elk just milled around with the rest of the herd for an honest 2 minutes or better until she fell over. After the first shot the herd bunched up and there was not an opportunity for a follow up. I am lucky they didn't run off.

The obvious query has to do with bullet performance and I've been happy with Interlocks (as long as you keep them under 2700 fps or so), but I have had good results (hogs) with the 165gr (30 cal) Sierra Game Changer. I also like Winchester Power Points.

None of the bullets I listed above was kept under 2700. Only exception might be the 257 caliber, as it was not checked over chrono.

But I am not a Weatherby type of guy....

I did deer control shooting shot them with just about every bullet made. from 22 to 50 caliber...what I needed and wanted was any behind the shoulder shot to exit with minimum velocity, largest expansion and a dead animal.....most would go feet if at all......

243 Winchester Sierra 85 gr. HPBT

I would only shoot deer that were calm and standing in a perfect broadside position usually under 100 yards....

Any other caliber light for caliber would be Hornady.....

I have pointed out here (and elsewhere) that often core/jacket separations don't mean nearly as much as many hunters apparently believe. The most extreme examples were two bullets that lost their jackets at the ENTRANCE hole on medium-sized buck deer, one a 130-grain Sierra GameKing from a .270 Winchester, and the other a 105-grain Speer Hot-Cor from a .243 Winchester. In both cases the core went on into the deer and killed it.

Another one that apparently puzzles many people is Ballistic Tips. Quite frequently the jacket is all that's recovered--but usually from the opposite side of the animal. (Or at least that's where I've always found them.) But in Ballistic Tips the jacket generally weighs as much or more than the core--the reason the jacket penetrates deeper when they separate.

Haven't found one in a while though, the last a 100-grain .25 from a .257 Roberts, from a mature Montana doe whitetail shot at 50 yards quartering toward me. The bullet broke the shoulder joint, and the jacket was found under the hide at the rear of the ribcage on the opposite side.

yup.....agreed

Will also note that like a lot of others here, I like Hornady Interlocks a lot. In fact, liked Hornady Spire Points a lot even before the Interlock ring was introduced. Killed a pile of deer with the 150-grain from the .270 Winchester, started at around 2900 fps, and only recovered one, which broke both shoulders and the spine on a medium-sized whitetail buck at around 200 yards. Found the core in the jacket, but loose, under the hide of the far shoulder.

Another exited a huge mule deer buck, shot in the middle of the chest as it faced me. The deer was uphill on a mountainside, and the bullet broke the spine at rear of the ribs before exiting. The buck weighed 232 pounds field-dressed after hanging for a week.

Dunno how many animals Eileen and I have killed with Interlocks, but they've ranged from pronghorn-size to elk-size. The bullets included the 100-grain .25, 129 6.5, 130 .270, 139 7mm, 165 .30 and 225 .338, and the only one started down near 2700 was the 225 .338, at 2800 fps. The rest started at 2900-3150, and all worked very well. The only three I can remember recovering were a 100-grain .25 that broke the neck of a mule deer buck at close range, the 139 from a .280 Remington that killed my first caribou (a broadside shot at 200 yards), and a 225 .338 that killed a big whitetail buck with a shot angled from the rear of the left ribs into the right shoulder. They all mushroomed back to the Interlock ring.

I kind of chuckle when I hear guys bitch about recovering only small pieces of bullets and/or jackets. Obviously the reason for the dislike is the very dead animal at their feet that they have conducted an autopsy on....

Now that you bring up the 257 caliber, I've found it quite interesting the 100gr 257 Hornady hold up remarkably well at weatherby velocities (it kills like no other caliber I've ever experienced), unlike the 180gr Interlock which really gets stressed at 300 Weatherby speeds (in my experience anyway)

I like Speer Hot Cors just fine. Never had a bad experience with them. If the OP is buying factory ammo, I would advise to buy blue box Federal, and if it shoots accurately, go forth and kill stuff.

I’ve always used Hornsby Interlocs as my starting point for load development in a new gun. I’ve never failed to find an accurate load with them and performance has been close to premium bullet in most applications.

Factory ammo, my recommendation would be Hornady 270 Win. 140gr SP InterLock American Whitetail and Hornady 30-06 180 gr SP InterLock American Whitetail. I don't have any personal experience with either one, but I reload 154 gr Interlocks in my 7x57 for Bear, Goats, Mule deer, Elk and Moose. Good accuracy and great performance.

To me Interlocks along with partitions are my hunting bullets. I dabble in others, trying for accuracy and even try them on deer. But Interlocks are fine bullets in my estimation.

I use GameKings in my 308’s. I killed a few deer, many, many pigs. They work very well, leve good blood trails if they don’t fall right there.

Depending on the rifle, I like and have successfully used Interlocks, GameKings and Ballistic Tips. I've also used Core-lokt's in factory ammo in a couple of rifles and would probably use them more if they had component bullets. I've taken deer with all of these and they all work well; and when they don't, it's usually my fault. Pass thru's are nice but I much prefer quick kills and all these bullet's are capable of both. I'm currently playing with Speer Hot Cor's again and in one of my 7mm-08's and may use them on a KS deer hunt later this year.

I do have several rifles including a 7mm-08, a 9.3x62 and a 300 Win Mag where I have decided on premium bullets as they are just too accurate and I have confidence in their performance.

Old style Speer Grand Slams, bonded? yes, still cup and core? yes.

This....

Maybe the “real deal” formidolous will chime in, tell us all what a 70lb field doe needs for killin!! Haha

The Grandslams were never bonded.

For my 260 Rem, I'll likely use nothing but 139/136gr Scenars as long as I can find them. Fly well, accurate, and I've yet to be disappointed with their performance on critters. Thinking of working up a 155gr Scenar load for my 30-06 as well.

I've got a wall of bullets-- really! It's a 2X6 stud wall with shelves nailed between the studs.

It's mostly decorated with Red and White (Hornady Interlock with all the usuals for accents. I found Remington Core-lokt did about as well on some things. I have a few boxes of Speer, but I'll try the Hornady IL in whatever I'm playing with first and go from there.

If shooting nothing but factory ammo then I'd vote Hornady interlock 140's in the 270. Then see if the 06 likes the Fed 180 trophy bonded.
I handload for my guns so 90% are Hornady bullets the other 10% mixed with Nos AB or BT's.

I’d go with the Hornady Interlock! And I’m certain that some of the new bonded core bullets are fine. And many of the new super slick, incredible highly frangible bullets will work great inside of very narrow parameters.

But from a pure reliability aspect, from muzzle to the range at which the bullet velocity has dropped below where reliable expansion is assured.....I’ll pass on cup and core bullets! As with most anything in life, you can have adequate or superior........the choice is yours! memtb

The 100 grain 257 was designed with the Weatherby in mind as a factory offering. The 180 was geared for the 30-06 and 308 velocities.

For both the 270 Win. and the 30-06 the majority of bullets commonly available were designed for those two and any standard bullet should work fine. I would avoid some of the dedicated long range loads as many of them are very frangible inside 400 yards.

Me I shoot mostly Nosler's and Barnes, but for C&C bullets count me as an Interlock guy. The Fusions and the Federal version are good too and I get them on close outs when I can.

It must be, because they kill most impressively . I can't recall a pass through (I have with the 117 RN out of the same caliber) but I've killed at least forty deer and a bunch of hogs and NONE has ever taken a step!

Not sure if the 117 was designed for the 1-12 twist 257s are if it is just a coincidence they perform in the Wby. and the Bob.

Be danged, learn something new here everyday, thanks Teeder, thought I remembered reading something about 900 degrees of molten lead core poured in, maybe just a Hot-Cor with thicker jacket?

Back then it was the only 117 that would stabilize in the older twisted 257s.

Quite a few people think the Hot-Cors and Grand Slams are bonded, apparently even some gun writers,.because one published an article in a major magazine a year or two ago, and neither he nor the editor knew they're not.

The cores are indeed formed by injecting molten lead into the empty jackets. But the jackets aren't heated, so the cores don't bond to them. You can prove this by putting a Hot-Cor or GS in a vise, nose up, and hacksawing down into the nose. The jacket can then be easily peeled off the core.

They will also lose their cores occasionally on game. I have seen this personally--the first time when the jacket stayed at the entrance hole, and the core kept going.

Thanks Mule Deer, the ones I have and have yet to recover are the old style 175gr 7mm's, they leave at 2700 fps, should be GTG at that mild velocity, I bought these over 30 years ago, recently got some 375 cal 285's in the black plastic box on closeout, iirc they were 14 bucks a box, hoping a mild load of 2600 fps in a 375 H&H wont stress em too much, would only use by choice on light big game, would never risk Western US, Alaska or Africa hunts on them.

Those 175s are from the era when Grand Slams were at their best.

Nice! Thanks, I have 100 left, then it's on to building a 7x57 load with the tried and true 175gr Partitions at 2700fps, cake speed for that bullet.

Grew up on a cattle ranch and used Speer .270/130gr, .30/150gr, .30/180gr on CA Blacktails & pigs almost exclusively fir years and was never seriously let down but with availability becoming increasingly erratic several years ago, I switched to Hornady IL versions in the same calibers. In comparing my results, I’d say that I get many, many more exits with the Hornady and less bloodshot meat on shoulder shots. Never went back to Speer.

I think that Hornady makes a dependable product with the IL and I’d rank them at the top of the C&C field.

Nice write up Bob. Good info and advice. Mirrors what ive seen as well. One thing I can say is ive had mule deer catch the solid base noslers. One reason for switching to the 200gr partition for elk now. I have a ton of those 180gr powerpoints though and they work very well and are surprisingly very accurate. One of my favorite cc bullets. Thanks for sharing your wisdom. 50 years with the grand ol 06 is good stuff. Ive only been using one for 35 years and have shot pills ranging from 55gr up to 250gr. Critters the size of a lizard up to elk. The 30-06 just works.

Your post spurs me to think about exceptions though. For instance, I've read quite a few comments that imply the Speer .35 cal 220 Hot-Cor is a tough bullet. Some think it's too tough for deer. Mule Deer has often mentioned bullet manufacturers make some bullets, often the heavier for caliber ones in their lineup, tougher since they expect them to be used on tougher game. Another example already mentioned in this thread are the RN Core-Lokts. Some years back BC30Cal mentioned some disappointment with the Hornady 220 RN IL as another. I've seen others praise that bullet. Hornady's 44 cal 265 FP IL was specifically designed for the 444 Marlin in mind. A pox on them for discontinuing it as a handloading component. Perhaps they'll bring it back someday.

And then there's Sierra. Seems to be an either love or hate sentiment with them with the old core separation debate. I think most refer to Game Kings although that's often not specified when comments are made. Curious about sentiments for the Pro-Hunters. Not surprised that we don't see as many comments about them but FPs and RNs are just fine in the woods. Are Pro-Hunters any tougher than Game Kings? How do they compare to ILs?

Perhaps we can see some more comments about specific bullets in the cup and core lineups folks feel are exceptional or ones that are below par instead of generalizing the whole lineup.

Gringo I like your thought! I’d enjoy seeing more specific info instead of generalizing as well. Interestingly, I’ve got a 35 Rem and shot a small amount of the .35 220’s and always had decent luck - on hogs but no deer.

Most of this .35 shooting was done years ago and there might be a slight chance that, as a younger man, overlooked what was an obvious bullet failure by today’s standards while I was busy gutting & skinning the dead animal.

PintsofCraft,

As I have pointed out a couple of times on this thread, impact velocity has a lot to do with cup-and-core effectiveness (and hence "toughness). Have not used the .35 220 Speer flat-nose on game that I can recall, but have seen the .35 i8o at work--but at a modest muzzle velocity of around 1850 fps, from my wife's old German combination gun, with a 16-gauge shotgun barrel and a rifle barrel chambered for the 9x72R, a round that originated in black powder days.This gun is nitro-proved, and turned out to have a bore/groove diameter typical of American .35-caliber cartridges. The 180 Speer has knocked the snot out of deer out to around 150 yards (which is about as far as the trajectory holds up), and we have never recovered one.

I'm wondering when you started using the Hornadys? I ask because even before the Interlock ring they worked better than most cup-and-cores. I've only been using the .30-06 for 45 years (Colorado Bob has five years on me), but among the first bullets I used in it were both the 180-grain Spire Point and Round-Nose, which both worked very well at the typical 2700 fps--so well I started using 150 Spire Points in my first .270, at around 2900 fps. They also worked very well, expanding and penetrating great. I found out many years later this was because Hornady used a slightly harder lead-alloy in them--even before they added the Interlock ring.

i had never used Berger bullets before to hunt with so here`s my cup and core results on 2 Berger Bullets this last fall 2020 on the Berger 25 caliber 115 gr. bullets = yes this bullet did open up the 2 bucks on the over side of the body well, both were bigger whitetail bucks 1st was open day 150 yards away shot with the Berger 115 gr. bullet in my 257 Weatherby the buck went straight in the air and went 12 feet stone dead when he hit the ground dressed around 170 lbs nice buck, 2nd buck 2 weeks later nov. 21st. end of the rutt 100 yards away blew the heart to pieces hole on the way out was 4 inches buck made it around 50 feet and fell over dead with again the Berger 115 gr. bullet out of 257 Weatherby mag. again. this old buck 205 lbs. dressed . i really liked how accurate this Berger 25 cal . bullet shot on paper and on these 2 bucks. i used the Berger reloading book max . load using Reloader 25 and the 115 Berger gr. VLD bullets. you guys have much more experience with these Berger bullets than i do, do you guys feel this is a good buck deer bullet ? i also wonder how well these 25 caliber Berger bullets would work on an elk too ? thank you ,Pete53

Mule Deer, In thinking about my transition from Speer to Hornady, I estimate it being somewhere around 1995 but can’t be exactly certain. I do remember the Hornady boxes being much different with stamped white letters on a metal cornered cardboard box but at that time had no idea what made them special - I for some reason just couldn’t get Speers like I once could. The way the Speers transfer energy to the animal is pretty impressive but sometimes (mostly) came at the expense of an exit. The Speers seem to transfer energy kinda like a Partition does initially but doesn’t have the follow through that we’re all familiar with but the Hornady seemed to give both at a great price that kept me shooting a bunch.

Tim

Tim,

Thanks for the details. The addition of the Interlock ring occurred in the 1980s, so your Hornadys were all Interlocks.

Which is why I started using even more Hornady Spire Points in the 80s. They not only expanded and held together reliably at moderate velocities, but at well over 3000 fps.

Mule Deer, thanks for the conversation & information! It’s great to learn more about these things.

As an aside, I have great memories of the performance specifically the 130gr 270 & 180gr 30 Interlocks. They really seem to punch above their weight class. I’ll always have some on hand.

Tim

I've use Hornady, Sierra, Speer, and Remington with equal success. Lately I've moved more toward Sierra, and farther away from Hornady, but that is because Hornady keeps dropping the bullets I use.

Youper,

That can be a factor!

Plus, as I also noted earlier in this thread, Sierras work just fine within their velocity parameters. And like most other bullet companies, they use design specific caliber/weight bullets for specific uses.

Yes, indeed! Let’s have all the doe killers chime in !

I used the 35 caliber 220gr Speer FN on a couple of does. Had to be 15-20 years ago when South Dakota could not give away enough doe tags.

This was out of a Rem 673, 350 RM. Do not remember the particulars, but did not leave any lasting impression, other than they worked. I do not recall thinking they were too soft, or hard.

Am I the only one who’s had terrible luck with Corelokts? Only ones I’ve used much were the 140 6.5 in factory 260 ammo and the 130 270 but both were terrible. The 6.5s gave terrible penetration and massive cratering wounds. The 270s weren’t much better though not as bad.

Every time I read someone extolling the virtues of the Corelokt I think back to those experiences. I know MD has said the RNs were tougher but my narrow experience with the pointed ones was awful.

TheKid,

The Pointed Soft-Point Core-Lokts were changed around 1990. Before that they had heavy "sidewalls" in their jackets, which combined with the cannelure tended to hold them together pretty well. But after 1990 they had thinner jackets--except for the round-nose models, which retained the thick jackets. Or at least they did for several years. I haven't sectioned any in a while.

That said, even the heavy-jacket Core-Lokts could come apart if they hit heavy enough bone. I shot a facing mule deer buck with a 180 from a .30-06 around 1980, and while it killed the deer, the bullet turned into fragments on the buck's spine. Also, John Nosler (the original designer and maker of Nosler Partitions) shot a British Columbia moose in the shoulder with a Core-Lokt from his .300 H&H, and the bullet failed to penetrate beyond the shoulder. Nosler eventually killed the moose, but that experience led him to develop the Partition--which he first field-tested on another moose, and worked fine.

Yeah not my experience at all but I realize that my experience is with Corelokts of the 60's, 70's, 80's & 90's. Things allways change and sometimes it's not because the engineers made an improvement but a beancounter decided to save money screwing up something that works. To many animals to count I've shot with Corelokts that worked perfectly. Mb

As MD said Rem changed the jackets on the CLs. Fortunately I never got ahold of the thin jackets.

I bought bulk 270/130 & 6mm/100s and still use them. I push both at 3100 fps or more .
Honest injun those are 'tougher' than the Hornady's.

Too many have complained of the Cls separating so I don't doubt it.

Jerry

I prefer the Pro Hunters to the Game King and have had great results with them. The only difference I can tell are a flat base vs boat tail. I believe the Interlock has more antimony in the core and is harder than the Sierras. Our best results with the 130 Pro Hunter in a couple of 270s was running them around 2800 fps.

Sierra Gamechangers are very impressive in a 6mm creedmoor. I suspect they’d be equally impressive or even better in a 270 or ‘06.

For me, Nosler BT, Speer, and Hornady are 1,2 and3 in a 270. Never fooled much with a 30-06

Use a 7x57 and everything is good.

for around 10 - 15 years i helped a friend with his Wild Game Processing business back around late 80`s tell around early 90`s for first 10 days of deer and antelope season,we even got i whole carcass`s of buffalo,elk,moose and a bear once in a while .during those 10 days we processed 300 plus animals in those 1st 10 days and for the whole season Owen at his meat shop did over 700 animals every year. it was at Gillette,Wyoming for my friend Owen Heins and his wife "Willie ". i also every mourning caped many game animals too. my deal was i stayed there in the house with them ,ate there ,worked many hours sometimes tell 3 a.m. but Owen always had cold beer for us all and meat sticks too. those were some good times and i learned plenty about bullets,rifles,scopes and even knives used for hunting on big game animals. Nosler company guys came there,Hornady too ,plenty regular guys like me used their own handloads,some hunters used Remington CoreLokt ammo too. i always asked all hunters what rifles,scopes, bullets and cartridges they used most told me in great detail about there hunts. very few hunters had much good to say about Corelokt bullets and i also seen after i took the hide off that animal that sometimes bullets that failed on animals,that animal was shot again and again was kinda a mess too many of these shot up game animals were shot with Corelokt bullets. after a few years of seeing what happened with a poorer bullet i switch to Nosler Partitions for reloading, i got given to me 100 Gr. Nosler Partition bullets for my 257 Weatherby Mag.from another dear friend Jonny Bell and i never had a failure with this great bullet ,,myself in those years i shot and ate around 10 big game animals a year, my kids loved antelope and deer meat. i alway kinda wondered why did some Corelokt bullets fail but some worked fine i guess what has been posted on this site explains the reason about these Corelokt bullets.Pete53

Been using the .277/150 gr. Speer Grand Slam (current production), at ~ 2800 fps, for a few seasons now.



Has performed great on deer and hogs.

$0.22/pop w/ rebate.




GR

I think for the money the hot-cor, grand slam, and interlocks are hard to beat

Maybe Mule Deer will chime but didn't I read before that for a period of time Remington was loading Hornady Interlock as their CoreLokts?

They were. Occasionally, companies would source bullets from other businesses to keep production going.

I have some late 80's 35 whelen remington loads that are loaded with 250 gr RN hornady's. Have also heard that early 140 gr ptd corelokt's for the 7-08 were Hornady 139gr SP's but don't know that for a irrefutable fact.

That 7-08 stuff popped into my mind too.

Around 1990 the then-PR guy for Remington sent me some Core-Lokt factory loads for testing, in various cartridges. During my tests I discovered through sectioning bullets,that they didn't have jackets nearly as thick as CLs used to--but that some (not all) had something that looked very much like the Hornady Interlock ring in the jacket. And those bullets also had a secant ogive, just like Hornady Interlocks, unlike the original Core-Lokt Pointed Soft-Points, which had the more conventional tangential ogive.

I informed the PR guy (who I'd known for a long time) of this, and he got pretty PO'd--because nobody in the production end had ever informed him of any of it. He was also nearing retirement age, and decided to pull the plug maybe 2-3 years later.

This is only related to bullets used by 'other' companies.

I got 1 or 2 (?) boxes of Winchester 6.5 X 55 with 140 gr 'soft point' with the purchase of a Win 70 FTWT.
I killed a few deer with them and they worked -- I graphed them @ 2750 fps.

I shot a few into my pond dam and recovered them. They expanded back to the "Interlock". You could see it plainly.
I took pix and posted them @ 2012 or so. UNFORTUNATELY those pix are on PhotoPUKEIT and I can't upload them to
any site today.

Those factory Win 140 were Hornady Ils.

Jerry

Wesley2 said he had good luck with the 6mm Gamechangers on deer. I had a very different experience with the 165s out of a 280 Ackley on a bull elk. Ranges during my rodeo were 175 to 390 yards and 3 out of 4 shots were tight behind the shoulder. No bullets reached the ribs on the off side and no bullets were recovered. Muzzle velocity was 2975 FPS. All three shots appeared to be blow-ups. The bull staggered 75-100 yards into some quakies and was finished with a shot to the neck. I wouldn’t wish the experience on anyone.

There are those among us that think......this is ideal bullet performance! memtb

I guess I'm someone who's never had a Core-Lokt fail. Between my two son's and I we've killed a lot of game with them and they always worked fine. They haven't always been the most accurate, but when a rifle liked them I used them. I have some bulk stockage of them in several diameters. I've also used other bullets on game; lots of Nosler Partitions, and some Speer HOT-CORs. For, the first time a couple of years ago I used a 150TSX on an average size Shiras moose. It performed remarkably well. But since I have several thousand Core-Lokts in stock, I'll also continue using them and some Winchester Power Points. YMMV

This & Nosler BT

I must be easy to please. I've shot truckloads of game including pigs, goats, fallow deer and a nice red stag with the 150 gn Power Point from my .30/06. It seems to kill very effectively, and with a well-placed shot on game this size it opens fast, does great damage inside and drops them on the spot. That being the case it doesn't matter to me whether they exit or not, and in fact I'd prefer the massive damage inside the animal over a tough bullet which does less damage but punches through the far side and keeps travelling.

I've also used the 150 gn CorLokt, and it worked about as well. The Winchester has been more accurate in my rifle though, so I've stuck with it.

I will say this though, for larger game, including sambar deer, I choose something a bit heavier, such as the 185 gn Lapua Mega, though the 180 gn Hornady Interlock has also done the job. I've also used the 220 gn CorLokt in .30/06, and it killed big pigs very well, though didn't seem any tougher than the 150 gn. It is not up with the Woodleigh, for example, nor even the Lapua Mega.

I've tried a fair range of others, from 110 gn to 250 gn, but the 150 gn PP is the one I've settled on for medium-sized game with the .30/06.

Yes, I have always found the Power Points work better than Core Lokts. I don'tt know about "stronger" They stay together better for me, especially as relates to newer Remingtons. The Rermingtons are more available around here so I use more of them.

Since I am retired and have a little more time to reload I use mostly Interlocks for practice and NPT's for hunting.

270-150g Hornady interlock
150g Speer Hot Core

30/06-180g Hornady Interlock
180g Speer Hot Core

There is a BIG difference in the Speer HOT core line and their regular BTSP, many do not know this

Hornady Flat base bullets in all calibers I have shot, and they ALL think that they are a poor man's partition...in spades

Winchester power points in all calibers are tough bullets that I have shot, but the BC of a flat rock

I just received 3 boxes of .338 Federal ammo I had ordered off Federal’s website. The description on the site said 200gr ballistic tips. What showed up were 200gr power shok soft points. Federal apologized and issued me a refund for the cost of the ammo and told me to keep the 3 boxes of soft points.

Not the ammo I wanted but 60 rounds free was a very nice gesture. I’m sure the soft points will kill and elk