Anyone have experience with the Hornady 154 gr. Interlock on large boned game (elk, bear)?

Been using 160 gr. NPT for years with good results, just built a second 280 and would like to try the Hornady as it's much more available.

What say ye?

Thanks in advance.

Following with interest, got a 280 in the works myself.
About 2000 I watched my brother drop a medium sized bull moose at 300 yards with one (154 interlock) thru the shoulders (broadside) out of a 7mm mag. The bull dropped at the shot, thrashed for a moment and that was it.

They are extremely accurate but was wondering the same thing, will they hold on large game such as elk.

I’ve killed 5 cow elk with the 154 Hornady SP. 3 with a 7 mag, 2 with a .280 Rem. They are one of the most accurate lead tipped 7mm bullet I’ve found. If they don’t shoot in your 7mm, I’d seriously suspect the rifle..

They work great as a large game hunting bullet, though I’d keep the distance under 400 yards. I can’t remember how many shots exactly total for the 5 elk, but I’ve recovered 4 bullets on the off side of the animal. I have had no core-jacket separation issues.

Here is the last elk I took with them in 2019. Big ol’ nanny cow.







Todd

They have been making bullets a long time, doubt if there are bad bullets of recent manufacture. I’ve never used Hornady, except recently in a 32-40, bullet went all the way through, into chest, out right hindquarter. This was leaving barrel at 1800 fps, deer was 60 yards away. I’d load those bullets, go hunting with confidence. Send them to me if you don’t want them.

It seems like I’ve been reading recently on this site about some Hornady bullets being quite soft. If Nosler would just keep stocked the 7mm Ballistic Tip 120’s & 150’s, as well as the 160 Partition, most bases would be covered. Yea, I know, long range shooters would need others. Actually, right now the 160 NP is quite available, though at an increased price. I grabbed some as I plan to mess with a 280 soon. I probably should grab more of the blems. For deer only, the 139 or 154 Hornady should be dandy.

You can’t go wrong with a Nosler partition. You don’t have to worry about nuthin when you use em.

I've had good results with the 154's on deer. I have not tried it on elk. I would not be afraid to use them on elk and a 280 though.

It's been a while since I've used that combination, who knows, they may have changed the bullet construction.

That 154 is probably the best bullet Hornady makes. I've killed deer, bear, bull elk and many many feral horses. I've got no complaints in either accuracy or terminal performance

That's it in a nutshell Hornady's admin beancounters on a regular basis have their engineers fu*k up proven designs to save a nickel on 10 dollars in production costs every damned time..mb

Magnum Bob is rght 👍 Hornady ain’t what it use be. Corporate greed has caused them to put quite a few bad new products out there. I have been told by the top that they knew they knew they were faulty before the released them to the market. The 154 is a good whitetail bullet but it ain’t no partition. Hell, anythng will work till the chit hits the fan.
I’ve killed a truck load of animals with alot of different caliber interlocks (from coyotes to brown bears)before i decided i better start using a better bullet (i’m old and a slow learner). Hornady use to be the gold standard, not anymore. They’re are no conspiracies but there are no coincidences.
Let the flaming begin. Some people love them. There are just alot more reliable dependable options available. You decide. I can’t spell or write for chit but i do ok at shooting and killing chit. Somehow i survived more than a few train wrecks.

I killed 2 rag horn bulls with the original 154 Spire Point. Worked perfect.

Jon Sundra wrote years ago that he had used the 154 Hornady in all 7mms from 7/08 to the magnums with great satisfaction all over the world. Can't get a better recommendation than that.

Yes....that was years ago.

Hmmm, is this a bullet-by-bullet thing or has the whole line degraded?

I've always gone with the assumption that interlocks were a "higher echelon" C&C bullet.

This reply from Steve Timm (aka: dogzapper) to a similar question in 2008.

Don't know how today's vintage is but my rule of thumb is real simple."the older the hornady box is the older and the better the bullets are from Hornady". Just one of my targeted purchases at gunshows and usually for a lower price than at the gunshop/ box store...mb

That's an interesting outlook. I have a few boxes of Hornady bullets, some 154 gr. and some 175 gr. IIRC where the box does not say Interlock. I probably bought them when I was still living in California. I left permanently in 1968, never to return. Might be interesting to section one from each box and see just what I have.

While I've shot various calibers and weights of Hornady bullets, I can't recall ever using them on game with one exception. I used quite a few .243 Hornady 100 gr. bullets at coyotes and let kids use my rifle for their first deer hunts. That bullet killed nice Nevada Mule Deer just fine. Four neighbor kids used the rifle to take their first deer.

I forget whether they were the .35 caliber 250 gr or the .375 caliber 300 gr. bullets where two boxes with the same lot number had bullet noses noticeably different. I spotted the defect when I was seating bullets and some came out much shorter that what they should have been. This was in the early 1980s.
PJ

Could someone explain how the interlocks have "degraded"?

For one thing they've changed the ogive a bit and I find them harder to get to shoot well in my rifles. In the 30 cal 150 and 165 grain sizes it looks like a vintage Interlock had a baby with a Winchester Power Point.

Good question that I'll add to.

Has terminal performance degraded or are they less accurate?

Both my 308 and my 30-06 shoot the factory loaded interlocks very well. I've only killed deer with them but carried my 30-06, so loaded after elk this last season. With confidence I might add. Was my trust misplaced?

Serious question.

We shot two black bear a couple/three years ago with 165 flat base interlocks out of a 30-06, which resulted in two very dead bears with a total blood trail of maybe 10 yards. Bullets were relatively new manufacture, fwiw. I have been using 139 flat base (280) and 130 flat base (270) interlocks on several mule deer for the last decade or two, with very predictable results.

Through the years I've killed 11 elk with various 7mm's, 10 with either a 7x57 or a 280 using the 154 Hornady in both.
Excellent results every time. Last one was around 5-6 years ago.

I can't comment on recent changes in Hornady bullet construction, but there are tons of glowing reports of the Interlock 154gr on big game over the many years I've been a member of this forum!

I've not shot many Hornady bullets as I'm generally a Nosler fan. However, when I was doing load workup for .260 Remingtons, which were new to me at the time, I included the 129 gr. Interlock in the test group. It's the most accurate bullet out of both my Ruger M77 MkII and my 18" MGM Encore barrel, both with the same load of 44 gr. IMR 4350. After a season of whacking deer with them and having nothing but stellar results I immediately laid in a significant supply of them. That was 10-15 years ago. I've shot a lot of other bullets out of those guns since, but none work quite as well as the Interlock out of those guns. So I target shoot and such with other stuff and reach for the Interlocks when I need to kill things. Longest shot was just under 500 yards on a mule deer and I got complete penetration through the boiler room. I've recovered only one that penetrated from a severe quartering toward shot and finally stopped in the opposite side hindquarter.

My biggest gripe about the interlock is that they quit making the 175 Roundnose. Only shot a couple animals with them, but they worked (and looked cool!), and shot well out of my #1.
I laid in 300 90’s model (looking at the box) 175 spire point interlocks last year. Will likely do all the killing I’ll ever do with that rifle and Nephew will inherit what’s left.

Sounds like much ado about nothing.

I have no where near the big game experience as many here but according to most, any decent 180 from a 30-06 kills elk. Like I said before, I've always assumed that the Interlocks were "high echelon" C&Cs.

Sure, I'd like to load partitions or accubonds but they are hard to come by these days and seemingly made out of unobtanium the way they are priced.

If a 180 Interlock will kill elk (and they are readily available and inexpensive) then why not just use them?

I have a .280 Ackley in the works and am happy to hear how well the 154 gr 7mm Interlocks work.

Have used the 150 gr in my 30-06 with great success. Loaded them up for my Dad in his .308 win. to hunt with this year. He got a nice 6 pt using them. Buck only went about 30 yards.

Why do folks spend thousands on elk hunts and gear and still use el cheapo boolits?

Asking for a friend…

Why spend more money and time with new/different components and load development when you have something that works? Practice your field shooting positions and go forth and slay critters.

I can’t speak to the 154gr 7mm directly but I can say that when a Horn IL in 130/150 .270, 150/165/180-.30 aren’t up
to killing an elk with a good shot is the day I’ll hang my hat.

the family has killed a box car full of large hogs and deer with the 154 Interlock out of a 7 Mag, and we load them with 70+g of R#25, Win primer. Small groups are in the area of 3200 fps+, Win mag primer seals the deal on sub 10 fps ES. Last Bull killed was at 550 yards, one shot.

I also shoot the 154 sst on white tails with IMR 4350 at 3100-3150, never a problem.

I am converting over to the 180g ELDm, with appropriate twists with R#22 at 2850 and 3030 fps with R#26.

I'll use Npt anytime I can buy them cheap the rest of the time I use inexpensive cup and cores they work fine. The important point is to place them in the animal where the bullet will kill them. That part is the responsibility of the shooter period. The main function of high dollar bullets is to seperate you from your money and they do that rather well. Ask for yourself and let your friend wander in the dark if he can't ask for himself. The word from ..mb

You too funny, GI! 🤣🤣🤣

Here's loads one of my 280's liked:

280 Remington 700 BDL 154 grain Hornady, 53 grains IMR4350, 0.95 MOA (2 each 5 shot groups .88 and 1.03 MOA)

Not the best accuracy out of that 280, but surely accurate enough to any distance I'd shoot today. It's been a while since I used that load, but I wouldn't hesitate to use it on elk. It just so happens that the 280 in question slightly prefers 150 grain partitions and 162 Hornady's.

280 Remington 700 BDL, 150 gran Nosler PT, WLR, 56 grains IMR4350, 0.73 MOA (Three five shot groups measuring .87 MOA, .60 MOA and .72 MOA)

280 Remington 700 BDL, 162 grain SPBT Hornady, 53 grains IMR4350, .0.63 MOA (three five shot groups - 0.82 MOA, .19 MOA, & .88 MOA)

Which one is best? I suppose the partition would be best, but I'd use any of these three. The rifle also liked 120 grain Sierras and 150 grain Sierras which were as accurate as any of the above. But I'd prefer the Hornady Interlocks or partitions.

I have two boxes of Hornady interlock 100 gr .243 boattails on my bench . Bought within the last year and a half, but 8 months apart. First box looks like a Hornady, Secant ogive , short boattail etc. the second box looks like a Sierra with a cannelure . Tangent ogive and long boattail. The first box shoot good outta my gun but beings the second box is completely different it would require a start over I am afraid.....

Good Ol’ Hornady BS. Typical…

1 Dall sheep, 1 black bear, & several hogs. No bullets recovered, no 2nd shot ever required.

This from a 7x57, with MV around 2,650 fps. If I were to quibble, I might say that the exit wounds weren’t all that big. It could just be that that bullet is stout, and didn’t open that much at those velocities. It’s my understanding it will stand up well to 7 mag velocities.

FC

Cool story, bro.

Got anything to say about the 154’s?

Just because you know something tangentially related to the topic doesn’t mean you have to make a post.


Back to the OT.

Decent accuracy and better than average on-game performance for a cup and core bullet.

I like Hornady.

I shoot a lot of Hornady bullets, to include the 154 SP from Hornady.. but my favorite is still the discontinued 154 RN....

I have traditionally preferred Nosler Ballistic Tips...but since Biden has been in office, and hoarding has started once again,
which inspired Nosler to start doing Drug Dealer Pricing on their products, even at their SPS shop...

I'm picking up a lot of Hornady's products when I order on line.. usually at volumes of a 1000 or more..

My preferred bullet brand however has been Speer, based both of price and performance. Which is no slam on the price of any Hornady Cup & Core Bullet, or their performance...