Elk season is around the corner and I am shooting 180 interlocks flat base at 2775fps out of my tikka T3 sub moa groups. I am pretty sure they will hold up at 200 yards but what about at 50 yards? For those of you who have actually used these what have your experiences been. No opinions on what I should do or use. Sometimes posts get way off the point.
Thanks Scott

They are golden.

BMT

If I had to pick a 180 grain elk bullet that was great at 50 yards and 350 yards both, it would be the Partition. No contest IMO.

Wayne

Here is a quote from Steve Timm, a/k/a dogzapper. He's using the BT version, you can decide if that matters.

The OP asked about Hornady INTERLOCKS - not Partitions.

You need a TSX. From chipmonks to elephants, it's the only rational choice.

I've used the 180 interlocks in my 300 win mag. However, my experiance has been on white tails. I have never had any problem with them coming apart on thin bone deer at under 100 yards--even driven ant 300 win mag. velocities.

The Hornady Interlock design is under-rated in my opinion.

For what it is worth, I talked to an excellent rifle builder in Co. about a 30-06 build for everything from white tail to elk. He commented that he uses the 190gr. Hornadies for elk and had for years. It is an excellent bullet.

GB

Responding with relevant facts and experience only vs. opineing is a concept lost on many.

As to the OPs question - BMT has got that covered.

I agree 190 interlocks would be great but I have alot of 180's and total confidence in my tikka, I'm a rifle loony also and have more rifles than needed, just threw this combo together and really like it.

Put a 180 Interlock in the right place and put elk meat in the freezer.

Thanks for the inputs.

May get a chuckle out of some but one of my buddy's says that hornady cup and core bullets make the biggest dents in his gongs than any others "standard" bullets. I guess I'd rather hear that than they barely chip the paint off.

Gonna use a particular bullet cause "I got lots of them" doesn't make real good sense to me. "Don't confuse me with facts, just rubber stamp my idea"? Oh, well. Blast away then.

Elk hunt $1000, bullet 75 cents, lost trophy priceless?

Wayne

+1

Ingwe

Don't know about elk, but I can tell you they work swell on moose from point blank to about 275. Never had to shoot further than that, but in a 1200 pound animal, there was plenty of penetration and great expansion at 250 yards. Can't imagine elk are harder to penetrate than a 1200 pound moose, but I never kilt an elk. Like dogzapper, I have only used the BTSP variety.

That's a good enough endorsement for me!

Perhaps he has "lots of them"...and they work.

No doubt some of us (including the original poster) would appreciate hearing from anybody who's experienced a "bullet failure" from a 180 Interlock shot into an elk from a .30-06.

For years the Hornady Interlock was all I used and all my family used. To even suggest a 180gr Interlock is somehow not up to taking an elk out of a 30.06 is just plain wrong. My younger brother has killed two male grizzly bears with the .270Win and the 130gr. Interlock. I could go on with list of other animals that have fallen to Interlocks, but it includes all the big stuff excluding the really big bears. I currently only use Nos. Partitions, but that in no way means that I think the interlock isn't one great bullet. I could be happy if for some strange reason Interlocks were the only bullet I could use for whatever is left of my hunting life.

I never put one in an elk. However, on the last day of a lame elk hunt, I did put one through the shoulders of a black bear at maybe 40yds. It was the .30-06 Hornady Light Mag Load. Looked like all held together with a fist size exit hole.

The fip side of that argument is the just because he has penty of them on hand DOES NOT mean they will not work very well for his use.

All you have provided is a "My bullet is better" argument rather than any actual experience with the 180g .30 cal Interlocks.

Hell, posting on here that the 30-06 was "not enough gun" on Elk would be just about as germane to the OPs actual question.

The Interlocks are a damn good game bullet and under most conditons will work just as well as any a Partition of the same weight on Elk.

They work particularly well at .30-06 velocities.

Have only shot one elk with a .30-06 using the Hornady 180 Interlock. Handload of about 2750 to 2775 fps, range about 220 yards quartering toward me and below me about 50-75 feet, bullet entered upper chest just in front of the right scapula and exited a bit lower behind left scapula.

That produced the fastest bang-flop I've ever seen short of a spine hit. When the rifle came down out of recoil the elk was out of sight. It had dropped straight down and was hidden by some blowdown, no kicking or movement of any kind after the bullet strike.

Haven't used the 180 SPIL but have used the 6.5mm Hornady 129 gn SPIL on game from antelope to sheep and MD. Surprising penetration on par with many bonded premium bullets and outstanding accuracy.

A local rancher I know favors the 129 Interlock in his .264 Winchester Magnum for elk. He has shot more elk than most people with excellent results at ranges from up close to 500+ yards.

I've used Interlocks on several Alaskan moose; bulls, including the 190 BTSP a couple of times. I haven't collected many of those bullets, and none of the 190s.

I've used the 139 in my 7mm-08 on a fair number of caribou as well. They have worked very well there too. My single complaint, if I were to make such, is that they can sometimes cause more damage than might be desired. But they don't seem inclined to failure.

I shot my first caribou with the 139 many years ago. It ended up under the hide on the far side, perfectly expanded, and the bull trotted in a half-circle for maybe 30 feet and fell over.

But that was from a .280 at 100 yards, the bullet started at 3100 or so. If muzzle velocity had been a little less the bullet probably would have gone on through. Or at least that has been my experience with it in smaller 7mm's.

I know it's not a 180 but I put a 130 grain .277 Hornady interlock through a deer's chest at an impact velocity of 3200 fps. I know this because MV was 3200 fps and the range was 6". The bullet was found intact under the hide on the opposite side. I think it would have exited but the deer was lying on his side and the ground likely stopped the bullet.

All that was left was a perfectly mushroomed little button weighing 59 grains (I just re-weighed it to be sure) but the jacket and core held together and went all the way through.

If Noslers or other premiums weren't around I'd be very happy to use Hornady Interlocks for anything and everything.

Several years ago, I recommended the 180gr and 154gr Hornadys in my friend's '06 and his wife's 7mm-08. Each dropped an elk with a single shot. They're using the same rifles and bullets on their Idaho trip this year, just because they work.

Just in case anyone wondered how many the "few critters" is .... I have killed precisely 26 head of Afrikan plains game with the .30-'06 and 180-grain Hornady SPBT Interlockeds.

The number of bullets it took to kill 26 head of Afrikan plains game? Exactly 27.

One really tough warthog required two bullets.

If I was heading out tomorrow for an Afrikan plains game hunt, I would happily shoot the .30-'06 with 180-grain Interlocked bullets.

If I were heading out tomorrow and knew that I would have a good chance for a single shot at a 450-point Boone & Crockett bull elk, I would happily shoot the .30-'06 with 180-grain Interlocked bullets.

Anyone who doubts the effectiveness of the Hornady .308" 180-grain Interlocked bullet is tragically misinformed. It is one Hell of a bullet and it gives the hunter premium performance that is just as excellent as most "premium" bullets.

In many ways, the Interlocked is better than some "premium" bullets .... it normally expands right back to the cannelure in a perfect mushroom. The Interlocked is a wonderful killer of American big game.

I trust them.

Steve

I would hunt anything with Hornady Interlocks at 06 velocities when using heavy for caliber weights, except elephants. If the animal dies quickly it is not a failure regardless of what the bullet looks like, paid experts think, and the premium bullet sales teams preach. Plenty of dangerous/large game fell before "premium" bullets were avaliable. (They just used bigger calibers and bullets.) "Magnum misses" probably causes more wounded game by far, and should be a bigger concern.

Great post Sir,

Nice to see you around here

I do not have any info using the 180gr out of an 06, but i know a guy who used the 150gr .277" inter-lock out of a 270 win on an Africa plains game hunt. All kills were one shot, and he had absolutely no complaints.

I really like the inter-locks, i think they're the best cup and core bullets out there....

A few years ago, in advance of my very 1st elk hunt, I was doing the typical 24HourCampfire obsessing about which bullet to use. Since I had decided to severely handicap myself by using a lowly .30-'06, I had decided that I ought to at least use a premium bonded bullet. After going through far too much $$$ in factory ammo, I found that my rifle liked Hornady Interbonds the best.

The only problem, however, was that Hornady only loaded 165 grain Interbonds in their factory ammo, and not 180's. Everyone in their right mind knows that removing 15 grains of weight from a .30 caliber bullet will render it useless on anything bigger than a cricket, and I was hell-bent on having porn-star-penetration on any elk I might stumble across.

So, I contacted Hornady to point out the gaping hole in their ammunition product line. They responded that not loading 180's was likely just an oversight, but even so, there was no need for a bonded bullet at .30-'06 velocities.

So, I held my breath, and bit my tongue, and crossed my fingers (and toes), and punched a 165 grain Interbond through a 6x5 bull... and ate some tasty backstraps.

By the way, I've been loading BTSP Interlocks ever since. Now that I think about it, since that time, I haven't bought a big-game rifle that shoots any faster than an '06.

FC

As so many 9 including myself) have stated, this is a great bullet/cartridge combo. I have used a number of them, plus the same weight bullet in a Nosler PT in the '06
I absolutely couldnt tell the difference in performance...

Ingwe

I guess I make the tenth, if you will allow Red Stag with the '06 and 180gn SPBT which is also one of the most accurate bullets I ever tested in the .30/06. I like them immensely.

John

Interlocks work on crossties too. Years ago we were working up a load for my .270 Weatherby and 150gr Interlock flat base with RL22. It was a published load that is no longer published and gave a chronoed velocity of 3220 out of a 24" barrel. I walked out back of my bro-in-laws shop to fire off a round and check the case/primer/etc. There were two upright crossties there and I fired at the front one corner on from about 15 ft, hit just to the right of the corner and the bullet exited out the back side. It then entered the flat side of the second crosstie and penetrated about an inch. I dug it out and the jacket did not separate. Was probably 1/3 to 1/2 of it left.

Sorry guys, must be getting old. I got caught up in the idea that if it ain't broke, don't fix it, while I was thinking of the Partition. I guess I owe an apology to those who have experienced the effectiveness of the interlock and feel the same way about it.

mea culpa

Wayne

Thanks to all of you again, I feel confident in 30-06 and the 180 interlock, now its all up to me.
Scott

May not be relevant but I ran a casual comparison of 7mm 160 and 175 grain loads shooting into a wet clay bank. Not scientific at all but the Interlock performed almost exactly in between the Old Remington Corlokt and the Nosler Partition.

One New Mexico Elk guide was saying he didn't like clients showing up with big magnums and trick bullets. He said that a softer bullet that holds together will keep them out of the Canyons.

His choice a 30-06 with 180 grain Hornaday Interlocks-this was before the Intebond was available.

They don't walk away from a Hornaday!

It seems to me you're asking two questions.

1. Will a IL expand at 200 yards?

And......

2. Will an IL blow up at 50 yards with a 2775 muzzle velocity?

#1. YES and waaay beyond that. #2. NO

They load the 180 gr FBSP IL in factory .300 Weatherby Magnum ammo. Weatherby thinks it's good enough to hold up at .300 wby magnum velocities. On the low end it will also reliably expand at low velocities. IMHO it has one the broadest ranges of reliable expansion and integrity available in any bullet. Of course, it's debatable as to which bullet has the broadest range, but there's no flies on an IL.

BTW. I've decided that the 165 gr IL BTSP in a 30-06 is perfect for my intended uses. I get better accuracy with the 165 BTSP over the FB 180's in my rifle.

That's my inexperienced non-gunwriter opinion.

I'll echo most of these guys as well. 4 quite some time I ran amuck with a 21" 06 tube on my G33/40. Shot pretty much all that moved with one of 3 loads (165 Sierra HPBT, 180 Horn sp and the 180 Nozler Part). They all worked well and killed the dog snot out of game.

The load I used ran the 180's at about and can't see a reason not to use the Horn for all that moved.

Dober

I generally don't talk much about bullet performance or failures but I will talk about this one.

I recently lost a rocky mountain goat who took up cliff-diving on the upper stretches of Barnard Glacier. I was using Superperformance 180 grain interlocks and I nailed him right behind the should two times before he got to the cliff and jumped. He did die but he was hung up 65 feet below me and 350 feet above where I could get to. I shot the goat a good 200 yards away from the cliff and he was only 235 yards away. I am very sure that my cooper model 52 hit him in the right place and I could see that I hit him about 2 inches below the should which was my point of aim. My mother had dropped the gun but it wasn't too far off.

The jury is still out for me on Interlocks.

Sincerely,
Thomas

SST version?

Been using them for years on Colorado elk. My 30/06 load is 56 grains of IMR4350 & Win LR primer. They have taken 2---6x6, 3---5x5 and quite a few cows. I've also used them on bighorn, mtn goat, deer, black bear & antelope all here in Colorado. Plus a Shira moose on WY.

They work well in the 30/06. CB

When I first started hand loading and looking for THE bullet to use, I studied every makers bullet that was available to me in the stores. I compared how the jackets were made, why they were made a certain way, type of lead even and ultimately the bullet shape and how that would affect trajectory and energy.

Hornady, 165 BTSP for 308 and 180 BTSP for 30-06 is what I have used since but for two kills using the Accubond.

As far as cost, a single bullet for a kill is cheap at even $5.00 apiece, but one needs to practice with THE bullet they plan to use and an affordable bullet for practice and hunting is what the Interlock is. Even bullets with the same BC do not react the identically, every make reacts differently.