The old Interlocks like the 220 grain RN in .30-06 loaded to the nuts used to penetrate moose and hammer them down. The newer ones seem softer IMHO. One thing I can say about Interlocks is that the flat base .30 caliber ones have been some of the most accurate hunting bullets I have ever shot.
Hornady Interlok performance on game.
- Thread starter powdergun
- Start date
rifleman762
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Alberta
Wife shot a small whitetail buck last week with a 100gr BTSP. Muzzle velocity is over 3000 fps and impact would have been about 2800 fps. High lung shot (shooting downhill into a coulee) and it dropped in its tracks. Bullet exited with a good wound channel.
Sample size of one but, in this instance, it worked as well as I could want.
Sample size of one but, in this instance, it worked as well as I could want.
barry1974w
Regular
- Location
- Central B.C.
I’ve only shot moose with my 375, but the performance has been good. I managed to recover one bullet that passed through the ball of both shoulders and came to rest under the hide. It was a advertisement worthy mushroom. The rest have all been pass throughs. But three moose is hardly a definitive sample size.....
Had 286gr SP Interlocks out of a 9.3x62 explode on a cow moose shoulder blade at 180 yards ........penetration nfg core and jacket separated needed 3 more to lay down and stay down.Sent rest of box the hornady where they tested them and they're fine .NOT. This fall a .270 win /130gr IL turned inside out at 60 ft on a med 3x3 WT buck coming at me head on.Destroyed the rt front shoulder ,heart and jacket found in left armpit.I don't trust them on anything bigger than deer.The old dull red box bullets were great but now they have cut corners somewhere and won't admit it.
Maybe mine were a bad batch or something, but it cemented my opinion to stick with bonded or mono-metal bullets for bigger game. I bought a few boxes of factory ammo years ago and just save them for deer now, knowing to wait for the right shot and avoid hitting the meat. Exit wounds are pretty dramatic, and usually not a lot of tracking needed.
Everything I have shot with them died as expected. Through and through with no unexpected meat loss. I will continue to use them but I am starting to switch my thinking to monolithic bullets. The high weight retention and lead contamination issues are the reasons behind my switch from cup and core to monolithic bullets
barry1974w
Regular
- Location
- Central B.C.
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
Moose and deer shot with the 30-30 interlocks have gone down quick with no issues. No issues with the 308 using 165 grain interlocks either. Often they have been bang flop for both.
most the interlocks ive used have been standard cup n core, in a video i retrieve two whitetail factory 270s out of NZ Tahr, one shows alot of Shank, the other fairly expanded.... shoulders and lungs etc.....
they were 130gr BTSP, ive also loaded BTSP in 7mm-08, good Lighter deer bullet, like Fallow and Red deer, not first choice on Sambar.
they were 130gr BTSP, ive also loaded BTSP in 7mm-08, good Lighter deer bullet, like Fallow and Red deer, not first choice on Sambar.
The Outsider
CGN Regular
I've shot deer with interlocks and they usually either drop in their tracks or run a few feet before falling.
Recently I shot a deer with a 165 grain Accubond out of a 30'06 only to watch it run 100 yards before dropping.
All were well placed shots,
so much for expensive bonded bullets.
Keep the velocities lower for jacketed bullets and they should be fine.
I usually look for older boxes of Interlocks at gun shows,
because as Dave said, they do seem to be better than the newer ones.
Recently I shot a deer with a 165 grain Accubond out of a 30'06 only to watch it run 100 yards before dropping.
All were well placed shots,
so much for expensive bonded bullets.
Keep the velocities lower for jacketed bullets and they should be fine.
I usually look for older boxes of Interlocks at gun shows,
because as Dave said, they do seem to be better than the newer ones.
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The insurance with premiums comes from when yer shots slightly off an Smacks dead centre major front leg bone/shoulder and punches right through both sides... whereas maybe one in a few CCs wont do so an the deer takes off with 3 legs, suffers a bit for sake of an arguement and awaits another finishing shot once you find it? or perhaps it just limps off and lays down for some time...
im the same in that id do it with normal CCs , the premos do have their place though! maybe not on smaller deers, idk what deer you ment.
the spank
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Planet Earth Wearing My Tinfoil Hat
My gf and I have taken three deer in the past two seasons using Hornady Interlocks in factory loaded 140grn 270 Win. All three were double lunged and dead within 50 yds of where they were hit. The most recent was last week and at the shot it leapt straight up going over backwards taking flight and dropped dead within 10 yards without a twitch. There was not a piece of lung bigger than a green pea when I gutted it, a result of placing the shot a bit more forward and through the front shoulder which I normally do not do but circumstances dictated I went that route. The other two had a huge hole through both lungs and dropped within 50 yards. The blood trail across the snow on all three where they took flight looked like blood shot forth from a garden hose the entire distance. Am I impressed with the performance? Yes!
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I use Interlock fat bases in everything from .222 to .458 always accurate, deadly, and they seem to hold together fine, I have never recovered one, they always pass through leave a good but no excessive exit wound. I have also been using Speer grand slams for a couple years, they are also very fine projectiles.
