Hornady Spire Point InterLock bullet

A

albertacowboy

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Do any of you lads have experience with the performance of these bullets in terms of weight retention at high muzzle velocity (3100 fps) on elk/moose/bears? My grizzly loads for my .300 Win Mag have been the Remington Safari 200-gr. Swift A-Frame (2825 fps/3544 ft-lb) and the Federal High Energy 180-gr. TBBC (3100 fps/3840 ft-lb). Since the Federal load has been discontinued, I'm considering the Hornady Heavy Magnum 180-gr. Spire Point InterLock (3100 fps/3840 ft-lb), but I'm wondering if the Hornady bullet will penetrate and still hold together as well as the other two premium bullet choices.

I would appreciate the benefit of your experience. All information welcome!
 
the hornady is a good bullet but its not in the class of your first two choices. i would stick with the swift a frame or pick a different brand with a barnes or partition, the very least a bonded bullet.
 
I'm considering the Hornady Heavy Magnum 180-gr. Spire Point InterLock (3100 fps/3840 ft-lb), but I'm wondering if the Hornady bullet will penetrate and still hold together as well as the other two premium bullet choices.
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NO

Shot a heap of game with Hornady Interlocks.... here are a few of the "typical" bullets recovered.

165gr Interlock SP (30-06 ~ 2850fps) at varying distances (some close to 400yds).

Hornady025.jpg


Here are the few TSX's I've recovered...dozens I have not!:

225TSX005.jpg


Save the Hornadys for targets and coyotes....there are too many better options out there for a few dollars a year more... big deal!

A 165/168 or 180gr TSX would be my choice.

I think you get my point.... TSX or bust!!!!!

280_ACKLEY
 
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280,

What weight do you think I should try in my .375 H&H for a BIG game load? Looks like my choices are 270 or 300 grainers...

I'm thinking of something to stop ANGRY, claw laden bears with. ;)

OH NO, not another "Bear Defense" thread...?!?

Jeff.
 
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Not to budge in front of 280, but Jeff, I used the 300gr Rn Hornady's with great results in my 375.
The 285gr Grand Slams work very well on game too. Picture perfect penetration and you can get some serious speed and trajectory out of them too.
FWIW

Noel
 
I load Hornady Interlocks for my 35 Whelen and my 338-06 and have dropped about 15 Moose, several Elk and some Deer with them. I'm really impressed with the damage that they do.
Every animal I have hit has had massive internal damage and didn't live very long after being hit. I prefer that my bullet stays inside the animal and does as much internal damage as possible.
Whether the bullet stays together or not, my criteria is that the vital organs receive as much damage as possible killing the animal as quick as possible and minimizing meat damage.
I have seen a bullet that opens rapidly and sometimes separates will do massive internal damage killing the animal very quickly.
Some of my recovered bullets looked like 280 ACKLEY's Interlock bullets and they sure resulted in a quick kill!
The 35 Whelen MV is 2600+ fps with a 250gr bullet and the 338-06 MV is 2800 fps with a 225gr bullet.

Works for me!

Good Luck
John
 
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Noel said:
Not to budge in front of 280, but Jeff, I used the 300gr Rn Hornady's with great results in my 375.
The 285gr Grand Slams work very well on game too. Picture perfect penetration and you can get some serious speed and trajectory out of them too.
FWIW

Noel
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Thanks a lot, Noel. I too have had good experiences with the Hornady Interlocks in other big game calibers. The guy I bought my .375 H&H rifle from apparently used the 285 Speer Grand Slam exclusively, and loved it's perfromance on a variety of big game. :)

Jeff.
 
308BAR said:
My experience with interlock is that it just expands and tears up game. Effective but just brutal on meat, lot's of blood shot in the few deer I've take.
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That's been my experience too. I've seen a number of deer and antelope shot with 270 130gr Interlocks @ 3100 fps mv, and they seem to open up quite rapidly and damage a lot of meat. They do kill quite well, but I'm not sure if they are the best choice on elk and moose.
 
JohnnyJ said:
I load Hornady Interlocks for my 35 Whelen and my 338-06 and have dropped about 15 Moose, several Elk and some Deer with them. I'm really impressed with the damage that they do.
Every animal I have hit has had massive internal damage and didn't live very long after being hit. I prefer that my bullet stays inside the animal and does as much internal damage as possible.
Whether the bullet stays together or not, my criteria is that the vital organs receive as much damage as possible killing the animal as quick as possible and minimizing meat damage.
I have seen a bullet that opens rapidly and sometimes separates will do massive internal damage killing the animal very quickly.
Some of my recovered bullets looked like 280 ACKLEY's Interlock bullets and they sure resulted in a quick kill!
The 35 Whelen MV is 2600+ fps with a 250gr bullet and the 338-06 MV is 2800 fps with a 225gr bullet.

Works for me!

Good Luck
John
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Yep - I think too much emphasis is placed on weight retention. Weight retention is ONLY important inasmuch as it enables the bullet to penetrate deeply enough to make holes in important gidgets. Frankly, I prefer a bullet that DOES lose some weight inside the critter - that mass doesn't just 'disappear' - it flies off at a tangent to the main channel (due to the centripetal forces) and creates lots of extra holes that enhance bleed-out.
 
prosper said:
Weight retention is ONLY important inasmuch as it enables the bullet to penetrate deeply enough to make holes in important gidgets. .
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Yup, and that is so nice about the TSX bullets. They retain enough weight, after hitting the animal, to penetrate deeply, even if things go wrong.
 
Interlocks work great at low speeds(2800 and under) I shot a coyote at 50 yards with a 180 out of a 300 WBY at 3300 fps. Blew the off side off, not kidding only half a coyote left.
 
Gatehouse said:
Yup, and that is so nice about the TSX bullets. They retain enough weight, after hitting the animal, to penetrate deeply, even if things go wrong.
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Yes, but it's hardly an exclusive feature of TSX's. Partitions, a-frames, TBBCs, IBs, etc. Hell, even a standard 405gr cup-n-core bullet from a 45-70 at around 1950 is usually enough to go straight through a moose
 
prosper said:
Yep - I think too much emphasis is placed on weight retention. Weight retention is ONLY important inasmuch as it enables the bullet to penetrate deeply enough to make holes in important gidgets. Frankly, I prefer a bullet that DOES lose some weight inside the critter - that mass doesn't just 'disappear' - it flies off at a tangent to the main channel (due to the centripetal forces) and creates lots of extra holes that enhance bleed-out.
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The TSX does everything an Interlock does with regards to internal damage, yet plows a straight line, and is capable of much greater penetration, even after encountering serious bone.

Weight retention means little to me, bullet integrity means everything. Give me a bullet that opens up reliably at distances from 3ft to 400+yds on coyotes, smashes all the bone a monster blackie can offer (and keep on going), damages internal organs with aplomb, shoots like a match bullet, and dumps critters within steps of being hit..... and I'll kindly thank you for the Barnes TSX!

Seems time and time again, the only naysayers are those that haven't shot a Barnes TSX on game yet!

280_ACKLEY
 
My experience with interlock is that it just expands and tears up game. Effective but just brutal on meat, lot's of blood shot in the few deer I've take.
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Hit them in the vitals, don't shoot for the meat.
 
interlocks

Even if you shoot Interlocks at 3000 fps, by the time it gets 250 yards it's probably only doing about 2600 fps anyways. That's the best on target speed to have whether it's a 100 grain or 300 grain bullet. It just seems to kill well and bullets hold together. Most Partition's that I have recovered have only the base left. Any Barnes bullets I have recovered were 98% original weight and perfectly mushroomed.The one piece design works....:D
 
todbartell said:
I wouldnt push an Interlock over 2800 fps if I was hunting anything bigger than deer
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I agree with this statement that the size of the game and the velocity are big factors in choosing bullets.

I tend to pick heavier for non-premium bullets in standard calibers.


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