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Which basic bullet perform the best on medium game?

  • Remington Core Lokt

    Votes: 31 36.5%
  • Speer Hot-Cor

    Votes: 10 11.8%
  • Sierra Pro-hunter

    Votes: 17 20.0%
  • Hornady-Interlock

    Votes: 27 31.8%

Plain-Jane Hunting Bullet Poll

6K views 50 replies 39 participants last post by  41 Mag 
#1 ·
Which plain old hunting bullet performs the best on game?
 
#2 ·
i only know the hornady an corlft..both good rnds... my real choice is fusion[a bit pricy now though]
so i go with the winchester power point 180 grn..
seems real accurate for cheaper ammo..got plenty of smack too..anything that walks through a well placed rnd of that,, outa my 06 ..well,, i aint got no buisiness in the woods with it..slim:)
 
#4 ·
I've shot the Core-lokt and Sierra PH out of my .270 and was a little surprised/disappointed that the terminal performance of the old stand-by was consistently better than the Sierra, although the latter was more accurate. I made the mistake of thinking just because it was commonly used in factory ammo that it wasn't "the best" bullet out there. It took years for me to realize the best bullet for deer is not always the strongest, heaviest one around, or the one going the fastest. :)
 
#8 ·
It took years for me to realize the best bullet for deer is not always the strongest, heaviest one around, or the one going the fastest. :)
That's something most have to learn through experience (I only 'got' it in the last couple years, tbh) ;)

And yeah... a Core-Lokt fired from pretty much anything from around 1600fps to 2700fps impact velocity is meat in the freezer.

My dad uses 200gr SP Core-Lokt exclusively in his .35 Rem, which he also uses exclusively (and has for 40+ years now).

I've used Core-Lokt in .30-30, .35 Rem, .30-06, and .260 and it has always served me extremely well.

My uncle uses Core-Lokt in his .30-30 and .308.

Between us three, that's a fair number of deer in the freezer.
 
#5 ·
Sierra game King is tops on my list.

In 2006, I shot a northbound black bear (a REALLY big one) in the south side. The SGK went through 5 1/2 feet of bear and crushed him on the spot.

I'm sold on the SGK.
 
#9 ·
All of those bullets work well on deer as long as the bullet is big enough and going fast enough.

Recently I read a post by a gunwriter who maintains that the Winchester Silvertip is not a good controlled expanding bullet. I was disapointed to read that as I have used the 200 gr Silvertip out of .358 Winchesters for decades on deer with excellent results.

Of course the specific bullet that I used is large and moving right along. It killed deer just fine. Most all of them were at woods ranges.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Yeah, good posts. There are a lot of variables. The constant of course is marksmanship. I just wanted to include the 4 main inexpensive bullets available on Midway's reloading section. Not many Winchesters options there anymore so I excluded them. I was staying away from anything bonded, partitioned, or plastic tipped. The Gameking/Prohunter are the same bloodline, much as Hornady Flat-base and BT bullets are.

For me, I have only used the Hornardy, Rem and Hot-Cor on game. No difference really that I have seen, but I am talking about a .30-06 on deer mainly, so it was always serious overkill anyway. That is WAY more gun than is needed for that job. I have seen some very impressive results from a 60gr Hornady from a .22-250 loaded to about 3300fps. Loaded faster than that, I think they are too fragile. But at that speed, they do great. Plop basically, with good penetration.

I figured THe Cor-Lokt would have the most votes since it is more popular in factory ammo that the other three (combined probably). I have used 150 gr (.30-06) Cor-Lokts, 150 gr Honrady BT Interlocks, and 165 Speer Hor-Cor and all resulted in quick kills. Has anybody done any work with a scale to see who is the most consistent weight wise? I did get a 100 box of Honady .308 cal bullets once that 6 or 8 6.5mm bullets mixed in. That could be scary if you got a something closer, say a few 8mms mixed in instead. If they were boat-tails (as these were), you might get them to slide into the neck while loading and blow something up!
 
#11 ·
These polls are always fun.:) For myself, I've only used a couple of different bullets on big game animals, with elk being the largest. Mostly I use the ProHunters and haven't been dissapointed in them. I have not used them though in anything larger than on 06. They have also proved to be pretty accurate.:)
 
#12 ·
I've had good results with Core-Lokts in several guns (6mm Rem, .250 Sav, .257 Roberts, .338 Win Mag, .35 Rem) and also the Speer Hot-Core in .280 Rem and .250 Sav.

Those are the only bullets I can endorse that I've fired in more than one gun at critters, and are currently available.

Do lament the passing of the Nosler Solid Base as my Roberts really does well with that bullet.
 
#13 ·
I don't shoot factory ammo in my guns, so the Hot-Cor gets my vote a the best bullet for critters from deer to Grizzlys. I also shoot the Hornady interlock, but have found the Speer to be a little tougher.
 
#15 ·
I prefer solids but with a thin copper jacket, round nose for almost everything I do. I like the old simple boolits. The more solid and dense the better.

The modern "tadpole tails and inter core lokts and uber ballistic tips" just seem like marketing hype to me and a means to get people to use their unique boolit. That said, for some of my guns that I do not re-load for I sue factory and 'have to use the "corelokt" although that would not be my first choice.
 
#18 ·
I agree the Nosler Solid Bases were good fodder. The ballistic tips are very accurate as well and fall into the same price range as the ones I chose for the poll. I have never lost a deer with one, but they are a little explosive at times IMO. I have managed to shoot through the shoulder of a large front quatering buck with one and still get enough penetration. Not my first choice for that kind of shot though. I think the Speer Hot-Cor are the strongest of the options listed. I have no data or test results to back that up though. The Sierra flavor are made right down the road from me, I think I may try them next just to support the local economy:)
 
#22 ·
The Nosler Solid base was a great bullet.The Nosler Ballistic Tip Hunting bullets perform as well after 2 or 3 redesigns.Federal loaded the Solid base for some time and you could get them from Nosler when they had overruns.I got 10 boxes of them in .243 not too long before we were forced to use leadfree bullets.My Brother used the Remington corelocks in his .257 Roberts and was always impressed with it.Also my son used a 140 gr Remington Corelock in his .264 win mag on a South Dakota whitetail and that worked well.I used Hornady's in my .243 and 6MM as well as Sierras.They were a little too destructive for my taste.When Nosler came out with the Solid Base I used them untill I could not find anymore.Now unfortunately I have plwenty and no place to hunt with them locally.
 
#25 ·
Hornady Interlock bullets have worked fine for me for years.

Recent years since they have come out, the Hornady SST bullet is my choice for every caliber.
 
#26 ·
I hunt and fish with a guy that has a .300 Winchester Mag.
He shoots everything around with Sierra Game Kings 180 Grains.
The biggest thing he has shot is a Moose. All it took was one
shot. The Moose ran 50 yards or so and dropped. He has killed
Cariboo and lots of deer with the same bullet.

Zeke
 
#27 ·
From personal experience if you hit the beast in the vital zone, right conditions, deers caribou black bear and moose are all dead with all of the 4 tips mentioned at the begining of the post, with all rifles from .243 to 300 win.mag. and anything in between.
This done, my personal choice # 1 : nosler partition, #2 hornady interbond, #3 norma ppdc, #4 hornady interlock
_______
roberto
 
#28 ·
It seems to me the Core-lokt is ideal at speeds up to around 2800 fps. I've stoned some deer and elk with that bullet. I use the Nosler in the mag loads, and it works great on elk and deer too.
 
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