Hornady Interlocks at high velocity

I shot a big mule deer at just under 400 yards with a 7mm 139 grain Interlock. The hit was just touching the top of the back part of the shoulder. The bullet penetrated thru the deer and stopped just under the hide on the opposite side, missing the opposite shoulder. The bullet was a perfect mushroom. This was from a .280 Rem having a MV just under 3100 fps. I am guessing the impact velocity was about 2200 fps. I also used the same load on rodents with satisfaction except recoil & heat.
I have killed so many animals up to bull elk with 139 grain Interlocks. Great bullet and very inexpensive.
 
I like to eat what I shoot and find that although a lot of bullets are effective at putting down game, they tend to leave behind a bunch of bloodshot meat. For the past 10 to 12 years, I've gone away from traditional lead core bullets in favor of solid copper or copper blends. Even bonded core to jacket bullets lose 15 to 35% of their weight in the first 2 to 4 inches of impact. The non bonded bullets can lose 50% or more. Typical destruction from a solid copper is a cone shaped wound channel, 5 to 8 inches on the near side tapering down to 2 or 3 on the far side. And most often full penetration. Optimum is a clover leaf exit hole on the far side hide, and I've seen this on about 75% of the animals I've taken in the past 10 years. The newer designs like the Bergers and the Hammers shed petals and have their own individual merits. My preference is to retain 100% weight and for full penetration and there are several manufacturers that can provide this. Some even offer long range bullets designed to expand at lower velocities ( like below 2000 FPS) and still retain 95+ % of their weight.
 
Thanks everyone for the great input. Sounds like I'll see if I can get a load nailed down for the interlocks and not think twice about shooting them that fast. In the mean time I will look around for some partitions as that seems like it really would be the best of both worlds for my application.
Will update later with what happens in the next few months.
 

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