I have used the hornady interlock in 6.5 and killed 4 mule deer and a black bear and they worked perfectly rifle caliber was 260 and load was medium so muzzle speed was not real high but the critters didn't care, they just tipped over. This last year I shot a very big bodied mule deer with my 6.5x284 at around 140 yds and a medium load I would guess 2900 ft at the muzzle with 140 game king ,which was very accurate, but hit the buck in the shoulder and he dropped like a rock then required another shot to kill him, when we butchered him we could not find the bullet so started looking hard for it and I don't think it penetrated an inch and all we could find was particles nothing that would even weigh a grain. maybe just a fluke in that bullet I have killed a lot of deer and elk with 165 and 180 gk in an 30-06 and never had a problem
Hornady Interlock: A Classic Performer?
- Thread starter General RE LEE
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Used them for years in .308 and 300 General, darn good,effective load. Right up to and including Moose. As for all the loving comments on poor man's bullets...dead is dead....I can't think of any animal that's going to utter with its dying breath...."THE CHEAP BAS#$%D GOT ME WITH AN INTERLOCK"
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Speaking of SST's, I use the 165gr out of my 30-06 over H4350 for about 2850mv. VERY accurate out of a factory original M700 Classic 24" bbl, and it really hammers deer and hogs. Someone earlier posted the SST seems to be a "modernization" of the Interlock, I would agree with that characterization.
I have a mild load of 154gr Interlock/H4350 at 3050fps for my 7RM, but have yet to use it on deer. Have no doubt it will perform well. I also have some 162gr SST's for the same rifle that I'll be testing over H4831 and 1000 after the season that I hope will be "the" bullet for that rifle..........
I have a mild load of 154gr Interlock/H4350 at 3050fps for my 7RM, but have yet to use it on deer. Have no doubt it will perform well. I also have some 162gr SST's for the same rifle that I'll be testing over H4831 and 1000 after the season that I hope will be "the" bullet for that rifle..........
Much or the Weatherby ammo was loaded with Hornady Interlocks early on. My 340 WEA liked the 250 gr. IL, but they iffy at close range due to high impact velocity. I now load the 225 gr. SST and Interbonds for a 338-06. I do miss the 200 gr. IL for my 338-06 for deer and such. Good bullets. One thing that I found to be an issue was weight uniformity. Hornady bullets seem to have a large weight variation. The 225 gr. .338 SST and IB projectiles have a total variation of 4-5 grains with in a lot. l checked out a few other brands noting less than 1 gr. variation. I now weight sort all Hornadys. Problem solved.
Muddyboots
Well-Known Member
OMG - I bet you hear this all the time!
And I would bet you had to sit down and put your FEET UP to let a little blood back into your head to think this one up!OMG - I bet you hear this all the time!
longbowelk
Well-Known Member
I have a 4 deer sample. My 2 grandsons shooting my 7 08 over the last 3 years. One was shooting 139gr Hornady Interlock SPBT. 2 whitetails at about 100 yards in the rib cage both ran about 50 yards. I changed the load on another 7 08 to 130 gr Speer SPBT. Other grandson shot 2 deer about 109 yards, same basic spot in rib cage , both DRT. The Speer bullets aren't that expensive so I am leaning more to Speer.
I started using Hornady Interlocs when I started hand loading in 1980. Money was tight and I found them to be quite good for my needs. I'm still shooting them today in .224, 270, 308, 338 and 45/70 because they just plain work.
I've tried a lot of the others, and like them, but I always have some Hornady's stocked in my loading room.
I've tried a lot of the others, and like them, but I always have some Hornady's stocked in my loading room.
Like longbowelk I too have used Speer Hot Core bullets with great success.The only problem is they don't shoot the same place on a target so I have to go through work-up procedures but still have some Hot-Core Speer bullets and would use them if needed.
DoneNOut
Well-Known Member
I got 150 and 165gr Interlocks shooting just as good groups as my 168gr Amaxes. The AMAXes are more lethal though. Blow uppy'ish.
SSG Graybush
Well-Known Member
The 150 gr 30 cal Interlock #3031 with the Seirra 150 sgk accuracy load of 59.6 grs of H4831SC is sub moa in 2 different 30-06's at book coal. It is imo the easiest bullet to tune and kills deer well. The flat base bc is poor but under 300 who cares.
Just to see I loaded the 150 gr Interlock #3031 in a 300 win mag with 72.7 grs of RL16 at 3.36 coal and in my first set of test groups it shot a 5 shot .442" group. I didnt chrono because I didnt intend to use it.
But for under 300 yards on deer its a inexpensive decent easy to tune bullet.
I will bad mouth Hornady's QC though. I have found, twice over about 10 years, 2 bullets of the wrong caliber in a box of bullets, a 30 cal bt in a box of 7mm, and a bt in a box of flat base 30 cal Interlocks. So fyi. This has never happened with any other manufacturer. And Hornady's variance in weight and bbto is greater then any other. But again under 300 yards on deer it wont matter much. I didnt care for Hornady's CS response so I no longer buy their products. But the 150 gr flat base Interlock is easy to tune for a close range deer bullet.
I've shot more deer with Interlocks than any other bullet. The second most with Partitions. While the Interlock is a good performer it is no Partition in my experience. I don't like how SSTs and Ballistic Tips perform at all. YMMV
