RE: BALISTIC TIP OR CORELOCK
Um, I would shoot neither. The only rifle I've ever owned is a .270win.
The most accurate load I've ever shot out of my rifle is the Winchester BT, but I didn't care for the damage they done to the meat.
The CoreLokt, grouped the worst out of mine and dropped like a ton of bricks compared to the others.
You should pick up this months FIELD AND STREAM, it has a GREAT artle on all the newer hunting bullets. It shows cut-aways and what they look like after they are pulled out of the "block".
If I can remember right, the Winchester FailSafe and Barnes Tripple Shock were their pick for being the "best".
The Winchester AccuBond, which is what I am shooting in my .270win this year, is supposed to give you the same proformance of the Ballistic Tips, w/o the fragmentation. Its sorta a bonded ballistic tip.
Another that was high on the list, and one that I really like and will probably switch back to it, is the Hornady Interbond.
I live in SC, so we have the same size deer yall have in AL, which is very small. The deer up in Canada and the "deer states" of the US, are a lot bigger than ours, so I would stick to a bonded bullet.
Go to the store and pick up that magazine, it has some good stuff in it on what you want to know. It has a pic of a deer on i and something like "deer hunting 101".