The great ammo debate continues...Just got my first rifle and after asking around the Remington Cor-Loct and Hornady SST seem to be the favorites. Looking to load Savage 111 bolt action 30.06 for deer and pigs. My choice of grain will most likely be 150-165.
Mark

I hope you're exaggerating?

The best ammo is, put quite simply, the ammo your particular rifle "likes" best. Not what the guy at the gun counter recommends, nor is your buddy's "favorite load" a sure thing (unless you're sharing a rifle with him).

Buy something readily available. Take it to the range. Shoot it. Compare it to the other brands you bought. Go back and buy the one that seemed the most consistent (try to make sure it's from the same lot).

I've used "cheapo" Core-Lokts, PowerPoints, and Hi-Shoks for years (before I started reloading) and never had a problem with any of them. No, they weren't shooting sub-MOA, nor was that degree of accuracy necessary - all would print 2" groups (some a bit better than others) at 100 yards, and since most of my shots were coming at LESS than 100 yards, 2" was plenty accurate.

Now, if you're shooting beyond that, you'll probably need to start doing someexperimentation with different loads.

For deer or hogs with a 30-06...any hunting bullet is fine. Some will tell you that hogs are huge and covered with armor...but any hunting bullet from an 06 will place the pig quickly on the ground.

Just find one that shoots groups that you're happy with and that's that!

I had a guy come to our farm and deer hunt a few years back. He owned the bear camp where I went in Ontario. He pulls out a .340 Weatherby and I believe the ammo was "Fail Safe" somewhere in the 200 grain range. These were reccommended to him by a guy at a gun shop as "great deer ammo".

The deer that he shot looked like it had been hit by a Land Rover at 55mph. My point is that you don't need premium expansion or penetration ammo out of a 30 caliber rifle to take down a thin-skinned whitetail.

I'd try the Core-Lokt's. My Rem 760 in .270 loves them.

I'll put it to you this way. Any time I get a new rifle, the first ammo I try is Cor-Lok. If I can't get decent groups, I switch to something else. 30-30, 30-06, 270, 280...all green boxes. Cant argue with them. Shoot great.

Either will do the job for you just fine. Grab a box of both and pick the one that gives you the best groups.

+1

I shoot and love my core-lokts, but I have never shot the hornady's.

x2

Gotta agree with the majority. What ever your rifle handles the best is what you should use. Every deer I've shot with a Core-lokt didn't know the difference, and they never took another step.

I don't hunt pigs but have heard people say they require more then a whitetail in terms of bullet due to body structure and shoulders coming more into play. If such is the case and your shots are on the closer side of things meaning mid 100's down the SST isn't really of any benefit to the situation. It is a rapid expansion bullet that is really designed for longer range, hornady's version of a Nosler Ballistic Tip. While it will work - at higher velocity impacts, especially on a shoulder its expansion can be violent which results in bigger holes and may lead to loss in penetration. If your wanting a comparable bullet to the corelokt by hornady I suggest you try the Interlock SP instead. My experience with them has been positive, taking deer, bear and moose with the bullet in several calibers. Another option if you want a polymer bullet is the Hornady Interbond or Nosler Accubond (loaded by federal and winchester), bonded cores allow this bullet to be a better choice for the close to longer range hunters. Used both of these as well for deer and up, never a problem.

I used corelokt when I wasstarting outworked on deer and a moose buthaven't since I started reloading in my teens.

Research the bullets design, pick the ones that meet the taskand then let your rifle deciede which one to shoot.

Best of Luck