Georgetownboys

Being new to hunting 3 years now. Not much legal game in Los Angeles, since then got smarter and moved to Texas. During these past three great seasons I have got both my young sons started in Deer hunting and can't get enough time on the ranch. I've been shooting a .270 and a .260 Rem for my boys. I have been jumping around a bit and need some better guidance. Bought lots of Remington .270 corlocks 130gr/140Gr? the first season but thought I should move up, why, who knows. Then started using 130gr ballistic tips, they look good, tight groups. The last box was a hornady 130Gr, interlcock SST. Seems to give the tighest grouping yet. For the boys .260 been using Some highend remington 120Gr. premium accutip or Scirocco can't recall. Also shooitng nice tight groups.

Longest shot to date was my first season 204 yards, hit him right on no tracking needed.

Can I get a brief idea of Corlock, vs. ballistic vs, bonded, interlock etc.

I have learned that you can spend big bucks on this sport/hobbie and it may not do any thing to help.

skeeter 7MM

13o grs were always my choice in a 270 and still pick the ballistic Tip/SST as my deer hunting bullet.


As far as bullet construction corelokt are Cup and Core soft pointed bullets just like Powerpoints, etc. Basically your standard bullet - widely used for deer and in larger cal. bigger game as well.

Hornady's interlock name is coined to a ring that is on the bottom third of the bullet(shank). They claim this halts expansion for good mushrooms and weight retention. But this is basically a cup and core sp like the corelokt, etc.

BTW, Expansion is the diameter of the bullet upon impact and related to size of wound channel, amount of trauma or shock(energy released) upon impact. Weight rentetion is what drives the bullet through mass - aka pentetration. On deer many want expansion and while retention is important the thin skinned whitetail it isn't as big of a factor as a moose or elk.

Ballistic Tip/SST/Accutip are all the same. Boattail designed(tapered shank to decrease drag and increase BC- Ballistic Coef-flight) with a polymer tip. The polymer tip is like a wedge forced into the jacket causing fast/rapid expansion, some call it explosive expansion! This means lots of energy release, big wound channels and trauma. It also means softer and less weight retention than standard or other type bullets. Still very good combo for the likes of deer or varmits.

Bonded is a process where the copper jacket is bonded to the lead core. This is for both good expansion and weight retention. Something that IMO isn't really necessary for the likes of deer, but very important for larger/tougher animals such as moose.

All in they will all work for deer and put it home. Most bullet manufacturer's describe the designs of bullet and benefits (hornady, nosler, Speers..etc) if you care for more info.

North Texan

Core-Lokt and bonded bullets are designed for controlled expansion and weight retention. This helps in the transfer of energy to the target. Ballistic tips and SST's are a little more explosive on impact, but can still be made to retain weight instead of fragmenting rapidly. The polymer tip is supposed to make the bullet flatter shooting and help initiate expansion. A lot depends on the thickness of the bullet's jacket. A thicker jacket will make the bullet expand more slowly and retain more weight. A thinner jacket will make the bullet expand faster and sometimes fragment.

Any of the bullets you have mentioned in a .270 or .260 will work nicely on a deer.

Spending big bucks on hunting. Hmm....don't know anyone with that problem!

Georgetownboys

Thanks Skeeter. . .being an engineer with some avionics background by trade I have been having fun with long guns and various aspects of ballistics. Understand quite a bit but do thank you for the clarification on Corlock, Bonding, interlock had the basics just needed to know a bit more.
I have seen some guys claim that ballistic tips may not be suited well for thin skinned game ranges under 100yds, may explode/fragment if you will on impact. That kinda why I was asking.

Thanks again,

Todd1700

Well I'll give it a whirl.

1. Cor-Lokt---A core-lokt is a basic soft lead point bullet that has a design which helps to prevent core-jacket separation on impact. The lead core is not bonded to the metal jacket however so core/jacket separation is possible. (but not likely IMHO) I have used these bullets at various times and still do on occasion. I have never lost a deer I shot with one. And living and hunting in Alabama for all my 39 years I have shot plenty. A 270 caliber 130 grain core-lokt bullet has probably been the second greatest cause of whitetail death in my home state, second only to the 150 grain 30-06 core-lokt bullet. It has been a rare occasion that I had a core-lokt bullet not exit a deer. And I have used them in .243, 25-06, 270, 7mm mag and 30-06. Performance was excellent in all calibers. They are cheap, available everywhere and reasonably accurate. If they group well from your gun I see no reason for anything else on deer sized game.

2. Ballistic tips----Or as I call them the pretty bullets. LOL! Ballistic tips are basically a hollow point that instead of leaving the end hollow has had a small tip made of either plastic, polymer, soft metal or some other material fitted into the end. This improves the ballistic coefficient of the bullet. The tip material is also usually made of a material that is not deformed easily like soft lead tip bullets can be. These tips also help initiate rapid violent expantion on impact. Ballistic tips are usually very accurate bullets and produce some of the best groups you will see at the range. The wounds they can inflict on deer look like something out of a horror flick. Excessive meat damage however is a minus in some peoples books. Mine included. On deer sized game when all goes well they can produce some of the most rapid kill shots you have ever seen. Looks like God hit them with an invisible hammer. BUT, I have seen things go horribly wrong with them as well. Because of their rapid expansion characteristics they have been known to fragment wildly. They are also not the best for driving through heavy bone. You may not get an exit wound with a ballistic tip and that can mean a more sparce blood trail if the deer doesn't drop on the spot. Still thousands of people love them and use them every year. My own cousin swears by them and will use nothing else. I personally do not use them.

3. Bonded Bullets----This is an attempt to have the best of both worlds. A bullet that expands well but also holds together because the lead core is chemically bonded to the outer metal jacket. This gives you a bullet that expands to two times or more of the original caliber size yet retains 70 to 90 percent of the original bullet weight while giving you good penetration as well. They are excellent bullets for the most part but generally expensive and harder to find. I have also had a lot of people complain that bonded bullets did not shoot as acurately from their rifles while others had no problem. If they group well from your rifle and you have the money to spare then they are a viable option.



I personally use simple soft lead bullets like Remington core-lokts, Winchester power points or Hornady soft points. I have found that I need nothing else on Alabama whitetails. I really don't feel like premium bullets are necessary until you accelerate bullets to magnum speeds or you go after game larger than whitetails. Even then there is little on the North American continent that I wouldn't feel comfortable shooting with a 180 gr soft lead tip from my old reliable 30-06.

Fireblade545

I dont use BT's and will stay away from them. I have seen what they can do hitting a whitetail in the shoulder and just explode on impact and blow a piece of the bone off and you loose a deer. If im shooting at a Trophy class buck , i dont want to take that risk. Barnes TSX are what I use. 100% copper bullet designed to punch through heavy bone well.

North Texan

I have had no problems with thin skinned game when using ballistic tips. I have seem problems with bullets that are supposed to be for "controlled" expansion. The deer was shot in the neck, laid motionless for 15 to 20 minutes while waiting to see if anything else would show, then got up and took off. I helped look for the deer, but never found it. I found a small blood spot on the ground, which led me to the bullet. The bullet never expanded. Part of the copper jacket had flaked off, but the bullet never mushroomed.

BT

I would say the neck shot missed any thing vital. and cam close enought to the spine to stun the deer. one reasion i dont like neck shots.
but the "ce" bullet may have some blame also. the "CE" are disined to hold together through a tuffshot and a lot of meat. a neck on a WT ant that big or tuff so it not expending is actualy understandible. i was not disine to open under the little pressuer the neck offerd.
A bt would probly have been better at that shot.

I dont like the bt myself on deer unless you are using a larg cal. above 7mm. I have sean a deer lost with a shoulder shot with a 7mm using BT. But with my 338 a bt will go through both shoulders. but there is quite abit of meat dammage.

minnesotahunter

I talked to someone last night in the store that said that the trophy-bonded bear claw's would be a good choice for a heavy wooded area, and would be able to travel through brush easy than most other bullets. Is there truth in this? I was thinking about buying some pretty standard stuff for my .30-06, like the core-lokts, but this guy tried to make a good case for the bear claws in our area (lots of woods, no shot over 150). What do you think?

James B

No Bullet including the trophy bonded bear claw will aid you in shooting through brush. The brush buster bullets are a myth from the word go. Many problems have been discussed here considering bullets. Good standard bullets will work fine for deer. There most likely is nothing better for deer than the old corlokt for the 270. However for the 260 I would use the ballistic tips. The Remington loaded ones are very good. All the problems talked about here would be handled well buy the Nosler Partition. Its a premium bullet that performs like a standard bullet on the front end and a premium bonded bullet on the other end. When it comes down to it the Partition is the best bullet ever made by anyone at any price. IMO!! Followed closely by the Barnes X bullet.