Remington CoreLokt Performance

Hoosierbuck · Jul 9, 2003

Haven't hunted deer with centerfire rifle ammo, but am getting ready to with an Encore 15" in 7mm-08. Question is this...are these bullets worth a damn? They are cheap, so maybe not, but they have been around forever, so maybe. I'm talking Indiana whitetails, under 250 on the hoof usually, at ranges less than 200, down to 10. Anecdotal evidence please...
Thanks,
HB

viking421a · Jul 9, 2003

I am sure some here will tell you that you need the newest most expensive ammo out there but the remington corelokt is a good bullet and will work fine. I used a 150gr out of a 30-06 on an antelope last year at 150 yards out and dropped him without a problem.

Bambistew · Jul 10, 2003

Those used to be my dads favorite bullets, untill I started reloading for him. He took a bunch of elk with them out of his 06. The last one he shot was from about 400 yards away. He droped it on the spot. When we dressed him we found the slug, fully intact and unmushroomed... It hit between two ribs and stoped dead in the heart muscle. He cast it in plastic and made a gear shift nob out of it. The only thing wrong with it was the rifleings. Needless to say we weren't too impressed with them after that, but we killed a bunch of elk with em and they for the most part dropped dead on the spot.

Ivan

archerelk · Jul 10, 2003

I have shot four mule deer with them out of 30-06 at ranges from 30-350 yards. Everyone of them got complete pass through, and every one of them left an exit wound larger than my fist. I got tired of losing meat because they do so much damage. This year I am switching to the winchester SBT. CoreLokt have always performed for me, good bullet.

Happyhunting · Jul 10, 2003

The remington core-lokt is the only bullet I use. I've had excellent success with them that's why I continue to use them.

RLH · Jul 10, 2003

my kids use corelokts in their .270's on deer and i've never seen one do anything bad. seem to be a pretty good bullet. i think they would be fine for whitetail too.

slowbow · Jul 13, 2003

I have taken 6-8 blacktail with them and they were complete pass through's but on one mule deer and one feral pig (175# boar) the bullet separated from the jacket on impact and shattered. I recovered both animals but haven't used the bullet since. I kept the jacket from one of the animals after digging it out of the hide (on the impact side) and it came apart so cleanly it was as if there never was any lead in it at all.

slowbow

Buckrub · Jul 14, 2003

I've used the 140gr. in my 7/08 for years and they flat out perform!! I also reload for it, but my gun just loves those factory loads!!!

sprayer · Jul 14, 2003

LAST EDITED ON Jul-14-03 AT 09:29PM (MST)[p]I shot a deer 3 times on a run and only one exited. The deer was at about 30 yards for the first 50 for the 2nd and maybe 60 on the third. The shot that exited was kind of a grazing shot along the fatty part on top of the neck. The first shot just blew the #@&t out of it's liver so it would have been enough but I didn't know until recovery, and it was going up over a ridge so I wanted to make sure I dumped him if possible. The third shattered the closest shouldered which put the deer down. The bullets did there job kind of or did they?. The first should have exited but stopped at the far shoulder. The third broke the near shoulder but didn't hit the vitals. What if the third shot had been the first? I could have maimed and lost a deer. Then I'd be saying the bullet failed. A 30-06 180 grain bullet should hit the vitals of any game animal at those ranges. And any premium bullet would have. That's enough to convince me to spend an extra $10.00 to $15.00.

With proper shot placement corelokts are explosive and work great. But what if? I am dismayed that so many people are so against premium bullets. For a 30-06 you could buy a box of premium ammo with partitions or the like for $20.00 to $25.00 and not ever worry about bullet problems. That box of ammo should last for at least 2-3 years. Actually more. All of my kills except for the one above were 1 shot kills. That's $1.00 to $1.50 per year. Any body could afford that.

If a guy reloads why wouldn't he use the best bullets available for hunting? I reload and like the hornady interlocks for coyotes and paper but come deer season bring on the partitions! They are very accurate too. I shoot a 20 year old 700 adl under 1 inch with partions.

I say shoot paper with core-lokts and use premiums for killing. Don't want to piss anyone off but don't the animals your KILLING deserve the quickest death with the smallest possibility of bullet failure? I think they do.

Coach Hunt · Jul 14, 2003

Howdy,

With all due respect Sprayer, would the first bullet have killed the deer???

The biggest compliment that the Remington Core-Lokt bullet has gotten is from Federal Cartridge Co. Seems the brass there assigned their engineers the task to develop a bullet that performed as well as the Rem. Core-Lokt. Now if the compettition is trying to equal you, seems like you're ahead!!!

I personally do not use Core-Lokt bullets, but it has nothing to do with terminal ballistics. I have not found them to be as accurate as I prefer. I like the Scirroco bullets, the Ballistic Tips for coyotes and white-tail, and Nosler Partitions for most things bigger than mule deer. If I were forced to use Core-Lokt bullets on mule deer, I wouldn't grouse too much. They are more than adequate in an accurate load for your rifle!!!

Coach

Hoosierbuck · Jul 15, 2003

Thanks, guys, for your input.
HB

COHunter · Jul 15, 2003

The last three deer I shot went down at the first shot with Core-Lokts (165gr 30/06). Closest was about 75 and furthest was 322 yards according tp the range finder.

sprayer · Jul 15, 2003

LAST EDITED ON Jul-15-03 AT 09:23PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Jul-15-03 AT 09:13?PM (MST)

Yes Coach, it did kill the deer. In case you didn't read my post I'll repeat. What if the shot that didn't hit the vitals but only broke the shoulder was the first shot? Maybe I would have found the deer maybe I wouldn't. What if you break a shoulder at 200 yards in chest high CRP. I can guarantee you wont find that deer if it gets any kind of head start. I don't like "what ifs". A lot of people use core lokts and think that they're great. I don't. My whole point is, why chance it? The savings arent enough to warrent it.

The original author wanted our opinion and I gave mine. I think the points I made are valid, and they are based on actual experience.

Wasn't it you who said, "we owe it to the wonderful animals we hunt to make clean humane kills" in your practice practice practice post? Thanks for making my point for me.

GJbuckhunter · Jul 15, 2003

LAST EDITED ON Jul-15-03 AT 10:21PM (MST)[p]Harvested several nice mule deer bucks with 7mm 150 gr. ten to fifteen years ago. More deadly (quicker kills) than a penetrating bullet (Partition) on broadside lung shots. I used Partitions until now, subscribing to the penetration-is-better-than expansion theory. Never lost a buck to either kind of bullet.

Now I am trying the 160 gr. Accubond in my 7mm Weatherby Magnum, mostly because of accuracy. I'll let you know how it turns out.

elkslayer54 · Jul 15, 2003

I have no use for them, I hand load everything, partitions for me, But I do have two buddys that love them. Just not for me, The partitions work to well to chance anything silly like a cheap bullet. IMHO,

Coach Hunt · Jul 18, 2003

Howdy,

Well said Sprayer!! I applaud your basing opinion on actual usage, and not hearsay! Best of luck to you this year, and let me know how you do hunting!

Coach

Hoosierbuck · Jul 20, 2003

Update

Ended up finding 3 different factory loads at a local gunshop, none of which were Core-Lokt, and none of which were overly pricey, including a Federal load using Nosler Partitions. Thank you all for your help. I didn't reject the Core-Lokts, this guy just didn't have any, and I'm going to the range tomorrow. (For you guys who recommended them...FYI)
HB

taipan · Oct 31, 2003

My personal experience with the cheapy remington core lokt has been explosive. Before i started reloading I was using 150gr corelokt out of my .300 win mag. The 3 muledeer I shot with them were devastating 1 shot kills. On one deer the entry was 4" with a exit of 2". Yes a cheap bullet but that goes in your favour in some instances, traveling fast, the corelokt deposits an immense amount of energy cos it starts to come apart quick. Long range (300yrds and up) this may be a problem and the bullet may not preform as well, but should still kill if placed properly.

Morty_Pass · Nov 2, 2003

If you put any bullet where it needs to be the animal will die. I used to use those remington shells, but i wasnt impressed with the accuracy and performance on game. The dont expand as much as I would would liek a bullet to. I shoot ballistic tips, scirraco's ( for any type of deer ) and partitions for elk.

later, M_P

BUNKHOLE · Nov 17, 2003

I shoot a 264 mag, and at close range (100-200yrds) bullets fragment/separate.Had my doubts, but they were accurate with 3/4 to 1 1/2max groups, and at further ranges did pretty good on elk. Sooo... i'll stick to the core-lokt.