Looking for some one's else's insight,

I have used Remington core Lokts for well over 40 years. No complaints.Due to ammo shortage and change in ownership of Reminton I found some boxes of Hornady American Whitetail and tried them.

I found the accuracy to be very good to excellent. I used them to harvest two deer in the past 2022 season.

Only question is, one of the two deer was not a pass through shot. No blood trail. The animal didn't run far but I had to look for it.

Anyone else have trouble with getting a pass through shot with Hornady american whitetail ammo or was this just a fluke?

Caliber?
Shot placement?

this^^^ some times it happens with any bullet , shot placement and what you hit are huge.

I purposely didn't state caliber because I didn't want to start that discussion.

Both deer were shot in the left front leg at 80 to 110 yards, approximately, angling away. Both bullets penetrated the heart.

One animal the bullet exited the right side rib cage back of the right shoulder and left a good blood trail.

The other animal the bullet didn't exit. It didn't run any further but since the bullet didn't exit there was no blood trail. The animal ran down into the woods. I had to look for it for awhile. I believe many people wouldn't have found it.

Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem or like I said maybe it was a fluke.

I don't want to say anything inflammatory. The animal the bullet didn't pass through, the one in question. The bullet hit the leg bone so square I didn't salvage any meat off that front leg. I have never had that happen before either.

I purposely didn't state caliber because I didn't want to start that discussion.

Both deer were shot in the left front leg at 80 to 110 yards, approximately, angling away. Both bullets penetrated the heart.

One animal the bullet exited the right side rib cage back of the right shoulder and left a good blood trail.

The other animal the bullet didn't exit. It didn't run any further but since the bullet didn't exit there was no blood trail. The animal ran down into the woods. I had to look for it for awhile. I believe many people wouldn't have found it.

Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem or like I said maybe it was a fluke.

I don't want to say anything inflammatory. The animal the bullet didn't pass through, the one in question. The bullet hit the leg bone so square I didn't salvage any meat off that front leg. I have never had that happen before either.

Sorry, I guess I posted my reply twice

It is all about how much bone it breaks and how much energy is absorbed. I have had bullets just inside the hide with a 300 H&H and 180 grain Nosler Partitions. They just broke a BUNCH of bone getting there!

Yeah, we tried those also in 7mm/08, .243, and .308. We didn’t like them in any of those calibers. Same issue you ran into.
I’m shooting (.308) Barnes VOR TX and have several boxes of it. Along with soft points that are just as deadly as the Core Lokts for me. I’ve said it before, when you find the ammo you’re looking for buy in bulk. And don’t be afraid to contact the manufacturer if looking for something specific.

Thanks.

I mostly wanted other opinions on Hornady american whitetail ammo. Like I stated I never used it before. I am impressed with the accuracy at the range. Just concerned with the bullet performance after my experience this past deer season.

Only real reason it bothers me, I suppose, since the bullet didn't pass through there was no blood trail. In a brushy woods I am convinced some people wouldn't have found him. I spent some time looking.

I’d say the circumstances, range, the bullet hitting the leg, and angle all played a factor and it probably was just a fluke.

Here's the Deal

I'm telling you this because your issue would & will be a moot subject IfYou aim 1.5 to 2" higher And shoot at the upper Scapula. Deer will absolutely Fold like a Dove

was the bullet less than 150gr and moving faster than 2800fps at the muzzle. because I would be surprised if a bullet that meats that criteria would mak an exit after hitting the leg bone like that


and yes if you can aim for where the scapula is next to the spine or the forward edge of that intersection they fold on the spot

I have used them in several calibers and they have always shot well. Most have left an exit, the ones that didn’t hit lots of bone. But they were not hard to find, most dropped where the stood. My son has used them exclusively in his .243. Always done a great job, leaving a great trail.

Thanks for your input.

To 330 trapper.

Believe me I know exactly what you mean. But that only works if the animal is at right angles. At a right angle you can hit both shoulders / legs. At a quartering angle you get what I experienced. One leg and heart / lungs.

I am not going to pass up that shot

I'll go ahead and ask....Are you shooting a 6.5 Creedmore?

Fixed it for you.

LOL, I KNEW someone would ask.

And for the record...

I try to AVOID shoulder/ leg bones.
Wastes too much meat, double lung and/ or heart

Sierra game kings are the answer your looking for for deer

So here goes the discussion I didn't want to start.

I am shooting a .243, 100 grain bulletts, and have been since I was 16. I am 64 now. You do the math. My Dad shot an 06. I have seen deer shot with most popular calibers up to 7mm remington magnum.

I once witnessed a friend of mine shoot a buck fawn with a .270, 130 grain bullet, at about 50 yards. The bullett didn't punch through. I thought it was a fluke, Remington core lokt factory ammo. I always wondered if it was a bad load.

Bottom line. A deer shot through the heart / lungs will run more or less 75 yards. Usually down into a ditch. Dad always lunged his deer because if he shoulder shot them he would have to through away the "off" shoulder. I like the .243 because I can shoulder shoot them and usually only loose two handfuls of meat.

This is the first time I had to throw away an entire front leg and it was the "impact" leg.

Thanks again for your input

Tried them. Same results went to federal fusion. Now they are hard to find in 3 different calibers I use.

I’m old school and want blood like my archery equipment produces. In the brush if you don’t see it fall, I want a blood trail! Those bullets did not work for us with exit wounds. The bullets we use now do.
We had similar luck with the SST’s. They do some serious damage inside and the deer WILL be dead, but if it runs out of sight you better have some friends to help walk a grid pattern to find it. They don’t exit. Out West or in the wide open spaces it really wouldn’t matter, down here it does.

WannA be trapper

What bulletts are you using now?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a .243 and 100 grain bullet. I am fortunate enough to reload. My load is a 95 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip. It has always done a great job.

I have reloaded many Hornady bullet in about five calibers. Work will. Never been disappointed with a CoreLokt either.

In the 70s I used to recover a lot of 30-06 bullets. Not so anymore. Bullets must be a little better and I shoot smaller calibers now as well.

Deer can be folded at many Angles
anatomy targets that are accurate are Great

I had Great results with those Whitetail Hornady's in .243 and 7mm Rem mag.

Meat loss negligible. Couple handfuls for the dog.

Shooting Barnes VOR TX in the .308 and my youngest son is using the CoreLokts in the .243. Not sure what my oldest is using in his 7mm/08 but uses the .243 for riding around and it hasn’t failed him yet.

Correct

Try the Winchester PowerPoint 100 GR there just like the corlok

The last 2 years I've used a pistol much of the time. You need to miss the shoulder to get exits. I used 30-06 with 165 gr corelocks for years and though the shoulder wasn't a problem. Adjust shot selection to caliber and bullet.

I think the Hornady Whitetails have a pretty thin jacket. Adjust accordingly.

I still use the corloks in our 243s . Haven't seen much of an issue in availability if you are willing to order on line

Killed a bunch with 175 grain round ball out of a 50 flinter 25 to 80 yards

.243 is a real classic whitetail round! Core lock bullets are great for pass through. My old 30-30 does great with them. Maybe go back to them if the Hornady is not performing well for you. Every shot will be different no matter what though…. Maybe you didn’t give the Hornady a fair chance after using the green box for so long?

The last half dozen or so deer that I have killed have been with the. 243 fusion. Not quite bang flop, but they have kicked out within 50 yards. The thing is, there are tons of deer around and I'm old and calm enough to never take a bad shot.
Most of the deer that I have killed were with 150 grain partition hand loads at about 2700 fps out of an 06. Even a Texas heart shot did the trick with them.

If you're hooked on. 243 ,(like I am now) just pick your shots and don't try to break anything bigger than a rib.

High shoulder. Basically your hand grenadeing their central nervous system.

If you can make that shot,you could do the same thing forward in the neck.
I suppose that might mess up a trophy mount, but that's not something that I would worry about.

How one shot on a particular deer performs doesn't mean a thing. There are many unexpected ways a bullet may perform. Whatever the ammo is you're using is probably just fine for deer.

120 TTSX Barnes VOR TX in 7mm 08 puts deer down in a hurry and easy to shoot. Killed a pile of deer with those out of my 7 08. Killed a bunch with 140 Core Lokts too. Lucked up a few years ago and bought a bunch of Federal Premium 7 08 with 140 TSX for $15/box on clearance. I'm set for a while with those. Hard to even reload for that price these days.

Just neck or head shot any does ! NTR or DRT depending on which state you live in . 6 mm 87 gr spitzer . You can tell from the blood spot it didn't even wiggle when it went down.

I do not care for core lokts, to many unexplained happenings with them. American whitetail is loaded with Hornady Interlock bullets, nothing wrong with them!

I shot corelok in my 6mm Hated them in the 100 grain ! Now the 80 grain !!! They were a beast Were being the key word Don’t make them anymore. 243 caliber will Kill almost anything in the right hands. If it’s blood trails your wanting better step up to a 270 ish caliber. Especially on a deer over 100 lbs way too many angles and bones that might prevent exit wounds . Been there hunted for decades with a 243 sized bullet But when I was chasing a mega giant in a grown up 110 acre cedar / briars I bought a 270 Because some of the deer in previous years would crash within 70 yards and still almost impossible to find .

That’s when the neck shooting started for me

Thanks again for the input. Start talking calibers and loads is like discussing right size of trap for a given animal. I couldn't find core Lokts on line or anywhere else. Hope this ammo shortage thing goes away. I understand the purchaser of the Reminton ammo portion of the business is starting to offer core Lokts again.

One other thing. All firearms including .22 rifles and shotguns have an ammo preferance. My rifle always shot Reminton core Lokts well, probably shoots the Hornady whitetail at least as well if not better. My rifle doesn't shoot nearly as well with either winchester or federal. Nothing wrong with either brand, just the peculiarity of my rifle. Go with a friend and pattern two or more turkey shotguns with different loads and you will see exactly what I am talking about.

I don't reload, so I have tried various brands of ammo in all my firearms over the years to find the most accurate load in that particular firearm.

Thanks again for your responses

Very true.
We're approaching triple digits on deer using MLs.
Other than the occasional RB when I'm feeling Old Timey, most all have been using a saboted all lead, 260 Knight HP, over 90 gr 2F.
Have only recovered a few of the bullets.
And they looked like this.




I have used 150 gr CoreLokts in a 30.06 for decades.
Great performance.

Using Hornady Am Whitetails in 6.5 CM, but haven't shot enough deer with it to form an opinion yet.

Stuff happens, with any caliber, a sample of a few deer doesn't mean much, shoot 20-30 and now you got a baseline avg.

When it comes to calibers like any of the 6mm, usual caveat is "shot placement is critical". Rarely does anyone follow up on that to say where.......or why. This guy does both:

https://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/Effective+Game+Killing.html

Takes awhile to wade thru all that, but what else you got to do today?

Was all set to expand the herd to include one of the 6.5's., but after seeing his stuff have changed my mind. Now thinking if you want a Creedmoor, it ought to be the 6mm. 2600 fps PLUS when it arrives and sent thru the boiler room door. Lights go out and stay out.

I have a creedmoor, shoots better than it should but its heavy, I also have a 6.5 Grendel, it will run a 123 at 2590 fps, all the deer gun anyone would need to 300 yards or more. I have also done very well with a variety of 6mm's, 6mm PPC, 243 win. and 6mm rem. its always about shot placement. A poor hit with even the 50 BMG will result in a tracking job at best.

Yeah, the Barnes in my .308 puts a HOLE through a deer with a blood trail a child could follow.

I just picked up four new factory boxes of 80 gr core lokt ammo...because I haven't been able to find 100 gr. Was surprised to see them on the shelf at Sportsmans Warehouse.

6 MM?

That's probably relevant 243.