SST vs Remington Core-Lokt

I would suspect that which shoot best in your rifle might be a good starting point. There are others that are much more experts than myself, a novice in comparison. I would assume that the more expensive SST's would be a better choice, but people have been taking game successfully with both for a long time. A nice shot placement will take down game humanely with either bullet. Not really exactly what you were looking for, but this is my perspective. I have no problem using both, however I could be ignorant myself.

I have used both in 30-06. SST on one deer and the shot was a little high. Both entrance and exit were small, but the deer flipped over backwards and died quickly. Don't use them anymore due to the accounts of explosive expansion.

Have taken 5 or 6 with 150 Core-Lokts. It would generally not have an exit wound, but always went down quickly. If I didn't handload, 165 CLs would be my choice.

Now I use 168 AMAX. AMAX'S are no longer recommended for hunting, though my experiences have all been good. Broadside shots always exited. The 1 frontal shot I took worked as expected with the deer going down within 50 yards.

This is the type of explosiveness that makes me hesitate with the SST. While there are plenty of cases where it works great, there are enough of this type that give me pause.

While the number is not great, I have killed whitetails with both bullets.
I have killed one with a factory Core Lokt round (165 grain), and 2 or 3 with the SST (also 165 grain).

The amount of damage did seem greater with the SSTs than the 1 with the Core Lokt. Don't put too much weight on this, since I have only 1 sample.
The distance they ran were very similar though.

I have killed quite a few with SSTs, and they perform similar to Nosler BTs in my experience. I have also killed a few with Corelokts. They seemed to be too far in the other direction for me (in 8mm) so now I have a ton of them just sitting around. In my opinion, for a good compromise between the overzealous explosiveness of the SSTs and the tidiness of the corelokts, Sierra pro hunters work magically. In my .308, they tend to shoot better than both as well, although they are constructed very similarly to the corelokts. I use the sierras with the flat base and soft point.

AAAAAAAND I just realized I never answered the question. There is in fact a meaningful difference between the design, and you are right about intent but not about real world application. Yes the Hornady kills quicker... WITH A DOUBLE LUNG SHOT. Shoot through the shoulder, though, or hit another heavier bone, and results could be vastly different. I shot one through the chest with one, a low chest shot, and it died quickly. I liked the results so I tried it again and hit the collar bone, accidentally. That one did NOT die quickly. In that case, a corelokt or other bullet type would have been a better option as it holds together and penetrates deeper. That is why I like the compromise of the Sierra. It does more damage (in my experience) than a corelokt but will get in there better than the SST if needed.

Sorry I got started rambling with my initial response and forgot to actually answer the question.

Both are cup and core bullets. The SST's use a plastic tip that helps with aerodynamics. Given the same caliber, bullet weights and impact speeds results should be nearly identical.

Both are designed to work best between about 1800 fps impact speed and about 2800 fps. Too fast and they may over expand and not penetrate enough. Too slow and they may not expand at all. But the SST's will retain speeds better at distance and drop below 1800 fps much farther down range.

If you need lots of penetration for the game hunted use a heavier bullet to reduce impact speeds and increase penetration.

Both the SST's and Nosler Ballistic Tips had a reputation for excessive expansion. Both companies have made the jackets thicker on both bullets in recent years to address the issue.

Rem corelockt 165 was my goto bullet in the 06, killed dozens of whitetails from 30 to 200+ yds. I found that at close range, near muzzle velocity the damage was considerably greater, as one would expect. I've taken exactly one deer with the sst bullet, a 139 gr from my 7mm08, shot was about 20 yds. A frontal neck hit, the exit was incredible, it split from base of the shoulder to the base of the skull. Looked like it was filleted.

Iirc the sst was design more for longer ranges.

Depends. Some caliber bullets are better than others. What specifically are you trying to compare?

I think both bullets are fine for deer. I have used both CORE-LOKs and SSTs with success. I would say shot placement is still key. When I have hit heavy bones I still have gotten exit holes with both. The SSTs don't act like the early Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets from my experience. I know that the BTs have improved.

Shoot the bullet your rifles like.

Safe hunting!

Of I'm not mistaken hornandy did a redesign of the sst's to address expansion issues.

I've killed over 100 whitetail, with a wide array of bullets. If you played every one of them back for me on video, I'd never be able to tell from watching, which deer was shot with which type of bullet. It's only when processing them that I can tell. While the internal damage was notably more traumatic when shooting expanding bullets like the ballistic tip, they all died in short order. I could usually pour the lungs from a deer shot with a ballistic tip from my 7 mag, but even they usually managed a dead run for a few yards. The deer I hunt are generally 100 to 110 lb doe, and bucks that weight 150, sometimes ranging up to 250 lbs. They're not difficult animals to kill. I prefer a double lung shot, and the vast majority have been such. Federal Ballistic Tips, Nosler Accubond, Rem Core Lokt, Sierra Game King, Winchester Silver Tips, and more, they've all worked well for me.

I once shot a whitetail buck in the heart with my 7 mag at a distance of 7 yards. He ran so far, and bled so little that I wondered if I'd ever find him. He left enough hair at the scene to make a blanket, but not a drop of blood for 50 yards. Then it was a drop here or there, then a little more, and by the time I found him 75 yards away it looked like someone had dumped a five gallon bucket of blood. Most of the time, if you don't hit something in the central nervous system, they'll go for a run prior to giving up the ghost.

Heck, I once shot a whitetail buck at 175 yards, double lung and he dropped in his tracks. When I was inspecting him I noticed a large bulge in his spine. Then, when cleaning him I noticed that my bullet had hit perfectly broadside, then turn 90 degrees, went straight up and busted his spine. Bullets do funny things once they hit stuff.

Never been a fan of the ballistic tip style bullets such as the SST's. The explosive nature of the wound channel can damage a lot of meat! It can also shock the spine when the fatal wounding organs are not damaged enough and you see a deer drop and then get up and run away to never be seen again except by the buzzards and yotes! Been there, done that, got the T-Shirt.

I always go with a standard expanding bullet these days.

For 130’s in 270 the Core-Lokts are going to be the safer choice, but there isn’t a huge difference between the two for deer.

If the shot passes between ribs on entrance, the SST’s will do more damage to vitals. If the deer takes a step right when you shoot and the bullet encounters a front shoulder first and then a rib, the Core-Lokts have a better chance of getting through and taking out vitals.

Me...?

I like cup-n-core as most all I shoot is < ~ 2800 fps at the muzzle.
(and I'm gettin' old... and don't care about fads anymore)

I like fast copper - but that's it.

That said, I also like heavy for caliber, w/ the exception of the .30-06, which is limited to 165 gr., or 168 gr. copper, as it's runnin' an M1 Rifle.

SST's work, as do the Core-Lokt's, even stepppin' along at "popular" weight speeds from std. length cartridges.

Just make the heavy bones on the off side, so the bullets aren't over-stressed.


Would be a little skeptical of the Remington offerings, as they have been a little "sketchy" from time to time, and they are in the midst of upheaval.


I like the Speer Grand Slam - .277/150 gr. (270 WCF) and .264/140 gr. (6.5x55).

...and 165 gr. Core-Lokts cover the 30-06 M1.

... but that's just me.






GR

Never used SST bullets but I have killed a lot of deer with the core-lokt and Nosler partion but my rifle liked the core-lokt the best. Shoulder shots to anchor them there only found 2 bullets. 270 Winchester.

Remington Core-Lokts are very good performance and accuracy wise in my 270 Winchester. They work great on deer.

Hornady SSTs do expand rapidly. It is not a bullet to do a Texas heart shot with but would do very well with a broadside lung shot. If you hit a leg you'll probably ruin a lot of meat.

I wouldn't hesitate to use either taking into consideration what I know about their performance. My preference, if they shot well in my gun, would be the Core-Lokts.

The SST is a bit of a sore spot for me. 3 deer killed between my wife and I. All were VERY dead...but. I like to eat venison, and I really didn't care for the fragmentation I got. It really spread fragments into parts I wanted to eat that were well off the impact vector. Loads were. 308 win 150 and 280 rem 154, both near book max and relatively short range. No exits with 5 impacts behind the shoulder. One 200+ lb buck that was hopped up on adrenaline took 2 in the boiler with the 280. I greatly prefer terminal results of the Speer Hot core or Hornady IL. I tend to get pass through hits with good damage, but none of the off-vector fragmentation. Had similar results with circa 1990 core Lokt in a. 308, but I hear today's core Lokt are not the same bullet.

dh1633pm said:

I would suspect that which shoot best in your rifle might be a good starting point...., A nice shot placement will take down game humanely with either bullet.

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So all my deer have been taken with a solid, lead bullet.

I have hunted with my .308, but didn't get a shot at a deer. However, when sighting it in, the Remington Core-Lokt 150 grains were under one MOA in accuracy at 100 yards. Federals, Hornadys, Privi-Partisan, IMI ammo all shot a lot worse, so I have always loaded Remingtons. My rifle is an old G98 Mauser, rebarreled in 7.62 NATO by the Israelis, with a Timney sporting trigger installed an a Leopold scope. The barrel is quite finicky when it comes to accuracy, and where I hunt it's a 200 yard shot or much less, so either bullet would do, and thus my two-cents of opinion is probably not worth much.

LD

Hog huntin Harry said:

From what I understand Hornady SST bullets are designed for rapid expansion in deer sized game, so in theory they would do more damage to lung tissue, heart, ect (kill quicker) than regular cup and core soft points like Core-Lokts, right ? So would ya'll say there's a meaningful difference between the two designs ?

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jmr40 said:

Both are cup and core bullets. The SST's use a plastic tip that helps with aerodynamics. Given the same caliber, bullet weights and impact speeds results should be nearly identical.

Both are designed to work best between about 1800 fps impact speed and about 2800 fps. Too fast and they may over expand and not penetrate enough. Too slow and they may not expand at all. But the SST's will retain speeds better at distance and drop below 1800 fps much farther down range.

If you need lots of penetration for the game hunted use a heavier bullet to reduce impact speeds and increase penetration.

Both the SST's and Nosler Ballistic Tips had a reputation for excessive expansion. Both companies have made the jackets thicker on both bullets in recent years to address the issue.

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Hog huntin Harry said:

130 grain .270 Winchester

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Hornady sst should expand at 1600 fps, nbtips 1800, the ssts are a great hunting bullet if you're planning on impacts lower than 2800 fps(lil bit out out there) they're a hollow point with a polymer tip to help with better b.c.. the browning bxr is the splodiest bullet I've seen on game to date, planning on trying winchester extreme points this year in my .270wsm, but last year with my buddy's .270 the bxrs ripped up ribs, bloodshot a whole shoulder (on side) and blew out the brisket, the pronghorn was 30 yards away, half a lung and a smaller portion of heart were all that was left in the cavity. The ssts are not the most ideal at close range, but that's also not what they were designed for. If you're gonna shoot more than 75 yards away, the sst is a good option, not quite as violent as a Berger from what I've seen. I have not tried the sst in every caliber yet but I believe if you pick em like @LoonWulf and go a lil heavier for caliber, you'll be just dandy, think of a 140 or 150 sst trucking at 28-2900 fps and you'll have a good combo! At close range with the .270 130s I'd look at hard bullets period because of all that speed on impact, think of bonded, Sierra prohunter, nosler partition, Barnes, etc. I know they're not NEEDED but at the time of it's design, the .270 was meant to kill at farther ranges, for closer ranges just use a harder bullet and you're good to go, lil farther out and stuff like the sst comes into its own.

I used to be a fan of the Nosler BTs which is the same as the sst. They are quite accurate but destroy your average whitetail. Got tired of picking lead fragments out of my teeth. I have worked up loads and good groups with SGK's now. If they run with that last shot of adrenaline it's not far.

I've killed deer with nbt's, accubombs, sst's, interlocks, and corelokts. By far the longest kill shot accomplished on a whitetail was with a 30-06 150 gr corelokt, aimed three inches high above the shoulder---the bullet dropped so far over the distance it took the top right off that deer's heart (gun was sighted in 2" high @ 100). I am a believer in corelokts, I love 'em.

SST's have always been accurate, but I'd rather shoot 7mm 120 nbts.

LNF150 said:

By far the longest kill shot accomplished on a whitetail was with a 30-06 150 gr corelokt, aimed three inches high above the shoulder---the bullet dropped so far over the distance it took the top right off that deer's heart (gun was sighted in 2" high @ 100). I am a believer in corelokts, I love 'em.

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Wow! Did you measure it?