Hornady 270 130 grain Interlock bullet performance

I’ve been hunting deer for better than 50 years and have taken over 100 deer with a wide range of rifles from 30-30 to 338-‘06. I can count the number of deer that didn’t drop in their tracks on one hand. Yesterday was number 5.

Most of the deer I’ve taken has been with some version of either the Nosler Ballistic Tip or the Hornady SST. The majority of my shots are either high shoulder or neck shots. This year I switched to the Hornady 130 grain Interlock in an effort to conserve meat, as the Ballistic Tips and SST bullets are like throwing grenades. I also wanted a pass-through shot...something that often doesn’t occur when you hit a heavy bone with the Ballistic Tip or SST. Although I will have to admit that even though a number of these bullets didn’t pass through the inside of the chest cavity was pretty much turned into soup and my deer was immediately DRT(dead right there).

Yesterday was the opening day of rifle season and you couldn’t have asked for a better day. Cold front hit Oklahoma Thursday night. Nasty, cold and wet. Yesterday morning was 22 degrees, clear, sunny and no wind. With the rut in full swing, yesterday was as good as it gets. My partner and I had two nice bucks on the ground in an hour.

I was a little disappointed with my harvest. As usual, the deer came out in a spot I was not expecting. I was hunting the edge of several draws that converge on our lease. This 8 point came out at 80 yards and saw me. They run cattle on the property most of the year and the deer are accustomed to seeing people. The deer are not pressured out there and will stand there broad side at distances over 100 yards and just look at you as long as the wind is in your favor. This guy was not comfortable with me at 80 yards but, there was no wind, so he decided to study what he was seeing. He was partly obscured by brush but I had a clear look at his front left shoulder. Didn’t want to place the bullet much behind the shoulder as I was afraid of blowing up his stomach. Clearly he was not about to put up with me this close, so I put the cross hairs in the middle of his left shoulder and sent the round. Text book shot, turned his shoulder into mush with the bullet exiting in the middle of the rib cage on the right side. I did not expect his reaction. I figured he would go down in his tracks. Instead, he spun around and set a new land speed record disappearing in the draw about 75 yards from where he was hit. I waited the usual half hour and followed up on him. He was lying dead just out of sight. All the signs indicated that he was dead when he hit the ground. I guess I should regard my harvest as a success. However, I wonder if I should have placed the round through the brisket just inside the shoulder. Probably straining at gnats but thought I would ask for opinions on shot placement. I have absolutely no criticism of the bullet performance. That round clocks 3000 fps out of my rifle and shoots one hole groups at 100 yards. The bullet did it’s job. Did the shooter do his job?

courtgreene said:

I think that’s a pretty good performance by shooter and bullet. Might have been off a little from where you intended but you aimed small, missed small, and still hit where it counted.
I’ve certainly done worse. I like those bullets (but I tend to shoot them from a 7.62x54r so they’re not directly comparable).

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Thank you for the kind words.

Bfh_auto said:

That's the same shot I would have taken. What happened is common with non ballistic tip style bullets. The deer run. You have an exit wound. The deer is dead somewhere.
With the other style bullet you get more bang flops. But you get more damage...

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Good to know. Thank you. As I said my intent was less damage with the trade-off of having a pass-through shot. I haven’t killed nearly as many deer with conventional cup and core bullets. Last year I elected to use a little Ruger 77 RSI in 243. My bullet was a 100 grain Nosler Partition. 126 yard shot on good size doe (150 ) pounds. Sent that round through both shoulders. She hit the ground like a sack of wet concrete. Going out again tomorrow. Time to thin out a few doe.

Sawdust1 said:

I've been shooting that same bullet in a 270 for years. What you described has happened to me also but on the flip side I've made the same shot on other deer and they have dropped on the spot. That bullet is devastating on a deers internal organs. I use interlocks in 270,3006,308 and 243 and in my opinion that is one of the best hunting bullets

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That’s what I’ve read a number of times. This is why I went with the Interlock.

tominboise said:

I've used a few interlocks on Mule deer, from the 270 Win and 300 Win Mag. I find them accurate in my rifles and I have harvested everything I have shot with them, but I think they are too soft and I don't like to use them anymore for big game. The deer that I have shot with them, I have recovered basically the jacket and some shreds of lead. I have also shot a few animals, mule deer and antelope, with Sierra gameking and Nosler ballistic tip, with basically the same results in 7mm Rem mag and 25-06. I think this performance goes hand in hand with cup and core bullets, which the Interlock is. If I have a choice, I prefer all copper or bonded bullets, like the Interbond.

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Never used a monolithic bullet before. I hear they are highly effective on big game until the distance stretches out. I’ve read that around the 400 yard mark they pretty much act like FMJ Ball ammo. What has your longest shot been? How was the expansion?

H&Hhunter said:

Animals react differently to perfect shots. I’ve seen them completely dead on their feet run several hundred yards and I’ve seen critters shot thought the back of the lungs flop over on the spot.

That's just how it goes with critters. Hornandy Interlocks on the other hand are cheap cup and core bullets that are going to come apart if they are pushed at high velocity. This isn’t really a factor on light critters like deer. But I wouldn’t even consider using a Hornady Interlock for serious work on big game.

Hornady Interlocks, Sierra Game Kings, Winchester Power Points ETC all have cool names for marketing purpose and they all give about identical performance on game for a given sectional density and velocity.

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I’ve only used one Interlock on serious big game, so I will defer to your recommendation. Some years ago I killed 2000 pound Bison bull on the Tripple U Ranch in South Dakota with a 250 grain Interlock that was doing 2600 fps out of a 338 Winchester Magnum with a shot to the side of the head, just over the eye, at 75 yards. The bullet did come apart but was found under the hide on the off side. The bull went down in his tracks. A sample of one proves nothing, but I got the result I wanted. Were I to do that again, I would either use the Nosler Partition, a heavy bonded bullet or a heavy monolithic bullet. Just curious, what would you recommend?

Just a quick update. Went out again yesterday and took a young doe, about 90 pounds, to have made into snack sticks and Summer sausage. She stepped out at 200 yards. Just as I sent the round another doe came bounding into the picture causing her to take a quick hop. Bullet struck her square in the middle of the rib cage on the left side and exited back toward her waist nicking the front of her stomach. Piss poor shot placement any way you cut it. If ever there was a deer that would run with a shot like that I would think it would have been her. That round flipped her over and she went down on the spot...no kicking or squirming. She was dead right there. Go figure!

OFFGRID said:

meat in the freezer!

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Yes sir!

Random 8 said:

I hunt a lot of small acreages and public land. Both places where even a "good" blood trail with a dead deer within 100 yards can result in some unwelcome logistics. Not a fan of playing phone tag with landowners after sundown to attain permission to retrieve a dead deer or hearing a second rifle shot in the direction my well hit deer ran off. I hunt with either a .300 Savage and 150 cup and cores, or a .280 rem with a med-light for caliber semi-premium in deference to the elevated velocity and potential for tough shot angles where I hunt (145 Speer GS). I try to set up spots where I can take a CNS shot whenever possible. Relatively short ranges inside 100 yards and a firm shooting position with a field expedient rest or the ability to set up "chair prone with sling". I'm talking neck above the shoulder or even brain stem if it's a real slam dunk. The spine North of the shoulder is the only place that will 100% DRT a deer if you hit it. It is a small target, and such shots cannot be taken lightly. You do have some margin for error with a soft point bullet in the heavy muscle mass surrounding the spine there, a near miss will usually shock the deer down, but they sometimes require a knife or second shot to be 100% sure. I had that happen with a low shoulder hit, but I kept the crosshairs on it and put another in the brainstem when it lifted it's head back up. Learned that lesson with one my dad shot that got up and ran off. Fortunately that one was a bleeder and we ran it to ground eventually. The shooter and the situation must be up to it! This dictates extensive field position practice, and knowing your ranges from the stand, and setting yourself up for success. On the bright side, we have an intact shoulder roast slow roasting in the oven as we speak! Shoulders eat better than hair/blood/bone/bullet fragments.

Sounds like your bullet did what I would expect a HV cup and core Interlock or Hot Core to do. Congrats on your harvest.

From your description, I probably would have shot your first deer in the white patch under the chin given a solid shooting position and that portion not obscured by brush.

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Thank you for the information.