Hornady Interlock - poor man's partition?

[Newtosavage]

Been intrigued by the reputation of the tried but true Hornady Interlock for a while now, and finally tried some. I found a very old box of 154 grain 7mm interlocks at a gun shop and loaded them for my 7x57.

All I can say is wow! Supremely accurate, and from everything I've read they perform beautifully on game. Can't wait to see the results for myself.

Any other Hornady Interlock fans out there?

 

[armedwalleye]

You bet!! Load 180s for a .308 and for a .300 Sav. By my studies, weight retention was an average of almost 90% on deer. Unscientific, certainly, due to low sample size, but I was never disappointed with accuracy or results.

 

[stringnut]

Have used the 100 257 , 139 7mm, and 150 all on deer. All have held together well. Only recovered bullets were from straight on shots. The wife plowed a large hog with 100 257 that was started at about 2850 from her 250 Savage at about 25 yards. Was angling and it shattered 4 vertebra. Remains of the bullet was still around 50 grs. Pretty tough for a non premium bullet.

 

[FROGO207]

I have found that the Interlock and the plane Jane Cor Loct both to work well for their price point IMHO. A lot of game have donated their lives to help me with this experiment.

 

[Orcon]

More like a poor man's Gameking. The only apples to apples comparison of the Partition I know of would be the A-square. Your experiences do highlight the fact that the need for a premium bullet is largely over-played. Weight retention and complete pass-through are irrelevant to accuracy and delivering the requisite trauma to anchor game in its tracks. Long gone are the days of brittle, high-antimony cores and thin or inconsistent jackets that were responsible for total bullet disruption. A standard bullet of today is a premium bullet compared to those of 30+ years ago.

 

[JimKirk]

I have shoot both Interlock & Partitions .... both are great bullets .... but the Interlocks are not equal to the Partitions .... I'll give accuracy to the Interlock, but penetration goes to the Partitions ....

 

[Don McDowell]

Have used the Hornady bullets for 50 years, they just work, not a lot of hype nor fanfare, just a good working bullet.

 

[CarJunkieLS1]

A friend of mine has been hunting deer and reloading for more than 30 years. He loads for 10-12 different rifles all of them he uses to hunt deer. The ONLY and I mean ONLY bullet he uses is a Hornady Interlock. It just plain works and he's killed more deer than anyone I know.

 

[Newtosavage]

A friend of mine has been hunting deer and reloading for more than 30 years. He loads for 10-12 different rifles all of them he uses to hunt deer. The ONLY and I mean ONLY bullet he uses is a Hornady Interlock. It just plain works and he's killed more deer than anyone I know.

You can add me to that list. Next time I go back to that gun shop and buying all their remaining "old new stock" 154's. I'm sold.

 

[splattergun]

I have venison in the freezer killed with an Interloc bullet.

 

[Cleveland48]

Probably my all time favorite bullet is the interlock. They are always accurate in anything I have tried and kill these Mississippi deer dead! I have tried some of the premium bullets, but the cup and core bullets do outstanding on these deer.


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[GooseGestapo]

Given my extensive experience with Hornady and modest experience with the Partitions, my criticism is that he Paritions don't live up to the hype, and though typically superb bullets, the Hornadys are often subject to lax quality control. Witness the large number of Blems offered for discounts.

Due to very explosive expansion of most of the partitions I've shot game with, I'd bet on bullet exit more on the Hornady's.
Every Partition I've ever recovered had shed the frontal core. Never recovered a Hornady Interlok that didn't retain at least 60%+ of original weight, most turning over and penetrating base forward for last 1/3 of penetration like a shuttle cock or parachute.
However, I've had failure to expand issues with Hornadys SST and FTX, as well as 200gr .358" RN.
I shoot a lot of Hornadys but prefer Sierras for accuracy, and Speer Hot Cores for dependable game performance.
If Interloks are the poor mans Partition, the Speer are the poor mans Bonded bullets.
My .257wbymag with 120gr HotCores FB is amazing. The only one I've recovered penetrated a 180lb Buck and was recovered from a 120lb doe standing behind him. Both were bang-flops. Recovered bullet weighed 97gr in perfect mushroom. Could have taken down an elk or moose with ease. Now days, Sierras, Speers, and regular Interlokts are less expensive than Win Power Points or unobtainable CorLokts. The Sierras, Hornadys, and Speers used to be a "Premium"bullet.
Now days "premium" means a plastic tipped or "bonded" bullet or monolithic solids machined from bar stock.
Just give me a GameKing/ProHunter, HotCore, or Interlok if the particular box/batch has proven accurate. Noslers and A-frames are too pricey to work up a load, then trajectory check and practice. $2 a bullet isn't much considering the cost of a hunt ($$$$), but to make that shot a sure thing requires $$$ to prepare for.
I'll stick with $$ Sierra, Speers, and Hornadys. Heck, I've gotten great performance from $ Privi Partisan bargain import bullets.
Mostly, these days I "shoot"deer with cast bullets at little-no cost.

 

[herkyguy]

I've had very good luck with the 150 grain interlocks in my 30-06. I picked up 500 of them for free when I got my press and I have no complaints.

The only bullet I've recovered was from the hind leg of a mature for the i shot head on at about 40 yards. The jacket separated, but the lead showed good expansion. That and the fact that it was a chest entry and the bullet was lodged under the hide near her hind leg. Dropped in its tracks.


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[jmr40]

Every Partition I've ever recovered had shed the frontal core.

That means it is working as designed. The front half of the bullet is designed to break up and give good expansion and they will almost always break into 2 halves. The back portion of the bullet is designed to stay together and penetrate deep. This gives the advantage of both explosive expansion and deep penetration.

The Interlocks are a very good bullet too and as long as you're using a bullet weight and caliber traditionally considered adequate for the game hunted you'd never see any real difference.

Where the Partitions and most of the other premium bullets come into play is when you are using a caliber that is borderline too small for the game hunted. Especially when pushed fast. An interlock driven at magnum speeds and shot at close range will be more likely to fail than the more expensive bullets. The heavy for caliber Partitions have consistently proven to out penetrate almost everything. On the game most of use it doesn't matter, you'll get complete penetration with most any bullet. But for a guy that only has a 270 and wants to hunt moose, elk, grizzly or take it to Africa for plains game a Partition or other premium would be highly recommended.

And the price of the premium hunting bullets just isn't that big of a deal. They are designed for hunting, not playing with at the range. I buy Interlocks for that. I can buy 200 bullets for load development, zeroing and practice. That would last me 2-3 years. The cost savings between Interlocks and Partitions wouldn't pay to fill the tank on my truck even with gas now under $2/gal. With the cost of everything else involved with hunting an extra 30 cents for the bullet is just no big deal.

 

[oldreloader]

I've been loading since the 1960's. I've played with lots of bullets but the two I always come back to are Gamekings and Interlocks.

 

[sage5907]

I've never fallen under the spell of the partition hype and I've tried them at least twice. In a 25-06 and 270 Winchester. Like oldreloader just said, I always come back to something that works as well and is more accurate. That includes Sierra Gameking, Speer Hot-Cor and Boattails, and Interlocks. I just went through a period of trying Berger Hybrid bullets and it looks like I will put them back on the shelf with the partitions.

 

[Walkalong]

Partitions aren't always the answer. They are a bit of a specialty bullet. But when you need one, they can get the job done. The front will mushroom great over a pretty good velocity range/game toughness, and when pushed too hard (Too much velocity or too tough of a target, or a combo of both), they will shed the front, but the rear will stay together and continue to penetrate.

The solid copper bullets of today can duplicate it, sometimes losing the front "petals".

So, as I said, Partitions aren't always the answer.

The Core-Lokt is a more apt comparison to the Interlock. (Or the Hot Core or Game King.)