.375 H&H 300 gr Hornady interlock

[WoodencrossIII]

Hello all
Just wondering about these bullets and if anyone has used them for game? I picked up a couple boxes and they will be shot from a Ruger No1. Deer elk and bear will be the quarry, I am just curious of the performance and how did they do on bigger stuff and are they ever used in Africa for anything?
Thanks

 

[matt85]

Will be fine for elk and bear. You would want a better built bullet if going for bigger/tougher game. The newer Hornady DGX is more suitable.

Best bullet I've ever used was the Swift A-frame. But I have used the Barnes TSX with good success as well.

 

[WoodencrossIII]

Would Swift A frames be a good all around bullet are they too tough for deer tho

 

[375er]

Would Swift A frames be a good all around bullet are they too tough for deer tho

I will say too tough for deer. What you have will work for your intended game.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Would Swift A frames be a good all around bullet are they too tough for deer tho

I've killed smaller PG with 300gr North Forks with no problem. I would expect the same performance out of an A-Frame. It's not that they're too tough in my opinion, it's just that they're tougher than they need to be for deer size game.

 

[ActionBob]

Would Swift A frames be a good all around bullet are they too tough for deer tho

I would use them if that is what I had and wanted to use. Especially in a 375. It's already making a decent sized hole so if it's slower to expand, so what.

 

[Joker12]

I have killed a couple of truckloads of deer using Hornady interlocks in 270, 7mm, and 30 caliber. They work very well. Perhaps not strongly enough constructed for something like cape buffalo but for anything else they are very good bullets.

 

[BryceM]

Lots of folks use .243 and .264 bullets for deer. If they expand to .375, they're usually going to work fine.......

Even a Swift A-frame or TSX will expand more than you'd think when it meets a little critter like deer or springbok.

Using 300 grain .375 bullets for deer isn't a match made in heaven, but it will certainly work, as long as you place them where they're supposed to go.

 

[meigsbucks]

Many years ago, took an elk with a 270gr Hornady from a .375 at ~175 yds. It went thru the shoulders and made exit. The 300gr should serve you well on the game you denote.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I echo all of the other’s sentiments. 300Gr Hornady Interlock is perfectly acceptable for any North American game including the great Kodiak bears. For Cape buffalo, it will also work on a perfect broadside shot (provided that the heavy humerus bone itself is avoided). But the Hornady Dangerous Game eXpanding Bonded bullets are far more suited for hunting things like African Cape buffalo and bull eland.

 

[WoodencrossIII]

Thank you all for the input I figured they would be well suited, I don’t think separation will be an issue with these as it’s not high velocity, Hornady has always been a reputable maker.

 

[ActionBob]

Thank you all for the input I figured they would be well suited, I don’t think separation will be an issue with these as it’s not high velocity, Hornady has always been a reputable maker.

Although i agree those bullets will be well suited for your stated use.... I disagree with the statement that Hornady has been or is a reputable bullet maker. In my experience when a problem is reported, they respond indignantly and by insulting the disgruntled hunter.

Probably the most infamous incident involved @gizmo

Personally I've had one of the new Hornady DGX Bonded 480 grain bullets explode in the nazel cavity of a buffalo bull rather than hold together and penetrate. And I've had issues with 190 grain ELD-X being inconsistent on target. They will group great but every now and then produce a real flyer. I see a lot of evidence of poor quality control.

 

[mooze]

the 300 gr interlock and the 286 gr for 9.3 mm are the same bullet-construction and apparently have a bit of a thicker jacket than the smaller calibers, The few animals I have shot with a 9.3.x62 and this bullet had 2 holes ( deer) or the bullet expanded on the exit side (black bear). no jacket-core separation issues. Mostly shooting monolithics now.

 

[Kevin375]

I had the opportunity to try Hornady Interlock 300 gr in Africa several years ago. I shot 11 elands, 9 impalas, 2 kudus, 2 warthogs, 1 oryx and 1 leopard with them.
Because they are not bonded bullets, I decided to make a sedate recipe closer to the 9.3x62 than to a full horse power .375 H&H magnum.
In the past, I was able to push them at 820 m/s ( 2690 f/s) with a famouse double base powder from Switzerland but it's far to fast for such cup and core bullet. The accuracy was good in my Blaser R93, but the recoil started to be quite strong.
For hunting, I decided to use the Vihtavuori N140 and I had a good accuracy at ~ 710 m/s (2330 f/s).
Well the bullet works but I will never use them again on big stuffs. For sure, I killed several big elands bulls with it, but I also had several bullets that broke apart. I would say, 10 elands didn't go far so in that case, we cannot really speaks about faillure but in one case, I have a serious doubt. I shot a yound, but already big body bull at maybe 20 meters maximum in the thick bush. The animal was full broadside and I touched it just behind the shoulder. Hit hard, the animal ran away and we expected to recovered it within 100 meters. At the beginning there was a lot of blood but quickly, there was almost no blood anymore. We followed the animal till the darkness and we picked up the trail the next morning a bit further. Thanks to the incredible skill of the tracker, we finally recovered the animal dead after a 5 kilometers tracking. My shot was perfectly placed but despite our requests, workers were not able to recover the bullet and to tell us what happended inside. We are pretty sure the bullet burst at the impact and fail to penetrate deeply into the boiller room.
On impalas, they tends

Here are all the bullets recovered.

1 : Kudu bull shot full broadside between 170-180 meters. The bullet went through both shoulders and was recovered under the skin. Weight retention 225 gr = 75 %
2 : Eland cow shot with a quartering-away shot at 70 meters : 210.19 gr = 70 %
3: Impala shot with a quartering-away shot at 60 meters : 200.78 gr = 66.9 %
4 : Eland bull shot full broadside at 100 meters. The bullet went through both shoulders and again recovered under the skin : 221.6 gr = 73.86 %
5 : Eland bull shot at 20 meters, full broadside. The bullet that broke the first shoulder completely exploded but was recovered in the opposite shoulder.
Here is a video to see it well in details :

74.38 gr = 24.8 %
6 & 7 : Eland bull shot twice at ~100 meters with both quartering-toward shots. The n° 6 : 246 gr = 82.1 % and the n°7 : 84.26 gr = 28.1 %
8: Eland bull shot at 100 meters, full broadside and through shoulders : 72.07 gr for the lead and 71 gr for the jacket.
9 : Kudu bull shot at 94 meters with a quartering-toward shot. 144 gr = 48.1 %

Now in this caliber, I'm using Degol 350 gr, Starkmantel and Lion Load, and they perform better on games.

 

[Brian]

Very helpful posts and photos. much appreciated.

I don't want to upset anyone but what I get from these good posts is confirmation that Hornady is more interested in their shareholders than their hunters/customers.
When they produce a low quality bullet which seems to be standard procedure for Hornady, and it is proven to be have poor terminal performance they just keep on producing it unchanged.

They actively advertise/market their bad bullets as if the were the best bullets on the market. I would not hunt anything especially cape buffalo with a Hornady bullet. In my opinion they are one of the worst bullets on the market for terminal performance. I go out on a limb with this post, my only intent is to be informative to fellow hunters.

Brian

 

[WoodencrossIII]

Thanks all again especially the pics from Kevin375 awesome stuff thank you

 

[mooze]

@Kevin375 thank you for the write up, this is an excellent gallery of bullet performance. Quite typical of the standard cup and core. I would not call it a bad bullet, as for everything you have to be aware of the limitations of the product. This is not a bullet for high-speed or bone crunching impact.

 

[Brian]

I had the opportunity to try Hornady Interlock 300 gr in Africa several years ago. I shot 11 elands, 9 impalas, 2 kudus, 2 warthogs, 1 oryx and 1 leopard with them.
Because they are not bonded bullets, I decided to make a sedate recipe closer to the 9.3x62 than to a full horse power .375 H&H magnum.
In the past, I was able to push them at 820 m/s ( 2690 f/s) with a famouse double base powder from Switzerland but it's far to fast for such cup and core bullet. The accuracy was good in my Blaser R93, but the recoil started to be quite strong.
For hunting, I decided to use the Vihtavuori N140 and I had a good accuracy at ~ 710 m/s (2330 f/s).
Well the bullet works but I will never use them again on big stuffs. For sure, I killed several big elands bulls with it, but I also had several bullets that broke apart. I would say, 10 elands didn't go far so in that case, we cannot really speaks about faillure but in one case, I have a serious doubt. I shot a yound, but already big body bull at maybe 20 meters maximum in the thick bush. The animal was full broadside and I touched it just behind the shoulder. Hit hard, the animal ran away and we expected to recovered it within 100 meters. At the beginning there was a lot of blood but quickly, there was almost no blood anymore. We followed the animal till the darkness and we picked up the trail the next morning a bit further. Thanks to the incredible skill of the tracker, we finally recovered the animal dead after a 5 kilometers tracking. My shot was perfectly placed but despite our requests, workers were not able to recover the bullet and to tell us what happended inside. We are pretty sure the bullet burst at the impact and fail to penetrate deeply into the boiller room.
On impalas, they tends

Here are all the bullets recovered.
View attachment 676660
1 : Kudu bull shot full broadside between 170-180 meters. The bullet went through both shoulders and was recovered under the skin. Weight retention 225 gr = 75 %
2 : Eland cow shot with a quartering-away shot at 70 meters : 210.19 gr = 70 %
3: Impala shot with a quartering-away shot at 60 meters : 200.78 gr = 66.9 %
4 : Eland bull shot full broadside at 100 meters. The bullet went through both shoulders and again recovered under the skin : 221.6 gr = 73.86 %
5 : Eland bull shot at 20 meters, full broadside. The bullet that broke the first shoulder completely exploded but was recovered in the opposite shoulder.
Here is a video to see it well in details :

74.38 gr = 24.8 %
6 & 7 : Eland bull shot twice at ~100 meters with both quartering-toward shots. The n° 6 : 246 gr = 82.1 % and the n°7 : 84.26 gr = 28.1 %
8: Eland bull shot at 100 meters, full broadside and through shoulders : 72.07 gr for the lead and 71 gr for the jacket.
9 : Kudu bull shot at 94 meters with a quartering-toward shot. 144 gr = 48.1 %

View attachment 676662View attachment 676663View attachment 676664View attachment 676665View attachment 676666View attachment 676667View attachment 676669View attachment 676668

Now in this caliber, I'm using Degol 350 gr, Starkmantel and Lion Load, and they perform better on games.

Keven 375,
I have studied your posts and appreciate it each time. As I am a bullet nut, I find your bullets post and text especially informative. Thanks again for the post. It takes time to put all that together. Brian

 

[pilar]

Very helpful posts and photos. much appreciated.

I don't want to upset anyone but what I get from these good posts is confirmation that Hornady is more interested in their shareholders than their hunters/customers.
When they produce a low quality bullet which seems to be standard procedure for Hornady, and it is proven to be have poor terminal performance they just keep on producing it unchanged.

They actively advertise/market their bad bullets as if the were the best bullets on the market. I would not hunt anything especially cape buffalo with a Hornady bullet. In my opinion they are one of the worst bullets on the market for terminal performance. I go out on a limb with this post, my only intent is to be informative to fellow hunters.

Brian

Yes I find Hornady a very strange company, they made a interbond bullet that was excellent on deer , elk , nilgai, plains game, ect
Then they switched market strategies to LDH with thin jacket explosive bullets
I do hunt none dangerous game with a 270gr interlock out of my 375 and they never fail to kill but imo don’t hold a candle to the discontinued inter bond , they make the 250 CX sporadically, but never consistently! ( would love to see a CX 300gr )
And Swift can go suck eggs with their sporadic manufacturing process in every calibration
Barns TSX in 235 , 270 , are awesome NA game bullets and PG , 300 is the work horse do it all if on a African safari
I don’t like or trust the DGX .( that’s about all I will say about the DGX)