Has anyone ever had a Core Lokt truly "fail"

[Scott CWO]

Very interesting! The Sierra Game King bullets tend to also “blow up” AFTER penetration into the body cavity if heavier bone isn’t struck by the bullet first. My hunting buddy and his son use 165gr Sierra BT in their ‘06s and my son used to in a .308. Over the years in use on many, many deer and pronghorn, they work great! They penetrate into the boiler room and then blow up! We almost never found more than a shrapnel of bullet or jacket. All the bullet energy stayed within the animal. They completely destroy the lungs, heart and everything else. But, some of the animals were able to run some distance before succumbing. They were dead but didn’t know it! HOWEVER, not so great on elk or moose! One elk and one moose (different hunting trips) each standing at 25yds took three of my buddy’s ‘06 for the elk and four ‘06 for the moose! Both animals just stood there and were dead, but just didn’t know it. My buddy told me he wasn’t shooting any more rounds and just waited until they fell over! Now, put those animals at some distance and maybe moving when shot with those bullets and PERHAPS watch the anarchy unfold? I would have sat down and ate my lunch while watching the idiot(s) chase the elk through the woods. Instead of just using a different bullet, he
now wants to borrow my .338 OFTEN!
As a side note, I haven’t experienced the “blow up” bullet effect on the 225gr Core Lokts in the elk I’ve shot. They seem to hold together and mushroom well? Different bullet weights, jacket thickness and velocities perhaps?

I would not consider elk not dropping to a shot as a problem. Quite the opposite actually. When I see an elk immediately drop in my 28 years of guiding, I am immediately concerned. It usually means one of two things, either a poorly placed shot into the spine or a poorly placed shot just below the spine but above the lungs. In the later case, the elk is temporarily paralyzed and gets up and runs away. We never find them.

With a good shot to the heart/lung area with a medium caliber, elk almost never drop immediately because it takes a while for their brain and muscles to run out of oxygen. Bullets don’t kill. It’s the lack of blood/oxygen supply to the brain and body that kills. This can take a small amount of time so we keep shooting because you rarely know exactly where a bullet enters the animal until you see it up close. Our camp moto is “Swiss cheese” - keep putting holes in them until down. The most common elk cartridge we see now is a .300 Win Mag and two shots per elk.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Official specs on the factory 150 grain Core Lokts in 300 Win Mag is 3,290 FPS at muzzle. That sounds like a varmint round to me, not surprised it exploded on a good sized pig.

Combination of bullet sectional density, ballistic coefficient, weight, jacket thickness and higher velocity in that caliber may have been responsible for it’s failure to perform on a large wild pig?

 

[Scott CWO]

Spotty performance claims like the ones in this thread is why I just use a better bullet. I’ve never had nor witnessed a CoreLokt fail, but anything a CoreLokt will do a Partition will probably do better. If I need to use a CoreLokt for some reason I want the heaviest bullet for caliber to slow it down. The 200 grain ‘06 and 308 suggestions sound logical to me.

The 150 grain 300 Win Mag sounds like a combination that should not have been produced. Maybe fill the case with Lil Gun and get 300 Savage velocities.

I would never use a Partition over a Core-Lokt. Lots of threads on here about NP failures. Not a good choice on DG but a heck of an effective marketing campaign. Use Accubond instead.

 

[CoElkHunter]

I would not consider elk not dropping to a shot as a problem. Quite the opposite actually. When I see an elk immediately drop in my 28 years of guiding, I am immediately concerned. It usually means one of two things, either a poorly placed shot into the spine or a poorly placed shot just below the spine but above the lungs. In the later case, the elk is temporarily paralyzed and gets up and runs away. We never find them.

With a good shot to the heart/lung area with a medium caliber, elk almost never drop immediately because it takes a while for their brain and muscles to run out of oxygen. Bullets don’t kill. It’s the lack of blood/oxygen supply to the brain and body that kills. This can take a small amount of time so we keep shooting because you rarely know exactly where a bullet enters the animal until you see it up close. Our camp moto is “Swiss cheese” - keep putting holes in them until down. The most common elk cartridge we see now is a .300 Win Mag and two shots per elk.

I guess maybe your right? You would know better than me. It’s just that the four elk I’ve shot within fifty yards with my .338 only ran ten to fifteen yards after one shot and died. Actually a large cow was walking and started to run after the first shot, so I unnecessarily shot her once more in the neck and she dropped. My buddy shoots a standing elk and moose multiple times at 25 yds and they don’t move! It was just an odd experience?
I also do understand the problem/concern you pointed out with the elk dropping on the first shot. Another rocket scientist I’ve hunted with, shoots a cow in the left rear hindquarters at 50 yds. She drops to the ground. He assumes shes dead. He takes his eyes off her to watch his/my other buddy shoot at and miss (again) a bull at 100 yds. His cow gets up and runs away and after three or fours of looking for it, they don’t find it. I only hunt with the best!

 

[Scott CWO]

I guess maybe your right? You would know better than me. It’s just that the four elk I’ve shot within fifty yards with my .338 only ran ten to fifteen yards after one shot and died. Actually a large cow was walking and started to run after the first shot, so I unnecessarily shot her once more in the neck and she dropped. My buddy shoots a standing elk and moose multiple times at 25 yds and they don’t move! It was just an odd experience?

Yes, the .338 Win Mag will deliver more shock and hits harder than a .30-06 so it doesn’t surprise me that those elk went down faster than elk shot with a .30-06. Same for a properly placed arrow that provides very little shock but the elk still is dead on it’s feet.

 

[Standard Velocity]

I would never use a Partition over a Core-Lokt. Lots of threads on here about NP failures. Not a good choice on DG but a heck of an effective marketing campaign. Use Accubond instead.

Maybe Partitions aren’t any good but I have only seen very good performance from them. Most of us don’t spend the majority of our hunting time in pursuit of dangerous game. Even those who are fortunate enough to do so are likely not shooting elephant and buffalo every week.

For thin skinned game non-bonded projectiles that are still “tough” enough get my vote. Partial disintegration of the projectile in close proximity to vital organs and full pass through are my preference. The ability to drill through a shoulder is even better.

For larger game (older elk with dense bones, brown bear, large plains game, etc.) an A-frame makes sense to me simply because I have seen A-frames performance.

The bonded jacket, jacket design and improved BC of Accubonds look very good and get good reports. Because of self-imposed range limitations I doubt I would take advantage of all an Accubond has to offer.

My primary concern is always performance under 100 yards as that’s where 95% of my game is taken. Rapid expansion and deep penetration are hard to engineer into one projectile but I do think Nosler did it with the Partition.

 

[CTDolan]

The Nosler Partition is designed to lose around 40% of its weight in game. Most see this as a failure of sorts compared to much less loss in its nearest competitor, the Swift A-Frame.

 

[Standard Velocity]

The Nosler Partition is designed to lose around 40% of its weight in game. Most see this as a failure of sorts compared to much less loss in its nearest competitor, the Swift A-Frame.

Exactly. What many see as a failure is really a feature.

 

[Areaonereal]

When that partition loses 40 per cent of its front lead, it acts like a mass of shrapnel thru internal organs. It saw it on Zebra, and a Giraffe (heart lung) shot in Limpopo last Fall. I had not used partitions in 30 Years, but used them in Limpopo due to shots under 200 yds. Shot completely thru a wildebeast at 253 yds. 200 gr and 220 gr. Did use a 200 gr Partition on a young Eland Bull..4 yr old..in 2018 at 223 yds...mushed the lungs and thru the heart with lead shrapnel. I prefer the 180 gr Accubonds only because it is more accurate in my 30 06 at the longer shots typical in Namibia.

 

[Wheels]

CoreLockt was a fantastic bullet fifty years ago. We preferred them to the Silvertip when we had a choice.

I have shot buffalo with a 30-06 and had good mushrooming and no bullet failure that I can remember.(Aim was behind the shoulder, not on it) Pretty sure this was 180 grain ammo, round tip, not spitzer. Offhand I can't remember a bullet that "trampolined", but I can remember recovering bullets from the offside rib cage on buff. On PG they did the job great.

I have not used CoreLockt in many years, but would have no issue using them on deer sized animals today. On larger animals, there have been significant advancements in bullet design and premium bullets would probably be the wiser choice.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Then there’s the newer neighbor average hunting guy next to me. He told me all he’s ever used hunting deer in Kansas and now deer and pronghorn in Colorado, are 150gr Winchester Power Points in his .30-06? He wants to go elk hunting and I told him he’ll have to use CoreLokts! Ha! Ha! Seriously though, I’m not sure about the Power Points on elk, at least in 150gr?

 

[ryan80]

I don’t have experience with Power Points, but I think a 30-06 150 grain will lack the sectional density for the best performance on game like elk.

 

[Scott CWO]

Exactly. What many see as a failure is really a feature.

Yes a feature we don’t want in elk camp or brown bear camp. We much prefer a mushrooming bullet like a Barnes or A-Frame. Lost too many elk

 

[Standard Velocity]

Yes a feature we don’t want in elk camp or brown bear camp. We much prefer a mushrooming bullet like a Barnes or A-Frame. Lost too many elk

For larger game (older elk with dense bones, brown bear, large plains game, etc.) an A-frame makes sense to me simply because I have seen A-frames performance.


.

 

[Dr Ray]

I’ve had no issues at all. 300 and 270.

 

[MS Hitman]

Yes I know they are. I’ve only recovered two from under 100yds with my .338? But, I still would prefer the bullet and all of it’s energy to stay within the animal? But then again, I would also prefer to win the lottery!

Energy dump is an old wives tale, or myth if one prefers. This is not my opinion, but a physics fact. Energy is conserved ONLY, in elastic collisions, and a bullet hitting a game animals ain’t an elastic collision. I never see a pass through as anything approaching a failure, just have to make sure of what is behind my target.

Now for my opinion, the Core Lokt is a tremendously underrated bullet. The 165s shoot under an inch my M-77 tang safety and will take out a whitetail.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Energy dump is an old wives tale, or myth if one prefers. This is not my opinion, but a physics fact. Energy is conserved ONLY, in elastic collisions, and a bullet hitting a game animals ain’t an elastic collision. I never see a pass through as anything approaching a failure, just have to make sure of what is behind my target.

Now for my opinion, the Core Lokt is a tremendously underrated bullet. The 165s shoot under an inch my M-77 tang safety and will take out a whitetail.

Thanks so much for clarifying the energy dump bullet myth. The dynamics made sense to me with the bullet and it’s energy staying within the animal? Not that one can actually control whether a bullet stays inside or exits anyway? I’ve just always been wary of cartridges with excessive velocities and their bullets “punching” through game without expanding due to bullet speed, and thus loosing energy? Guess I was mistaken! Thanks!

 

[Dr Ray]

Further to this I actually have the Core Lokt Bullets print to the same east-west but one inch lower in altitude in the 300 Winchester magnum.
The 180 grain bullet prints one inch higher than the 150 grain bullet at 100 yards.
Sheer luck!!

 

[sambarhunter]

I was out of ammo and had two boxes of 7mm RM 175gr CL`s that I bought as back ups from a mate for a top price. I loaded them up and I shot a Sambar stag one evening and the bullet killed the deer but in an unsatisfactory way. In square into the shoulder and the CL was under the hide on the opp shoulder, I couldn't find him pre dark and returned the next day to complete the mission.
I knocked over a Sambar hind next ,a big mature hind,shot through both shoulders and exited yet she ran 300 yards and then folded.
Believe me when I say that I have shot a lot of big mature Sambar Deer and 95+% of the time using Winchester PP`s I know how well they work and both deer mentioned if hit exactly the same with the W`s would have more than likely folded on the spot.Like how in the FK can a deer run with a 7mm mag bullet thats gone through through both shoulders?
The two boxes minus a couple are still in the safe,I will use them eventually.
BTW the W`s open up with nice mushrooms most of the time.

Also I am not bagging out on the CL`s,just saying my own personal input.

 

[CoElkHunter]

I was out of ammo and had two boxes of 7mm RM 175gr CL`s that I bought as back ups from a mate for a top price. I loaded them up and I shot a Sambar stag one evening and the bullet killed the deer but in an unsatisfactory way. In square into the shoulder and the CL was under the hide on the opp shoulder, I couldn't find him pre dark and returned the next day to complete the mission.
I knocked over a Sambar hind next ,a big mature hind,shot through both shoulders and exited yet she ran 300 yards and then folded.
Believe me when I say that I have shot a lot of big mature Sambar Deer and 95+% of the time using Winchester PP`s I know how well they work and both deer mentioned if hit exactly the same with the W`s would have more than likely folded on the spot.Like how in the FK can a deer run with a 7mm mag bullet thats gone through through both shoulders?
The two boxes minus a couple are still in the safe,I will use them eventually.
BTW the W`s open up with nice mushrooms most of the time.

Also I am not bagging out on the CL`s,just saying my own personal input.

Interesting performance information on the Power Points? I’ve never used them, but have a bag of 100 225gr .338s PPs which I was going to reload for practice, but never did. Maybe I’ll trade them to someone here on AH for their less premium Barnes, A Frame or Woodleighs? Ha! Ha! Ha!