Has anyone ever had a Core Lokt truly "fail"

[7x57Joe]

Winchester Power Points are good to go for me. Made a lot of meat using the old 180 grain Round Nose from a .30'06.

 

[sambarhunter]

Like I said,I know what the W`s do and consistently on Sambar deer for me, that is out of a 7mm RM. Whether the power to weight ratio is spot on or they are just good bullets,the bottom line is that they work for me. A 500-600 lb stag shot side on through the shoulder means meat on the hook,no ifs,no buts if you do your job. The two victims mentioned above got the same treatment but both ran a considerable distance. Yes they died but its far better to see them DRT.
I mainly use my 7mm but knocked over maybe 10 or more Sambar last year using my 30-06 with the 150 grain Winchester pp`s also. They worked well but certainly don`t have the emphasis of the 7mm.
Mate has loaded me Nosler partitions,Hornadys,Sierra`s and another truly wonderful stopper the Woodleigh Hydros. I dont reload myself and Hydros have never been loaded for my 7mm RM and I have only used them in .308 NM,.358 NM and .300.WM...a rippin` bullet too. I shot a mature sambar one inch to the left of its quoit that came out of its chest with my .308 NM,thats full length and impressive imo. Did the same with a Partition out of the 7mm that got into the chest not as powerful or as good a bullet for such shots.

Iirc these shed deer were rolled over with the W 150`s in 7mm and 30-06. I don`t think I used another cal for them,I cant always remember ha ha.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Like I said,I know what the W`s do and consistently on Sambar deer for me, that is out of a 7mm RM. Whether the power to weight ratio is spot on or they are just good bullets,the bottom line is that they work for me. A 500-600 lb stag shot side on through the shoulder means meat on the hook,no ifs,no buts if you do your job. The two victims mentioned above got the same treatment but both ran a considerable distance. Yes they died but its far better to see them DRT.
I mainly use my 7mm but knocked over maybe 10 or more Sambar last year using my 30-06 with the 150 grain Winchester pp`s also. They worked well but certainly don`t have the emphasis of the 7mm.
Mate has loaded me Nosler partitions,Hornadys,Sierra`s and another truly wonderful stopper the Woodleigh Hydros. I dont reload myself and Hydros have never been loaded for my 7mm RM and I have only used them in .308 NM,.358 NM and .300.WM...a rippin` bullet too. I shot a mature sambar one inch to the left of its quoit that came out of its chest with my .308 NM,thats full length and impressive imo. Did the same with a Partition out of the 7mm that got into the chest not as powerful or as good a bullet for such shots.

Iirc these shed deer were rolled over with the W 150`s in 7mm and 30-06. I don`t think I used another cal for them,I cant always remember ha ha.

View attachment 328529

Very, very nice collection of antlers!

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

The Remington Core Lokt soft point bullets were even used on man eating royal Bengal tigers and panthers during our time , Ryan ! They were dastardly effective on all soft skinned game up to and including 500 pound royal Bengal tigers . My personal view ( without disrespecting any fine gentlemen who might have a divergence of opinion with me .) is this : Just because something new and modern comes along , does not mean that the older designs of ammunition have suddenly stopped performing well on game . You cannot kill an animal deader than dead . Back in the days before internet forums existed , we old school shikarees had far more modest expectations of bullets than many modern sports men do . We were actually more concerned with whether the bullets were cleanly killing the animal , rather than what the bullet looked like after it was recovered from the corpse of a dead animal . Now , yes . If a bullet genuinely failed to kill an animal cleanly and it got distorted before properly penetrating into the animal's vital organs , then it would actually be a serious problem and a real reason to condemn the bullet .
However , if a bullet manages to successfully and cleanly kill the animal by penetrating into it's vital organs , then l see no reason to care what the bullet looks like when it is recovered from the corpse of the successfully slain animal . That is just how l personally feel about the matter.

I have only seen 2 Remington Core Lokt soft point bullets " Fail " in my career. Both of them occured , when a client attempted to inflict a double lung shot on a gaur , but accidentally ended up hitting a rib bone. 1 was a .375 Holland & Holland magnum calibre 300 grain Remington Core Lokt soft point bullet . The other was a .338 Winchester magnum calibre 250 grain Remington Core Lokt soft point bullet. However , l doubt anyone would use a Remington Core Lokt soft point bullet for gaur or cape buffalo today .

I should hasten to add , however , that l speak only of the Remington Core Lokt soft point bullets of the 1960s. Whether their quality has deteriorated in recent years , l cannot say.

Friend Ponton
I to have the same beliefs as yourself. I have used core locks for years. Yes a close range and high velocity they do indeed blow up. I mainly used them on pigs and deer in OZ. They make one almighty meemss of the internals. At longer ranges 200 yards and more they are the textbook mushrooms as on the box. I have used them in 25 cal and 303 to good effect.
Cheers friend Ponton
Bob Nelson

 

[Rule 303]

Ryan 80 I have not had them fail by your definition. However I have had them fail to perform as they should. That is, I have had them pencil through two Tahr and several pigs. All have run a distance and dropped as they were heart shot. Lucky I hit the heart or would possibly have lost the animals all were 130grain .270 Win. This is why I no longer use them.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

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.

Scott CWO
love accubonds used them in my son's 308 and my 35 Whelen in Namibia devastating.
Cheers mate Bob

 

[CoElkHunter]

Left: .338WM 225gr Nosler Partition recovered from a cow elk at appx. shot at appx. 400yds.
Right: .338WM 225gr Remington Core Lokt recovered from a cow elk at appx. 35yds.
My father in law shot the cow at 400, and I shot the cow at 35.

 

[Ray B]

While Remington CoreLokts are not my first choice in bullets, I have never found them to fail in their terminal performance. My main issue with them has been with their accuracy. the best I could get out of several sizes from 257 to 308 has been about 2 MOA. It is certainly good enough for most big game situations, I just preferred other bullets.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Left: .338WM 225gr Nosler Partition recovered from a cow elk at appx. shot at appx. 400yds.
Right: .338WM 225gr Remington Core Lokt recovered from a cow elk at appx. 35yds.
My father in law shot the cow at 400, and I shot the cow at 35.
View attachment 330612

CoElkHunter
Good expansion mate
225grain accubond front on shot into a kudu bull, bullet found in the ham after over 5 and a half foot of penetration. Shot at around 120yards impact velocity 2,600+ fps

 

[Ray B]

 

[Ray B]

Above are two Remington .308 180 gr bullets. Left is PSPCL, Right is SPCL. Both were fired from a 300 Wby 3100 fps MV into waterfilled milk jugs at 15 ft. One could say that they both failed in that they lost their cores however I don't see them as failing since both bullets penetrated four jugs, penetration over 2 feet (milk jugs are 6 inches in diameter). Both cores and jackets were in the final 5th jug indicating that the cores and jackets remained together during the expansion until the jacket pealed back past the locking shoulder so during the first four jugs both jackets/cores were intact. Compared to other bullets so tested these bullets faired well in the test and while possibly not a choice for DG would certainly be adequate for PG.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Above are two Remington .308 180 gr bullets. Left is PSPCL, Right is SPCL. Both were fired from a 300 Wby 3100 fps MV into waterfilled milk jugs at 15 ft. One could say that they both failed in that they lost their cores however I don't see them as failing since both bullets penetrated four jugs, penetration over 2 feet (milk jugs are 6 inches in diameter). Both cores and jackets were in the final 5th jug indicating that the cores and jackets remained together during the expansion until the jacket pealed back past the locking shoulder so during the first four jugs both jackets/cores were intact. Compared to other bullets so tested these bullets faired well in the test and while possibly not a choice for DG would certainly be adequate for PG.

Where did you find the pretty blue ones? I remember Winchester had a blue (plastic?) coating on some of their bullets years ago.

 

[Ray B]

Where did you find the pretty blue ones? I remember Winchester had a blue (plastic?) coating on some of their bullets years ago.

If you are referring to the blueish hue of the jackets, it's the slight residual of lead. If you are referring to the lead cores, it's the color-correction of the flash on the camera. The actual color is dull grey or is that gray.

 

[ryan80]

Weird, they looked totally grey on my iPhone, now on my computer screen they are blue.

So it sounds like they aren't the right bullet for heavy game up close at over 3000 fps. That makes senseI guess. A friend of mine loves his 130 grain 270s at that speed, but on whitetails I think it just blasts the hell out of them with lots of damage.

 

[postoak]

I had two failures in one box, but it was 45 years ago so does it really matter? This was with the .308 Win. I shot one deer that was almost broadside and hit perfectly behind the shoulder. Somehow the bullet turned almost 90 degrees and came out the top of the backbone. A few days later the same thing except this time the bullet came out of the front of the chest.

 

[Ray B]

So it sounds like they aren't the right bullet for heavy game up close at over 3000 fps. .

When I was first going hunting in the 50s and magnums were as rare as hen's teeth the rifle that was generally used for heavy game (Moose) was a 30-06 with 220 grain bullets. Shots were generally within 200 yards and the velocity of 2400 fps was such that core separation wasn't an issue. There were a couple M71s with 348 win, but most guys I knew used the 30-06

 

[CoElkHunter]

I had two failures in one box, but it was 45 years ago so does it really matter? This was with the .308 Win. I shot one deer that was almost broadside and hit perfectly behind the shoulder. Somehow the bullet turned almost 90 degrees and came out the top of the backbone. A few days later the same thing except this time the bullet came out of the front of the chest.

I guess the question would be, did the bullets kill the deer fairly quickly or did you have to chase wounded deer? Ray B has me now wondering just what constitutes an actual bullet failure? Is it bullet/jacket separation and/or lack of sufficient bullet penetration? His milk jug test kind of shows separation doesn’t necessarily mean a lack of penetration in all cases? Interesting?

 

[bruce moulds]

I had two failures in one box, but it was 45 years ago so does it really matter? This was with the .308 Win. I shot one deer that was almost broadside and hit perfectly behind the shoulder. Somehow the bullet turned almost 90 degrees and came out the top of the backbone. A few days later the same thing except this time the bullet came out of the front of the chest.

I have had that happen at least twice with nosler partitions on 338 and 9.3mm.
bruce.

 

[Ray B]

As I think about it, I recall gutting an elk that a friend shot. the elk had a healed-over wound in the skin below its stomach. From appearances it was a round nose CoreLokt 180 gr .30 bullet. It was just barely flared at the nose. Our guess was that someone had shot at the broadside elk from a considerable distance. The bullet had hit just at the lowest portion of the elks stomach, travelled a few inches just inside the skin and ran out of steam. Around the bullet it was a little bloody but no infection. Had the shooter had a pointed bullet he may have hit the elk a little higher but it was a little back so likely would have missed the lungs, so just as well that he had that bullet.

 

[bruce moulds]

oh the delights of long range so called hunting.
bruce.