What's the best factory hunting ammo

Trust Core-Lokt

I bounced around most of the "normal" factory loads during the late 50's through the 70's including silver tips, bronze points and other Remington’s. Then I hand loaded Gamekings, Partitions, and Core-lokts. Now, except for some target work, I only load for the varmint rifles and the large bore rifles. For hunting I went back to factory core-lokts for the .243, .270, and 30-06. They always seem to work, they always seem to hold together and they always seem to mushroom fine.

If those core-lokts worked for you for years I wouldn't worry about going back to them.

Besides, in the mail order on sale you can still get 243, 270, or 30-06 for a little over $17.00 a box of twenty.

Some of the "old" ones:

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My .300 Win Mag gets 180 gr. Hornady SST. Awesome round with great accuracy and devastating expansion. Never had one get up and get away! Remington Core Lokt is good ammo and the federal premium is good too, but like the Hornady sst much better.
 
The "best factory ammo" varies as much as the "best caliber" or the "best rifle". The main thing is what the rifle likes "best". With that being said, I like Federal and Hornady.
 
The best ammo is generally what works well in your rifle. My 30.06 Savage 110 likes Remington Core Lokt 165 gr.. I shot about 25 different brands and types of ammo through it to come to that conclusion.
 
Core-lokt has never been a "Good" hunting round if you are hunting anything bigger and tougher than a white tail deer, and that is iffy! The jacket separates at top velocity, and doesn't penetrate doing so. Shoot a big elk with a core-lokt, and you better have your hiking boots on, and your best local tracker with you!

Get your hands on bonded-core loads, Swift, North Folk, etc... How much are bullets compared to the cost of a big hunt?
 
It's amazing that anybody ever managed to kill an elk before now. It defies logic that a person could have ever fed himself with nothing but black powder and solid lead in single shots.
 
Best Factory Hunting Ammo?

Dunno. Have not used any in ages..... and back when I did, I bought whatever was on sale...... Remington Corelokt and Winchester Power Points, mostly..... oh, and a box of Hornady "Frontier" in .30/30 ...... yeah, it's been awhile.
 
You're probably right

On that one
Shoot a big elk with a core-lokt, and you better have your hiking boots on, and your best local tracker with you
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First off I've never killed a "big" Elk. But I have killed several, with a .270 and 130 gr. core lokts. All hit in the chest, broad side. About half were cows and the others were anything from spikes to 4x4's. I recovered a little over half of the bullets in the skin on the opposite side from where they were hit. The bullets looked like a little German Army Helmet. Like I said, I never killed a big Elk with a 130 gr. Core-lokt so your assement is no doubt accurate. All of the Elk I killed were in open country in either Montana or Colorado and all were killed somewhere between 175 yards and 275 yards. I never did kill one up close where that 130 gr. core-lokt was really moving. I have no idea how it would have performed in those circumstances.
If I would have been sure I was going to kill one up close I would have used a .348. I don’t think that little 130 gr. bullet at over 3100 FPS works too good at 100 yards on a big animal. Especially if big bones get in the way before the bullet has a chance to get into the chest.
 
I don’t think that little 130 gr. bullet at over 3100 FPS works too good at 100 yards on a big animal. Especially if big bones get in the way before the bullet has a chance to get into the chest.
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The last box of factory ammo I bought for my .270 were Winchester Silvertips bought in the 90's ...... they didn't hold together real well on deer at short range...... and what was a "fatal hickey" on a whitetail would have been a lost elk, for sure.....

...you do know they make 150 grain bonded bullets for the .270 WIN, right? A boat tailed 150 starting at 2900 has a nearly the same trajecory as a flat based 130 starting at 3100, to 400 yards ....... after that, the 150 has less drop....
 
I've always used Core-Lokts and have never been dissappointed. They shoot best out of my 700.

But to be fair, I haven't tried the Federal Fusions because they came out after I decided on my hunting round. I've seen them do great things on game because my hunting partner uses them. I will eventually buy a box and test their accuracy.

Which ever shoots best out of your gun is my recommendation.
 
When I buy hunting loads for deer and elk, I buy the Winchester PowerPoint. They are the cheapest, have never not killed the deer, and the brass is really good for reloading. I get to shoot the ammo, then I have the brass to reload many more times! Great deal!
 
My Dad shoots Winchester Silvertip in his .270, My son shoots 165 grain Corelokts in his .30-06. I shoot Federal 150 grain Powershoks in 7mm Mag and either 150 grain corelokts or Powershoks in my .30-06 as they both have the same accuracy and point of impact. I have used Winchester PowerPoints with good results in another rifle I previously owned.
We have not used these on game bigger than whitetail, but all get the job done on Bambi. The rounds were chosen because the rifles shoot these best.

The only bullet I have seen that I would not use again is the Sierra Game King. My son shot a big doe in the ribs at about 40-50 yards and the bullet exploded on impact. It ripped through the deer from one end to the other. It was a real mess to clean up. I am sure if the deer was further away the bullet would have performed better, but I didn't trust them after seeing how that one broke up.
 
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