Fragmenting .243 interlock

[brokeasajoke]

Well another deer in the coolers by my son this year. His first buck (by accident 1/2" tall spikes). He made another low shot like last year and this time hit a rib. He loaded the ammo (as I made him do it) with 38gr H4350, rem brass, win standard primer and 100gr Hornady interlocks loaded to about .003 off lands for his Remington 770 243 that was free. I'm still thinking of moving it down the road but that's another topic. There was no exit. Bullet fragmented and ended up everywhere. One piece went up into back strap and one small piece into opposite shoulder. Now I'm not knocking the bullet. These guys make a serious hole and do their job. I try to keep shots inside 75yds as this guns accuracy is a 3" gun at 50yds. This may be a candidate for H4895 reduced. I believe I can drop down a full grain on the 4350 according to Hornady manual. Maybe I should also switch to a partition. Here's the original thread if you are board and want to read

Bullet selection .243

Plan on taking my son this fall to shoot his first whitetail deer. I have a couple of .243 rifles I may let him use. An Ar10 and a Rem bolt. He has shot the .30-30 lever and .308 but they are a little much I believe for his size. They hurt his shoulder but he don't complain about it as I have to...

forum.accurateshooter.com

 

[17cal Fan]

You paid too much for the 770 but sounds like you understand that. It sure wasn't a feather in Remington's hat. Sounds like your son got the job done well anyway. I still use 243 a lot and have killed a ton of them with 100 grain Hornady's pushed by IMR3031. Nosler 24095 which is the Ballistic Tip Hunting in 90 grain is wicked medicine from a 243 and you lose a little recoil. Might be worth a try, it's still a Remington barrel and should do better than 3".

 

[grovey]

I believe the Hornady 100gr fb bullet was considered the better bullet vs the btsp as far as staying together. It appears it's been dropped from production though. I've had good results with the Speer 100gr btsp. 2 or 3 finger exit wounds on the 3 I've shot with it. The 95gr Nosler bt is a great deer bullet, but too expensive imo.

 

[tominboise]

I like Hornady bullets and have shot a few big game animals with the interlock, with results about like yours. The result is always a dead animal, which is the end game anyway, but I don't really care for them coming apart like they do, so I have switched to other bullets.

They have shot accurately for me in a variety of rifles over the years.

 

[K22]

I would not use a reduced load in a 243 Win. While I've taken a bunch of deer with the excellent caliber, having the full energy available for this caliber is desirable for deer.

If the bullet is not performing as expected, I would change the bullet, not reduce the energy.

A bullet you may want to try is the 85 Sierra BTHP. I've taken a bunch of deer with this bullet, and it has performed well for me if you avoid a shoulder shot. Broadside shot slightly in back of the shoulder, and they will either drop where they stand or run a short distance then pile up.

4350 works well with this bullet as does IMR 4064 or Varget. Also, I would not seat bullets that close to the lands for a hunting rifle. I use a minimum of .020 off the lands for my big game rifles or greater depending on the rifle.

 

[Gary in MD]

If the bullet fragmenting bothers you then you could load the 80 TTSX.

 

[brokeasajoke]

I'm by no means knocking the bullet. 2 bullets 2 deer so they are working as intended. They just seem to act more like a tipped bullet. I do have some 80gr nosler bt.

 

[Homerange]

You paid too much for the 770 but sounds like you understand that. It sure wasn't a feather in Remington's hat. Sounds like your son got the job done well anyway. I still use 243 a lot and have killed a ton of them with 100 grain Hornady's pushed by IMR3031. Nosler 24095 which is the Ballistic Tip Hunting in 90 grain is wicked medicine from a 243 and you lose a little recoil. Might be worth a try, it's still a Remington barrel and should do better than 3".

Sure it's not a wonderful concoction however a 7mm08 I have in a 770 shoots just as well as any of my other sporters and certainly better than a 6mm Rem Model 7 I have but the 770 has taken deer at ranges I have never taken them before, sure not extreme @ 250 but certainly a good bit further than I normally do.

Bullet selection is everything yet good terminal performance at whatever range is the key.
Take your pick, bruised venison or no venison.

 

[searcher]

I would not use a reduced load in a 243 Win. While I've taken a bunch of deer with the excellent caliber, having the full energy available for this caliber is desirable for deer.

If the bullet is not performing as expected, I would change the bullet, not reduce the energy.

A bullet you may want to try is the 85 Sierra BTHP. I've taken a bunch of deer with this bullet, and it has performed well for me if you avoid a shoulder shot. Broadside shot slightly in back of the shoulder, and they will either drop where they stand or run a short distance then pile up.

4350 works well with this bullet as does IMR 4064 or Varget. Also, I would not seat bullets that close to the lands for a hunting rifle. I use a minimum of .020 off the lands for my big game rifles or greater depending on the rifle.

Yes - especially with slow burning powders. He might get more recoil than with a reduced load! Or worse.

 

[searcher]

Well another deer in the coolers by my son this year. His first buck (by accident 1/2" tall spikes). He made another low shot like last year and this time hit a rib. He loaded the ammo (as I made him do it) with 38gr H4350, rem brass, win standard primer and 100gr Hornady interlocks loaded to about .003 off lands for his Remington 770 243 that was free. I'm still thinking of moving it down the road but that's another topic. There was no exit. Bullet fragmented and ended up everywhere. One piece went up into back strap and one small piece into opposite shoulder. Now I'm not knocking the bullet. These guys make a serious hole and do their job. I try to keep shots inside 75yds as this guns accuracy is a 3" gun at 50yds. This may be a candidate for H4895 reduced. I believe I can drop down a full grain on the 4350 according to Hornady manual. Maybe I should also switch to a partition. Here's the original thread if you are board and want to read

Bullet selection .243

Plan on taking my son this fall to shoot his first whitetail deer. I have a couple of .243 rifles I may let him use. An Ar10 and a Rem bolt. He has shot the .30-30 lever and .308 but they are a little much I believe for his size. They hurt his shoulder but he don't complain about it as I have to...

forum.accurateshooter.com

I like reading about fathers who take their kids hunting - and getting them into reloading. Great thing to do. I'm not familiar with the Interlock bullet much, other than seeing Hornady's ads all over the place when they brought them out - never shot them. Interesting bullet performance - even if an isolated case. Still - a dead deer is a dead deer, no arguing that. I'd be very careful about doing any reduced loads with slow powders as that caliber is prone to pre-detonation, where the powder void in the case can create a huge pressure spike. Some of the reloading manuals point that out for the .243. I had it happen in a .375 H&H as Barnes put a bad load in their manual (which they later warned of). Very glad my rifle didn't come apart. It was a big boom, let me tell you. Lots of great bullets out there now. I'd probably choose the Barnes lighter bullets to keep recoil down without having to do a reduced load, likely get a pass-thru shot and those bullets stay together, even if the petals were to blow off at short range. I don't know how often that really happens as I've yet to recover a bullet.

 

[K22]

I like reading about fathers who take their kids hunting - and getting them into reloading. Great thing to do. I'm not familiar with the Interlock bullet much, other than seeing Hornady's ads all over the place when they brought them out - never shot them. Interesting bullet performance - even if an isolated case. Still - a dead deer is a dead deer, no arguing that. I'd be very careful about doing any reduced loads with slow powders as that caliber is prone to pre-detonation, where the powder void in the case can create a huge pressure spike. Some of the reloading manuals point that out for the .243. I had it happen in a .375 H&H as Barnes put a bad load in their manual (which they later warned of). Very glad my rifle didn't come apart. It was a big boom, let me tell you. Lots of great bullets out there now. I'd probably choose the Barnes lighter bullets to keep recoil down without having to do a reduced load, likely get a pass-thru shot and those bullets stay together, even if the petals were to blow off at short range. I don't know how often that really happens as I've yet to recover a bullet.

You point is well made. I have shot and loaded for the 243 Win for over 50 years and while 4350 can be an excellent powder especially with bullets over 80 grains, it should never be used in an attempt to create a "reduce" load. Adhere to published load data and one can avoid a lot of problems.

 

[bozo699]

I like reading about fathers who take their kids hunting - and getting them into reloading. Great thing to do. I'm not familiar with the Interlock bullet much, other than seeing Hornady's ads all over the place when they brought them out - never shot them. Interesting bullet performance - even if an isolated case. Still - a dead deer is a dead deer, no arguing that. I'd be very careful about doing any reduced loads with slow powders as that caliber is prone to pre-detonation, where the powder void in the case can create a huge pressure spike. Some of the reloading manuals point that out for the .243. I had it happen in a .375 H&H as Barnes put a bad load in their manual (which they later warned of). Very glad my rifle didn't come apart. It was a big boom, let me tell you. Lots of great bullets out there now. I'd probably choose the Barnes lighter bullets to keep recoil down without having to do a reduced load, likely get a pass-thru shot and those bullets stay together, even if the petals were to blow off at short range. I don't know how often that really happens as I've yet to recover a bullet.

The interlock bullets have been out since the 70’s and are very good hunting bullets especially on thin skinned animals like deer, although I’ve killed a lot of elk with them and recovered most all the bullets which is a good thing.The barns are too hard and pass straight through as you mentioned . Barns are great Elk bullets. Like you the best part of the post is the father son , loading, shooting and hunting time together.
Wayne

 

[Doug Casner]

My Dad is an old deer hunter and swears by the hornady interlock but he used them in 270 and 3006. Doug

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

A 100 gr jacketed sp that will mushroom and not fragment, Speer grand slam. Slightly less durable would be the 90 gr hot core.

 

[jpretle]

Can't count the number of deer and antelope taken w/ the 100gn Interlock----never had a problem. That has been well over 40years worth...

 

[TaperPin]

The .243 100 gr partition has a great track record out west - it opens up quick even in small deer or antelope, near or far, yet doesn’t fly apart. Way back into the 70’s if a small gun shop in Wyoming had one 243 bullet it would Interlocks, and if there were only two the second would be Partitions. I honestly don’t know how other 243 bullets work on game - partitions just put everything down reliably. My old beat up .243 loaner rifle took a UHaul full of antelope, muledeer and a few cow elk.

 

[Monte F]

Partitions just work on mule deer and pronghorns, will not blow up or pass through. 100% of the energy goes into the humane kill. More expensive but the least expensive part of your hunt to be reliable.

 

[SeabeeKen]

You paid too much for the 770 but sounds like you understand that. It sure wasn't a feather in Remington's hat. Sounds like your son got the job done well anyway. I still use 243 a lot and have killed a ton of them with 100 grain Hornady's pushed by IMR3031. Nosler 24095 which is the Ballistic Tip Hunting in 90 grain is wicked medicine from a 243 and you lose a little recoil. Might be worth a try, it's still a Remington barrel and should do better than 3".

In my old savage 243, the 100 gr interlock and 35.5 gr 3031 was beyond accurate and took one deer at 398 yds with a neck shot. I eventually went to barnes bullets and never a bullet blow up again. Always full penetration

 

[okie]

A bullet you may want to try is the 85 Sierra BTHP

exactly. or a 100 gr sp

 

[TTE]

The best hunting bullet on the market is the Swift A Frame ..... p.e.r.o.i.d.