180gr core lokt vs 165gr sst
o_O
10/26/10 12:50pm
Trying to choose a round for both elk and mule deer in Colorado. Theseare two recommended to me. Most everyone is sayiong go with the 180gr core lokt, yet the numbers suggest there is more veolcity and energy in the 165gr sst.
Are people just going with what appears to be common sense, ie bigger is better, or is the 180 the round to go with? If so why?
-Simon
Are people just going with what appears to be common sense, ie bigger is better, or is the 180 the round to go with? If so why?
Premier® Core-Lokt® Ultra 180gr
Muzzle 100 200 300 400 500
fps 2700 2480 2270 2070 1882 1704
ft/lb 2913 2457 2059 1713 1415 1161
drop 2.1 zero -8.9 -25.8 -52.7
Hornady 30-06 Sprg 165gr SST 81153
MUZZLE 100 200 300 400 500 yds
fps 2960 2750 2549 2357 2173 1997
ft/lb 3209 2769 2380 2034 1729 1461
drop 1.6 0 -6.9 -20.1 -40.7
-Simon
11,451
Less drop = greater accuracy so better shot placement. All this I hear time and time again too, but when I mentioned I'm trying some 165gr with the friends I'm hunting with they all start sucking their teeth and mumbling" good for deer, but elk? hummmmm". These friends of mine are DOW and have hunted for years and years so I'm inclined to go with what they say. But those numbers above tell a different story.
It seems the 165 is the online choice but face to face it's the 180 every time. I'm a noob but if the 180 is slower and has less energy at every distance (I'm not taking long range shots) and more drop why am I getting told to choose it over the 165?
Switched to 165gr sst's when my son started hunting to hopefully lessen the recoil (I couldn't tell the differance) but he said he could feel a differance. He shot his cow elk at 300 yards and it dropped in its tracks.
Both rounds kill elk just fine, for now I will stick with the 165gr sst because it shoots flatter and seems to have more shock when it hits an animal in my opinion.
On a side note, there's a guy that has been hunting with us for the last 7 or 9 years now who used to carry a .300 ultra mag shooting the biggest bullet he could fit in it. We all hunt with .270's and told him he was crazy. He believed us when he shot a small doe at about 20 yards. Hasn't carried that cannon since.
Seems he believed he needed something that big to put elk down. For some reason, there are some folks that think that if an animal doesn't drop in it's tracks then you are using to small of a gun/bullet. The ONLY shot I know of that will drop an animal in it's tracks, guaranteed, is a spine/neck shot. I've had more than a few heart shots over the years, some dropped, some didn't. As long as you can put a round in the boiler room, the animal WILL drop. Maybe not as quick as some like, though.
by a WELL CONSTRUCTED BULLET.
i would opt out of both of those options and buy a swift or barnsX tipped bullet( or a few other good bullets as well )
with a good bullet, theres not much i'd be afraid of not killing with a 165gr. bullet. AND i'd take a 165 gr quality bullet over a 180 gr junk bullet anyday.
For Elk I'd go with the heavier bullet and the secret isn't velocity or energy but pure physics and the quantity known as momentum! :not-worthy Higher velocities and energy and a bullets construction often combine to limit penetration. A nice expansive wound channel is great but I prefer a bullet that exits smartly so blood can leak out. :thumb Momentum does that for you and it's not just initial momentum but the remaining momentum as the bullet goes through the animal shedding lead as well as its ability to keep going. Add velocity and most any bullet deforms more and penetration is reduced! So you see it's this combo of Momentum and deformation that determines penetration. Tests show that max penetration, with a bullet similar to either of the above, is most generally found right at 1900 ft per sec. Trouble is, it doesn't expand, and it drills a nice hole but no shrapnel, or splash! Put it right through the heart and the animal dies in seconds, but miss a few inches and it take a bit to bleed itself into unconsciousness. #-o Both bullets are designed for the 2000-3000 range of velocities if I recall right. Near that upper end, more explosiveness and less penetration and vice versa.
Bullets work best when they combine a bit of explosiveness with penetration so I like my impact velocities to be in that mid 2500 region with this type of bullet. Both will do the job adequately but I give a slight edge to the heavy bullet due to it's better momenturm and would do the same it we were comparing a180 gn SST to a 165 gn Core Lokt! :thumb
I've sighted in for the 180 Core-Lokt. It seems to be the opinion of most that the Core-Lokt will do just fine, so as they are half the price it allowed me to shoot twice as much for the same cost. That, and the limb saver, let me put a lot of rounds down range at the weekend and I'm happy with my set up. The 180 core-Lokt are also sold at lots of places so should I need to stock up while away from home I can do so more easily. Just seemed like the smarter choice.
I'll revisit my options through the year.
I chose 180 gr corelokts for the reasons you mentioned. You can get them anywhere and less expensive. I practiced more because I didn't feel like I was breaking the bank. Practice is a good thing if you might be shooting 300+ yards. I've killed five other deer with the corelokts but they were 150 gr. Good bullet if you ask me.
I'm totally looking forward to getting to the hills on Friday.
The pics are posted in a thread titled "My First Elk - 2010"
Here's the link