Rem Core Lokts

[txcookie]

Me and my dad were chatting it up a bit the otherday (I was learning from him) and I brought up premium bullets. He reloads and has for yrs so I was surprised to find that he prefered the Rem Core Lokt to just about anything. He said they were not the most accurate or hottest but that they were very accurate and devistating on every deer/ hog he ever encountered.

They have been for me as well so I ask you. How do you feel about them? For deer and Hogs they are hands down my Fav in all my rifles. Cept for a 250 Sav that needs its ammo rolled!!!

 

[jmr40]

Someone asked a similar question a couple of days ago about Winchester Power Points. Any of the standard cup and core bullets like the Core Lokts, Powerpoints, or similar bullets made by Hornady, Speer, Sierrra, or anyone else work just fine for most people, most of the time. It really comes down to personal preference and what shoots best in your gun. The Core Lokt is as good as any other.

The premium bullets come into play if you are hunting in extreme conditions. If I were shooting at longer than normal ranges, or hunting game larger than what would normally be considered ideal for my guns chambering, I'd certainly pay the extra for a premium bullet.

 

[3212]

I have used Core-Lokts in 30-30 and .243 to harvest dozens of deer.I really like them.

 

[Cee Zee]

When I bought my 30.06 Savage 110 I went through at least two dozen types of off the shelf ammo to see what the rifle liked best. Without a doubt it was CoreLokt 165 gr. with 180 gr. a close second. I have almost nothing else in my stock pile now. I do have some 220 gr. stuff just for the bears should I ever need it but I really think the lighter stuff would do the job. It has a great reputation as a hunting round. It's accurate and effective.

 

[rodinal220]

In 30-30 and 35 Remington they are deadly on whitetails. I never saw the need for premium bullets for close range whitetail work. The Core-Lokts work well.

 

[aka108]

CoreLokt have been around for many many years. If they did not function well they would have been gone a long time ago.

 

[Kachok]

Core-Lokts are a solid performer, they have worked like a charm for many years, I personally prefer Sierra Game Kings or Speer BTSP for all my soft point loads, but that is simply due the fact I get better accuracy with them in general.

 

[jaysouth]

If I spend a small fortune on booking a high country elk hunt or African safari, I would probably buy some premium bullets and lapua brass to load them in. I would definitely not take my $12 binoculars.

However, where I hunt, it is cheap to do so, game is plentiful and ranges are short, I would not spend money on premium bullets that spend a lot of money advertising in slick gunrags.

If fact, I quit using jacketed bullets because they do too much damage at the short ranges I hunt at.

Last year, I filled two tags with a 165 gr cast bullet going 1700 fps. Next year I am going to develop a slower load than that.

 

[MCgunner]

I tend to shoot what my gun likes and I don't have a gun that really likes the Core Lokts. I shoot Sierra Game Kings in my .257 Roberts and 7 mag and I shoot Nosler and Barnes in my .308, mostly Nosler BTs especially for deer, great bullet and 3/4 MOA in my rifle. I like Nosler partitions in the big 7 as a heavy game choice, but have never needed 'em, just shot 'em off the bench and they were MOA accurate.

Sticking to one load or bullet is boriing if you handload and have your choice. I haven't shot a factory load out of a rifle, other than a box of Fed premium I was given for my 7 mag (how I know partitions shoot well), in 35 years. Factory Core Lokts are about 2.5 MOA at best in my old .257, 100 grain Winchester +P silver tips were 1 MOA when I used 'em. They did okay, but Sierra 100 grain game kings shoot 0.5 MOA in the gun and are all I need on whitetail deer, maybe a bit light for hogs. I like .308 on hogs.

 

[Patocazador]

If the present-day Remington Co. tries to "improve" Core-Lokts, I'll quit buying them. The jokers who run Remington now have taken quality products and turned them into cheap look-alikes. They ought to be horse whipped.

 

[Cee Zee]

Come on guys. Not everyone wants to reload. He talks about Core-Lokt them in all his rifles except ONE that needs to have it's ammo rolled. Doesn't that mean all his other rifles are using the off the shelf cartridges? Not every thread is about the miracle of reloading. I've been shooting for 50 years. I've never felt the need to reload because I grew up where there was nothing to shoot with a centerfire rifle except tin cans and paper targets. All the game was hunted out so plinking and eventually small game were the only games in town.

So let's not make every thread about how great the roll your own thing is. There's more to life than that. I've seen this happen for years on boards and this is the first time I ever brought it up. But the OP said he was shooting factory cartridges in all his rifles except the Savage the way I read his post.

Let me make a point here. I'm 57. By the time I buy the equipment to roll my own and practice enough at it to make better cartridges than the factory stuff it's going to be several years and a bunch of money down the road. Then I'll need quite a few more years to make back the money I spent on equipment and practice loads not to mention all the time and effort required to do it. I wouldn't mind the work but my wife would. She likes for me to do things like mow the grass. Plus I'm going to be old before this ever works out. My eyes will probably be gone before I ever reap any benefits from reloading. Plus I spend enough time shooting. I don't really need another giant time killer.

Learning to load my own makes very little sense for me at this point. I can't afford to shoot in top flight competitions and I can shoot pretty well with factory loads anyway. I'm going to spend a whole lot of time and money to eventually get where I can shoot maybe half an inch better at 100 yards. I doubt it would be that much really. It's not worth it any way I look at it. For others who started young yes it can certainly be a great thing. But not for me and not for a lot of others I suspect. If people wanted to roll their own they would probably be doing it already. It's not like it's some big secret or something. I understand it's a good thing to spread the knowledge but not always. I also get the feeling that some people just bring it up to point out how cool they are. Good for you. I can put 7 out of 10 bullets in a 2" circle at 500 yards with a .223 I own. How much better do I need to be? Yes I need to have the right ammo to shoot that well. But ordinarily I can buy that ammo off the shelf pretty much any time. I can't now but that's ok. I stocked up.

Have a good day and I hope you have plenty of ammo to shoot wherever it came from.

 

[MCgunner]

And, you'll notice that I said I preferred Winchester Silver Tip to the Core Lokts because they shot better in my rifle. That's the only comparison I can make to factory loads since I do not buy or shoot factory stuff. I care about accuracy in hunting rifles, so I handload. I was transitioning houses 35 years ago and had to hunt one season with factory loads. The Winchesters worked. As long as it's accurate, about any expanding bullet will work on whitetail. They ain't hard to kill and you don't need a magic bullet for them, just an accurate one. If Core Lokts are accurate enough for you, go for it, they'll kill deer. To hear some folks tell it, they're magic, too, but I don't have such a high opinion of 'em, myself. I can get them from Midway for handloading, but for a few bucks more, I can get Sierra, Nosler, what works better in my guns. Ain't like I shoot 10K rounds a year, too. Mostly I'm shootin' .22 this time of year. Squirrels are year around, here.

I really don't NEED such accurate ammo anymore as on my two places, the longest shot I can make is maybe 150 yards, but I used to hunt out west a lot and wanted accurate ammo. I've taken a mulie across a New Mexico canyon at 370 yards with the big 7. That requires more than Core Lokt accuracy in that gun. Now days, though, I mostly hunt with my front stuffing charcoal burner and a solid lead 50 caliber 385 grain Hornady Great Plains minie bullet. Plan to do some more pistol huntin' in the woods here, though, where long range is 50 yards.

 

[T.R.]

I took this western South Dakota muley with one shot using 150 grain Remington core-lokt ammo. Distance was approx 125 yards or so in rough country. 30-30 and core-lokt ammo make for a deadly combination.

TR

 

[Water-Man]

I've used them in .35 Rem. & .270 Win. for many years on deer & black bear.

 

[wisconsin]

They shoot MOA in my A-bolt and ive never had to trail a deer very far. Havent used anything else, never needed to

 

[avs11054]

I have never shot anything with them, but I will be using them this coming deer season. They shoot very well through my DPMS Tac 20

 

[jstein650]

When I had my Ruger M77 MkII in '06, it was the most accurate bullet I ever loaded. It wasn't exactly a tack driver in the first place, but after trying several expensive premium brands, realized I couldn't beat the 165gr Core Lokt. I never got to use it on deer, but have all the confidence it would be lights out for even the biggest out there.

 

[41 Mag]

I have a little short Ruger in .308 that I have used the factory filled CL's almost exclusively in. I got it for hunting up close and personal in the underbrush and thick river bottoms on my friends place. Most shots have been well within 100yds, but I have also stretched it out to over 400 on a few hogs, and when I did my part they preformed excellent. I used them initially due to I could pick them up right after hunting season for around $10 per box and I would wait until they went on sale and buy up around a dozen or so boxes at a time. I figured why waste time and money on loading my own when these did all I could ask for in this rifle.

That said, I also have a couple of 06's, that I do load for and I use the 150 in one and the 165's in another. They will both shoot clover leaf groups with the loads, and will drop deer and hogs just as reliably as anything else I have ever used.

To be completely honest, my favorite all time bullet has been the Nosler Solid Base which they discontinued. IT has done everything one could ask of a C&C type bullet, in every caliber I have loaded it for. When I started getting low on them in 30 cal, I simply ordered up a bulk box of the CL's in a couple of weight and have moved on quite happily. Lastly, and this is a handload option only, when I built my 25-06 AI, I wanted to use some heavier custom bullets, however I could not get them after getting it put together. I found a fellow who had the Rem 120gr CL in stock and I initially purchased 200 from him to try out. They did so much better than anything else, I ordered 1500 from him and am using them exclusively in it. I had it built with a 28" Broughton barrel to take as much advantage of the case capacity as possible. With the 120gr CL, I can easily hit 3350 from the muzzle and they group right at 1" at 300yds. I have shot several hogs at ranges from 20yds out to around 150, and a couple of yotes out past 300. It preforms about the same on all of them, small hole going in, controlled expansion, and about quarter to half dollar exit going out. Noting in between is on the hogs has been messed up too bad to toss.

 

[txcookie]

Well I thank all you for your comments! I aint got a thing against reloading and plan to get my own kit soon. I cut and fletch my own arrows so this just seems like it would be right up my neck of the woods. My 270 shoots clovers at 100 with 130 grain CL so I doubt I will be able to beat that. However I have some rifles that certainly will need to be rolled for. Cant afford to shoot a 300 h&h anymore unless you roll and 250.3000 is way to soft from the factory.

 

[MCgunner]

Well, if you make your own arrows, you sorta need a front stuffing charcoal burner, too, right?

BTW, my grandpa got into reloading in the 50s because factory stuff for .257 Roberts was so under-loaded. I still have that rifle and load for it. It pushes a 100 grain Sierra to 3150 and 1/2 MOA. That's my best rifle/load combination and all I really need in a rifle on my places.

 

[pikid89]

Not a caliber known for great accuracy, I reload 130 grain core-lokts in my .270 Ruger M77 Tang Safety. I have more time than money so i sorted the box of 500 core lokts i had into 4 groups of weights in half grain increments in order to get some of the consistency that premium bullets come with

with 52.5 grains of IMR4350 i can get under 1 minute, and im the limiting factor in that

 

[osteodoc08]

I've reloaded and shot more core lokts than I care to admit. It's great cheap range fodder. Great medium sized game bullet. Premium? No. Most accurate? Hardly. A good compromise and economical. Absolutely.

 

[Liberty1776]

The first bullet I fired at a deer over 40 years ago was a Remington Core Lokt. They are still my "go to" bullet for hunting.

 

[herkyguy]

dropped a doe in her tracks last November at an embarrassing 25 yards. Accurate at the ranges i shoot. Nothing more to ask of a bullet.

 

[ridgerunner1965]

i used to hunt exclusively for deer with a 243 for maybe 20 yrs.100 grn factory core lokt was my round.i reloaded but didnt reload for that gun since it worked so well.on prob 35 deer it was outstanding.i can remember 3 bad shots i made in that time, totally my fault.in all three cases the expansion of the core lokt made the deer so shocked and sick that it just moved to the nearest brush and stood for a follow up shot.ive never recovered one from a carcass.and ive never seen less than a quarter sized exit hole.so yeah im a fan.