In the interest of transparency, as the politicians say, please know that the Reynolds family hold no stocks of any ammunition manufacturers. Know, too, that although an avid and longtime big game hunter, I am a babe in the woods when it comes to ballistics.
V. Paul Reynolds, Outdoors Columnist
In high school, physics was never my strong suit. I understand muzzle velocity, but start talking about the bullet’s ballistic coefficient, muzzle energy, controlled expansion downrange, and so forth, and you are drifting above my pay grade.
I have learned, however, that ammo matters.
In my early years as a Maine deer hunter, I would have argued otherwise. Just give me a box of bullets in .35 Remington, any old brand will do. If the round would maintain energy at 50 yards, and maybe cut a little brush on its way to the target, it would suffice. It wasn’t the ammo, dude, it was the marksman, the guy behind the gun that put the meat on the game pole.
Much later in life, elk hunting became habit forming. And, all of a sudden, shots at big game at 200 yards and beyond became the new normal. Ammo choices were part of the hunting calculus. “Controlled expansion” was the elk hunter’s mantra. The challenge was to figure out which brand of premier (read expensive) ammunition would get the job done and deliver at longer trajectories.
Confused and conflicted by all of the articles about premier ammo written by respected ballistics writers, I bounced around and tried many different brands over the years — Hornady, Nosler, Barnes, Federal Premium, and some others.
Surprise. All brands killed elk when the shots were well-placed. And, yes, you are right: Cowboys for years have been bagging elk with old, beat-up lever action 30-30s and conventional lead bullets.
Remington Core-Lokt rifle bullets have been around since 1939. They have become my latter-day ammo of choice, for elk, deer, bear or moose. And, as a matter of fact, there is a brand-new Core-Lokt on the market. According to Bryce Towsley, writing in American Hunter, the Remington Core-Lokt set the ammo standard way back then. It was the first controlled expansion rifle bullet offered in America. The newest Core-Lokt offers a tipped version of this fabled bullet. Towsley says it’s the same basic bullet, but that the new one is more accurate, holds energy longer and shoots flatter.
Bugle Magazine’s recent issue carries a feature article on premier big game ammo and lists no less than 15 manufacturers. Of course, each brand boasts unique ballistic qualities. You do get what you pay for, even with ammo. If you are planning an elk hunt in open Big Sky country with your new Winchester 300 Mag, you might as well chip to the pricey ammo.
The expensive bullets do shoot flatter and do hold together and penetrate at longer distances. On the other hand, if you are like me and get confused by all of the Madison Avenue superlatives on hot loads, you can never go wrong with the old standby, Remington Core-Lokt.
V. Paul Reynolds is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal, an author, a Maine guide and host of a weekly radio program, “Maine Outdoors,” heard at 7 p.m. Sundays on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network. Contact him at vpaulr@tds.net.
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