About That Core-Lokt

 A commenter notes:

Ah, another person who finds that the tried and true Core-Lokt is still a very good round, and quite capable of taking care of any problem that the more modern, computer designed bullets can take care of.

I came to the Core-Lokt in 1974 when I bought my first centerfire rile. Up until then, I had been a shotgunner, hutting squirrels, rabbits, ducks and geese.  I came to deer hunting in college and decided that I needed a rifle, rather than shooting them with buckshot.  So, I saved my pennies and bought a Marlin Model 336 in .35 Remington.  Quite a purchase, it cost me ~$100, which represented a week's pay for a pore, starvin' college student who was living in his first apartment.

For ammo, I picked up a box o Remington's 200 grain ammo and never looked back.  I hand been reading all the literature and knew that deer run away when shot.  When I got my chance a month later at a middling buck, I was a bit surprised when he dropped straight down. He was Dead Right There, in the middle f the trail where I spotted him. I hunted with that rifle for the next 15 years and never had to track a deer.  They all flopped.

In 1991 I decided that I needed a new rifle.  While brewing the used gun racks, I found a Remington Model 7 in 7mm-08.  It had a Leupold scope and the tag said $400.  I bought it and the counter guy threw in a box of Remington's 140 grain load. (As I think about it, that rifle also represented a week's pay.) That rile shot that ammo like a laser beam, throwing those Core-Lokt bullets into the same hole with boring regularity. I made some great shots with that rifle.  I lost it during a financial crisis stemming from the Great Divorce. Truth be told, I mourned the loss of the rifle more than the loss of the woman.  Funny how that worked out.  I never bought another 7mm-08.  Too many old memories, I guess.

Don't get me wrong, I have used other bullets.  I'm a big fam of Sierra's whole line, and I like the Nosler Ballistic Tip.  I've used the Barned Triple-Shock  And, I have a load in .243 Winchester that uses the Hornady VLD.  Bullet technology is amazing these days.  But for sub-3000 fps and under 200 yards, it is hard to beat the Core-Lokt.  It just works.