Target Practice Ammo vs. Hunting Ammo

[swanny]

So in the past I've shot the Remington Core Lokt out of my .30-06 for hunting and target practice, $20  a box. My buddy talked me into better ammo, so I decided to pick up the Nosler Trophy Grade for this upcoming season. I'm curious, since this stuff is $40 a box, what do you use for practice at the range? It's a little hard to stomach $40 for target practice. I'll for sure shoot a few rounds through, just don't want to use up the whole box for target practice.

Will I be okay shooting Core Lokt's for target practice?

[Jingles]

IMO you practice with what you use otherwise all you are doing is sending lead downrange and what is the point in "Practicing"

[300rum]

More then likely you will have a very different result using two different cartridges.  Stay with the one you are going to hunt with. 

[Fl0und3rz]

Practice with the cheaper stuff mostly to verify basics of rifle configuration, form, and execution.  Then finish with a small set of the expensive stuff to confirm zero and verify form and execution.  Reloading will be mentioned, but these days, that may not be so easy, given the availability of some components. 

[WoodlandShooter]

As mentioned...just reload...

or

here is what I do.

since you are Hunting, would it be safe to assume most of your practice shots are less than 300 yards??

If so, well, zero your rife at 200 yards with what ever factory load wou will use when hunting.


For practice, leave your zero alone, and use anything you want for practice...the change in point of impact wont be enough to worry about.

I have my rifle zero's at 200 yards for my long range load (165 grain Matrix at 2850 FPS) my practice loads are using the same bullet, but with brass that is out of spec according to weight. I also use some Winchester and Remmy 130 grain ammo I got for cheap a while back. It is 130 grain with a MV of ~3000-3050. Both work great using the same zero and dope at hunting ranges.

[thinkingman]

Practice with the cheaper stuff mostly to verify basics of rifle configuration, form, and execution.  Then finish with a small set of the expensive stuff to confirm zero and verify form and execution.  Reloading will be mentioned, but these days, that may not be so easy, given the availability of some components.

This.

Corelokt will get you on paper and hopefully, inside the 8 ring.
Then, shoot the good stuff OUT OF A COLD BORE!
This will emulate the actual shot you will take while hunting.

[swanny]

Practice with the cheaper stuff mostly to verify basics of rifle configuration, form, and execution.  Then finish with a small set of the expensive stuff to confirm zero and verify form and execution.  Reloading will be mentioned, but these days, that may not be so easy, given the availability of some components.

This.

Corelokt will get you on paper and hopefully, inside the 8 ring.
Then, shoot the good stuff OUT OF A COLD BORE!
This will emulate the actual shot you will take while hunting.

This is where I was leaning, thanks for the confirmation!

[kentrek]

this caused me to miss a very nice bear one year in idaho

live an learn i guess

[Bill W]

Core locks are good bullets for hunting.  Why switch?

[JackOfAllTrades]

I've shot many MOA groups with Rem CoreLokt's, Nosler Partitions, Win Silver Tips, as factory loads and hand loads.  I see NO REASON to 'Practice' with premium bullets.  Practice, means trigger control, sighting, ranging, different positions, rested, non-rested, calm winds, steady winds, incline, calm cardio, excited cardio. That said, if the cheaper ones only produce 2moa from your rifle, then make sure you're averaging within that 2moa for all of your practice. -And make sure you do shoot some of the premium stuff to know where, as said, cold bore and 2nd shots impact at various ranges.
 
That said, I still hunt with CoreLokts. Speer Grandslam's, Nosler Partitions and such. I would only consider premium bullets if hunting beyond say... 300yds.
 
-Steve

[WoodlandShooter]

Jack,

just noticed your ribbons...very similar to mine!!!

I ended up with 2 MUC's, 3 E's, 2 good conducts, National Def, Expeditionary, and two sea service

[birddogdad]

if your going to shoot "cheap ammo" don't adjust scope optics to it. OR before season, reset optics to preferred hunting ammo. If you are just shooting to shoot, use your holdovers in scope if you have or cross hashes on targets. or like someone said, someday somewhere, it will cost you game.

if you are going to shot a lot, I would recommend getting your feet wet with reloading. Cheaper than buying and you can develop loads that your rifle "likes" that work well for hunting, again, can be cheaper. Magnum reloads biggest expenses are brass and bullets.

[Stein]

The answer for me is to reload and shoot my hunting round.  Shooting another round means you miss all of the data on drop at different distances under different conditions and wind drift.  That is probably 80% of the reason I practice.  I can shoot a .22 or a 7.62 if I only want to work on mechanics.

I shoot Barnes TSX, $0.75 a round plus $0.15 in powder and $0.025 in primer adds up to $18.50 a box for the best ammo for my gun money can buy.

[Bill W]

If a person's concerned with practice why not buy a .22 similar to your hunting rifle and practice with that.  Doesn't come much cheaper.    Trigger control and handling techniques are the same, if not more critical.  The slower velocity requires more follow thru.

[grundy53]

The answer for me is to reload and shoot my hunting round.  Shooting another round means you miss all of the data on drop at different distances under different conditions and wind drift.  That is probably 80% of the reason I practice.  I can shoot a .22 or a 7.62 if I only want to work on mechanics.

I shoot Barnes TSX, $0.75 a round plus $0.15 in powder and $0.025 in primer adds up to $18.50 a box for the best ammo for my gun money can buy.

sent from my typewriter

[Rooster1981]

Core locks are good bullets for hunting.  Why switch?

I have to disagree on this. You made the right choice on upgrading. I have always reloaded, except one year...... I grabbed a box of corelocks at wally Mart on my way to camp. Never again, I shot a bull at fifty yards broadside hit the first rib and the slug stopped. I was shooting  180gr 30-06 rounds. I got the bull but not after a long chase.
 As for your question I always practice with the rounds I hunt with. Except for that one time............

[pcal]

 The bullet just stopped and the bull walked off without a concern? Really!!!! I have used core-lokt  bullets for over 45 years until they became unavailable for reloading and never had any animal walk anywhere after being hit with a well place shot. I killed a few elk and more than a few mule deer and they all had holes all the way through with that exact same load that magically stopped on your bulls ribs. Bullet:180 grain,30 caliber, gun Remington 700 BDL ,'06, load: 57grains IMR4350. You bought factory loads so maybe you had a bad load but the problem wasn't with the bullet as I have shot deer out to 400 yrds with them and never recovered the bullets as they KO'ed the critter and never stopped til they hit dirt on the other side. If I couldn't reload I wouldn't hesitate to use Remington Core-lokt bullets. They are a real bargain and have been upgraded and constantly tested since they were first issued 75 years ago.A lot of factory loads are costing 3x's as much for guys who never shoot further than 200 yrds but I guess if you want to pay $60 per 20,that is your business.pcal

[RadSav]

Even the 180 Accu-Tip or Bronze point should make it through the ribs on an elk.  At 50 yards you do tend to have less penetration than you do at further distance, but should still be enough.  About the only thing I've ever heard of stopping the original Core-Lokt's has been very large necks like Moose and the Big bear at close range.

As a guide the Core-Lokt was one of my strongest recommendations for loads out of the 308 and 30-06.  I can not remember a single animals taken with the Core-Lokt that we ever had to track.  Though we did limit hunters to shots under 400 yards.

Maybe you got one of those worthless controlled recoil rounds by accident   I know a few fathers that got suckered into that stuff for their young kids.  Ended up being horrible performance on game.  Though in each of those cases it was more of a 30 cal FMJ entrance and exit rather than a bullet stop outside the cavity.

Everyone has their favorite stuff.  Few are absolutely right or wrong in every single situation.  I am a fan of the Nosler loads too.  Other than my 257 Roberts all my guns love the stuff.  Though most of my guns shoot the Core-Lokts, Winchester Blue box and Federal Premium extremely well too!  About the only bullet I truly hate, due to poor experiences, has been light bodied animals with the heavy bullet weight Barnes TSX from slow muzzle velocity guns and the .270 130 grain Partition.  But others on this forum seem to love them so

Someone seems to have a horror story with just about every bullet out there, it seems.  Usually a "right bullet/wrong scenario" most of the time.  But failures do happen.  Sounds like Rooster had a bad one for sure!  I'd bet the next 19 rounds in that box would drop that elk in it's tracks.  Good thing there are lots of good alternatives out there...until the next failure

Back to the OP.  As far as practicing is concerned I guess I would have to ask, "What kind of practicing will you be doing?"  If all you are doing is working on fundamentals and recoil awareness I can not see where one brand of ammunition would differ from another.  Although, if you are practicing to work on the best possible scope setting, grouping with your chosen hunting rounds and mapping DOPE?  I'd definitely do all that with the rounds you intend to hunt with.  Be that Nosler, Remington, Winchester or Joe Magillicutty's Magnificent Blood Splatters'.

[Ingwe]

I have killed close to 100 animals with 130 grain  nosler partition here and in Africa. Several elk and elk size animals such as Kudu. Hit them in the right place and any animal will go down. Hit them in wrong place with a big magnum and you can be in for a long tracking job. I have also used Remington Core-loct ammo when I as young and not reloading. Had good success. No matter what you use, practice and hunt with same ammo.

[Don Fischer]

I've never seen a box of factory ammo worth $40. They make a big play on using premium bullet's but the same stuff that has been killing animals for the past 50 yrs are still killing animals very well!

[KFhunter]

I got into a bad batch of Remington core lokt,  180gr 30-06

one shot had a cloud of crap shoot out the end of the barrel like it was a smoke pole, and less than normal recoil and sound report

another had a delay fire


tossed it all out

[Halo]

I've shot a lot of elk with 30-06 180 grain core-lokt's and they always did great if I did my job in placement.