Winchester Ammunition introduced a reduced recoil loading for the .460 S&W Magnum cartridge. Winchester claims an almost 50% reduction in recoil compared to their other loads, but still throws a 250 grain JHP at 1450 fps. This works out to be about 1167 ft-lbs of energy.
By way of comparison, the Winchester 260 grain Partition Gold load in this caliber uses a slightly heavier bullet (260 grains) at 2000 fps. Â This works out to be a little more than 2300 ft-lbs of energy. Â Stepping down a little, Winchester’s .44 Magnum cartridge launches a 250 grain JHP at 1230 fps. So this load is going to be more powerful than a .44 Magnum, but will be significantly downloaded from the top .460 S&W Magnum loads.
Blame it on politics, crime, the worldwide demand on metals or all of the above. The fact remains: ammunition is much more expensive today than it was a few years ago.
Hornady Manufacturing, Inc. introduced the extremely popular LeverEvolution line of ammunition in 2006. Now they have expanded the line to include the .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum cartridges. These two handgun cartridges are very popular with hunters, both from handguns and from lever-action rifles.
If you shoot the 5mm rimfire, Aguila Ammunition has good news: the 5mm Remington Rimfire Magnum (RFM or sometimes RRM) is back in production. Additionally, the company is offering two loads now.
The AR-15 platform has become extremely popular in the past two decades. With it, the .223 Rem rose to one of the most popular rifle cartridges of all time.
In the hunting realm, the .223 has been very popular with varmint hunters. However, many people have felt the .223 cartridge is too small for hunting deer-sized game.
To help influence the debate, Remington introduced a .223 cartridge in their Core Lokt Ultra Bonded line of hunting ammunition.
According to Remington, the Core Lokt Bonded bullet “…offers the unique combination of excellent accuracy, superb weight retention, and expansion with overall superior terminal results.”
Remington says the bullets retain up to 95% of their original bullet weight, and by using a progressively tapered jacket, the bullets expand reliably at “all practical” velocities. Expansion of up to twice the original bullet diameter is typical with this bullet design.
The obvious goal is improved penetration with the relatively light bullet. A bonded bullet enables the projectile to hold itself together when hitting bone and other tissue.
Whether deer hunters will embrace this round remains to be seen. However, Remington’s introduction of their Core Lokt Ultra Bonded bullet in a .223 loading expands the possibilities with this already versatile rifle cartridge.
Specifications
Caliber
.223 Rem
Bullet Weight
62 grains
Bullet Type
Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded
Muzzle Velocity
3,100 fps
Muzzle Energy
1,323 ft-lbs
Ballistic Coefficient
.234
MSRP (2021)
$38.99/box of 20
The Core Lokt Ultra Bonded line is fairly extensive and covers many of the other popular calibers in both short- and long-action.
Additionally, the company offers these bullets loaded in the 6.8 SPC cartridge, which is another caliber that is very popular with AR-15 shooters. For deer-sized game, I would much rather have the 6.8 SPC cartridge than the .223. It definitely gives the hunter a lot more power for anchoring an animal.
While you could hunt whitetail with a .22 LR, I still believe in clean, humane kills. Bigger bullets tend to improve the likelihood of this happening.
Another excellent hunting cartridge for the AR-15 platform is the more recent 300 BLK (aka the 300 AAC BLACKOUT) cartridge. This uses a .30 caliber bullet in the same size envelope as a 5.56 cartridge. They even use the same magazines and can be had in subsonic versions for suppressor use. I’ve seen these used on hogs and they are very effective.
Do you hunt deer with the .223? If so, what ammo are you running? Anyone want to offer their review of the Core Lokt ammo in .223?
