Remington Ammo Update - Big Green's re-entry into the ammo market promises to make its flagship more accurate and lethal. Here's how the new Remington Core-Lokt Tipped performed on the range
In light of continued ammo shortages, Remington Ammunition is under new ownership and currently in stock. After the many problems the Remington brand has endured in recent years, the return of Big Green ammo is good news for all hunters and shooters.
Remington Ammo Update
A new beginning for Remington ammo is promising with its new Core-Lokt Tipped bullet, which began appearing in August 2021. While Remington certainly isn't releasing the traditional Core-Lokt, this updated load has a polymer tip, better ballistic coefficient. and a better mechanically locked jacket and core. It is designed to increase accuracy with a longer rear center of gravity. Along with better ballistic performance, the polymer tip acts to initiate rapid expansion. The "lock" which is not a molecular bond but essentially a mechanical bond prevents the core and mantle from separating, resulting in an expanded but highly weight-retained sponge. That's exactly what hunters want.
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There is probably no more famous hunting ammunition than the Remington Core-Lokt, and it has been putting game on the table for hunters for decades. In fact, it is probably the most popular deer hunting ammunition in history. The iconic load had a pointed soft lead ball with a jacket mechanically "locked" to the core. It was a bullet ahead of its time when it was introduced in 1939, providing the rapid expansion with good weight retention that resulted in its great success and popularity. I actually shot my first elk with Core-Lokt 220 grain ammo, from my first rifle, a Remington Model 710 in .30-06.
Unfortunately, quality control issues have done significant damage to the reputation of Core-Lokt ammunition in the past. While Core-Lokt has always maintained a loyal following, stories of primers and bullets falling off cartridges fresh off the shelf did the brand no favors. I've never experienced any of that myself, but I stopped buying it over a decade ago after experiencing accuracy issues. I just couldn't get the things to shoot, even in rifles that used to like it. Popping out 4-inch groups at 100 yards just wasn't going to cut it. For years I saw him as unwanted ammunition.
I was anxious to get my hands on this ammo and got a few boxes of .30-06 180 grain bullets, a cartridge and weight suitable for almost all game in North America. My biggest questions revolved around ammo accuracy, consistency and quality control. A fresh start with good QC would be a huge revitalization for the brand, and ammo that is more consistently accurate would put it back on my list.
I carefully examined the ammunition, looking at each cartridge. I noted the typical factory shrinkage of the case and the only obvious inconsistency I could find was the variation in the patina of some of the primers. Some of them were shiny brass and some were darker, but aside from the aesthetic inconsistency, it didn't worry me. Through a box of these factory loads, I measured the overall length of the cartridge to get a feel for the consistency of the seat depth. The maximum variation was 0.011 inches with a standard deviation of 0.003 inches. I compared this to some of my handload ammo as well as a box of premium factory ammo, both were polymer tipped bullets. My OAL load varies by a standard deviation of 0.002 inches with a maximum variance of 0.006 inches. The other premium factory ammo had a standard deviation of 0.001” with a standard deviation of 0.003”. Overall, it's pretty good consistency for factory hunting ammo, and I couldn't find any defects or loose parts in the cartridges when they were packed.
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In the year I've been shooting Remington Core-Lokt Tipped ammo, I haven't shot many animals with it, but with a small sample size I liked what I saw. I killed a caribou last winter with the .30/06 load, and it went from a 250 yard shot. It was uneventful, and uneventful is good. Last fall, a friend and his son took two nice bull caribou with the 130-grain .270 Core-Lokt Tipped load, which was also uneventful. Both of their 130 grain bullets went through and were not found. It is a bullet that appears to have excellent terminal performance and good penetration.
Caiden TerBeek with a nice bull caribou taken with Remington Core-Lokt Tipped ammo in .270 Win. Brett TerBeek
Looks are one thing, but how well would the new Core-Lokt Tipped shoot? Being a full-loader and for nostalgia's sake, I wanted to see how accurately the first rifle I ever bought, an old Remington model 710, would shoot. To be clear, the 710 is anything but a sleek, high-performance rifle. But this one always shot well, and I used it to take a lot of game, including several moose, bighorn sheep, caribou, and bears. I used to shoot Core-Lokt ammo in it and being able to use it one more time would certainly get things done. I shot eight 5-shot groups that averaged 1.48 inches through this rifle. Many shooters can mock at just over an inch. But for shooting 5-shot groups with hunting ammo, through that old rifle, it's pretty good. My smallest group was 0.83 inches and my largest group was 1.88 inches.
As another point of reference, I shot five 5-shot groups through a Winchester Model 70 that I know handles a variety of loads well. Of those groups, the Core-Lokt Tipped had an average group of 1.39 inches. Through that rifle, my smallest group was 0.96 inches and my largest was 1.49 inches.
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Velocity was also pleasingly consistent for the ammo quality. The 180 grain load I used advertised 2.745 feet per second at the muzzle (probably from a 24 inch barrel). From the 22-inch barrel of my Model 710, it averaged 2,528 fps with a maximum spread of 67 fps and a standard deviation of 19.3 fps.
After first testing Core-Lokt Tipped ammunition in .30/06, I had the opportunity to shoot the 150-grain Core-Lokt Tipped load in .308 Win. through different rifles, and the 130 grain bullet in .270 Win. in Weatherby Mark V Hunter. Across the three calibers, the Core-Lokt Tipped has proven to be one of the most consistently accurate factory hunting loads I've tested this year.
I tested the 150-grain .308 Core-Lokt Tipped load in six different .308 rifles, along with 9 other types of factory .308 hunting ammunition. The Core-Lokt wasn't always the best shooter for every rifle, but overall it had the most consistent accuracy of any ammo tested. The average size of 29 five-shot groups through six rifles was 1.54 inches. The two rifles with the best averages with Core-Lokt Tipped ammo were the Tikka T3X Lite (1.25 inches) and the Christensen Arms Ridgeline Titanium (1.22 inches). There were five-shot groups, and the three-shot groups met the factory's three-shot MOA accuracy guarantees in every rifle they had.
Core-Lokt Tipped ammunition proved to have consistently good accuracy in the 130-grain .270 Victory. load too - a cartridge not known for the outstanding accuracy of factory ammunition. The Core-Lokt Tipped was one of six different factory hunting loads I tested in the Weatherby Mark V Hunter, and it was the second most accurate load in that rifle. The raw average for all 12 groups shot with the Core-Lokt Tipped was 1.53 inches, just behind the most accurate ammunition in that rifle which averaged 1.46 inches for its five-shot groups. With this rifle, the first three shots were pressed under an inch about 75 percent of the time.
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While I have no complaints about the practical quality and performance of this new line, I would like to see a little more attention to detail in the color of the primers. Are we desperate for primers and components? Yes. Does the slight variation in patina of primers in a box of ammo make a difference? Probably not. But there are a number of hunters who will view this launch with a sharp, skeptical eye, and a certain percentage of them will walk away from a perfectly good, consistent product because of inconsistent looks.
This new version appears to be far more consistent in accuracy, speed and quality control than anything you've found off the shelf. It delivers better bullets that will still deliver the terminal results (if not better) that sold Core-Lokt fans in the first place.
The sample size I was able to test showed that the Core-Lokt Tipped would be an excellent load. It is made with the deer hunter in mind, but fully suitable for a wide range of game. No decent ammo comes cheap these days, but this load should fall in the middle of the road in price and provide better consistency, accuracy and modern bullet performance for the money. In a time when options are scarce, it is welcome
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