I guess I am missing a few key pieces of information...

I don't particularly doubt that the core lokt has taken more kills than any other bullet, that seems entirely possible but I still don't see anything explaining why exactly that is.

Sure it seems to mushroom well, is it the best mushroom pattern? I don't know that I would say that as I am quite impressed with the Barnes triple X mushrooms but that being said it certainly should do well enough to get the job done.

Does it have more kills simply because it is shot more often than other bullets, what are the %'s to bullets fired vs 1 shot kills?

If it is in fact the most shot bullet, why is that? Is it because it is the most cost effective or because it is the most accurate or does it bring down game any faster than any others etc...?

I see your statement and while it may be entirely true it is not supported in any way by any facts or numbers. To me that just makes it another opinion (no offense).

I don't know that I would particularly disagree with anything you have said but you post as though it's fact but there is nothing in your post other than an opinion, a logical opinion but an opinion it is without any supporting facts and numbers.

Probably has something to do with it being cheap (inexpensive), available just about anywhere, and it's been around forever. Oh, and it kills stuff. Talk about a marketers dream. When I bought my used .308 from a friend, guess what he gave me with it? You guessed it, a box and a half of CoreLokt's.

Before you can compare the good bullets with any amount of authority, you have to experience some of the junk that has been around in the last few decades.
Then you appreciate the quality control that the bullet makers put into their product for todays market.
I used Cor Loks for years,but I don't know if the moose died instantly or moments before I finally walked over to field dress it, sometimes fifteen minutes and a Rum or two later.
Only if you are going to need a bullet for an extended shot, should you be really concerned, out to 250 -300, they'll all work
I won't endorse any bullet in particular as I won't permit you to prove me "a liar" I am quite capable of providing data to support that theory myself

i've used core lokts over the years myself. they seemed to work fine but if you look at the ballistics of them they arent that great. would it be because of the shape of the lead? i've always wondered how they performed so well for having such low end ballistics!

I think they perform so well because dead game doesn't care about ballistics. We, as hunters, are wrapped up in ballistics even though at normal hunting ranges ballistic differences don't mount up to a big difference. A deer doesn't care if it is hit by a round nose bullet going 2200fps or a spitzer going 2400fps.

core-lokts are so popular because they're 9.99 at walmart and they put deer on the ground. enough said. Now some of us who reload and wallow in ballistics figure there is more out there than the old glorified soft point and we have fun trying to prove it. I prefer accubonds. It's not the perfect bullet but I'm of the opinion there is no such thing. Oh good luck on your research. If you find the perfect bullet we'd sure all like to know.
Hank

Odd finding. Just because something has taken more big game doesn't quantify it as the best. 30/30 has probably killed more game than any other big game cartridge, but that doesn't make it the best overall big game cartridge today.

Personally I would take a partition, accubond, or some form of barnes bullet if I had to pick just one.

I have also spent countless hours of research and thoughts on this subject ,)

my results are as follows....

drumroll please....

just as there is no perfect all around rifle there is no perfect all around bullet!
just lotsa good choices! ...and a couple of bad ones,

with all of the great selection we have today, best to just avoid the wrong bullets rather than contantly trying to find the best...

but thats no where near as much fun!

This, like many subjects, is un-answerable! Simply because there is no best animal, there is no best bullet! As far as one shot, drop in their tracks, that is not the effect of any type of bullet design, but of bullet placement, and enough velocity, and pennetration to reach the vital organ that will slap him off his feet for keeps. This is where the perfect bullet cannot exist, because there are different animals that require different sizes, weights, and construction, while haveing the right sectional density to hold together while plowing through different bones, and tissue!

The only thing that will flatten an animal dead when he hits the ground is to destroy the Centeral nearvous system, and that for the most part is bullet placement, not design! Certainly a bullet would be of different design, and construction to pennetrate 4 ft of Elephant head, in a straight line, to reach the brain, than it would to reach the spine of a whitetail deer.

In the past. I used many a CoreLok, in the green and yellow box.
Nowadays my preference goes to any of the bonded core bullets. Accubond, Interbond and HotCor being three of my favorites but not neccessaily in that order.