hornady SST bullets on game?

meatgrinder

meatgrinder

Member
Rating - 100%
62   0   0
Location
eastern ontario
Hey guys,
Just wondering if anyone has any experience hunting with sst hornady bullets. I have fired 165 gr superformance out of my 30-06 and the accuracy was very good but if I hit a deer or black bear at 100 or 200 yards is it going to explode and fragment?
 
There was just a thread on SST's. I believe the consensus was they were quite frangible. Maybe do a quick search.

Hakx
 
I would not be afraid to use any Hornady hunting bullet on any game animal in North America. It should be no problem on a deer or black bear...
 
I agree with guntech, the SST's will work just fine for hunting game and last year I was happy with the way SST 139 gr. 7mm Hornady's performed on Moose and bear.
 
I find the SST's to be a very accurate bullet that has accounted for many game animals for me and my son including a 6' + black bear I loaded them mostly in my 280 Rem.

With that said I definately feel that there are better choices for bigger game animals.

I now very rarely use SST's for hunting big game = I now totally prefer bonded bullets like an Accubond or Scirroco actually the only SST's I load now are 150gr .308" in my wildcat 308Bellm = 150gr bullets @ 2600fps.

I will no longer use them in a cartridge/rifle combo that give higher velocities.
 
Shoot for the boiler room and all will be good. Had tag soup this past season but the one before shot a buck at 39 yards the hole was the size of a softball on both sides. There was no blood to let drain out at least.
 
I am with Camp Cook, I will only use them in low velocity rounds from now on. This last fall I popped a whitetail in between the ribs at 140 yards with my 270, the bullet vaporized in the chest cavity. Very quick kill, but there is no reason the bullet shouldn't have exited the far side. I don't trust them now.
 
I shot a nice bull elk last fall with a 300 WM using a 150g SST bullet. Dropped right where he stood. I use them in different calibers without any problems.
 
They are an accurate bullet for me but I think I'd rather use an interbond on large game such as moose. I have used them on deer with very good results but I'd trust the interbond to hold together and exit at higher velocities.
 
Anybody use 140 gr SSTs in 6.5x55 in a modern action? I got a whole bunch of them when I bought a set of dies. What could I effectively kill with them? I was thinking deer/bears and use my 8x57 Mauser with 200 gr pills for anything bigger.
 
i have never hit bone with a SST. i shoot 165g in 30-06. the bear i hit at 120yrds had a nice golf ball size exit wound and droped in 10yrds. didnt get a chance to put one in a moose this year. i am happy so far.
 
SSTs are very similair to Nosler Ballistic tips. Just like Interbonds are similair to Accubonds. All are very accurate, Btips amd SSTs are much more frangible. Still suitable, for deer and black bear, but will damage more meat than the bonded bullets.
 
My one experience with a 140gr SST and a 6.5x55 was a deer shot at 25yds right in the heart. After gutting and removing the hide the bullet passed clean through without hitting bone. Pinhole in and out.
I also use Nosler BT all the time and they work very well on deer and black bear.
 
I shot two deer a a couple of years ago with them and like most everyone else found them very destructive at closer range, but boy those deer didn't go far. As suggested use them at a bit lower velocity, i think a quick fix with that is to use the heaviest sst you can get, that will both lower the velocity and give you more weight for penetration as the bullet will probably shed quite a bit of weight. They have pretty respectable bc, I think they would make a good economical long range bullet.
 
lejarretnoir said:
My one experience with a 140gr SST and a 6.5x55 was a deer shot at 25yds right in the heart. After gutting and removing the hide the bullet passed clean through without hitting bone. Pinhole in and out.
I also use Nosler BT all the time and they work very well on deer and black bear.
Click to expand...

I've had two experiences with ballistic tips before I swore them off. First was a 25 yard shot with a 150 grain BT from a 7mm RM. Exploded on impact, destroyed heart but no exit wound on small WT doe. Considering the extremely high impact velocity I decided it was not the bullet's fault.

Second was a 40 yard shot on a mule buck, 140 grain BT from a .280 Rem. MV of about 2900 fps, and did not strike a bone, so the bullet should have held up. It did exit, but despite being a perfect boiler room shot, through and through right behind the shoulder, bullet fragments went into the guts spilling gut juice all through the exit wound side shoulder. This ruined a lot of meat and I never have those giant gaping exit wounds with Accubonds, so that's what I've used since.

If you reload it's not too much more for a Accubond/Interbond, so why use the inferior bullet?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom