Honady SST question

jsdboy

jsdboy

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saanichton, b.c.
Got my first moose this year; very exciting. Shot him at 200 yds. with my 308 with hand loads using the Hornady SST 165 gr bullet.

The bullet entered a rib very high up on the animal (very thick chunk of bone), veered up and broke the spine leading to a nice clean one shot drop.

HOWEVER: There was no exit wound. The bullet appears to have disintegrated.

So my question is: can these "interlock" bullets lose their integrity even though they are supposed to be a controlled expansion bullet?? I am pleased with the results, but bugged because if the bullet had scattered in the main lung area I think he could have traveled pretty far on me. So I kind of don't really trust them anymore. I like using them because they are so damned accurate out of my little Savage.

Any one have a similar experience with these bullets? Should I go back to a Nosler?

Thanks for lookin, jsdboy
 
SST is all I use now for everything. Shot 3 elk, 7 deer and a moose with em in the last 3 years. None went far, but now that I think about it, I don't think I ever got an exit wound on any of the large animals.
 
The SST is meant to be a rapid expanding bullet meant to compete with the Nosler Ballistic tip.If you want deeper penetration,try the Interbond.
 
Interbond

stubblejumper said:
The SST is meant to be a rapid expanding bullet meant to compete with the Nosler Ballistic tip.If you want deeper penetration,try the Interbond.
Click to expand...

OH! Man I got to start reading labels better. i had asked the dealer at the counter for "interbond" and he passed me the SST "Interlock" and I ran away to go load.

Maybe I should just shut up and be happy with the good clean kill and maybe it was in the stars or whatever that I got given the SST's. So based on mr. arctic blasers' story and how well they fly maybe I'll just stick with em.

BTW, my pet load for my Savage M14 Euro Classic (22"barrel, 1 in 10 twist) is
F/C cases
44 gr. IMR 4895
165 gr. SST
Win primer
OAL 2.8"

Ave 0.9" 3 shot groups at 100 yds when i don't drink too much coffee

Thanks for the replies guys
 
Just because there was no exit does not mean that the bullet disintegrated. Sounds like it did a pretty good job of penetration by breaking a rib and the spine. Lots of bone there. If you didn't track the bullet and find out where it went, you don't know if it held together and got lost when you cleaned the moose.
Not sure why you are worried about the performance.
 
Al-Sway said:
Just because there was no exit does not mean that the bullet disintegrated. Sounds like it did a pretty good job of penetration by breaking a rib and the spine. Lots of bone there. If you didn't track the bullet and find out where it went, you don't know if it held together and got lost when you cleaned the moose.
Not sure why you are worried about the performance.
Click to expand...

All good points. I tried to find it, couldn't. And since it all worked out so well, you are right, why worry? And that rib was thick.

So that pretty well settles it, I'm dropping it. Thank you
 
The Barnes X was Barnes first all copper bullet.They have since been replaced with the TSX and TTSX,which tend to be much more accurate,foul much less,and open up much more reliably on game.
 
jsdboy said:
OH! Man I got to start reading labels better. i had asked the dealer at the counter for "interbond" and he passed me the SST "Interlock" and I ran away to go load.
Click to expand...

Well, look on the bright side, SST's are cheaper then Interbond.

The best one I read was a guy in the States that bought a box of Trophy bonded bear claws. $50.00 At a buck a shot he was saying to himself that these things had better work miracles. Gets home, opens the box, and discovers that TBBC's come 25 to a box:p


Sticker
 
I use the SST for 5 years now and I love them. In bigger games they will expand most if not all the energy inside unless they don't hit any bones. I never lost any game with them. Tha farthest on went was about 80 yds. My moose this year did about 25 feet and went straight down. Went through the rib and ended in the shoulder. The inside of the rib were all shattered about 2 inch big and the bullet finished in the shoulder trashing the lung and the heart on the way, making him die very quick and not go very far.

I like the job they do, but it all depends on what you want, i don't mind one hole, no energy loss.

cheers
Gaetoune
 
Like many of us, over the years I've sent quite a few Hornady bullets down the pipe in a variety of calibers and bullets weights and across a broad range of velocities. I have come to the conclusion that their cores are pretty hard, and that if a softer core was used the break up you observed in your moose might not have happened.

I prefer a bullet to keep as much of it's original weight as possible and exit. Two holes are better than one. On some game this requires a very strongly constructed bullet that may not give the best performance on smaller species. Matching the bullet to the game is key to success.

TSXs tolerate high velocity impacts very well, retain much of their weight, penetrate well, and perform well at low impact velocities at extended ranges. They aren't my favorite bullet, but if you where to look at the selection on my loading bench right now you might think they were.

I have come to like bullets with pure lead cores bonded to copper (not alloy) jackets with solid shanks. These bullets tend to hold up well to high velocity impacts and when the core length allows, they upset to a larger degree, though perhaps not as quickly as the TSXs.
 
Molar buster

Ha! well i found one downside to the SST: I was munching away on a loin steak the other night and crunched down on something pretty hard.

Spit out a chunk of nice shiny copper about the size of a #6 shot pellet. Didn't bust a tooth this time, lucky.

But I had to laugh (twisted sense of humor?) Cheers!
 
I rember a quote from a gun magzine that went something like this,"at what point of the animals death did the bullet fail?"Pretty much sums it up for me at least......Harold ..........never tried the SST's always been an Interlock guy
 
I do not like the meat damage done by the SST, and avoid them for big game like moose, because I like a bullet that can be trusted to reach vitals on a moose even when the angle is acute and bones may be in the way. OK deer bullet with quick kills on broadside lung shots. Regards, Eagleye.
 
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