Hornady SST

T

TrevorMack

Regular
Rating - 100%
4   0   0
Location
Nova Scotia
So last year I bought a box of Hornady SST 150 gr for my 308. Took a deer at 113 yards and the damage was outrageous. Deer didnt look like he was hit but when I found him I could have put a soccer ball through his front shoulder. Never seen anything like it with a smaller caliber like a 308. Anyone else use this ammo and find the same effect or is the SST more of a longer range round?
 
They don't call them the Super Shock Tip for nothing! I haven't tried them out yet, but i have a few for my 6.5x55 that i plan on using this year
 
I have taken quite a few deer with the 165 SST in my keltek RFB and they work great. Hornady makes good stuff but when you go over 3000 FPS go to the Nosler Partition for "open up at any speed" performance and they usually go right through the critter. They may not shoot minute of angle in every rifle but they definitely shoot minute of moose boiler room and you will never be disappointed with their performance
 
Your lucky you were close . For me they kill quick in the boiler room but I avoid quartering shots , I think they fragment after impact
At a longer range you may have had a wounded deer get away . I shot a moose in the hump ( never fails to drop them on the spot ) and it dropped but surprised me when it got up . Finished it with a lung shot . Found the one in the hump did not penetrate but blew up before it got to the spine ( big wound ) but would have got away if I had no second shot
 
Keithjohn said:
Your lucky you were close . For me they kill quick in the boiler room but I avoid quartering shots , I think they fragment after impact
At a longer range you may have had a wounded deer get away . I shot a moose in the hump ( never fails to drop them on the spot ) and it dropped but surprised me when it got up . Finished it with a lung shot . Found the one in the hump did not penetrate but blew up before it got to the spine ( big wound ) but would have got away if I had no second shot
Click to expand...

That's crazy - same thing happened to me last year though my second shot smoked a chunk outta the spine. The 165 in 06 past clean through the hump. Will take a pic of the retrieved body shot 165 and post in a bit.
 
I tried to work up some 165 sst loads for my .30-06 but I couldn't get them any less than 4" at 100. I was looking forward to trying them this year but I ran out and couldn't justify another box to keep trying at ~$55/100
 
Most of what I've read about the SST is that it needs a little time to slow down. So yes, it's better suited to longer distances. I witnessed my brother-in-law use a handloaded 165 Gr SST going 2750 fps out of his 30-06. He shot a deer into the chest from the front within about 10 yards. The SST blew up the top half of the heart, with two very small fragments perforating the diaphragm and stomach. So even though it never hit bone, the 165 wouldn't hold together completely. My guess is, if you hit the shoulder, the blow up would be fantastic, as you described. Go for broadside heart and lung shots if you are close.
 
I use 150gr & 165gr in a 30/06. Devastating, and deer never take a second step. Shot them at 80, 100, 120, 220 & 240 yards. The doe at 240 yards just keeled over, heart/aorta hit. I've never recovered a bullet. A big buck hit at 100yrds in the shoulder dropped too, never found the bullet or any evidence of a front shoulder blade. A big fist-sized hole through the rib cage.
 
Trois Pistoles said:
Most of what I've read about the SST is that it needs a little time to slow down. So yes, it's better suited to longer distances. I witnessed my brother-in-law use a handloaded 165 Gr SST going 2750 fps out of his 30-06. He shot a deer into the chest from the front within about 10 yards. The SST blew up the top half of the heart, with two very small fragments perforating the diaphragm and stomach. So even though it never hit bone, the 165 wouldn't hold together completely. My guess is, if you hit the shoulder, the blow up would be fantastic, as you described. Go for broadside heart and lung shots if you are close.
Click to expand...

My experience with even partition bullets at ten yards very similar things would happen. I saw a bear that was hit similarly with a Nosler Partition of the same weight and caliber at the same distance. The bullet came apart without hitting any bone at all and left petals inside the chest cavity with one penetrating the diaphragm. I have no idea where the base went. We never found it and there weren't any exit wounds that were detectable.

Making any ammo of any type work perfectly at close range is extremely difficult. Maybe the monlithics can consistently fill that slot??? I once talked with a Speer tech who had worked extensively on creating a bullet that would be reliable at close to muzzle ranges but still be effective at extended ranges. He felt that the Speer Grand Slam was about as good as it gets. I used those bullets for a long time after that because he knew his stuff but went to SST ILs because I love the accuracy and getting the bullet to the right place is extremely important.

IMHO, your Brother in Laws bullet did everything it was supposed to do under extreme conditions.
 
Rossiter93 said:
I tried to work up some 165 sst loads for my .30-06 but I couldn't get them any less than 4" at 100. I was looking forward to trying them this year but I ran out and couldn't justify another box to keep trying at ~$55/100
Click to expand...

That is really unusual. Not unheard of though. Maybe you weren't pushing them fast enough.

By the way, SST IL bullets are about the cheapest premium bullets you can purchase these days.
 
Last edited:
bearhunter said:
That is really unusual. Not unheard of though. Maybe you weren't pushing them fast enough.

By the way, SST IL bullets are about the cheapest premium bullets you can purchase these days.
Click to expand...

The rifle I'm using them in is a Savage model 40, ~80 years old and it has a hell of a lot of free bore, I have to trim cases after every firing. I'm trying Barnes 150gr TTSX now, just waiting for some decent weather to get to the range. I figured I'd give the Barnes a try because I've read numerous times how they tend to shoot better with more jump before the rifling.
It's a family heirloom rifle and once I take a deer with it I'll be putting it away, I just need to be confident before I'll take it out into the field.
 
I have some for hand loading 308, but haven't done it yet. I was planning on using some 7.62x39 Hornady loaded SST this year, but if it will do that kind of damage, I'm not so sure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom