- Location
- Saskatchewan
That's exactly what I use and I love them. Won't use anything else, for the money they can't be beat.
Hornady SST's for Game?
- Thread starter mmattockx
- Start date
That's exactly what I use and I love them. Won't use anything else, for the money they can't be beat.
I won't use them anymore, he's why: 180 grain SST loaded to moderate 308 velocity. Close range shot taken at about 20-30 yards, bullet separated and fragmented. Shot was perfect right behind front shoulder on a 5 point buck, didn't hit any bone on the way in yet still fragmented. A large portion of the bullet exited through the top of the deers neck, while the largest fragment exited the opposite side of the deer. 25% of the heart was destroyed, and the lungs were gone. Front quarter on entrance side looked like it was hit by a freightliner. At moderate .308 velocities, and without striking bone, only flesh and organs this bullet did not hold up.
I digress... Same type of scenario only with .303 Brit. Loaded mod velocities, very close range again 20-30 yards. Was using 180 grain hornady interlocks. Bullet didn not frag, stayed together and retained most of its weight.
Know what type of hunting you will be doing, and know what type of ranges you will be engaging at. For the type of hunting I do, close range shots often present themselves. If your hunting the prairies, the SST might be a viable choice for you.
I digress... Same type of scenario only with .303 Brit. Loaded mod velocities, very close range again 20-30 yards. Was using 180 grain hornady interlocks. Bullet didn not frag, stayed together and retained most of its weight.
Know what type of hunting you will be doing, and know what type of ranges you will be engaging at. For the type of hunting I do, close range shots often present themselves. If your hunting the prairies, the SST might be a viable choice for you.
I hit bone. It's a humbling story when fully told but here is the short version. I shot a whitetail at about 30 yards square in the hindquarters with a .308 165 gr SST at 2500 fps. Bullet went into one hip socket and lodged in the hide after passing through the other socket. When I was skinning the deer is when I found the bullet it weighed in at 95 gr, it started at 165.
As far as front quarter shots go, my father who's 78 dropped a fine 8 point buck from 40 yards with the 165 gr SST (same load in .308) one shot. Normal wound channel in and out. Nice and controlled through out. Nothing catastrophic or fancy.
Both animals did not require any chasing. My Dad's died instantly, while mine required a second application of SST.
As far as front quarter shots go, my father who's 78 dropped a fine 8 point buck from 40 yards with the 165 gr SST (same load in .308) one shot. Normal wound channel in and out. Nice and controlled through out. Nothing catastrophic or fancy.
Both animals did not require any chasing. My Dad's died instantly, while mine required a second application of SST.
My son shot his first mule deer and 2 black bears one was over 6' with 139gr SST's @ 3000fps using my 280 Rem Mtn rifle .
The buck was only 20 yards away tops resulted in a thru and thru high chest shot deer dropped instantly, first bear was appr 200 yards a perfect lung shot dropped it quickly and the second bear was appr 130 yards thru the chest side ways cutting the top of the heart off bear ran maybe 10 yards before dropping.
Yeah they work fine if you do your part...
The buck was only 20 yards away tops resulted in a thru and thru high chest shot deer dropped instantly, first bear was appr 200 yards a perfect lung shot dropped it quickly and the second bear was appr 130 yards thru the chest side ways cutting the top of the heart off bear ran maybe 10 yards before dropping.
Yeah they work fine if you do your part...
Finger Toes
Regular
- Location
- Yellowhead County
Hope it doesn't offend any traditionalists but now I'm shooting most everything I intend to eat with a tsx type bullet. I'm sure I've eaten a fair share of lead particles and I'm not overly concerned about it but I don't see any reason to continue.
- Location
- Vermilion, AB
I shoot both the interbond and SST out of my 7mm rem. mag. 154 on the deer and 162 on Moose. These bullets have turned even me into a one shot wonder. They are the most accurate out of my Tikka, and for some reason at the range I don't notice any difference between the two weights up to 250 yards. For some reason the 139 sst's pretty much spray out of my barrel? But I don't use anything other than Hornday SST and interbond, and haven't noticed ay difference in the kills at all. And yes I do usually loose a shoulder, but never loose the animal, in my mind that is more ethical.
I had a buddy try 140 gr Nosler Partitions in his 6.5x55 after seeing what they did with my .270 and I must say he loves them and will not switch now.
He started loading with IMR4350 at 39 grains and shot VERY well and to play he went to RL22 at 46 gr and wow, he likes them too and over 2700 fps.
REM
He started loading with IMR4350 at 39 grains and shot VERY well and to play he went to RL22 at 46 gr and wow, he likes them too and over 2700 fps.
REM
If there was a 140gr. TSX, it would be my first choice this fall. They only make to 130gr., which would be fine for deer, but light for bigger animals.
Mark
All right, say I want to use Noslers for game, but would like to develop a load using some cheap Hornady A-max 140gr. bullets. Should I expect to have similar results (on paper) between the two bullets, or will there likely be a drastic difference in performance?
Mark
No, its very rare to have 2 bullets specialy a hunting and a match bullet to have the same POI.
Set your POI for your hunting bullets center at a certain range, and if you want to practice use teh A-max and shoot for groups no matter were they hit the paper.
I have seen as much as a 5-6 inch POI from partitions to SMKs at 100m.
That is a huge error at 300 yards out
As for grouping the A-max should out perform a hunting bullet, but that all depends on the primer, load, powder, seating depths. However, most guys have a storry about a hunting load that will shoot as good as a match load, I have seen it myself, sometimes you get lucky, but you will have to wait to see what the gun tells you ! and do not bank or count on one bullet to shoot as good or worse than teh other, trail and error is the name of the game.
That's what I expected. Not what I wanted to hear, but what I was expecting...
I guess I will just have to suck it up and shell out $$$ for the Nosler's to develop the load with and use the cheap stuff for practice.
Thanks,
Mark
The .277" 130gr TSX works as well or better for moose and elk as the 150gr partition does,so in the 6.5,the 130gr TSX would be more than adequate.
I use the .284" 140grTSX and TTSX myself for elk and moose,and it does as well as the .284" 175gr partition that a hunting partner used to use before switching to the 140gr TTSX himself.
I've used 180gr .308 SST's on moose. Both times the bullet jacket broke up somewhat but both moose ended up dead. The same SST's went right through whitetails, but they ended up dead too. Don't know if this info helps, but I thought I'd throw it in.
Pathfinder
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Northeast Ontario
A partner of mine I load for blew one (SST) up on a Doe's fron shoulder, try not to hit anything too hard and it should do a cleaner job than was I was able to observe. In any case the Deer was hung in a barn and put in a freezer just like the others.
I noticed that and will be picking up a box of the 130gr. and the 120gr. to see what my rifle likes. I didn't get a moose tag this year, so that part is academic until next fall.
I wish Barnes would make a 140gr. boat tail TSX, that would be a brilliant all around 6.5mm bullet. I would think it would be no longer than some of the 160gr. bullets available now and would cover pretty much everything from deer to anything short of grizzlies.
Mark
