Need advice on SST's

[AbHobbyist]

Hello All!!

Please bear with me as I give you all a little background,

I have been doing my best to get into this long range shooting and hunting "discipline". As of late, and on the advice of my friend mysticplayer, I have been working with some H4831sc and the Hornady 162 grain Amax in my 7mm Rem Mag full ATRS Custom rifle.

While I am still in load development the initial results have been nothing short of miraculous. There has been more than 1 or two 5 shot groups hovering right around 0.5" mark center to center at 100 yards (which for my level of skill has previously been unheard of). I

Up to now I have been interchangeably using the Seirra 160 grain Game-King(for practice), and the 160 grain Nosler partition (for hunting) as both bullets seem to have very similar point of impact in my rifle. However the accuacy has been very ho-hum, averaging about 1" = 1MOA at 100 yards.

On a whim, I pulled some bullets on some of my hunting loads (160 grain Nosler partion, in a Win case, a rem 9.5 primer, and a healthy dose of IMR 4350 giving an honnest 2900 fps) and re-seated the Hornady Amax’s to the proper deapth. Again the reusults were impressive, the 5 shot group again shrunk to about 0.5" c-c at 100 yards.

While not scientific, this does go to show that proper matching of the bullet to the rifle, all other things being held equal, can improve performance, in terms of accuracy. This has got me thinking it may be time to change, as shown above, I know now that both I and the rifle are capable of more.

I have always been a fan of the value of the Hornady bullet, and when I had it, used the 225 grain spire point extensively with great success in my Ruger#1 in 338 win mag.

Further I am striving to find a “magic” bullet that is affordable, and that can be both used for hunting an long range practice, and to that end, help me in my persuit as a “die-hard” antelope deer, and 'yote hunter as my draws and time permit.

While the Amax is impressive on paper, there are some very reliable individuals that have warned and dissuaded me about its use on deer, and kindly suggest that there were better choices.

Another bullet that mysticplayer mentioned was the Hornady SST. This is where my question is. I am looking for advice and observations from those of you who have “real life” field & target experience with this style of bullet. Im looking for the good, the bad, and the ugly.

To this end, I have phoned the Hornady technical help line and they assured me that the SST line of bullets are built for hunting, but we all know, the hype can sometimes fall very short of the true mark.

I thank you all in advance for your taking the time to read my post, and I look forward to your experince and observations.

Regards and all the best

R

 

[Steeleco]

I took a nice Mulie this past fall at 225yds with 165 grn Hornady interbond, the bonded version of the SST, It worked awesom, hit right where I wanted it too and the animal never moved. I have heard where the SST's can do a fair bit of meat damage, but any I've shot at the range have been very accurate in my of the shelf A-bolt.

 

[guntech]

Hornady's are an excellent bullet for accuracy and performance. The following picture is of a 139 grain Hornady out of a .280 Remington. It angled down and throught the chest of a Buck at about 250 yards. It stopped inside the far shoulder.

It now weights 125 grains and it has expanded to .60 caliber.
This was about 25 years ago so I guess this was just a plain old Hornady Interlock bullet.

 

[chappy]

i lost a black bear that looked to be hit hard while using 150 sst in a 308. never found him and only a few drops of blood at the site. appeared to hit on the shoulder. the range was 175 yds.best guess is low or no penitration. the sst shoot great but for hunting i would use hornady interbond. same basic bullet but bonded core. i emailed hornady and they suggested i use the interbond for bear. i now only use bonded core or partion type bullets for hunting. i don't like not knowing what happed to that bear.

 

[downwindtracker2]

SSTs construction varies with caliber,as do their performace. I found 308 180 Interbonds don't shot as well as SSTs but better than Partions.

 

[Mystic Precision]

In general, the SST's offer some of the highest BC and most accurate hunting bullets in their cal and bullet weight. However, results do vary with cal. I have used several types and they have all worked really well on game.

Last years big mulie took a 150gr SST at 3000fps (muzzle vel) at 100yds. 2"X3" in, 3"X3" out diagonally through the boiler room. Let's just say tracking was not difficult due to the obvious blood trail and deer still in said trail.

I have yet to recover an Interlock or SST and some shots have travelled quite a ways through game.

I would only recommend that impact velocities do not exceed 3100fps with the SST. Above that, the bullet can expand too much. It is in its glory when impact velocities are 2000 to 2800fps which is what you get from standard cartridges out to 400yds. Bullet performance nears perfection in my books.

Many who shoot these bullets also enjoy very nice accuracy. I have played with the 162gr 7mm and 140gr 6.5 and both are wonderfully accurate. I have shot both bullets into the 1's and 2's at 180yds. That is better then some match bullets.

I shoot both the SST and amax 162gr in my 7RM. I use the SST for close shots and the Amax for LR pokes. Both bullets have the same windage but the SST falls a bit lower at close range so I just adjust the scope to accomodate the bullet and range I am shooting at.

The amax makes an ideal LR hunting bullet once impact velocity drops below 2500fps. It will expand well into the teens too. I have done expansion tests at 100 and 180yds. Certainly not going to go end to end on a deer but still strong enough for a boiler room shot.

Bullet expansion would be abrupt at close range with the Amax, so meat bluing can be a problem. Like any softpoint, if you hammer a shoulder with a SST, it is going to be toast. I go for the boiler room so little meat damage occures.

Others are having really great results with the Interbond but I see no point as I don't go above 3000fps muzzle velocity. At distance, SST and Amax bullet performance is very good for the game, distance, and shots I take.
Jerry

 

[todbartell]

Ive never had good luck with the SST for accuracy, compared to its closest rival, the Nosler Ballistic Tip.

Im sure on deer sized game they'd work pretty good as long as you dont try to bust em from behind

I'll grab for a box of Noslers over the SST anyday though!
​

 

[downwindtracker2]

Jerry,how did the 6.5 140 work.I loaded them for my 264,but scope went south,and instead used the 30-06 last fall.My gut feeling on them is that they may the best bullet for the 264,reliable expansion and with that long a bullet,it would be tough to lose the core.BTW 338 225 SST failed the wet phone book test at 200 meters,not recomemded.

Tod,I have always had good luck with them accuracy wise.The first time I hit a deer with one "Note to self:aim better next time"

 

[Mystic Precision]

I designed my 6.5 Mystic around this bullet as the shape was truly impressive. Shooting proved that it is simply an awesome bullet. Like the 162gr Amax, goofy good BC which exceeds the printed values.

I hope to finish my new 6.5 Mystic some time in the spring and will continue testing this bullet and compare to match bullets.

I was able to get these bullets shooting as low as the 1's. Very impressive indeed.

Jerry

 

[moosehunter]

Keep me posted on the 7mag load development. I want to take my son in laws 7 mag to Burns Lake for the hunter sporter class at 1049yds. Im figuring the 162A-Max and H4350. Trued Mauser action, Bevon King barrel, Butler Creek stock and a Jeager trigger.

 

[chuckwagon]

I use the 165 sst in my 308. I had great results on paper and on game. They do make a bit of a mess but when they fall over where they stand makes it nice.

 

[AbHobbyist]

Well if we are sharing my rifle which was built by Alberta Tactical Rifle Supply is as follows.

It was Built on a Sako 691L (left handed) action and stock (Started life as a 300 Weatherby) It was chambered in 7mm Rem mag (Wichester Larado heavy contour new take-off barrel) that finished out at about 25 3/4 inches. Action was trued and pillar bedded, and the barrel free-floated. Prior to bedding and floating The barrel and action were cryogenically treated to relieve any metal stress. The Fore-end was re-enforced with metal ready bar and glassed in for further rigidity. A C&H Technologies mercury recoil suppressor was fitted in the but stock, and ensures the rifle comes straight back with no barrel flip. We added a Harris CS Bi-pod (13-25"). Sako Opti-lock High rings and bases with a 20 MOA shim hold my optics in place. Optics are a Leupold 4.5-14x VariX III tactical with a mil-dot reticule, 30mm tube, 50mm objective with side focus & parallax adjustment, and is fitted with a 4" sun shade, a scope level and a retractable ballistic table.

I am really please with this rig, and it should be just the ticket to cut my teeth with on this long range shooting.

If I get a chance I will post some pics, just so we are all clear as to what I am talking about

Thanks for your time.

All the best

R

 

[Why not?]

Richard,

I have used the 180 gr SST in my 300 Win mag Stevens 200 and it is a consistent sub-moa bullet.

Shot a caribou with it in November, running at 300 yd. I did not lead it enough, should have held on his nose instead of his chest, but it did an awful lot of damage and the bullet passed right through.

Ted