Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game 95g SST performance on antelope

A few weeks back I responded to a poster's question on the Elk forum regarding some SST testing I had done with water jugs. The blow-back was pretty damn funny to see, from it didn't belong on the Elk forum (where the question originated), to water jug testing doesn't reflect real life results, to all kinds of attacks on me personally.

Well, this weekend I was up in Wyoming and shot a doe antelope with my .243 and a 95g SST, something I will not be doing again. The SST made a small hole going in with no exit. When the hide was removed the far side of the rib cage was a mass of blood-shot meat on the outside, about 7 inches wide. The inside of the rib cage showed dozens of tiny wounds where it had been sprayed by lead and/or jacket material.

In short, except for the overall size of the spray, which was smaller due to my test setup where the paper witness target was further away, the results were indistinguishable from the test results.

I'll use the SSTs for varmints and target loads but won't be using them for antelope, deer or elk. Of the 5 antelope my group took, all the other bullets used (110g AB, 130g TTSX, 150g BT, 168g TTSX) worked just as well with less spray. The 110g AB was the only bullet recovered. Not sure what the retained weight was because Daughter #3 took it home with her. I found it poking out of the flesh on the off-side. The two TTSX and the BT all left exit wounds.

Kudos to Daughter #1. She took hers with a .308W and the 130g TTSX. Not sure the range but I lasered it at 368 yards from where I crouched maybe 5 yards behind her.

Kudos to her also for saving me from getting run over by a disgruntled buck. I was sitting by the front tire of my truck, setting up on my bipod to shoot a doe about 350 yards in front of me. The buck it was with had stayed behind and was about 150 yards to my left. I ignored the buck and the voices of my wife and daughter until finally Daughter #1 honked the horn. When I turned the buck was 20 feet away, head to the ground in a full-on charge. With my startled motion and the sound of the horn it swerved off, just missing the front of the truck. Not sure what kind of damage it could have done but am glad I didn't find out.

Curious... how far was the doe with the SST? Hit any bone? Daughter shot hers at 150 yards with a 87gr Vmax out of a 6 Creedmoor. Bullet performed exactly like you'd want it to...

Congrats on the hunt...good to hear you guys filled some tags...

In


Out

Something under 200 yards. Don't recall the exact laser reading but 185 wouldn't be more than 10 off either way.

Hit a rib bone going in.

That was my experience with the 150SST(super suck tip) in my .308 on deer. I will never load that trash again. There are far too many good bullets out there to ever load those for anything but varmints.

I think that they are the worst mistake that Hornady ever made. They are suppose to be like Interlocks, but no friggn' way are they an Interlock. Interlocks are great bullets.

I think the design was intentional on Hornady's part. The thin copper jacket reduces bullet cost because copper is over twice as expensive as lead.

As stated, I think they are fine for paper and varmints. Even in my .338 WM I use the 225g for the bulk of my practice but switch to 225g AB for final practice and hunting.

My preferred hunting bullets are North Fork SS, Barnes TTSX and Nosler AccuBond. Got my elk last year at 411 yards using n old Speer Grand Slam, a bullet I used exclusively for 20+ years.

Coyote Hunter
Thanks for the Report. Congratulations on a good hunt too

Cinch

The performance of that 87 looks great! My 243 shoots them very well, I may try them out myself on a WT. I imagine if I stay off the shoulder that would be fine.

Daughter #3 with her first animal ever, big or small:



And #1 with her second:

Very nice! They'll have the freezer full in no time...

Called Daughter #3 for a pic of the 110g AccuBond and was informed they left it in a cupholder in my truck. Mailed it off to her yesterday after weighing it at 53.3g retained.

.257 Roberts, 3163fps M.V., 185 yards +/-10

Last week in WY, I shot 2 antelope does with my 6mm Rem, running 95 NBT's. They were 356 and 334 yards. Bullet went in and left a nice hole coming out.

Got to watch my 16 y/o niece use the same gun to shoot her first antelope at 168 yards. Same thing, bullet went in and came out.

My dad had similar results with the 100 grain .257 Interlock.

There are better choices than the SST.

I have had mixed results with Hornady 150 gr SST super performance factory in my 30-06 Mauser 98 on caribou. Best used at 300 yards or more where they perform very well. Closer in they often but not always offer very large exit wounds. Hitting bone on the way in will do it too!

The only one I ever recovered showed a perfectly acceptable mushroom. Ironically this was a head shot to a bull moose at 30 yards or so. The core and jacket were found about a half inch apart.

If I do my part, I can count on inch and a half (or less) 3 shot groups at 300 yards. Which is nice..... . Probably should switch to the more expensive GMX, which are supposed to ballistically perform identically to the SST and better terminally. But dead is dead, and I'm che -uh- economically minded.

Does anyone know if the SST will be loaded with the newer non-melting tips now?

I'm playing with my 700 in 243 right now, full length epoxy bedding job curing on the kitchen counter as I type this. Last weeks shooting session showed it liked fore end pressure better than free floated bbl. 3 shot groups of Hornady 100 gr. Whitetail and Winchester 80 gr both went sub 3/4 inch at 100 with pressure, but over 1.5 inches free float. 95 grain Remington Accupoint refused repeatedly to break 3 inches either way. But they were consistent!!! . Those are off my Christmas card list.

I will see how it likes the full length bed, as I like that a whole lot better than fore end pressure only. The Mauser sure likes it, but it has a heavier barrel, less subject to heating concerns.

I have a feeling the Coreloks will perform as well as the Winchester and Hornady loads. They do in my other guns.

On the other hand, my 260 has performed moa or less with every 140 factory load I've tried. Any other bullet weight of any flavor, including the much vaunted tsx and ttsx suck left hind teat. Roughly 2 moa all around, any weight but 140. Have'nt tried 129/130 yet tho.

It's great fun finding out what a particular gun likes, and has to be tweaked to.

Cinch's pics are pretty much identical to my 06 150 gr Hornady Superperformance SST results on two caribou that I shot last November, maybe a minute apart, at 290 an 433 yards respectively, except I missed all bone on the closer one so exit hole was just marginally larger than entry.

I will repeat Mr Hooper's post word-for-word in reference to my experience with the 150 grain SST in my .308.

So dont use it and do relate (asdone) why. Here is more ammo for you.

An orphaned calf caribou that I shot the day before the moose in 2014 was taken at 70-80 yards quartering toward. Shot went in immediately behind near shoulder, exited just behind last off side rib, leaving a Nerf- ball size exit hole. And i do mean hole!

The two cows taken the day before at about 200 and 300 yards respectively were both bone hit on entry. The 300 through a rib, the 200 neck shot. Both showed large exit wounds and bloodshot areas, which was largely trimmed out with little meat loss.

So far , I feel that the SST performs to its design intentions. If one doesn't like it's performance there are certainly plenty of others to switch to. And one doesn't really know until personally tried in ones own rifle and circumstances, so all is well with legitimate criticism

I'm not real happy with it under 300 yards, but it works quite well beyond that in my rifle and caliber. This quite likely is subject to the old YMMV.

I don't know why anyone would test a bullet, prove it's not up to the task, then run it through an animal.

Especially when the 95 NBT in handloads or the 95 Fusion in factory are such awesome performers!?!?

las -

Glad you like the SSTs. Being comfortable with and confident in your load is just one less stress item to deal with at trigger time.

Which is exactly why you should shoot game with SST's after a water jug test....

Here is good bullet and dirt cheap

http://www.shootersproshop.com/load...rain-e-tip-banded-bullets-blem-50ct.html

I've been loading 150 grain SSTs with 51 grains of IMR 4064 in my 30-06. I don't have a Hornady manual but I recently found from the net that their max load for 4064 and the 150 SST is 53.6 grains. I got the 51 grains from the Lee manual as a max load for a generic 150 grain bullet and it is also Hodgdon's max for a 150 grain NBT.

Anyway, the load works great on deer. I'm guessing that its probably running close to 200 fps behind the superformance factory load you are shooting and at 100 to 150 yards replicating impacts with it at 300.

Probably the reason I like the bullets is I am not pushing them even though I thought I was running the speed limit.

I had good success on the one deer I took with it. 303 Brit 150gr @ 2700 fps.Shot him at 120 yards quartering away, bullet entered ribs and exited behind shoulder showing decent expansion.