Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Hornady SSTs for elk?

out of all the bullets i'v tried in the 300 wsm, the Hornady SSTs seem to shoot the best. I have killed several elk with the bullet, but i'v heard a lot of horror stories too.

Sorta answered your own question.

personally i think they are a great bullet. would like to hear first hand if anyones had a bad expierience.

Aren't they supposed to be a Plastic Tip Interlock?

the jacket is thinner in front of the cannelure. (from what i'm told)

I shoot some through my 340wby and they are very accurate although I have not killed anything with that particular bullet.

I know several guys in my area that have used the 7mm and .308 varieties on deer, they weren't happy with the performance(i.e. said they fragmented badly)

10-4.Thanks

I sure like the Interlock bullet. Always thought of the SST as Hornady's bullet to equal Nosler's BT.

The SST would be a great bullet in the 308 or 06 but in the faster magnums i would use the Interbonds for Elk

hornady bullets have always shot good for me, and i'v killed a lot of critters with them. so have my huntin buddies!

Ditto here. If pushed at 2800fps or less maybe will hold together but I wouldn't want it for penetration if pushing past 2800-2900 fps. My 140gr. 7mm08 light mag loads at 2900 fps load had total jacket core separation on a 140lb white tail shot thru the near shoulder quartering towards me. Didn't go far, but I found the empty jacket in the lung mush when cleaning.

There you go most of the game and varmints I've shot have all been with Hornady with a few Sierra's thrown in for good measure. Used a couple Nosler Partitions they didn't kill them any deader so I quit using them because they also didn't shoot as well.

338rcm: I have been shooting Nosler Partitions out of a myriad of 30 caliber Rifles since 1962.
I have gotten good to great accuracy with them as well as exceptional lethality.
And you will hear no "horror stories" about this bullet - maybe SOME Poor shot placement stories - but NO horror stories.
Don't make this more difficult than it is - go by some Nosler Partitions for your 300 WSM!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I have only used them in my .257 AI and my .280 AI. Based on their performance on pronghorns, desert mule deer and Coues whitetails, I would be hesitant to use them on elk with either of these rifles. Their terminal performance is very close to that of Ballistic Tips but they still ruin a more meat and don't penetrate as deeply if you hit big bones (i.e., shoulders).

If the larger calibers have heavier jackets (like the 200-grain and above BTs), they might do the job, but I would prefer a stouter bullet, myself. With our smaller mule deer, whitetails and pronghorns, they pretty much drop animals in their tracks.

I have only shot a coyote with a 338 SST while elk hunting and it left a beer can sized hole thru the poor bastige, not the exit, but from entrance to exit. It was a chest shot. I can't imagine that would not hurt an elk.

Using the MOST accurate bullet or a big critter like elk in kinda silly IMHO. Terminal performance trumps accuracy in most, if not all elk hunting situations. Any one who says different is spending too much time at the shooting bench and not enough time with the elk. Unfortunately that includes most of us on the 'fire.

Leading up to elk season, I was shooting the 180 SST factory loads in my '06, and they were very accurate, and very consistent.

However, I noticed I was digging a lot of fragments out of the backstop at the rifle range, & this didn't engender a whole lot of my confidence. So, I went with 165 grain Interbonds, and collected my elk.

I've now got a buddy who's found some sweet loads for me using 165 grain and 180 grain Interlocks. At '06 velocities, and at the ranges I shoot, I think I'm done searching for bullets.

FC

They are not even a good 308 bullet. I've written a few times about it. In short, I had a 150gr SST from a 308WIN and a 139gr SST from a 7mm-08 break up after only hitting one rib. The SST completely mangled one lung but the other was intact. That made for long trailing exercises. Range was 40 and 75yds with a MV of 2550fps. Not real fast. I switched to the IB and love their performance. BTW, the buck in my avatar (184lb field-dressed GA whitetail)was the 150gr SST. I was sick looking for him but thankfully I found him.

THERE IS NO WAY I'D USE AN SST ON ELK. I would use them on coyotes though.

RH

I used them for a season out of a 270 and 270 weatherby. 100 yards shots on two mule deer bucks and it was a bit messy. Dead deer though. If you only shoot broadside lung shots and wait for the shot I think they would work or if you are shooting a relatively slow cartridge or heavy weight I think you odds will be better but I don't think I would try them on elk when there are so many other options. Pretty soft bullet imo.

Isn't the Interbond supposed to be the answer to those who like the SST, but need a tougher bullet for game larger than deer? Why use the SST on elk?

I've had good success with the SST on deer but it really don't take much to kill deer.....for elk I'd prefer a tougher bullet.

I use A-FRames mostly on larger animals like elk.