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

Agree that they are fine for critters from deer through caribou, but I want a little more bullet for elk.

I shoot 165's out of my 308 and have had a hard time with them. Tey don't seem to open unless hitting heavy bone.I am becoming more of a fan of plain old cup and core bullets. I shot my bull last eyar with a 175 gr SP out of my 7MM Mag. It did the job very well.

Hornady must think they are a tough bullet if they load the in factory ammo for the 338 rcm and 338 win mag.


https://www.hornady.com

I would trust SST's farther out at slower velocity. But, hunting in an area of mixed range opportunity I would go with a different bullet. I saw some close up kills and I think there is too much fragmentation. More than I prefer anyway.

Heres an interesting article on ssts
http://gunsandammomag.com/cs/Satellite/IMO_GA/Story_C/Shock+Value?packedargs=pagenum%3D1

338rcm

I fyou have that much confidence in the SST on elk, why are you asking opinions on the Campfire? And when others state that they would not use SST on elk, you find new arguements to support your belief?

To me, if you were confident in your choice, you wouldn't need confirmation from others.

Personally, if I wanted to use a plastic tipped Hornady bullet on elk, the Interbond would be the one for me. The SST was developed for deer at moderate velocities.

If Hornady is like Nosler, the heavier caliber SST bullets are built stronger than 30 caliber and smaller SST and that is why they load them in the 338RCM? The RCM is a short action 338-06AI isn't it? A magnum in name only?

I don't know if the bigger SST is stouter or not, but I bet part of the reason they load it is commercial. Pointy plastic tipped bullets sell cartridges.

In my limited experience the .308" 165 gr. SST is softer than its flat base Interlock counterpart.

AB2506
I'm just looking for advice and opinions like everyone else on here.Ive heard good and bad reports on ssts just like every other bullet out there,
hornady does load the 338 win mag also with these bullets.
i would like to try some of their interbonds (IF I COULD FIND SOME)

Dan

I would have no qualms about using the SSTs on elk. I very recently used the 225 grain load in my RCM to shoot a huge black bear on Vancouver Island. The one-shot kill resulted from a double-lung, through-and-through hit at 180 yards. The bear, which squared just a tad under 7 feet, staggered at the impact, whirled and leaped over an embankment, but was dead on his feet, tumbling 30 yards downslope. The SST in 338 RCM version has the locking band of the Interlock and a heavier-than-normal jacket. The through-and-through shot my my big bear spoke volumes re. terminal performance.

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AB2506
I'm just looking for advice and opinions like everyone else on here.Ive heard good and bad reports on ssts just like every other bullet out there,
hornady does load the 338 win mag also with these bullets.
i would like to try some of their interbonds (IF I COULD FIND SOME)

Dan
[/quote]

Understood.

I have found the Barnes 185TSX shoots very accurately in my 338WM. Unfortunately, I have not had an opportunity to slay an animal with them.

I have used the 115TSX in the 25-06. Doesn't kill the deer/antelope any deader, but gives me an edge if an elk should give me an opportunity. What I have found is that the TSX damages less meat than the Speer Grand Slam (what I have used the most) given comparable shots. Both bullets work well in the 25. Give them a try in the 338RCM?

I just have a bit of a problem with the SST and the Nosler BT. I remember the horrific non-lethal wounds caused by the early BT, 140 7mm in the 280 (brother) and the 165 30 in the 30-06 (friend). I know that Mule Deer and others say that they are now stronger, but I can't get past those early examples. I will not use them, or if I did, I would limit their use to deer.

But that is my prejudice, based on our limited experience. You need to be comfortable in your choice, and I don't think you are. I would choose a slightly less accurate bullet (as long as you are confident in it's accuracy and anything less than an inch for 3 shots punches my ticket for a big game bullet), that is more strongly put together and intended for elk, than pick a lesser bullet, intended for deer, because it shoots 3/4 inch groups.

Good luck in your search.

Everyone I know who's used the SSTs in the 338 RCM becomes very comfortable with them once they stop worrying about theoretical performance -- often postulated by people who haven't actually hunted with the round -- and start shooting real, live game with them. Again, the SSTs in 338 RCM are tougher customers. In case you haven't seen it,look for one of the TV hunting shows featuring Ruger CEO Mike Fifer's first African safari. That man can flat SHOOT... but apart from that, the program shows him cleanly taking a pile of the largest African plains game with SSTs. The bullet is clearly up to the job on elk, just as it was on my huge bear. Suggestions to the contrary aren't grounded in reality.

And by the way, the 338 RCM is not a "magnum in name only," as suggested here earlier. It essentially duplicates 338 Win Mag performance, in 225 and 200 grain bullet weights, out of a 20 inch barrel, as it was specifically designed to do.

After reading Kevin Steele's test on pigs in California,seems what we have here is another polymer-tipped deer bullet,which is not a bad thing.

I think you're mischaracterizing Kevin's results/conclusions by labeling it a "deer bullet." What he actually said, in summary, was, "Across our testing at high and low velocity, long range and short, the new Hornady SSTs performed far above my preconceptions. I no longer have any doubt that the Hornady SSTs are great bullets for big game."

Also note that you are comparing his test using 150 and 180 grain bullets to the new 200 and 225 grain bullets used in the RCM. I would submit, based on my experience and that of others, that the heavier bullets are even tougher.

Frankly, I wouldn't go with the Interbonds either. What they tend to do is open very wide. That means they don't penetrate like an "X" or the Nosler Partiions. I've used all three on elk class stuff. Since they have a tendency to travel after being hit, even when hit through the lungs, I prefer a bullet that leaves a blood trail by exiting.
The other thing the "X"/partition style bullets do is they hold together better when they hit the heavier bones. Some of the fastest DRT shots i've made have been on animals quatering to me. Break that near shoulder and they go down like you hit them with the Hammer of Thor. You shatter the shoulder and send bone fragments as well as the bullet through the lungs. E

Kentucky: I'm not mischaracterizing anything. Read the article.I'm taking what he said at face value.

I only read about the 30 calibers in a 30/06 and and a 308,on 200 pound plus pigs; based on that limited data,Steele said, they "disintegrated" and broke into "3 pieces" after passing through one pig shoulder.He said this was due to "high velocity" at impact or something like that.

Good game bullets do not disintegrate at high velocity,at least what I consider to be "good bullets".Everyone has thier own view on this.

Why would I want a bullet like that for elk when there are others that will easily make it through BOTH shoulders? I mean it sorta makes sense to me that if the bullet does not hang together to reach the off side of a 200 pound pig, it's unlikely to do better on a 700 pound bull elk.

The 338's may be completely different from the 30's altogether. I'm taking Steeles description of the performance at face value,and saying that, for me (not for anyone else, you can use what you want) I would not choose the 180 -30 caliber as an elk bullet in anything.

I believe you mischaracterized it by labeling it a "deer bullet." That's simply not so in the 338 RCM loads. Of the two instances of disintegration Steele referred to with the lighter bullets, one was at 40 yards after blasting through a scapula -- not surprising at such close range. Results were still definitive. The second was after the bullet destroyed a measured 15 inches of spinal column. Again, not surprising for a lead bullet. In any event, results were with lighter bullets than those used in the RCM, and as Steele himself said, he's very comfortable with these bullets for "big game," which presumably is NOT limited to deer. Results with the 338 SSTs on the largest of African plains game clearly prove it's considerably more than a "deer bullet," a label that implies the bullet is capable only in that category.

Just my opinion that I would only use it on deer,if I had to. I likely would not choose it at all.

I don't agree that it's acceptable for a bullet to disintegrate after passing through one shoulder. Demonstrates to me the bullet lacks the structural integrity to stand up to high velocity impact through tough going.

As to "light weight", I thought they were 180 grain bullets. Working from memory,so correct me if I'm mistaken.As I stated, and let me repeat so you understand....the 338's may be different.

I'm really happy that Steele is content with them. Given his tests,and the results he observed, I would not be. I don't care what he thinks is "good".

We can agree to disagree. Like I said, you're free to use them as you like. I don't want to.How I "characterize" them is really irrelevant for your purposes.My own views are predicated on what I perceive to be "good bullet performance" on elk,same as yours are. I prefer(and have used), bullets that are capable of a bit more than these seem to offer.

BobinNH, curiuos what you consider the perfect 30 cal elk bullet?

338: I don't think there's a "perfect" bullet for anything,because conditions, shot angles, amount of penetration,distance,impact velocity, resistance encountered,etc can vary dramatically. Rather than think about what's "perfect" let's think about what we want it to "do".

It's really more of a grand "compromise" than anything else.

IMO, the first thing we want it to do,is penetrate.Because without penetratation, we cannot reach vitals.And it should be able to do this at reasonable angles(maybe not pure Texas heart shots,but at reasonable quartering on or away shots). IMO it should be able to penetrate from the onside to the offside,even if it takes shoulders in the process.And I would want it to do this even if we encounter that bull in timber,quartering on or away,at close distances where impact velocity is high,which is tough on bullets,and tears them up,like Kentucky says.

Because this is an expanding bullet,we can't expect it to penetrate like a solid,but it will do a pretty good job at adverse angles and at high impact velocities. Breaking both shoulders at high impact speed is not an unreasonable requirement,but to do this,it has to be constructed pretty tough,and it WILL NOT DISINTEGRATE under the toughest conditions.

The second thing we want,is for it to expand at longer distances where impact velocity is low.We need this so that if we get our chance at 300-400,or maybe 500 yards(if indeed we can hit at that distance)the bullet will expand "enough" to give the tissue destruction we need to kill,even if we hit ribs and lungs,etc.

These are two diametrically-opposed requirements (tough enough to penetrate in heavy going;soft enough to expand at distance.Remember: COMPROMISE) and bullet makers do a good job of designing bullets that work undre these extremes,but some are "better" than others.

An example: 300 Weatherby,200 grain Partition,mature bull quartering away at about 70-80 yards.I aimed for the last rib,to drive the bullet to the offside shoulder.Lots of penetration required, high velocity.The 200 Partition made it,broke the off side shoulder,but the elk ran into timber,and emerged,broken shoulder and all and looking VERY sick.Finisher at 175 yards broadside,through the lungs,ie lower velocity,enough expansion to destroy the lungs.Second bullet exited.This elk was dead on his feet from the first shot.

Another at about 450, by the time I got a shot.180 Partition.Quartering on,first shot hit point of shoulder,recovered just forward of offside flank. Elk collapsed to the shot. Long shot, low velocity,broken shoulder and a lot of tissue destruction,lots of pentration.

Based on the description of the SST on the pig,how do you think the SST would have done on the first elk,and long quartering shot? Or if the bull was in heavy timber quartering on and impacted the shoulder?Or would it have been able to penetrate as much elk as the Partition and still be able to break the shoulder? Well he sorta told us...it disintegrated.Maybe it would work and maybe it wouldn't. At the cost of elk hunts, I won't pay to find out....

About the time you think you're all set for a cross canyon shot at 400+ yards at a broadside elk(PERFECT for an SST),you encounter a bull at 30-40 yards on your side of the canyon,where we know(Kevin told us!)the SST will break one shoulder(maybe)but will not make it all the way,because it will disintegrate,or break into 3 pieces,maybe...who knows what it will do? i don't like things that are unpredictable,including bullets.

That said,what will I use?There are lots of good ones which is why I see no sense in using marginal ones. To me (maybe not for everyone)good one's are Nosler Partitions, Barnes,Swift Aframes, Northfork,etc. Many work, but these are the one's I would like.

I freely admit that I have used Noslers and Bitterroots, because when something is good, I buy a LOT of them,and laid in a lifetime supply years ago.But today we have other great bullets.

Like I said before, we can use what we like,and lots of things can work,but some better than others. I can tell you for certain, even a 130 or 140 Partition from a 270 or 280 would penetrate both shoulders of that pig.That's why I can't agree with Steele's conclusion....and I LIKE to read Kevin Steele! I just don't always agree with him

Bob,
i have shot a big bodied 5x5 with a 180 grain sst out of a 300 rum at 220 yyards. bullet hit and broke ribs on intrance and exit.
The one thing that does concern me with the sst is close up shots.
I think the sst would be a fine bullet at 100 yards plus!