Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Hornady Super Performence SST performance

Not a big fan of 7mmRM/139 SST Superformance.

How would you get it hot enough without melting the tip?

Use them at your own risk. I have used them in several sizes several calibers and the results were always the same...complete blow ups, no penetration, and lots of mangled flesh w/a small amount of blood. With so many good bullets out there...there's just no reason to use the SST for any kind of game. powdr

Velocity (in my view IS better), you just have to know the limitations of your bullet and an SST ain't it!

This. I can vividly remember a friend's favorite 300 win mag factory load using a TBBC, whose recoil was quite memorable. Federal high energy or some crap like that.

As far as the SST, I've yet to see what I'd call a failure at impact velocities of less than 2900 fps, and I've seen them work down around 2k just fine.

Impact speeds in excess of 3k w/ the SST is territory I've yet to explore.

Until someone comes up with a bullet that withstands a 4k launch, expands perfectly from 1000 to 4000 fps impact with just enough fragmentation of the front 1/4 of the bullet at any velocity in between to completely wreck vitals without damaging any other edible bits, and comes to rest under the hide or just barely exits on instant command of the shooter, we'll have to deal with the concessions made when we use any projectile outside it's ideal window.

Hornady HAS done that, as preciously mentioned, same load available with the GMX bullet. If someone was shooting longer ranges and wanted easy expansion the SST might be a good choice for them. Despite all the hate for the SST's, I have killed well over a hundred hogs and maybe a dozen deer with 30 cal 150/165 SST's and found the performance to be phenomenal. Keep the velocities down and it's a mild shooting, game dropping bullet.

David

Some plastics have a melting point above the 622� melting point of lead. I don't know if the plastic tip of the SST is one of them.

Anyone know what powder Hornady uses in the Super ammo? It pushes good velocities with no pressure signs, and it's very clean.

I wish they would offer their interlock bullet in this ammo.

I shot an antelope one year with a my 300 Weatherby but had to use a buddy's ammo (long story) and he had some 150 SSTs loaded pretty hot. I hit a goat at 200 yards and it blew a hole so big that I could see through it. I mean you could have pushed a watermelon through the hole. Ruined the cape and LOTS of the meat. Never again!

We (he) had a grand total of one animal experience prior to this where he shot a coues whitetail at 500 yards with picture-perfect performance. There is obviously a velocity window that works.

Personally not a fan.

A couple years ago I had my daughter shooting them out of her .280.

She shot at an antelope buck at about 150 yards.

We thought it was a clean miss. She shoots again. And again.

Three shots in the lungs and the thing finally falls over.

Massive bloodshot on both entrance and exit sides.

Not a good decision by me so I fired her guide (me again!) and got her new bullets....

It's called a Nosler Partition. Invented over 50 years ago. I think you've used some IIRC.

Limited experience here, with 150 gr. HSP in '06. 4 animals in 2 days.

On Nov 1 I took a cow caribou at 300 yds with a chest shot. Bang flop, nominal entrance/exit wounds. A few minutes later her large calf of the year or yearling calf (coming back thru the brush) died of a base-of-head planned shot at about 200 yards. 4 knife strokes compleated the head severance...

Unfortunately, the other estimated 998 caribou got away...

The next day I continued my aborted moose hunt (dang those caribou anyway!).

En route, I killed an apparently lone, orphaned calf from the previous day's extensive shooting (I was not alone out there!). He was bouncing around out there at about 60 yards, and I took him with a quartering on shot, a bit far back. Entrance was about 5 inches behind the shoulder, exit just behind the last rib, leaving a nerf-foot-ball size exit, with entrails bulging out. I'll post a pic when photobucket decides to cooperate...

Later that day, the inch under the ear shot on a bull moose at 30 yards didn't result in anything photogenic....so to speak....

I ain't got no complaints....

These rounds, in my estimation, are designed to be used best at 300 yards plus....

Oh, yeah, .... I found the moose bullet- core, and cup- about a half inch apart...far side of the skull. All others exited.

Dang - you just can't trust those C&C to kill well.....

The Nosler Partition is the bullet of choice. I have never seen one fail.

Used one or two... never launched one at 4k, and never had one impact below 2k... since I'd never shoot them far enough for that to happen. It's a great bullet, but the BC sucks on average, and wouldn't appeal to the "Superformance" customer base anyway....

Just bought a box of 139 grain SSTs to use in my new .280 Rem. In a few minutes I'll be headed to the range with the first development loads. That willl, eventually be followed by additional development work using the 140 grain premium bullets of my choice - North Fork SS, Barnes TTSX or Nosler AccuBonds.

As I do with other rifles, the SST's will be my primary practice loads while I save the more expensive premiums for final range work just before the hunt and for the hunt itself.

No one should be surprised that an SST can blow up at excessive speeds - it is a cup and core design with a tip that helps initiate rapid expansion. Nor is there anything wrong with Hornady's loads - if there is a problem it lies with the final application, which is the sole responsibility of the shooter.

One should remember that Berger has a line of explosive "hunting" bullets that were previously marketed as target bullets. Berger claims 2-3 inches of penetration before the bullet goes ka-blewy, yet some people tout these as the optimum in hunting bullets. Thanks, but no thanks, that's not the kind of performance I want in a big game hunting bullet. Performance like that is pretty much the reason Nosler Partitions were invented.


Off to the range with the SST's...

If you tried the Berger bullets on game, you may be surprised. How you characterize them is nearly the exact opposite of my experiences with them. To each his own. Explosive? Sounds like your are quoting other companies' marketing of Bergers.

Berger bullets can be devastatingly effective under the right circumstances - of that I am 100% certain. I'm also 100% certain that Berger's own description of how they perform does not match the performance I want in a hunting bullet.

I have no idea what other companies may say about Berger bullets, nor do I care. Berger claims a VLD "will shed 40% to 85% of its weight as shrapnel ". The term "shrapnel" is generally defined as pieces of metal thrown out by an explosion.

Yup....no arguement from me on this.....however I still like the swift A-Frames.....a small extra cost for a bullet that don't shed it's front partition.