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

This summer at the range I tested the Hornady Super Performence ammo in my 300 Win Mag with the180 gr SST. Chronograph clocked them at 3160 fps and they grouped well. Shot a large bodied muley this season at a little over 100 yards and the bullet came apart. It left a fist sized entrants wound with bullet jacketing in the shoulder. Opposite shoulder looked like it was hit with a shot gun. No broken bones just lead and copper jacketing in the meat.

Anyone else using this ammo in a 300 Win and if so how did it perform?

Sounds about right. Were you expecting different from a plastic tipped cup & core at 3K?

Didn't know what to expect, I am just glad it was on a deer not a tougher animal. I normally shoot Nosler Partitions so I was pretty disappointed in the performance. I expected Hornady would match a tougher bullet at that speed. Maybe the GMX is a better choice.

I didn't mean to be snarky in my first response, so I hope you took no offense. I'm not quite sure what Hornady is thinking, loading those things so hot. I find the SSTs work great when started under 3k, and impacts are below 2800. Otherwise, they have tended to mirror your experience with them. GMX are a far better bullet for your application, I think. My brother likes SST on deer for lung shots out of his 7WSM, cooking at 3200+MV. They do leave quite a hole. I have an elk load with the 180's out of my '06, started at 2800. It is effective, but it isn't a heavy-bone, close-range affair.

Yeah I agree with you that you're likely better off with the GMX. Still don't get what the hell Hornady is thinking as far a speeding up the SSTs.

Actually, it's not Hornady's fault. It's the fault of hunters who think more velocity is always better. All Hornady (and all the other companies that produce +zip ammo) do is make ammo to appeal to this conviction. Which is why we have .30-06 ammo that kicks like .300 magnum ammo, and 12-gauge ammo that kicks like .50 BMG.

I took no offense and your response mirrors what I have seen. My friends use that ammo in their 06s with great results but I believe the MV is only 2800. It's great ammo for an 06 shooter!

I will stop being lazy and stick to hand loads.

I run the 139's at 3200fps from my 7RM and have killed many deer from 35-500yds with no issues. Great bullet as far as I'm concerned.

The interbonds or gmx would be a better choice. expecially at those impact velocities. Great bullet in a .308 30-06

I'll have to respectfully disagree with you on that statement (first time ever, by the way) . If the market demands more velocity, then by all means give the market what it wants. But do it with a bullet that isn't so frangible at the impact ranges of 90% of shots on game.

I worked up a load for a family friend for his 270 using all the old factory brass he had saved for a few decades and 130 gr SSTs, the only bullet that we could find in quantity on that particular day in the local stores. By chance, I happened upon a load that produced 3150 and stellar accuracy. He is a deer/elk hunter, and doesn't spend much time thinking about the gack that fills my waking hours. That was a few years ago. He loves them. No problems of any kind. Every time he has mentioned the ammo, it is to gush praise.

He doesn't purposely aim for shoulders. I keep thinking that this is a factor.

I hear many complaints about SSTs that I've personally never had. I wonder though if Hornady isn't shooting themselves in the foot by stoking up these C&C bullets to beyond their threshold.

It is worthwhile looking into the results from annealing SST bullets at:
http://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase.html

I had very similar results last year using them out of a 7/08 and shot a buck at 246 yds in the shoulder. Bullet blew up and the was no blood trail, he made it about 70 yds.

I believe their primary purpose is accuracy, high bc, and positive bullet upset/expansion. Hornady achieved that. Most folks at the fire can anticipate what would have happened under the above scenario, but the hunting public might not--not everyone is a bullet looney.

In my limited experience with the sst impact velicity needs to be around 2800 or less. The advantage is that you can achieve expansion down to 1800 or so, which is a big plus for long range tissue destruction when you need it. Ive used the sst in my 243 AI in a pinch and it worked well. I just place myself a little futher away than where I figured my target to be. Which is easy to do on our okla wheat fields. If you hafta smoke em close shoot for the ribs when you can. If not shoot em where you can, it will kill them anyway.

I wonder if you could heat a bullet up enough to solder the core to the jacket?

Marksman, I believe you can, if the core is the right composition. In this case though, it would be easier to just buy Interbonds rather than SST's. Hornady has all of the bases covered with their bullet line, and the tipped C&C are on the frangible side.

I'm still not sure why people shoot for shoulders, particularly at shorter ranges.

Seems like you'd need to put a fluxing agent in there in advance.

If the copper is clean enough at the start, flux isn't necessary. Especially in a no oxygen environment like you'd have inside a bullet jacket. However, with interbonds on the market, it isn't worth the effort. I wasn't aware that interbonds were tipped, and it was just a mental exercise.

Sounds like my experience with SSTs in a 300WM years ago. Massive entrance wounds without exits on little whitetails. I even gave them up in 30-06 as well due to the lack of exits. The only combo that I personally care for with them is the 165 at a lowly 2700 in the 308. Still explosive, but it's slow enough to penetrate ok.

Seem to read plenty of stories like this.

Needless to say, I probably won't be trying the SST's for a while...

I've got 2 boxes of 139gr 6.5s for my 6.5x55. I figure they'll be alright for antelope. I've never shot any though to see how well they shoot. They're's some loaded but I haven't taken them to the range yet.

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.

I have. A 210 .338 slug shattered the near shoulder plade and apparently itself, peppering the near side lund of a mid-sized bul moose at 100 yards, leaving the far side lung untouched.

A second round up the nose at 10 feet did the the job tho. Scared the chit out of me.

Never used the 210 after, no qualms on the 250. Also never approached another animal from the front, and have since used an insurance shot frm a few yards out...

I may be dumb, but I'd like to think I ain't no fool... (my wife would debate....:) )

Recovered 30 yard skull shot on moose Hornady 150 gr Superperformance bullet

:

I have.

I understand that you prefer bullets less prone to fragmenting, but like any bullet, Bergers don't perform the same every time regardless of impact velocity or what is hit. 2 more animals this year at just over 400, shots through ribs, one heavily quartering, and still I have yet to 'catch' a Berger. I don't know the exact number, but I know it is over a dozen from close and far, and each and every time they have exited. EVERY TIME. So I think that muzzle velocity has to be a factor. I and those I hunt with use heavy-for-cal versions and start them well below 3k.

Like I have alluded to so many times, I don't think you can even take a company's word for how a bullet will perform. The only way you can know is to shoot them at stuff. Until then, well, you just don't know.

Muzzle velocity will definitely play an important role. Most of my hunting loads start out around 2900fps or higher, some up to about 3200fps.

I never take the word of the manufacturer as my sole source on how a bullet will perform. X and XLCs were supposed to behave in accordance with what I wanted yet they sorely disappointed me. TTSX, on the other hand, have been uniform in their performance for us, all to the good.

There are enough reports of Berger failures (failure to perform as desired) that I take them seriously. Glad you are happy with them, I feel no need to experiment with them.

Choice, freedom, and responsibility make opportunity for humans to thrive. I don't know exactly why, but your post caused me to reflect on that. I respect your experience. I wouldn't demand you shoot anything, and particularly not what you feel less than confident with.

I'll get around to trying 22 cal TTSX on meat deer one of these years, just because. I have seen with Barnes bullets what others have laid out: the smaller the hollow point, the more likely they are to pinhole, regardless of speed shot, but that the tipped version solved that issue.