Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters How does the SST compare?

Dear Fellow Shooters,

Can I just ask for an informed opinion borne out by experience, as to whether it is worth paying the extra for Nosler Ballistic Tips over the Hornady SST?

I noticed on a recent thread the dissection (literally) regarding every facet of the NBT, it's performance and pros and cons, including relative toughness within calibres by differing weight. It was very interesting.

Has a similar body of work been carried out in respect of the Hornady SST by the collective expertise among this online group?

I use the SST mainly in my 270 and 308 because they compare well with the likes of the NBT for accuracy and bullet drop further out. I favour 150g bullets in both but quite like the 130-140 in the 270 Win as well. I wonder do those 3 bullet weights in 277 differ in construction too?

I am not looking for a NBT vs SST discussion per se. I am more interested in the relative merits of the SST generally, and more specifically if there's such variance of construction and end performance as there apparently is with the NBT within calibres (if the ongoing NBT thread is anything to go by). Though there is of course an element of comparison between the two because they appear to fit the same market niche, while in my neck of the woods 50 x 150g NBTs cost 33 dollars while 100 x 150g SSTs costs me only about 45 dollars, sometimes less!

I shoot pigs, deer and goats. I don't often get after deer so I can't afford to have a bullet let me down on the one or two occasions a year I get one in my sights. In my 270 Win I am generally shooting the 150g bullet about 2925fps and the 130g around 3080fps.

I know the theme might have been done before but came up with only sporadic slivers of info with the search engine. Thanks for reading.

- Bob

My limited experience with them has been that they are too explosive within the parameters that I used them.

The .308 caliber 150 grain SST in a .308 Winchester, 2800 fps MV.

Shots were at 20 to 50 yards, and each of 3 deer required multiple shots to bring down. Penetration was almost non-existent with huge holes at the impact area.

I don't doubt that they would be better suited as a long range bullet(200+ yards), as they were very accurate. They also shot very well in my single shot pistol in .308 Winchester, and at a MV at about 2400 fps, would have behaved a little better at close range.

I simply went with another bullet with better integrity for close-in shots, a little heavier and a little bit slower.

I have heard, and you will probably hear also, different stories that are opposite of my experience. Mine is limited, and Hornady may have worked on the problem the same as Nosler has with the Ballistic Tip.

I've had better experience with the SST bullets.....I've used them in .30 cal and .25 cal and 6mm cal and like them for deer only....

They seem to be as accurate as the B-tips and (at least in my own experience) find them to deliver fully acceptable terminal performance.

They've been good to me and have given similar performance to the NBT's. In some rifles the SST's are a bit more accurate IME. The jackets have little to no taper and are thin but the cores are tough. It's common to find the jacket/core seperated but right next to each other inside the victim. Some folks don't like the cannelure. Doesn't bother me. Good bullets. I've met Steve Hornady more than once along with Dave Emery the head ballistician. They're both pretty sharp guys who love making great bullets.

Bob,

I personally feel that SST's are better suited to slower impact velocities along with most standard cup and core bullets. My opinion would be to run NBT or Accubond on game and save the SST'S for rocks and paper. You will find many varied opinions on this subject, but the construction of the Nosler bullets is far superior in my opinion.

Good luck with your choice and good hunting!

I've only killed two deer with SST's but both got dead PDQ. Both were with 95 gr. 6mm's out of my .243. The first was a straight on shot into the brisket of a big old doe {140 lbs}from 20 yds.. The bullet demolished her heart, pulverized the lungs, blew a silver dollar sized hole through her liver and was lost in the paunch. At the shot she reared up, spun 90 degree's to her left and galloped 30 yds. to her death. The second was a 2.5 yr old. six point buck. The shot was broadside at 30 yds.. He dropped at the shot so fast he bounced when he hit the ground. His lungs were pulped to purple jelly. The jacket was found juist under the offside hide while the core left a nickel sized exit.

I have had good performance on deer with 30 caliber 180gr SSTs loaded about 2% under maximum in the 30-06.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jswXZ2BG638&feature=plcp

150g .277 sst shot into gel with embeded deer pelvis. Imapct velocity of 2,900 fps. 65% weight retention 24 inches of penetration.

This may be heresy, but I've found the regular old Hornady spirepoints to be effective in every caliber from .243 to .308. And, at the distances that most game is shot, the improved BC of the plastic tipped bullets gives no significant advantage. An added benefit is that you can shoot more for less money. As always, YMMV.

+1

I'd say the original IL's are perhaps a better all around bullet for 'near and far'

My friend and I shot a fair number of deer here in NC with the 150 grain SST from our .308's. Our deer are on the small side, does average 100 lbs or so. It killed very well, never lost a deer. But I never recovered a single one that had not separated and fragmented - no matter what range the deer was shot.

I shot a couple deer with the .30 cal 165 SST out of a .30-06 at around 2900 fps. I don't think it penetrates as well as a NBT, based on a small deer I shot quartering away from me.

SST's seem softer than NBT's on game to me.

I'd pick a standard Hornady interlcok if you have that option. They are cheaper and tougher than the SST, and hold together well.

Other way round for me; I found the SST to be a much tougher bullet than the Nosler BT. I have taken a bunch of large whitetails and a couple bears with the 154 and 139-grainers in a .280 Remington.
Still, for deer and black bear hunting, either will do fine.

It's a great country where we can use what works for each of us. I'm sticking with the SST from a .270 and .308, just plain kills deer effectively for me. Even killed a buck with the 155 AMAX which is not supposed to happen , tipped over after a couple steps. I've always thought the SST was not constructed as heavily as the NBT, but get better groups from the SST's and they work.

Shoot heavy for caliber in the SST and you will be very happy. Massive internal damage.

I shoot the 154g SST in the 7 Mag on deer. The bullet demands a hard jam in the lands for best accuracy, and the deer just pile up. I shot one buck two years ago that jumped what looked like 10' straight up when the bullet hit him(looked like a bottle rocket). It was a 325 yd shot while he was eating apples in an orchard.

I've used them both and while the 150 grain version in either persuasion wouldn't be my first choice I'd not turn my hand over for the difference between the NBT and SST for any type of deer in the 270 Winchester. It's akin to choosing between Charmin or Cottonelle--there may be a difference between them, but I'm not getting off the pot to grab the one if the other is readily available............

I read your post on this site and wanted to answer you personally.

I have shot deer with the 130's in the 270 with 60g of H4831, and it simply devistated the entire gut sack of the deer. The shot was slightly behind the front shoulder, and the insides of the deer looked like it had been shot with a 300 Winchester with a 150g bullet. Penetration from side to side did not happen, but the deer are always laying right there in their tracks.

The 150g SST would be more than enough bullet to give complete penetration, no kidding.

I have also shot the 150g in the 308 with similar experience.

I currently shoot the 7mm 154g SST and it is awesome to say the least, muzzle velocity is 3150 fps.

For me, the SST is much more explosive than the ballistic tip, and I like that factor. The Nosler 130g Ballistic tip is a very tough bullet, and may be too tough for my needs.

Your choice of the 150g SST is a fantastic one for the 270. I have found that the gun will have a specific seating depth that it likes with this bullet. In the 308 and the 150g and in the 7 mag, like the bullet touching the lands. In the 270, the bullet liked a 0.040 jump(bullet seated off the lands).

I consider the 270 nosler 150g Ballistic tip an elk bullet. ON one large 240 lb buck shot at 35 yards facing me, the bullet broke the right front shoulder, traveled the length of the body, broke a rear leg just out of the joint, and exited. That kind of bullet is too tough for my needs.

The light for caliber SST's(130g in the 270 and 139 in the 7mm may explode on a shoulder). Thus, I go for heavy for caliber in the SST.

I have had really fantastic luck with the regular Hornady 130g Spire point flat base which has the interlock and acts like a partition. I killed a bunch of cow elk that weigh in the neighborhood of 450 lbs and up with this bullet.

Rifles are picky in what they will shoot well. H4831 has always been a winner with the 270. Recently I tried a powder called Mag Pro, that simply added 150 fps to the 270 with only a slight amount of loss of accuracy. I do not know if you can get Mag Pro down under.

Good luck and I hope that this information may help you.

You did not mention Sierra Bullets, they are fantastic, none of them bad.

Keith

Killed a lot more critters with ballistic tips, but killed a few pigs last year with 130/sst and penetration was through and through and dropped straight down. This was with the Superformance factory load and close range. I saw a recovered SST on a hunt I was in WY a few years ago - also 270/130 SST from a front quartering shot on big mule deer and it could have been from a magazine add. In any case, I think the SST is fine choice for deer sized game, and particularly in 270 sports higher advertised BC than Nosler BT.

Lou