OK, so I've never used a SST (that I can recall) but I always thought that the SST was a bit softer than a NBT. Have used the NBT to fill up several arks.

Thinking of giving the 129 SST a go in a 260, so what's the deal and which one is tougher if one is more so than the other?

Many thx gang

Dober

I used the 140 SST (in 6.5x55) on one caribou hunt a number of years back. I still think the bullet looks cool in all its sleekness, but the ones I landed on the 'bou from that trip sure weren't very cool to look at. In fact, I really didn't find anything that resembled the original bullet. Granted the deer were all shot on the run, and away from me so you get some idea what the impact zone ended up being.

Oh, and by the way, the 120 BTs I've used on 'bou have always been recognizable bullet lumps, even the early renditions.

Shoot the 120 NBT, and the 130 AB, and between the two, you'll find something good.

Let me know if you want those dies..

The 120 NBT most certainly has my attention, thx

Dober

Thx Rancho, but I found a set that made their way to my truck the last trip to SW so I'm good.

Thx

Dober

(I take it you and yours got the other thing sorted out?)

I wouldn't use the SST again on a dare.

My (smaller) experience mirrors Klikitarik's. 140 SST out of a 6.5X55. It killed the deer, but I would be more inclined to use them as a varmit bullet. I most certainly would not shoot for shoulders with them.

The BT, even the old style, have held together better for me.

I shoot those BTs pretty quickly in my Swede using 7828 or R 19. Those may seem slow juice for the weight, but they must leave pretty good tracks in the sky 'cause every pill seems to follow the same path as the first.

I've seen a handful of SST kills. They are bombs.

I have used both the 129 sst and 120 NBT in a .260 and like the NBT better in both on game preformance and accurcy

I used a 150 grain SST on an antelope hunt from a 300 WBY. They work awesome if you get them slowed down a little. 400 yds wasn't too far. It was what I had on a moment's notice, so I used it.

The 129 SST in .264 caliber are quite good bullets unless you are pushing them from a .264 magnum.

Never been a BT fan since I blew the head completely off a coues whitetail with one about a million years ago. (right after the switch from solid bases).

If you want a really good tipped 6.5, get a Scirocco.

NBT are much tougher IME.

Thx gang, sounds like my bullet tuning fork was pretty much right on.

How about the Speer 120 HC, anyone done anything with it?

Thx

Dober

I have shot at least 10 deer with 130gr SST in my .270. Impacts ranged from under 100yds to just over 500yds, and I have no complaints. They exited all the deer I have shot with them, and the deer expired quickly.
I would use them in any rifle for sub 300lb animals. I had some bad experiences with the early 130gr NBT and haven't shot anything but varmints with NBTs since.
I am actually considering trying to get my .270 to shoot SST and GMX to same POI so I can practice and deer hunt with one, and switch to the other for elk, moose, sheep and bear.

Yep! We'll see where it goes.. Thanks.

I am running H4831 and 129gr Hornady IB's in my 6.5x55AI. The have been perking with min fussing FYI.

We tried the SSTs in a .257 AI, a 7mm-08 and a .280. They are bombs. The 117 SST in the.257 AI turns coyotes inside out. Never had a 6.5 so I can't speak to that, but the 120 BTs are our staple in the 7-08s and the .280 for deer and pronghorns.

Before I handloaded I shot 95gr nbt in 243 and my brother shot 95gr sst's in 6mm. He always killed his deer and they worked well but dang did they make a mess. Didn't seem to be near as tough as nbt's. That's the only comparison I have but I'd pick nbt's due to that.

Dober, I know this ain't the classifieds but I have (200) 129 grain 6.5 SSTs I will sell for about half what I paid if ya want to at least try them out. 1 box is unopened and 1 box has only had the seal broke. PM me if interested.

I used a 165 grain SST in 30.06 and shot a doe at approximately 30 yards maybe a little more and was less then pleased with the bullet perormance. I won't use them again. On the flip side my buddy uses a 140 grain ballistic tip out of a 7 rem mag 2 grains over max and kills deer just fine.

I used the 130 SST for the first time last year out of my 270 Wby mag. Chrono velocity is 3400 fps. I shot an 8 point Whitetail through the lungs from 115 yards. Deer ran less than 20 yards and dropped dead. Complete pass through with a silver dollar sized exit hole. Totally destroyed the lungs. Great performer. Plan to use them again this seaseon.

Mark, I've shot one mule deer buck with the SST when they first came out. I used a .270 130 grain. Mule deer was at about 80 yards broadside. I poked him right behind the shoulder and the only bones involved were ribs. He went straight down at the shot. Totally shredded the lungs. Under the hide on the entry side there was a rectangular hole thru the ribs 2 inches wide by 3 inches long. Quarter size exit on the far side rib cage, no exit hole on the far side hide. There was just a little bit of jacket material left in the rib meat on the far side under the hide.

We run the SST in the 280 and 7-08. Very good success. All animals DRT. Been very pleased on performance with all animals taken.

I"ve shot a bunch of muleys and whitetails with a 7mag 139gr SST Heavy Mag. Never a problem from 80-428 yards.

The 180 grain SST in .30-06 is amazing. Great shooting, full penetration, not a lot of tissue damage. That is the only one I have seen kill stuff.

The 120 grain hot cores look really nice recovered, if you can get them to shoot well.

Stick with the 120 ballistic tips. We know what they do ;o) Flinch

Dober,

Here's pics of a 129 6.5 SST after it was dug outa some test media.. I know test media isn't a critter so take it for what it's worth.. Media consisted of 2" of wet(soaked) phone book, then a 3/4 piece of plywood(used to simulate bone, haha) then 20 more inches of wet(soaked) phone book.. As you can see it shed all of its lead core.. But, I was extreemely surprised to see that it penetrated as deep as a 125NP. It did not dig as deep as a 140NP.. Also on this trip to the Range.. SU35 hammered some media with either a 120BT or a 140BT with his 6.5-284.. We were both suprised at how well the BT held together... Interesting thing about wet phone books is that it actually leaves impressions of what appears to be a shock wave.. To say the least the SST shock wave inprint was impressive and for only retaining 45.7grs of it's original 129grs it's penetration was also impressive..

Again not a critter. But I came to the conclution that the BT is tougher than the SST.. The trama caused by the SST was more impressive than the BT.. I think if your gonna hammer deer and Lope's at long range the SST would perform very well and expand nicely at slower velocitys.. Guess it all depends on how much meat you wanta wreck. [img:left][/img]

Off topic, but that SST looks exactly like the Amax's I recover.

I use 139 SST's in my 7RM with no issues.

Recovered this pair out of two different deer at about 100yds. Both traveled from stem to stern and the deer were DRT.

SSTs and BTs both shoot great in every rifle I've tried them in.

For hunting, though, AccuBonds get my vote. They are just as accurate in my rifles and I don't worry about them coming apart.

If I wanted a bullet to come apart I'd use a Berger or an A-MAX. The Bergers are designed to do that and based on what I saw last weekend the A-MAX are pretty good at it, too.

Dober,

I am not quite sure what you're planning on running these SST's in regarding the rifle. I see you are using them in a .260 REM.

I have extensively tested some .264 bullets out of my Remington M7 .260 with some interesting results. At the time of most of the testing, the rifle was pretty much factory including barrel but has since undergone extensive work making it into a sub-6lb mountain rifle.

I have killed deer with the 120g NBT, 130g NAB, 125g partition and the 100g TTSX. i have tested practically all .264 bullets that are sub 130g with only a couple of exceptions (one being the SST).

I have tried the 120g Speer Hot-cor with very acceptable results group-wise but have not tested them on live game. I got them to shoot right at an inch using RL-15 which I have found to be a very solid powder in my rifle. Many folks will tell you to look at RL-19 which is no joke however I feel that in my short barrel I am loosing much of the performance RL-19 has to offer compared to RL-15. I was getting something around 2765fps out of my factory 18" barrel.

Of the selection of bullets I have used and harvested game with, I am most pleased with the 120g Ballistic tips. They are cheap compared to more premium bullets (TTSX and the NAB) and are actually pretty durable. I run them 2800 fps out of my 18" factory tube and they are a delight paired with Varget. They shoot very well also (consistently around an inch). Granted I am not running them at .264mag speeds (and I wouldn't!) they hold together quite well. I haven't taken any questionable shot with them however all shots have been perfect pass throughs.

This fall I intend on shooting a few with the 129g Hornady Interlock. Many tought this bullet to be the answer to all .264 needs. I couldn't get the darn things to shoot for anything until I switched stocks on the rifle to a MCM hunter edge and converted it from BDL to ADL after hunting season last year. I can easily get to around 2825 with the 129's in my short tube.

I forgot to mention that all of the velocities were taken below 40*

I have cut my teeth on this round but can honestly say it's become one of my favorites. I will be glad to help as needed. What kind of rifle are you shooting it in?

Ruck

Me too...except maybe on a coyote

RH

The 129 is hard to beat at these speeds and sets a good baseline....the ORIGINAL IL...SP. It rivals the 125PT in performance.

Personally I like the 130AB but would not hesitate to use a 120BT either on deer sized game. The 129 GMX is a different animal. THe SST would be great on lopes and yotes IMO but I think softer than a BT.

The TTSX and TSX in 120/130 are big killers. My pick if I wanted insurance of THRU and THRU penetration from any angle, any hit, any size deer or hog.

I like all around though - again, the AB - it's tipped, VERY accurate, holds together similar to partitions, and it flattened a WT for me at around 250 yds from a K1A Swede. It shoots VERY well in both 8 and 9 twist bbls FWIW in the event you have a 9" bbl.

ANYTHING 120-160 will kill fine however, assuming it's steered well, but the SST IMO is one of the softer options. From a slower Grendel or BR case, or a 260 in a handgun, expansion would be very good given reduced speeds, as an amax would also.

My daughter and I killed 2 deer last year with the 129SST. Both shot out of 6.5x47Lapua's. Her shot was 333 yards from her 26" bbl at 2935fps or so. In and out ribs both sides. Traveled 45 yards or so. Mine was fired out of my 21" barrel at about 2900fps. Shot was 553 yards, hit ribs going in and coming out. deer went about 15 yards. Plan on hunting with them again this year.

Regarding premium bullets- I was very impressed with the 100g TTSX and a max load of Varget. I killed a mature doe at about 130 yards with a full pass through. Shot was quartering slightly away. Full pass through and exit through offside shoulder. Practically no meat damage except for the shoulder and no tracking! Best of all, I can smoke the 100g bullets out of my rifle and it's been my experience that when you drive these monolithic bullets at insane speeds, the results are often good. YMMV.

Around here one might get shots under 100 yds....in fact probably more often than not, so bullets that work well far, may do alot more meat damage up close, if you do run into say a shoulder, etc.

I like the harder AB if one might need to bust thru alot of bone, I believe it will hold up better and come thru w/more retention.

They say you can eat right up the the bullet hole w/a copper bullet....thought about that the other day, if lead (VERY small bits that escape detection) might get into meat from hi vel impact hits.

No doubt you can see when meat is damaged heavily. Do wonder what one might not see. Likely not a significant amount of lead but who knows.

I use both and believe the BT may be just a bit tougher that the SST, but both have worked great and i would use whichever one my rifle liked the best.

My son used the Hornady factory loaded 139 grain SST Light magnum in 7x57 on a whitetail about 5 years ago or so. The deer was a small doe, coming head on, and he shot the deer square in the chest slightly right of center (deer's perspective) at perhaps 25 yards. The deer did a backwards half-somersault, landed on its back, twitched, and expired. On gutting the deer we did not find a trace of the bullet anywhere. There was no exit wound. Obviously it did the job, but my sample of 1 suggests the SST may be an exploding bomb. If I were to use it on deer, I would avoid bone.

Mark, out of my 7mm08 I can not tell any difference in terminal performance on game between the 139gr SST and the NBT. Both shoot accurately and bullet performance, on mule deer anyway, has looked pretty much identical. It's kind'a like asking who's tougher Richard Simmons or Michael Jackson.

My experience with the SST is the 130 grain in the 270wby taking off at 3500fps. The deer was not too far away and it died but wow talk about bloodshot. I haven't shot the 130BT for a direct comparison and realize that my scenerio was close to worst case for bullet failure. I think it will work well on antelope and deer but wouldn't trust it in a need for deep penetration especially at high velocity. It certainly killed in a hurry but was rather violent.

LOL, Big Sky's analogy is good.

Of the two, I would choose the NBT.

But why not use the plain Interlock SP?

I popped a WT at 80 yds w/a 270/130 BT years ago, they probably toughened them up since those days, back in the late 80s.

Deer was broadside - had to shoot thru a narrow opening as it passed thru so the shot was far back, but it made a very large black/blue radial damage on both sides of that deer. I remember thinking it was amazing just how bloodshot the tissue was - no doubt it was a close shot.

Since then I used 150s and they seemed to be tougher, and definitely more accurate for me.

Not the same weight but for a visual.

6.5 120gr Nosler Ballistic Tip


6.5 140gr Hornady SST

x2

I am now loading and waiting to compare the 120 NBT to my old standby the 140 Sierra. No one has mentioned them but holy cow have I gotten consitent textbooke performance with those. Complete pass throughs with tidy exits every time. Anyone else use the 140 Sierra's?

Anybody sectioned an SST, I have done a Nosler BT it gets thicker as it gets about halfway or farther up from the base. I have really considered using one in the 06 for aa elk bullet. 180 gr or heavier that is.

My (brief) experience with the SST was not good.(277cal) They killed the animals in all cases, but I had fragments of copper and lead scattered in the meat on the 4 deer I shot, and complete jacket separation on a 100lb hog. Haven't used them since.....

I have shot the 154g SST out of a 7 Mag with a load of 63.0g of IMR 4350 with a 9 1/2 primer in a rem case bullet touching the lands and accuracy was less than 1/2". I shot three bucks with the bullet within 2 weeks, 280-320 yards and all died on the spot with pass throughs. One buck jumped straight up like a bottle rocket and hit the ground like a sack of hammers.

I had one 7 mag that was so picky that all it would shoot was the 162g SST with a load of 65g of R#22 with a CCI250 primer. The 162 SST would shoot holes through deer at all angles.

Later on, two friends bought 7 STW's in Mark 5's and wanted me to work up a load for the 162 SST's for plains game. I begged them to let me load the 175g partitions, but NO WAY would they hear of it. They both bagged 8 plains game each, including Kudu and Eland with one shot each and DRT kills with the 162 SST at 3150 fps.

I think that it would be hard to throw all SST type bullets in the same barrel depending on caliber, weight, distance shot, etc.

SST stands for Super Shock Tip...use some common sense in the use of this type of bullet.

No game shooting but i shot a lot of wet phonebooks a few years back with various 6.5 bullets. The BT was the pick of the 120gr bullets ( no barnes tested) but the Speer hot core and rem core-lokt both looked more then fine for deer size game. The Speer used to be the darling of the 6.5 JDJ pistol crowd so is probably a good one. The 129 interlock was darn similar in performance to the 125 partition and the sst wasn't to far behind, but I've never seen one hold a core. 129 interlock would probably provide years of trouble free service, but the book loads always showed the velocity so close between the 129 and 140 I always stuck with the 140. Did a lot of killing with 160 rn. All seem to work fine at .260 or 6.5x55 velocity.

I am working up hunting loads with each right now. I have only killed deer with the BTs so far but in a different caliber (.270win). The BT bullets passed all the way through and I recovered nothing to determine anything. They just did the job, but I didn't shoot through the shoulders either. The loads I have been working-up in my 260 with each bullet have both shown good accuracy, but the BTs and Accubonds have been better (significantly better) than the SSTs. My load for the season will be Nosler 130g Accubonds over 47.0g (give or take a little) of Reloader 19. I'll report back on how well they work, but they sure are an accurate hunting bullet! I'm playing with the powder charge and seating depth at this point for a touch more accuracy, but they are well under .75" five shot groups and 2750fps from a 22" barrel, which is plenty of power and accuracy for hunting deer, but I always want a little more of each.

Has anyone tried the Hornady 129gr Interbond? I bought a box to work up some loads, after less accuracy than I've gotten out of SSTs compared to the Nos BTs and ABs. I haven't had the time this month to test the Interbonds though. I'll use up the remaining SSTs on targets and coyotes; the Accubonds have been that much better. I have to wonder about the 129 Interbonds. If they give similar accuracy as the Accubonds, the deciding factor will be performance on game.

Dober,

I killed several antelope with a 7-08 and 139 SST's. I found he bullet to be quite soft. The bucks died, and fast, but the shoulders were ruined even if not directly hit. That said, I've also found the 7mm 140 BT a bit soft.

I would strongly agree.

I don't like to reduce loads and it seems to me that SST's like the slow lane better.

the 120 NBT is a good choice, but I'd also load up a batch of 130 AB's. If the AB's shoot just as good, I'd roll in that direction.

I have used 180 gr. SST's in my 06 and obtained the most accurate results ever. Have not shot anything with them so can't comment on their results on game.

Jim

Are the 6.5mm 120NBTs beefed up like the 7mm 120s?

I doubt the 6.5mm 120 gr BT is beefed up since its sectional density is roughly the same as the 7mm 140 grain and .308" 165 grain bullets, which are generally thought to have sufficient sectional density in a modern cup-and-core bullet for the game Ballistic Tips are designed for (deer, antelope, and hogs). You never know, though, and you could email or call Nosler.

On the topic of SSTs, they've worked well for me on small deer and smaller (small whitetail, antelope, and javelina) the times I've used them, even at close range (10 to 30 yards - would guess impact velocity to be around 2750 to 2800 fps) with a .30-06 using the 150 grain SST Hornady factory Custom Ammunition. I personally wouldn't use an SST if I was popping the primers on a hyper velocity magnum, though.

The SSTs may be "Interlock" bullets, but they are still cup-and-core bullets and behave like typical cup-and-core bullets from what I've seen in the 150 grain SST out of a .30-06. My feeling is the SST is interchangeable with the Winchester Power Points and the Remington Core Lokts based on past use of all three in factory .30-06 150 grain offerings on southern whitetails. The Hornady factory ammo with SSTs was more accurate in my gun than the other two factory loads.

I have killed a pile of deer with the 120 HC. The only one I have ever found was from an antelope. Shot was about 200 yards, whipping friggin wind. Ended up going thru the onside shoulder, thru the low point in the spine behind the shoulder, thru the offside shoulder and lodged under the hide. I had the bullet for awhile, but lost it in several moves. Jacket was peeled way back, had a little lead left in it, but it lost alot of weight. Gun is a 260 and mv is 2877.

I agree here as well. 3 shots to put down a large muley, all within 3 inches of each other right behind the shoulder in the lungs.

Been using 100 gr BT's in 25-06 now and they are the hammer of thor

With all of these attempts by Hornady to make some super trendy bullet, I've found the plain old 129 and 140 SP work just fine on anything I want to use them on in the lower 48...which includes all of my hunting..

I've taken deer with the plain old Hornady 100 gr SP..and it works just fine..

and there all accurate...

between those 3 Hornady bullets and the Nosler 100 and 120 grain Ballistic Tips and the 125 grain Partition.... I really don't have the need to keep searching for a bullet that works well in a 260...

I can't speak to the question on 6.5mm bullets, but the SSTs I've run through game (165 gr 30 cal at approx 2850) have performed beautifully. They're basically equal to the old (read: more frangible) NBTs.

That having been said, if you like shoulder shots and exit wounds these aren't likely for you any more than a Berger VLD would be. Stick with the monometals and other premiums for that stuff.

Personally, I like a "shoot and DRT," frangible bullet. Pigs, deer, and varmints have all hated these bullets and of about a dozen kills nothing has required more than one shot.

There is a guy on a New Zealand website that does a lot of culls and shooting and guiding, who talks extensively about the SST.

It seemed to me that each SST is designed softer/harder based on what Hornady guesses the main use will be. Some of the 7mm sounded very hard, some of the others sounded soft like a varmint bullet. He also writes about annealing the front half of certain SSTs to get them to soften up so that they peel back better and hence penetrate more without blowing up.

Differing construction for different big game is very common among bullet manufacturers, which is why I always laugh a little when somebody cites their experiences with, say, 130-grain .270 SST's as an example of what can be expected from all SST's.

Even Nosler Partitions differ quite a bit in construction, depending on what game the Nosler bullet engineers think most people will use that particular bullet on. In general, the bigger the game, the more forward the partition is placed, but there are also occasional differences in rear-core hardness.
There are similar construction differences in Ballistic Tips and AccuBonds.

A lot also depends on muzzle velocity and range. A couple of years ago in Wyoming one of my hunting companions recovered a 180-grain SST from a .300 WSM from a bull elk. The mushroom was perfect enough to please even a TSX addict, and the bullet probably retained at least 80% of its weight. The elk was shot at 400 yards.

How would a guy anneal a bullet with a polymer tip? Seems like that would be a bit difficult.

I've not used SSTs much (but the 150 30 cals have worked well on deer sized animals when I have). A friend of mine uses the 117 SST in his 25-06 and I've seen some impressive performance on 1,000 pound HI bulls; definitely not a bullet that seems to 'blow-up'.

Here is a 180gr .308 BT and a 165gr .308 SST. FWIW From experience the 165 BT has a jacket profile that's about identical to the 180gr. Its pretty easy to tell which one is the tougher bullet.