Originally Posted by sbhooper
Originally Posted by Houser52
Anyone have an accurate load for the 129 grain SST? Id like to use it as a coyote/deer load out of my Savage 260.

As much as I wanted to use the 129 grain Hornady IL I couldn't get it to group any better than 1 1/2" out of my 260. The 123 gr. SST shoots around 3/4" but I've read it's not recommended for deer out of a 260. Works great on coyotes. The Nosler and Sierra 120s are not to be found but I did order 200 of the 129 SST to try.

Any opinions/ loads on the 129 SST would be appreciated.


I will never shoot another SST out of anything. They failed me and although people say that they are improved, I see no reason to find out. That being said, in my Criterion barrel, the 129 Interlock over Re 17, or IMR4350 shoots exceptionally well at 2950-ish fps. It is my main rifle for summer depredation work on white tail does. I have killed them past 400 yards.

Unusual for a Savage to not shoot better than that. Have you tried varying the seating-out to max allowable by magazine, of course.?


Thanks for the reply.
Yes, I’ve seated the 129 gr. Interlock jammed into the lands and they do shoot better but started seeing pressure signs. If I reduced the load to account for higher pressure, velocity suffered. Seating deeper didn’t improve accuracy . I wasted way too many bullets, primers and powder to mess with them anymore and sold what I had left.
Since my original post I did acquire some 120 grain Nosler and Sierra bullets that I’m going to work with before the 129 SST.