Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting SST Hornady

I have never tried the SST will someone tell
Me how you like them and how they perform? Thank you
I would really appreciate it.

The ones I've seen are soft but they were early ones. They may have made them a little stouter since then.

95gr 6mm
154gr 7mm
150gr .308


No exits and very destructive

Thanks buddy👍🏻

Took a buck this year and it was a shot right behind the shoulder at about 100 yds which wasn’t far, but when I walked to the spot where he was standing there was pieces of lung and blood about three feet further back. He ran about 20 yds and had about 1.5-2” exit on the opposite side. Performed great for me. Oh and it was a 6.5x55 rifle.

I ran the 139 grain for a bit when I had a 280 Remington, seemed soft, I switched back to the 139 grain interlock ....I was loading to 3000 fps, might be ok at lower velocity. Defiantly caused meat damage if you clipped a major bone etc. they shoot pretty good. I don’t know if they have changed. Nosler went through the same learning curve with the ballistic tips . For a basic cup and core bullet the interlock is very good imo.to be fair I have not used them in many years. These days I’ve been running accubond and ttsx, and som ballistic tips. I did pick up some hornady eld-x for my 243ai and my 280 ai. What rifle did you plan on trying them in?

30-06 bolt action

I used a couple of them this year. 129 grain SST's in the 6.5mm Isle. I shot them out of 260 Remington brass. One whitetail shot through the shoulders and another shot through the neck. Each was over 100 yards and each resulted in full penetration. I would not hesitate to shoot that bullet at 2800 to 2900 fps on whitetails again next year.

Thank you for your comment👍🏻

I am shooting the 117 gr .25 caliber SST at a sluggish velocity of 2660 in a 250 savage. I had full penetration from just under 200 yards to over 330 yards. Not one deer has traveled over 35 yards.

I chose this bullet because the Hornady tech said the SST bullet would open up quicker even at the sluggish velocity I am shooting... so far the results have been stellar.

IME, all these are still pretty soft. They exit broadside lungs, but I'd be leery of any quartering shots, at least at near 3k starting speed. I've seen the 154 make softball-size exits in deer a few times. The deer are dead right there, but it's....overkill.

My experiences mirror others here. The SST's are quite destructive, but kept at reasonable speed, they kill well. I learned to step up in bullet weight or step down in speed with them. Out of an '06, I run the 165's and 180's for deer and elk. I prefer the 180 for elk and the 165 for deer, but the other way works too.

I've killed several antelope with 139's from a 7-08.

They killed quickly but were too soft. There was far too much blood shot meat to my way of thinking. If you use them, keep the bullet in the ribs and off the shoulder.

The SST performs well at low velocity in reduced recoil loads, but they expand violently and penetrate poorly when MV gets over 2600ish.

I have used the 150 grain SSTs and 150 grain Nosler BTs in 30-06 for the last few years and can't tell much if any difference between them on our skinny Carolina deer. I don't recall ever not getting an exit hole and 9 out of 10 times you get a blood trail Mr. Magoo could follow. I hunt from a stand and I do tend to wait for broadside lung shots. Like any softpoint 150 grain out of a 30-06, they can wreck a shoulder quarter if you hit it. If you are planning to shoot at any angle or have a chance at shooting a buck over 200 lbs, moving up to the 165's might be a good idea.

That said, I don't know that the polymer tipped bullets are much if any better than traditional soft points unless you are going to shoot at really long range. That is what they are designed for.

I love the SST's.

95gr @ 3150 in .243 & 117gr @ 3100 in 25-06.

I do not take marginal shots, only behind the shoulder, on settled deer. Always had full penetration (exit) & beautiful, short blood trails.

Freezer @ capacity speaks volumes !

Good information. Thanks Doc. I'm looking for a heavy 250 Savage bullet and you may have given me what I am looking for.

I've been using the 129g SST's in one of my 6.5x55's. At a little over 2800 pfs they've given me good results on behind the shoulder shots. I tried the 139g SST's in a 7mm Mag at about 3200 and they exploded on impact

I have gone to the 139 grain SST out of my 7mm-08 as my go to bullet of choice because I do want a faster opening bullet after losing the only buck I've ever shot with a rifle using a too hard Barnes 140 grain TSX. Five drops of blood and two days of looking convinced me that I'll take five pounds of bloodshot rib meat over 200# of wasted deer. While I didn't get an exit wound from the last buck I shot with the SST, it was a close shot and at a steep angle, so I probably hit the spine for and instant drop.The SST is an Interlock bullet with a plastic tip that didn't batter in the magazine during recoil like the soft point Interlock. That Interlock is a terrific deer bullet as well. A 165 grain Interlock from my .308 gave me an almost immediate easy to follow 50 yard blood trail on another buck.

I had some initial reservations about the 95 grain SST when I loaded them for a friend's 243. A number of years and deer later I can report they've been good performers. They're coming out of a 20" barrel so the velocity isn't too high for them. (I don't recall us shooting this rifle over the chrono.) This SST is a flat based bullet with a long straight shank section.

I don't think it has been used on a quartering on, point of the shoulder shot, so no comment there.

My friend's son shot a good sized buck quartering away and hit him a little far back so the exit was behind the opposite side shoulder. The bullet didn't blow up as far as I could tell from the wound track, and the buck only staggered about fifty feet.

In our experience, double lung, hitting ribs in & out, typically sees only a 1" exit wound.

If too tight to the shoulder/s, you will have to clean under the "armpits", once hung, due to hydrostatic shock.

If there is anything behind the deer, when shot, it will be covered in blood & lung material.