Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Hornady SST Bullets

I found these cut-away pics of the .284 caliber 139 gr and 154 gr. The jacket on the 139 gr SST is noticeably thicker than the 154 gr and therefore should hold together better.

I know this thicker jacket is not that uncommon from bullet manufactures but in most cases there's a reason it is done, ie the 120 gr Nosler BT and steel silhouette shooting, but in this case I wonder why?

I've visited with Hornady several times over the last two years concerning the undesirable SST performance..They have redesigned more than several calibers with heavier jackets and the 139gr is one so they said..Been loading it for a deer hunting friend's 7x57 and my 280,, it behaves well in this velocity window.and should be OK even for the big 7.. I'm always amazed at how Bergers slide by the criticism since witnessing some of their destruction on game as well.

I think the SST bullet in general has been redesigned and the jacket was made thicker on them.The same thing was done to Nosler Ballistic Tips.Earlier versions had thinner jackets and were very explosive.

Where's the InterLock, like is shown on their website?

Not sure why the "interlock ring" is not there. Maybe I've been duped with the pics...LOL

My 7x57 thrives on the 154 gr Interlocks but doesn't do well with the SST...it may, just much slower due to the longer bullet.

270 WSM does well with 140 gr SST's.

Dan

Any idea if the .338 200gn was redesigned? Years ago I played with them and the ‘lead’ acted like it turned to powder when hitting a target. Completey came apart. More recently I had one look respectable. Considering trying again. They do shoot well.

Can't help you with that bullet but from several conversations I think the redesign was on smaller diameters below 30 cal.

Speculation only but I think they hardened the lead alloy in some and others increased jacket thickness and some they did both. My guess is either the 154 was just enough slower it was Ok or it is not as popular as the 139 so has not gotten the treatment. Some I have sectioned had barely perceptible interlok rings. I thought it might be because of the way they were sectioned but didn't melt any to really check them out. It would be nice to know which ones were re-vamped and which are not as now I currently avoid all of them due to my initial experiences with them.

I was having second thoughts about the SST's but I found a really good deal yestetday on the 7mm 154 gr SST.
17.50 per hundred. Bought all they had, which was 5 boxes. I think they will be fine. Im not planning on driving them at warp speed anyway.

FWIW, the tech rep stated the .338 200gn has not been modified.

What about the 95 grain 6mm . Have been thinking about trying them on deer.

I believe they toughened up the 150 gr. 308 diameter bullet. Kills and exits most of the time.

A close friend and his son have had good luck with them. Their starting velocity isn't too high, they're shooting the typical ~41 grains of H4350 and the barrel is 20" long.

Sure was a grenade on a deer I shot a few years ago. Same with the 180 SST .308 on a mule deer and bull elk. The SST's shoot awesome but are too explosive for me (30-06 velocities). I have gone back to Interlocks and have been happy with their performance and accuracy.

I have read where it was stated that the 180gr is perfect for the 308Win.

IF they changed the jacket/core, then maybe I would consider them, if I got hard up for a bullet. My experience is with them dynamiting on small deer from a .308. I see no reason to use them. with better bullets available. If you are hunting, just use a standard IL. They are accurate and cheaper than the sst crap.

I would suppose the SST is designed for long range shooting as are most boat tailed bullets. This would seem to indicate the bullet will expand at lower velocities and much faster at high impact speeds. So if I am hunting whitetails at normal ranges I load this style bullet down to 2700 fps or so and get good performance by avoiding hitting shoulders. I would not use the SST on elk as for that I prefer partitions but for open country mule deer I can't see a real issue with the lot of 150 gr. SST's I have. I am a huge fan of regular Interlocks, especially the 180 gr. 30 caliber version, but a more streamlined bullet will buck the wind better and holds energy farther out.

I had no issues with it in my 303 (150gr) on deer. Punched right through and the exit hole was bigger than the entrance but every indication it expanded and held together.

Have seen wildly inconsistent results with SSTs, especially when started from faster cartridges. Too many good bullets exist to use these garbage bullets.