Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting SST Hornady

The theory that a huge exit hole just makes a mess and wastes meat depending on the location of the hit. Not really over kill but over damage or destruction is a more realistic wording...

Having run nosler BTs out of a 300 wtby mag that my BIL gave me to try, I only shot about 3 deer in the ribs to find that they still ran like hell at the shot( IMHO they run from noise, more than anything else and the 300s are loud) and had substantial damage and were a mess to clean. So why?

I'm pretty sure the SST's were designed for long range shooting of medium game. Cool the velocity down and things will be rosy. Some of us who don't hunt open country like large blood leaking exit holes. The last lease I had if you didn't find the animal before dark it was 90% sure all you would recover the next day was bones, either coyotes or feral hogs had a meal. Substantial damage usually means the animal travels less after the hit. But shoot what you want, I like Partitions too, another bullet your not fond of.

It's been a few years since I shot them. I was using 139 gr out of a .280 at 200-225 yds. on a mule deer. Pretty bloody for a behind the shoulder hit. The accuracy was great. Just a bit more spectacular on the receiving end than I was used to with 120 B-Tips.

i have shot 2 deer in Canada with a sst and 165 gr. out of an 06 both ran a bit and lots of bloodshot meat. they died. tried a nosler 165 and had drt with same shot placement.not a big deal just noticeable difference in reaction . very big deer, range on all was from 150 to 100 yards. nosler for me is the choice!

Two years ago I shot a mule deer at about 100 yards. quartering way with a 6.5 Creedmor I believe 129 grain SST, whatever the Hornady loading is. Dropped on the spot and broke the offside shoulder. Sample of one but no issues from my perspective.

I hunt country as thick as anyone else. I've yet to have an issue finding a deer or pig that runs off. Even if, like pigs, sometimes you really have no blood trail. We have the same issue if you don't find it that evening. Loss of animal, and even if you find it, its most likely spoiled anyway the next morning. If its a must.. CNS is the only way to rely.

Like anything, we all have our preferences.

I"d shoot a partition before I"d shoot an SST. I've really nothing against partitions, after I learned to use the right ones. Like 200s for 300s, not 180s.

Gee, I never thought about bones destroying bullets! I have only shot about 200 deer and quite a few elk and antelope. Those bullets were shot into the rib cage and totally came apart. It has nothing to do with tipped bullets. Is your comment about tipped bullets, due to me liking a bullet that rarely fails and does not have a pretty tip? I use tipped bullets and like GOOD ones. (head shake imoji inserted here)

I will admit that I have no recent experience with SSTs, but with so many other good bullets available these days, I see no reason to try them again. YMMV.

The Ballistic Tips went through a long period of this kind of bashing and were changed several times because of it. Properly used the SST's are good for what they were designed for. All things have performance perameters. The 123 SST is the bullet of choice for the 6.5 Grendel.

So you shot deer in the ribs, they died and your unhappy about the destruction caused? Some people actually like a bullet that does maximum damage on rib hits. I have yet to see a 150 gr. bullet not exit on small deer hit broadside through the ribs, but if I do I would think it odd. My hog rifle outfitted with night vision is loaded with the 150 gr. SST pushed to 2300 fps out of a 308. Amazingly I am getting exits most of the time, good amounts of destruction and dead hogs. I shoot for bone most of the time too. I guess the reason I am defending the SST is because I am getting perfect performance out of it for what I use it for and I don't want all this useless ranting to cause the design to be changed.

So what powder and how much are you using to get 2300 fps with the 150gr. SST in your .308 ??
TIA

This is not useless ranting. I said nothing about being unhappy about the destruction. I could not care less about that. A bullet that completely dynamites, is not what I am looking for in a bullet. I understand that they have beefed up the jacket a bit, and that is good, but I have no need to use a marginal bullet when there are good ones available. If it works for you, I am happy for you. Personally, I will stay with bullets that I know will not fail from any angle. The reason that they work well for you is probably because you are pushing them at anemic velocities. Do what you wish, but my experience and opinion of them stay the same. They are poorest bullet Hornady ever made.

I've used the SST n deer and have no complaints at all..... actually prefer them over ballistic tips.

This. An SST is NOT designed to hold together like a mono. People get in the mindset that every bullet should be built like a tank or it has "failed". These are designed to be stout enough to reach the vitals and then grenade. If you like that performance, these are GREAT. They work well to pretty low velocity, so you can extend the ranges with them as well.

If that is not the performance you like, choose a different bullet, but that does not make these a bad bullet. They're designed to do something you do not like. It's sort of like saying chocolate is a bad flavor because you like vanilla. Options are good.

IME, SST's suck at high speed impacts. At lower velocities they are decent. I'll take a BT every time instead.

So what powder and how much are you using to get 2300 fps with the 150gr. SST in your .308 ??
TIA[/quote]

I've been watching for a response to your question also. I have a need for such a load for a 15-yr old niece, and now myself because of shoulder issues and trying to avoid surgery. The powders that come to my mind would be SR4759 or IMR4227. One of the 4198's would get there at a little lower pressures than the first two. I use SR4759 in an old Remington 721 30-06 and 30-30 flat point bullets for just at 2,300.That old aluminum but plate gets uncomfortable for me much above this speed.
Maybe the original poster will come along and let us know what combination he's using.

Rick

Rather than trying to reinvent a reduced recoil .308 load, why not just pick up a box of the Hornady Custom Lite .308's with either the 125 grain SST or Interlock? Problem solved.

That's certainly a great option if you are not a reloader and/or only shoot a few rounds a year..

RicknTN
Looking in the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook #3 I see they show the same powders you listed plus a few more..
Where it gets real interesting Is Lee's #2 manual on pages 142-148 listing reduced loads with bullet weights from 110 grs. to 225 grs.

Re-inventing the low recoil load is most of the fun. I've only fired factory loads a few times in the last 40 years, and that was when I could buy the 20 round boxes of 223 for about $2/box.

Nrut,
The Lyman cast bullet handbook has a wealth of information on powders that usually wouldn't be used with jacketed. When loading with jacketed I do only use it as a suggestion and apply it very judiciously. I have a '90 version of the IMR loading handbook and rely on it more for reduced jacketed loads with SR4759 , IMR4227 or IMR4198. Recently I have loaded Red Dot, Unique, and 4227 with jacketed in several cartridges and it really increases the "fun" factor. Accuracy is usually pretty good too. I've found it usually doesn't take much velocity to punch a hole in paper or to ring a gong! I have a close friend who is a retired school teacher with a bad knee and hip and weighs over 500lbs. We have a gong @ 50 yards outside his garage. He loves to shoot and this is one of the few places he can get to to shoot. We cast many of our own and shoot a combination of cast or jacketed, depending on what we have available. The reduced loads work very well. I"m still curious which powder the poster who originally mentioned the 2,300fps load in the .308? It may be one of the powders mentioned? or maybe one I/we have missed. I've used 2400 before but it won't quite get there in .308 and 150 bullet, at least not at pressures I'm comfortable with.
Take care all,
Rick

In WW brass I've used 32.5 grains of H4198 with a 155 grain Amax*** and the CCI 250 magnum primer. Out of the 20" barrel of my 700 VTR it gives 2250 fps and excellent accuracy. Five shot groups average a smidge over 1/2 moa. It goes off with a pop and the rifle barely moves. Indications point to very mild pressure.

Think of it as a half MOA 30-30.


***The 150 SST would probably substitute right in for the Amax I used. Why the magnum primer? I had a bunch, they worked great right out of the gate, so I was never motivated to try another. Maybe there's a 1/4 moa load I'm missing out on, but probably not.