Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting SST Hornady

Mathman,
Curiosity makes me ask....Have you had any issues with the headspace of your cases shrinking with your load with 4198? Primers high in the cases after firing? Just wondering if that load produces enough pressure to properly form, or keep cases properly formed to the chamber? I would have guessed 33 grains to give 2,300fps so right in there with your results. My niece has a 20" barrel also, so when I get the opportunity to do some testing I can do some parallel comparisons to your results. I can appreciate the difference in opinion of the SST bullets. What would be an excellent bullet at sedate velocity could very well become a bomb when pushed hard. I am looking for that bullet which will perform well at the sedate velocities which my niece can handle the recoil. And yes, these loads are similar to a 30-30 load, the benefit being the better shape of the bullet to retain more of the velocity than a traditional flat point 30-30 bullet. If she has the opportunity to take a shot longer than 125 yards or so it would be very unusual.
Thanks all, and I'm enjoying the conversation,
Rick

I don't recall any post firing, high primers indicative of extra pre-firing headspace combined with very low firing pressure.

sbhooper,

I believe the 150 .30 SST's have been beefed up considerably. Went on a deer/pig hunt in South Texas last fall, and all the rifles used among a number of hunters were 22" barreled .308's, and all the ammo used Fiocchi factories with 150 SST's. Muzzle velocity was around 2800. We killed more than two dozen animals, and the SST's not only didn't grenade, we never recovered one, even on angling shots through fairly sizeable pigs and bucks.

31.0 grains of IMR 4198, accuracy is ok for the less than100 yard shooting and it is not overly loud. Recoil is light enough that I wouldn't loose sight of the hog but the muzzle flash whites out my view. I loaded 40 and have been using them for 2 years and have 12 left. The cases seem fully obturated so I don't see any problems. Accuracy when shooting at a paper plate, 100 yards with the night vision after dark is three in 1 1/2 inches. I have been thinking about using Blue Dot when I load the cases up again.

I'll have to give the 4198 a try. I think I'll also try some IMR4227 for similar velocity as I've had excellent results with it in several other chamberings when looking for milder than standard loads.
Rick

Gee, you may have thrown cold water on this whole thread John

How is the 6.5 SST Hornady 123 Gr at Grendel speeds?

Have all the SSTs been beefed up? If not, is there a way to tell which ones have been?

I would think that it would be perfect for those speeds.

I'm a big fan of IMR 4227 in reduced loads myself. Don't know what top speeds you can get with a 150 in a 308 though. I have decided to go to Blue Dot for much of what I used 4227 for.

I'm thinking the IMR4227 in a 308 with a 150gr bullet should reach about 2,250 depending on barrel lenght and fast rifle/slow rifle syndrome. I haven't tried that combo but will. One of the 4198's would be the next progression in a bit slower powder for a touch more velocity in my mind.
If the SST bullets have been beefed up I'm thinking the 160gr FTX for the Marlin express may just be a good substitute. The 30-30 version of that bullet seems to be pretty soft when shooting targets of opportunity but I have no experience with it on game. The Version for the Marlin express is a different bullet than the 30-30 version appearing more like the SST profile with a little more pointy gummy tip. It may be just the answer for good performance on game in a 30 caliber in the 2,200 to 2,400 fps window? Anyone have any on-game experience with this bullet they would care to share?
Rick

243-95g SST has been great -Lot tougher than you would think

6.5-129g sst is a coyote bullet
-140g is great-very accurate

7mm Mag-154g- 63.0 Of imr 4350, 9 1/2 in Rem case and 162g sst 71g of Retumbo, fed 215

I've shot a lot of 36 grain IMR4198 in a 30-06. After 3 or 4 firings, the case does start to shorten slightly overall.

I anneal and load those up full-power to blow them back out, then use again for 3-4 firings of reduced pressure.

Your probably interested in rifle ammo but I have loaded the 44 mag 225g Hornady FTX/SST with great results. I also have some 265g 44 mag SST that I'm going to shoot out of my 50 cal ML using sabot sleeves. I prefer to shoot 44s & 45s with sleeves vs 50 cal out of the ML. I get better patterns. I think the longer bullets for the same weight shoot more accurately. Plus, your choice of bullets is greater.

I have used factory Hornady Superperformance 150's in my 30-06 for several years now, taking at least 10 caribou with them (used factory Corelocts prior). MV is advertised as around 3100, presumably through a 24 or 26 inch test barrel. Mine is a heavy barrel of 27 inch length, but I have never chronnied a load in my life, and feel no need to do so as long as the accuracy is good. I took 4 caribou this winter, out to 300 yards (RF), and as close as about 50, using behind-the-leg lung/heart shots. The difference in wound channels was impressive, but expected from past experience.

My experience mirrors above posts. At @ 300 yards or more (longest 433), the tissue damage is not wildly extensive with lung/heart placement from broadside. At closer ranges, or hitting shoulder bones, it becomes much more extensive. Or large muscle mass. Even hitting a rib goin in expands the wound channel considerably, as would be expected.

A while back I badly fluffed a shot on a bull at 200 yards, and hit him in the hams. (Gloves, some wind in the face, 15 degrees, standing, using Bog tripod shooting rest - call it an inadvertent discharge, which it was. My Bad!). Nerf-ball size tissue damage both sides.

I have never recovered a bullet. Even earlier ( a year or two) , I killed two within a few seconds of each other - both using RF. One at 292, the other at 433, both near- broadside shots through the lungs. The 292 one went through without hitting ribs on either side. Tissue damage was maybe a 2 inch cut-out, both sides, plus some iblood shot in the membranes, easiy trimmed out. On the 433, same, except it broke a rib on far side, then the leg bone (not perfectly broadside). Not much damage at the far side rib bone, but exponentially more to the leg.

Keep, or get, the velocity down decreases the wound channels, other things being equal. These things are designed that way.

I don'y know if this is a factor for OP, but at 300 yards, my rifle puts the Hornady SST SP (as above) about 16 inches higher and 10 inches right of Factory Corelocts of same bullet weight. At that range, with good solid "sandbag" rests, I get 1", 3 shot groups with the SST, and
about a quarter inch larger with the Corelocts. The GMX SP 150 just about exactly splits the difference between them for POI, also with 1" groups.