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Joined: Jan 2016
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Campfire Member
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Anyone try 180gr SSTs in a 308 for deer? Gotta bunch here that I need to use up. Hoping the heavier weight and lower velocity will improve results. According to the Knowledge Base website it does. Would like to hear of some real world results myself.
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Joined: Feb 2018
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Anyone try 180gr SSTs in a 308 for deer? Gotta bunch here that I need to use up. Hoping the heavier weight and lower velocity will improve results. I’ve got the same issue, a bunch of leftover 180 SSTs that shot well in my last 30-06 but don’t seem to shoot worth a crap in my current one. Going to load them up in some 308 rounds to put through my BLR, hoping it’ll make for a nice little woods round for close range white tails.
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Joined: May 2011
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
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![[Linked Image]](https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4424/36564743130_88725e5558_h.jpg) PA110001 by .com/photos/156296479 N08/]Steve Zihn, on [bleep] There are 170 grain SSTs in 8MM. The 2 expanded bullets were recovered from a bull elk. 1st shot was about 165 yards and the 2nd shot was at about 190 or 200. Neither bullet went as deep as I like for elk hunting. In fact that is why I fired 2 rounds. The 2nd one didn't come apart and went about 22" deep. The 1st one shed it's core and went about 14 inches deep. The elk was still going after the first one hit and the lack of penetration left him able to go on, until I hit him the 2nd time. I have a split bullet next them so everyone can see the thickness (or thinness) of the jackets. I have also killed several deer with these bullets and in all the deer but one, I got exits. Great big ones! The one that didn't give me an exit was a very large bodied Mule Deer I shot 2 seasons ago as it was facing me. The bullet hit at the junction of the neck and shoulder and went down the body. I looked but could not find it. Deer dropped dead at the shot. All were with the same load which gives me about 2500 FPS from my short barreled 8X57 Carbine. It has a 19 inch barrel. ![[Linked Image]](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/809/39021704000_d6bf189c64_h.jpg) OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by .com/photos/156296479N08/]Steve Zihn, on [bleep] As a deer bullet I can give it high marks for accuracy but "just ok" for bullet performance. In fact these bullets have given me the best accuracy I have ever had in my rifle, giving ragged hold groups at 100 yards from my rifle. If fired at higher velocities I am better these would come apart every time. I love their accuracy, but I have given up on them for hunting anything but varmints, and for practice. I am going back to the 200 grain Nosler Partition and the 180 grain GMX for elk in this rifle. Another bullet I'd like to try on deer is the 180 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip/Hunting. I think it's thicker jacket may be just what's needed for big deer and maybe even elk. If I buy some I'll post my results for accuracy and if I live long enough to get some more elk with this rifle I will post the results too. No, I am not dying (that I know of), but at 63 years old I don't know how many more elk I will kill, and I have about 7 other rifles I want to use and about 20 other bullets I want to test in them, so I know I am not going to be able to test all I'd like to. But I'll keep doing it until I can't. I no longer hunt in 3-5 states every year, so I will probably only kill elk in Wyoming and maybe in Idaho or Montana now and then, but my days of being able to shoot 10-16 head of game every year seem to be dwindling. This getting-old-stuff ---- kinda sucks. Good report Steve, thanks. As you and I are the same age, I can understand your sentiments all too well. Lets stay in the game and do what we can, when we can. Let the pieces fall where they may.
There are 2 rules to success:
1. Never tell everything that you know.
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Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 9,189
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
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Anyone try 180gr SSTs in a 308 for deer? Gotta bunch here that I need to use up. Hoping the heavier weight and lower velocity will improve results. I've had excellent results from the 180's for both deer and elk at 30-06 velocities. Pass-throughs and large wound channels. Heavy-for-cal SST's are one of my favorite bullets.
I belong on eroding granite, among the pines.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 11,951
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jun 2002
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Anyone try 180gr SSTs in a 308 for deer? Gotta bunch here that I need to use up. Hoping the heavier weight and lower velocity will improve results. I've had excellent results from the 180's for both deer and elk at 30-06 velocities. Pass-throughs and large wound channels. Heavy-for-cal SST's are one of my favorite bullets. Good to hear. Will start with this bullet. I generally like heavy C&C bullets. We generally don't get a lot of LR hunting here so a few FPS is of no consequence. Thanks
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Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 13,047
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
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Anyone try 180gr SSTs in a 308 for deer? Gotta bunch here that I need to use up. Hoping the heavier weight and lower velocity will improve results. I acquired a box of 100 SST 180 grain blems that I loaded in my .30-06 at not much more than .308W velocity (about 2700). I can testify to their accuracy and good effect on feral pit bull and big hogs. My preference is 180 Speer Hotcor RN for killing effect but the SST is noticeably more accurate. The only more accurate bullet I've used is the 155 Scenar but I've occasionally experienced big hogs running off several hundred yards with Scenar due to lack of expansion. I admit that said hogs were big and hit a little high or behind the lungs but an SST or even a Core-lokt would have put them down much quicker.
Patriotism (and religion) is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
Jesus: "Take heed that no man deceive you."
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 60,098
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 60,098 |
I posted briefly on this thread earlier, but will provide some details. In 2017 some companions and I took around 30 whitetails and feral pigs in Texas with 150-grain .308 factory ammo loaded with 150-grain SST's. Do not know the exact muzzle velocity in the 22" barrels of the rifles we were using, but would guess it was around 2750. EVERY bullet exited, even on angling and bone shots through deer weighing (on scales, not guessed) 180 pounds, and pigs weighing 200.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck
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Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 4,371
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Sep 2017
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Much as I like the Hornady Interlock, I like the SST a little better because it doesn't batter the nose of the cartridges in the magazine during recoil. Not that it makes much difference at the deer distance where I hunt. Watching Lock-N-Load last evening on the Military Channel, they had a segment on Hornady what looked like a .308 fragmenting vs. SST vs. FMJ in ballistic gel and the SST did 18" with a heck of a large early permanent cavity. Now that they toughened them up, I'm shooting up all my old ones that gave me DRT on my last buck, but no exit and to my way of thinking, no exit is a bullet failure.
My other auto is a .45
The bitterness of poor quality is remembered long after the sweetness of low price has faded from memory
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Joined: Dec 2005
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
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Having shot them in several different calibers, I suggest considering them as different bullets. Hornady seems to tune their bullets to the cartridge and likely impact velocity. They have SSTs in the same caliber within a few grains of each other that would be an elk bullet in one cartridge but a varmint bullet in another.
Living in a world of G17s and 700s, wishing for P7s and 202s
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Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
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PA110001 by .com/photos/156296479N08/]Steve Zihn, on [bleep] There are 170 grain SSTs in 8MM. The 2 expanded bullets were recovered from a bull elk. 1st shot was about 165 yards and the 2nd shot was at about 190 or 200. Neither bullet went as deep as I like for elk hunting. In fact that is why I fired 2 rounds. The 2nd one didn't come apart and went about 22" deep. The 1st one shed it's core and went about 14 inches deep. The elk was still going after the first one hit and the lack of penetration left him able to go on, until I hit him the 2nd time. I have a split bullet next them so everyone can see the thickness (or thinness) of the jackets. I have also killed several deer with these bullets and in all the deer but one, I got exits. Great big ones! The one that didn't give me an exit was a very large bodied Mule Deer I shot 2 seasons ago as it was facing me. The bullet hit at the junction of the neck and shoulder and went down the body. I looked but could not find it. Deer dropped dead at the shot. All were with the same load which gives me about 2500 FPS from my short barreled 8X57 Carbine. It has a 19 inch barrel. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by .com/photos/156296479N08/]Steve Zihn, on [bleep] As a deer bullet I can give it high marks for accuracy but "just ok" for bullet performance. In fact these bullets have given me the best accuracy I have ever had in my rifle, giving ragged hold groups at 100 yards from my rifle. If fired at higher velocities I am better these would come apart every time. I love their accuracy, but I have given up on them for hunting anything but varmints, and for practice. I am going back to the 200 grain Nosler Partition and the 180 grain GMX for elk in this rifle. Another bullet I'd like to try on deer is the 180 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip/Hunting. I think it's thicker jacket may be just what's needed for big deer and maybe even elk. If I buy some I'll post my results for accuracy and if I live long enough to get some more elk with this rifle I will post the results too. No, I am not dying (that I know of), but at 63 years old I don't know how many more elk I will kill, and I have about 7 other rifles I want to use and about 20 other bullets I want to test in them, so I know I am not going to be able to test all I'd like to. But I'll keep doing it until I can't. I no longer hunt in 3-5 states every year, so I will probably only kill elk in Wyoming and maybe in Idaho or Montana now and then, but my days of being able to shoot 10-16 head of game every year seem to be dwindling. This getting-old-stuff ---- kinda sucks. Agreed. I am going on 65 and I can't seem to talk myself into another trip west for elk. I have become a fan of easy deer and antelope hunts. I have a doe antelope to kill here in Nebraska and a couple doe deer tags yet to fill. I am at 34 deer for the year (27 were depredation in July), so I get a little testing done! I am a fan of Hornady Interlocks in whatever caliber, for use on deer at normal ranges. I also really like the 147 ELDM Hornadys in my Creed. They are fantastic on deer at about any range that you care to shoot them.
You did not "seen" anything, you "saw" it.
A "creek" has water in it, a "crick" is what you get in your neck.
Liberals with guns are nothing but hypocrites.
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Good deer bullets, little light on elk. I have shot several mule deer with a 30-06 and 150 or 180 sst's - all resulted in dead deer with minimal tracking. Meat damage was minimal as I like to shoot through the ribs. Shot a 5 point bull elk at 180 yards with a 30-06 and 180 sst. bullet hit right behind the shoulder, shot straight up into the spine. Bull dropped like a rock but not what I had expected. Have since switched to 180 gr Interlocks for elk and 150 gr Interlocks for deer. Better result with complete pass throughs (both deer and elk) and nice expansion. I think the sst's are fine at lower velocities but feel that they are pretty explosive over about 2700 fps.
A true sportsman counts his achievements in proportion to the effort involved and fairness of the sport. - S. Pope
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Joined: Aug 2016
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Hunter in camp shot a big doe with 150 grain SST out of a 308 at 50 yards. Bullet blew up on the shoulder and we lost the deer. I had a few boxes because they shoot very accurately from my rifle. I only use them now for target practice.
There was no greater freedom than when I would leave Holiday Park Fish Camp heading my airboat west toward the Big Cypress. Fuel for 4 days, a good machete, an ice chest. No phone, no radio. Just God and me and the Everglades.
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
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So, if the deer was not recovered, how do you know what the bullet did or didn't do?
A wise man is frequently humbled.
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150 gr SST 308 @ 50 yds "splashing" on a deer shoulder...In the words of ol uncle Ted, "are you kidding me"....BS
"Pride is the only disease that makes everyone sick except the one that has it"
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
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150 gr SST 308 @ 50 yds "splashing" on a deer shoulder...In the words of ol uncle Ted, "are you kidding me"....BS
Yep, didn't happen !
Paul.
"Kids who grow up hunting, fishing & trapping, do not mug little old Ladies"
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Let's compare evidence: Hunter in camp shot a big doe with 150 grain SST out of a 308 at 50 yards. Bullet blew up on the shoulder and we lost the deer. I had a few boxes because they shoot very accurately from my rifle. I only use them now for target practice. I posted briefly on this thread earlier, but will provide some details. In 2017 some companions and I took around 30 whitetails and feral pigs in Texas with 150-grain .308 factory ammo loaded with 150-grain SST's. Do not know the exact muzzle velocity in the 22" barrels of the rifles we were using, but would guess it was around 2750. EVERY bullet exited, even on angling and bone shots through deer weighing (on scales, not guessed) 180 pounds, and pigs weighing 200.
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Joined: Aug 2016
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So, if the deer was not recovered, how do you know what the bullet did or didn't do? Two people saw the hit low on the shoulder. One can see a hit at close range. Should have broken bones. Found hair at the spot, no blood. We spent half a day looking for other sign and never found it. Only explanation we can think of. Either that or it penciled through both shoulders and the deer ran off and never bled. Never saw one run off far after a good shoulder hit like that. Hard to run with broken shoulders. Maybe there is another explanation, but I do not know what it is. With a hit like that any bullet that stayed together should have put the deer down within a reasonable distance. By the way, we have seen this before when a bullet has blown up on the surface and the deer was killed by another shooter. Found nothing but hair then, too. That time it was a Leverevolution out of a 45-70, right after that bullet came out.
Last edited by Gladesman; 01/11/19.
There was no greater freedom than when I would leave Holiday Park Fish Camp heading my airboat west toward the Big Cypress. Fuel for 4 days, a good machete, an ice chest. No phone, no radio. Just God and me and the Everglades.
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So a slow moving 45-70 bullet blew up into dust on a shoulder ??
Rabid Creedmoorians ring my doorbell ...
as I open it a crack they speak :
"Do you have a moment to talk about our Lord and Savior , 6.5Creed?"
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Joined: Aug 2016
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So a slow moving 45-70 bullet blew up into dust on a shoulder ?? Yes. When the Leverevolution ammo first came out, bullets exploding was a fairly common problem. A lot of guys hunt with 45-70 here for primitive weapon season. There were a lot of pissed off hunters and the round got a bad reputation. Lot of thick timber around here and shots are often really close. The problem was with the first year of the introduction. I know of a lot of boxes of the LE ammo that got sent back to Hornady. Poor quality control or bad design, but Hornady fixed the issue pretty quick. Have not heard of the problem now in several years.
There was no greater freedom than when I would leave Holiday Park Fish Camp heading my airboat west toward the Big Cypress. Fuel for 4 days, a good machete, an ice chest. No phone, no radio. Just God and me and the Everglades.
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Well it sounds far fetched . Sorry . I’ve used SSTs and the leverevolution ammo in a fair quantity . While I’ll say the sst pushed at 257 Wby velocities expands right the heck now ... they work . I can’t fathom a 45 anything pushed at any velocity between 600 FPS and 3600 FPS failing to penetrate a whitetail . You could probably break skin with that projectile launched from an adult slingshot . (Sorry that’s far fetched , about the same as hearing a 300+ gr bullet in 45 caliber , moving along as it should , blah blah you get my point )
Rabid Creedmoorians ring my doorbell ...
as I open it a crack they speak :
"Do you have a moment to talk about our Lord and Savior , 6.5Creed?"
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