Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Nosler Ballistic tip or Hornady SST?

I haven't tried the VLD at 7 mag speeds. What do you think happened there?

The deer and pigs shot at my camp with VLD's out of a 308 Win. fall down quickly.

Very high. I run belted mags to never reload again at 75 kpsi and 3.34" OAL, and the doe was very close.
If that had been a Nos Bal Tip, I could have put my fist in the exit hole.

How was the internal damage?

Pencil holes

That sounds really strange for a hunting VLD. The entrance holes are typically quite small however.

I guess I have been lucky with the SST's. I have only used the .308 150 grainer but it has killed well and when run through the ribs it doesn't tear up any meat.

rickt300,

As I have noted elsewhere, SST's today are VERY different than the originals.

Clark,

That does not add up--unless, perhaps, you used one of the target bullets introduced AFTER the original Berger "Match" bullets were rebranded as Hunting VLD's.

At that point, the trend toward ever-faster rifling twists in target rifles had resulted in the original "Match" bullets sometimes acting wonky when shot out of hot barrels. Consequently, the TARGET bullet was toughened up--but the HUNTING bullets remained the same as the "Match" bullets--which were very thin-jacketed, with almost pure lead cores.

To many hunters, it's counter-intuitive for the hunting bullet to be "softer" than the target bullet, but that's what happened.

Another note: When Berger first introduced the hunting line, they advised them to be started at no more than 3200 fps. I found that advice to be spot-on, and in fact generally run them at 2800-3000, where expansion and penetration has been fine out to 550-600 yards.

MD Thanks for the reminder as I was going to load some up faster, now I will go to a heavier bullet to get them around 3,100 fps.
I think some people look at the caliber sized entrance hole and conclude the bullets penciled through. Maybe they don't even gut their own deer?
The hollow point can get clogged and the nose bent but even so the jacket usually still ruptures.

I was told 3,200 max for the VLD by Berger when I was working up loads for my 26 Nosler. I called them and told the tech I could push a 140 VLD a LOT faster than their top load. That's when he told me their top recommended velocity was 3,200.

140 VLD's work great in my 6.5-284 at around 3K over RL-17, great WT killers. Again, gotta balance bullet construction parameters with velocity and game being hunted.

I had way too much terminal performance inconsistency some years ago with the SST. I haven't tried the newer ones.

The NBT is a much better choice, IMO. But, back in the day, same with the NBT. I had quit them because they blew up stuff. New ones are great.

Both are accurate. From JB's statement, maybe I need to try the newer SST's as I did the newer NBT's.

Now, are the newer SST's as good as the current NBT's? That would be my question, as I really like NBT's.

DF

I've hit over 10 deer with 140gr SST out of my 260rem from 25-150 yards. Shoulders, ribs, neck...NEVER had an exit. All deer were DRT or ran 80 yards max and watched them all keel over, but NEVER an exit. Yes they worked, but I prefer an exit with a good blood trail for that time I place the bullet in a less than ideal spot. Making a switch this year to Barnes. 165gr SST out a 300WM are different story.....big exit, but lots of meat damage. Again, making a change to Barnes.

That sounds a bit more expansive than the current NBT's.

I would like to hear terminal performance comparisons between current SST's and current NBT's.

DF

Neither. Both the BT and the SST grenade and make a mess of your meat. Hornady claims the SST is just an Interlock with a plastic tip. Yet the Interlocks have always treated me well. That plastic tip supposed to initiate expansion faster, but it over does it.

If I were you, I'd use the Interbond, Accubond, or just the Interlock. You could also try the E-Tip and the GMX. I have no experience with those, so I cant comment on them.

That's not true as a blanket statement.

I think some of these reports are on the old version of the BT & SST. At least with the newer BT I have yet to not get an exit. Their performance is very close to an Accubond or interbond. Have not tried the updated SSTs due to the performance of the early versions.

If the SST's have changed, you can't prove it by me. I also tried the Remington Accutips, which are just an SST with a Tan tip. Same results, and it's not like I'm the only one saying this.



You are welcome to believe what you want, but do not call me a liar. My friends and I have been through this from every angle. Tried these aforementioned bullets in a cornucopia of calibers, from mild to monster. They are fragile grenades, and it only takes a rib to set off the charge.

I will admit, I haven't tried any BT in the past few years. So I will do so again, if it is true they have changed the structural integrity.

I would also like to say, I'm not trying to offend anyone. I'm the new guy here, so I would like to fit in, and stay awhile.

I have used BOTH for a while. The NBT since the 80's with stellar results in .270Win. Started using the SST's in the same caliber a couple of years ago, just because I got a deal on them... they work just fine also. I do not think it really matters much. What ever you like and your gun shoots well.

I did not call you anything. I disputed your blanket statement because I have personal experience with counterexamples to your assertion.

At my deer camp my friend, his sons and I have used SST's and Ballistic Tips from a variety of cartridges including 243 Winchester, 308 Winchester and 260 Remington. From things I had read, including here, I was a little worried about the 95 grain SST out of the 243. Several deer later those worries are gone. It has been a very good bullet for us in that application. The 95 grain .243", 120 grain .264" and 150 and 165 grain .308" Ballistic Tips have been excellent killers. I shot a large buck for this area, just under 200 pounds, with the 150 Bal Tip. He was quartered away with the bullet going into the chest and out of the opposite shoulder. Complete penetration with no evidence of the bullet grenading.

I have no experience with the SST, but I know a lot about the 7MM and 30cal. BT. However, what I have witnessed is limited to 150gr. 7mm BT and 180gr. 30 cal BT both and great elk killers. Have seen them in action way too many times to have any doubts. Pretty good on deer too. Not that it matters because it's not relevant to this discussion, I'm a hardcore Partition user. Please don't try to straighten me out because I'm too old to change.

I'm with you on this, something is off some where. I used to load 210 VLD's in a .300 RUM Sendero. The entrance hole was a pencil, but the insides looked like you tossed a hand grenade in a deli counter.