Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mule Deer-Bullet Field-Testing article

JB,
You mentioned the SST worked well for you. Years ago I had shot some .338 200 SSTs into both wet and dry magazines and they performed rather poorly. It was kind of weird actually, like the lead turned to powder. Then, some years later, perhaps 4 years ago, I happened to shoot one into damp media and it did very well. Do you happen to know if they ever modified the design at all? They shoot quite well.

Of note, my sister shot a nice 6x6 with her -06 and a 180 SST and they recovered the bullet under the far side hide. Looked perfect.

I am sure Hornady modified them, perhaps by using a harder lead core, since the jackets aren't much thicker (if any) than they were in the original SST's. But I don't know for sure, just know SST's work fine now.

Would guess the original problem was similar to the one Nosler encountered when they introduced Ballistic Tips in the mid-1980s. They'd already been making softpoint Solid Bases for a while, which worked fine due in park to the heavy jacket at the base. So they just stuck plastic tip in the Solid Bases. Unfortunately, to put a plastic tip in a bullet requires a good-sized hole for the shank of the tip, which essentially turns the bullet from a standard softpoint into a hollowpoint with a BIG hole. Consequently some (not all) of the early Ballistic Tips tended to disintegrate rather than penetrate. Nosler corrected the problem bullets by beefing up the jacket and/or using a harder alloy core.

I shot bt's when they first came out in my -06 carbine, pump.
Hence one reason I asked about Pa. bullets.
I shot a buck at about 60 yards on the right side, slightly quartering towards me. Drt.
When I walked over to him, I saw bloody, nasty, mess, for quite a distance on the off side. I rolled him over, and there was a hole, you could have put a basketball in ! Have sworn off bt's for big critters since.
My buddies wife shoots, sst's outta my carbine now. He says they make a mess, but shoot great. She makes sure to put em through the ribs !

I shoot 154 gr SST's in my 280 and the only one I have recovered was from a buck I shot in Nov. He was slightly quartered to me at 65 yds. I run that SST down his neck into his chest. Found the bullet in the liver..

As far as the BT's. The current 150 gr 284 cal BT's are some tough bullets...

Highoctane,

Thanks for the info--which parallels mine with the present versions of SST and Ballistic Tip bullets.

In these threads it's always interesting to hear from hunters who HAVE used specific bullets recently--as opposed to those who used on 25-
30 years ago.

That long ago soured me at using them now.

They say they added 3 percent antimony to the lead core. I was very disappointed with original version, and gave the box I had away.
Have since tried them again, and have found 165's to shoot very well in by 308, and 180's in the .30-06 to be just as good. Calibre size hole going in, and golf-ball size exit with high shoulder shots on Fallow deer and Sambar. Haven't caught one yet out of 7 deer. Good price here, too.
Jack

Agree 100 percent. I load this bullet in my 7x64 and it penetrates plenty well and leaves a good sized exit hole. One penetrated about two and a half feet through a pig as he was running away and exited out its neck. I doubt a Partition, Accubond or Barnes could give better performance than that. I also like the .25 cal 100gn and 115gn and the 8mm 180gn. I have boxes of all three weights in 6.5mm and quite a few boxes of 150 and 165gn in .30 cal and some 140gn 7mms. But I just don't have time to load and hunt with them all. There are so many bullets to try. And the more rifles I amass the less I get to hunt with each one.

The only SST I have taken game with was the 123gn in my 6.5x55. I shot a fallow buck at a bit less than 40 metres and it killed it after a short dash. It didn't exit but still killed the deer.

Sambar are elk sized aren’t they? That’s pretty good performance of the SST if so.

prm,
Mature sambar stags can exceed 650lbs( 300kg), and hinds can hit 500lbs (215kg) on the hoof. So not as big as mature elk, but they have thick skin and solid bone and muscle. They can absorb a lot of misplaced lead and go a long way in the thick rugged mountain country they are often hunted in. Heavy for calibre SST's in .30 calibre and up will certainly get the job done with good placement, but there are better bullet options if trophy stags are number 1 on the ticket! However, Fallow and Sambar inhabit the same country I mostly hunt these days, and if I'm on the look-out for a Fallow and loaded with SST's and a Sambar presents me with a shot, the SST will get a run, no hesitation!
Jack

They are not the same bullet that "soured" you 20 plus yrs ago but to each their own!

Can you get a rough idea of when a Hornady bullet was made by the Lot #?

I was looking at some 200 SSTs and the Lot #211xxxx while most of the other Hornadys were 218xxxx... or 219xxxx..

2011 vs. 2018/19?

Your idea seems logical but call Hornady and see if they can give you the true particulars on the lot numbers

Highoctane,
Yes I know, but I've since "discover" other bullets that work just fine too.
Thank you for your insight.

FYI,
I did ask Hornady about the bullet composition and the Lot#.

The second and third digit of the Lot# are in fact the production year.

They ignored the question about core composition or any changes to the design.

The 168BT has become one of my favorite bullets in the 06 and provides very quick kills on deer sized animals from muzzle to 400-500yds. They are plenty stout, are accurate, and kill a bit quicker than the accubond. I grew up on 180 round nosers and remington core-lokts in the 70-80's in the rolling hills of north central PA hunting whitetails and find the current rendition of the Ballistic Tip a very capable bullet. Price ain't too bad either, less than $30 per 100 from SPS(Blems).


SD

Oh, I'm sure they have been improved since they first came out.
I've just used other bullets over the years.
My bt use these days have been mostly in .22, in Ar's for coyotes, and prairie dogs.
I have some bt's now, in 6mm, and 6.5, to try in a 243, and 6.5 Grendel.
I just stated my early on experience with bt's.

How long ago did they change them? About 10 years back had a 150 SST blow up on a bedded quartering away mule deer buck at 50 yards. Tried the 180's on a broadside bull at about 200 yards (5 years ago) and that one went in behind the shoulder and ended up in the spine missing the core. Tried one more of the 180's on a broadside mule deer buck at about 50 yards and that bullet never exited. All critters were shot with a 30-06 at modest velocities. Those 3 have me very leery about using SST's again. On a side note I have had great results with the plain old 150 and 180gr SP Interlocks on both mule deer and elk.

SST works for me on some pretty tough hogs. We are just eradicating and no longer salvage the meat so I shoot which ever way they are facing. A shot under the tail head on a hog facing straight away is deadly with a 180 SST out of a .30-06. A girl I sold a .308 to used a hand load 150 SST to take a 220 lb 10 point. It was hit behind a front leg and lodged under the hide in the off side hip, mushroomed beautifully. In .223 I've never tried SST.

The 168 and the 180 are extremely stout cup and core bullets. Toughest non bonded cup and core made IMO.