Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 270 & Hornady SST as a option for Elk

Hello: Now I am not trying to stir the pot. Honestly looking for opinions why 140 or 150 grain Hornady SST would, or would not make a good bullet for Elk in primarily open country (25 - 300 yard shots).

A little background may me necessary here. I have been building preference points for a few years now for my home state to hunt Elk in the Black Hills of SD, Archery & Rifle. Followed by Applying for a left over Cow tag. This year I was finally lucky enough to draw a rifle cow tag in a low percentage unit.

The most suitable rifles I have for this hunt are a Ruger 77 - 30-06 & a Winchester Model 70 Feather weight 270 Winchester. Now The 270 is the rifle I am most comfortable with and more than adequate rifle for the task IMHO.

Cant put my finger on why, yet I favor Hornady offerings for some reason. Never had the need to use a bullet heavier than 100 grains in the past as all but one of my rifle deer have been taken with a 6mm Remington.
Last year I decided to take the 270 out & give the 130-grain Barns triple shock a try. Ended up shooting last seasons deer twice with the triple shock as the first shot was a heart shot that allowed the deer to continue running. Neither of us new the deer was dead with the first shot so I followed up with a Texas heart shot to insure the kill. Turns out both shots were fatal and provided devastating penetration, surprisingly little meat damage.

My intention with the Barns bullet was to test this bullet for Mule Deer and Elk. The lack of energy transfer on the white tail left me a little concerned. My view on the Barns performance was that the bullet performed much like a broad head cutting a clean path and allowing the game to bleed out. Suppose there was nothing wrong with the performance of the TSX, I am just accustomed to a deer going all-loose, with a 6 mm Remington at the shot. When the Heavier 130 grain TSX allowed the deer to bleed out on the run my confidence was slightly shaken.

Sorry to be so long. Now I am hoping and expecting the Hornady 140 grain SST to do a better job of providing energy transfer while still giving more than adequate penetration. I have not loaded the Hornady SST yet so finding a accurate load is still in question. Though everything I have tried in this Winchester model 70 - 270 Winchester has pleased me so far.

Sure folks will wish to persuade me to go another rout. That is exactly why I am posting here to provide that opportunity. Still I am hoping others will understand and agree w my thought process here. Honestly I think the 130 GR Barns TSX would be a fine bullet for the job right along with the Hornady 140 grain SST and many other good options.

Lets see what others have for input.

I will take butter and light salt in my popcorn please! And a cold bottle of Aquafinia too!

Thank you,

MtnHtr

BTW Ill be away on vacation for a while so Ill have to check in on the responses when I get back from fishing in AK

I have only shot one elk, some no real hands on but after reading a lot of material, it seems to be that seasoned hunters prefer a heavily bonded bullet. Elk have big bones. Not sure if a SST accounts for "heavy bonded" or not. BTW, I shot my elk with a 180 grain Rem CL out of my M70 300 WM. Dropped dead after 10-15 yards. Whatever you decide, if you hit her right, she shouldnt go too far IMO. After trounching around MT looking for elk, I discovered that the lighest rifle you can find that can handle elk is the cat's meow. Now I carry a T3 SS/Syn in 300 WM shooting 200 gr NPs. I added a Limbsaver recoil pad. Last week I put 5 shots into the size of a quarter off a lead sled @ 100. Love that rifle.

Good luck!
RAS

Hornady SST best varmint bullet around. JMO. I wouldn't use this on a yote. I've shot the SST in many different calibers and it just plain stinks. JMO HAPPY HUNTING

[quote=Hunterapp Honestly I think the 130 GR Barns TSX would be a fine bullet for the job right along with the Hornady 140 grain SST and many other good options.
[/quote]

Not even in the same league. The SST is comparable to Ballistic Tips and they work great for what they are designed to do, kill small bodied southern whitetail.

Unless you enjoy seeing your dead elk running over the hill use a tougher bullet.

This is why I am asking. Don't be offended when I ask for clarification. Are you puting the SST in the same catagory as the V-max?

If "Ruger" is not I am. It is the same bullet as the Ballistic tip pure and simple. I would not insult any elk cow or bull with this bullet. You have the rifle you need, 30=06 or use the 130 Gr TSX but not the SST. MY $.02.

If "Ruger" is not I am. It is the same bullet as the Ballistic tip pure and simple. I would not insult any elk cow or bull with this bullet. You have the rifle you need, 30=06 or use the 130 Gr TSX but not the SST. MY $.02.

Hornady makes a tougher version of the SST, the Interbond.
Nosler makes the Accubond with a plastic point.

So if the SST is shooting well for you, try one of those to see how they shoot out of your rifle.

Hypothetical question for the Ballistic tip haters. Gun 7STW, bullet 140 grain NBT @3500 fps, distance to elk 70 yards. Would this bullet fail?

Ruger has an issue with Hornady overall.

First let me say I do not "hate" the BT. It has its place but I think its place stops just before you hit a large whitetail in the shoulder with it. Speed at close range just compounds the possible problem with a blowup.

I took a very nice 165 class S. Texas whitetail with a BT 7Mag, 150 gr I think it was. BT hit the deer straight on right at the swirl at 120 yards. Yep, flipped that deer almost a 180 and broke his neck. However, while cleaning I noticed the BT had fragmented almost on impact going in less than four inches. Yep killed the deer DRT but I have never given a second thought about using that bullet again. There are just better selections available IMHO.

In my experience the Ballistic Tip is tougher than the SST. At least the latest Ballistic Tips have a relatively thick jacket toward the rear. The SST is essentially an Interlock boattail with a plastic tip, which makes it expand VERY rapidly. I would much rather use a standard Interlock than the SST, but would rather use any of a bunch of good premiums than either.

How quickly the premium bullets kill, on average, depends on how widely the front end expands. The TSX has, on average, the smallest diameter mushroom, the reason it sometimes does not kil nearly as quickly as some wider-eanding bullets.

If you are not into the more esoteric premioums, I would suggest the Nosler Partition. It often kills somewhat quicker than the TSX in my experience, due to the frangible front end, and in the .270 is a great choice.

JB

I have taken many of our large bodied Canadian deer(several in excess of 300lbs),as well as pronghorns and bighorns with this combination,but I would use a different bullet to hunt elk.The 140gr partition has worked well on elk and moose,as has the 140gr tsx.I am currently developing loads for the 140gr mrx and hope to test it on elk and moose this fall.As to whether the 140gr ballistic would fail,it would depend greatly on shot placement.With a broadside lung shot it might do quite well,but I wouldn't trust it to penetrate the shoulder of a mature bull elk.On the other hand,the 180gr ballistic tip out of my 300 ultramags has been proven to penetrate both shoulders of an elk and has been used by myself to take 8 elk and 2 bull moose.However,I have changed over to the 180gr tsx for my elk and moose hunting with my 300ultramags after seeing just how devastating it is on large game,and how accurate it shoots in my rifles.

A box of 150 Grain partitions are the cheapest insurance on an elk hunt you can buy.

The SSt is no elk bullet. If you want a Hornady with a red tip go with an Interbond.

I gave up on the SST after the first 2 deer I killed with them. I hit them well, from 40-50 yards with a 7mm-08 (139gr) on one and a 308 (150gr) on the other. MVs were 2550ish. Not real fast. Both bullets were placed behind the shoulder, hit only one rib and fragmented. I am a guy who likes entry and exit holes as much as possible. Granted, I found the deer but it was hours grid searching as very little blood left the chest cavity. The 308 was on a 184lb GA buck and the other was a 110lb AL deer. There are better bullets - please use one of them.

RH

Thanks for the varied opinions and shared experience. Looks like I may save the SST for varmint shooting. Sorry to see that Ruger has an over all bone to pick w Hornady As they do offer some outstanding bullets for the right application. Presently I am of a mind to stick with the TSX as my first option. I also may give the Nosler Partition a try to see how my rifle will shoot with this bullet.

Suppose I have a attraction to the higher BC projectiles as they do a better job of retaining energy for our open country. With the open country there should be no worries when the shot has been placed right, (double lung) if the game runs 150 or 300 yards prior to expiring. That being said I am well aware that in the heat of the hunt shot placement may be less than ideal, on occasion.
As a archery hunter I have become quite accustomed to tracking my game for a moderate distance. Although experience has allowed me to improve my shot placement. Last few years I have taken 7 archery deer and only one of the seven covered over a hundred yards before expiring. So I am thinking the Barnes may be a good option for me providing good penetration w a good blood trail. Best of all the Barnes will likely ruin very little meat.

I am still confidant that w proper shot placement the Hornady SST would put a Elk down faster than the TSX. Like stated above Ill have to concede that one needs to prepare for the reality of less than Ideal shot placement, however rare the less than Ideal shot may occur. Should be obvious, by now that I am not a big believer in overkill.

Thanks again for sharing!

Hunterapp

My very limited experience is you shoot elk with a good bullet and they die when they are ready, you get lucky if you put them down really quick. They just don't respond to shock like a deer does.

I do believe you put too much faith in the slight differences in the ballistic coefficients of various bullets. Most of these are computer-generated, and so not worth all that much in the real world anyway. At hunting ranges there isn't enough variation in velocity retention to make any difference at all.

JB

I witnessed RAS shooting that group. You should see this gentleman shoot offhand. He's the best offhand shot I have ever seen in 50 years of shooting. Thanks...Bill.