Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Anyone actually like using Hornady SSTs on Game?

were these the ones specifically made for the 300 Savage, or the standard 150 grain? thanks!

I've not used them personally, but load the 139 SST in 7mm-08's for a couple buddies. Not fast, around 2800. They all hunt fields and like them plenty on deer they've killed out to just over 350 yards.

They like them for the damage and holding power even at those ranges. Kinda tells me I'd run into scenarios where I wouldn't like them on bad angled woods shots involving bone. Purely an opinion based off of conversations I've had with them about the deer they've shot and the results at their ranges.

It's a good match for their style of hunting. Mine? Probably not so much.

I was thinking about the 225 SST for the 338wm. Anyone use them? Interlocks always worked well for me not sure if the tip makes them a no go.

Run them too fast and you're asking for trouble. Admittedly though, I haven't used them in about 5 years.

Disabled buddy's last hunt: a cow moose. He passed away from his health complications shortly therafter. I did all the heavy lifting/tracking/cutting. I get a chuckle remembering him touching off that little 338 rcm. He was so weak, the recoil just about knocked him over. He went back a few steps after one well aimed shot.

Here's a 225 sst shot from that 338 rcm(2650 fps muzzle vel.) into the cow moose shoulder. Probably impacted at 2550 fps. Bloodshot a fk ton of meat, shallow shoulder wound, had to track it for him. Recovered a fragmented pancake, core jacket separation.

225 grain 338 sst worked really well on his caribou though, no blood-shot meat. He killed his bull alot quicker than mine shot with a 286 grain partition/9.3x62.

I've used them twice in a 300 Savage with good results. New Hornady 150gn loads. They appear to still open up quickly but both times the bullet exited. The first deer was quartering towards me at about 50 yards. Shattered the right shoulder & exited just behind the ribs on the other side, Everything in between was what you'd expect but nothing like Mainer's moose. I'll keep using them in the Savage.

I have been using 150 grain (#30302) for several years in my 308’s. I have had good luck with them so far. I shot a 200 lb bear (dressed weight) at approximately 80 yards and had a complete pass through. Entered the ribs and exited the off shoulder.

I have also found several just under the hide on the off side of the deer we’ve shot. Between dad, my 2 boys, and I we have probably taken 20-25 deer with them. Most just fall over and I can’t recall any going more than 20 yards.

The recovered bullets expanded well, if I have a complaint about them I would say they are a little soft but that hasn’t deterred me from using them. I believe they expend a lot of energy inside the animal.

They have their place.

I've used 150 gr in factory Superperformace in my heavy barrel '06 on a number of caribou. 3100fps advertised, I think.

Big holes good for blood trailing under 300 yards - not that I ever needed to blood trail on the tundra. 300 and out, they seem to expand about like Corelokts at that range.

I have recovered two- one into moose head at 5 yards (insurance shot) - perfectly mushroomed, which surprised me a bunch.

The second I found lodged in the off-side "elbow" of a bull caribou after double lung pass-through, missing rib on both sides at over 400 (433??) yards. Also nicely mushroomed. No idea of weight retention. All others- perhaps a dozen were pass throughs and killed efficiently.

Well, there was that cold-weather, gloved oppsie, when I fumbled a shot into the hind quarters of a caribou at 200 yards, ranged, while getting set up on the Bog-Pod.. Soft-ball sized hole all the way through both haunches. Didn't hit bone, either.

But the rest of him was good! Don't do that.

I shot an orphaned calf caribou at about 30 yards, quartering to me. Entry back part of shoulder, exit was nerf-ball size just behind last rib other side. WOW!

I bought a case of the Hornady 6.8 SPC with 120gr SSTs after shooting them in a few rifles. All of my guns shoot them very well on paper; bolt and ARs. After using them on a bunch of deer, they leave me uninspired. I have not lost a deer but have had to spend a bit of extra time on seemingly too many deer trying to locate them after the shot.

Most deer shot have not had exit holes. This made trailing up after the shot in thick brush and swamps time consuming. I’m using the remaining ammo for plinking and training with the kids. I really like the NABs out of the 6.8 but they have been hard to come by.

I have a very accurate 7mm REM Mag load with 160gr SSTs but have not [bleep] a deer with it yet. I’m sure it will work but have reservations it’s the combo I want to be using when a true trophy as at play.

I have also used the 150 gr (#30303) in my Savage 99 for bears. I have shot 2 treed bears with it and both times were complete pass throughs. Shots were close, between 40 and 80 feet. Bears hit the ground dead. I have never killed a deer with the 300 savage.

My 2 boys, when they were younger, shot several deer with a MGM 20” 300 savage barrel in my G2 contender. Shots were close, between 30 and 100 yards. All deer (@ half dozen) died very quickly and didn’t go far, less than 50 yards.

I am a fan.

I think issues with the SST's bullets will haunt hunters for years to come just like the Nosler Ballistic Tips.Both those bullets have had an internal change,while externally they look the same.I've heard a lot of horror stories about these bullets,but they have been beefed up from the original designs.A big issue is the old design often gets used for many years later and the shooter doesn't even know it because they look the same externally.I guided a kid on a whitetail hunt.He killed two deer with a 7mm-08 using 139gr SST's.Bullets both exited,almost no blood at all to follow on both deer after their 60-75yd travel before they died.The wound channels and exits where small on both deer.The bullets acted much like a bonded bullet.This thread could go on and on,but unless you know for sure your shooting the newer version,people will continue to have issues if they are still shooting the older version.

As a class I dislike them.
A few have shown me "OK results" but nothing that was overly impressive about their terminal performance.
I give them high marks for accuracy. But that's it.

I have found in my 25-06, my 270s, my 308s and 30-06s, and my 8X57 they all shot small groups and in some cases were the most accurate bullet I've tried in some of my rifles.

But in the 25-06 117 grain I had bad break-ups with poor penetration. Same with my 270s in both 140 and 150 grain weights, shooting deer and antelope. In 308 and 30-06 with 150 and 165 grain I'd call them "ok for smallish deer and antelope, but don't expect exits every time.

The best of the lot is still "just OK" and that's the 170 gr 8MM. Mine shoot unbelievably well with a load of 46 gr of H4895 and in my short carbine, it gives me 2424 FPS average MV. I have killed several deer and antelope with that bullet and also one 5X5 bull elk. NOT a good choice for elk! I got him killed, but the bullets came apart and didn't go through. All my kills with my 8X57 (14 total) have been between 25 yards and about 350 yards, but at 2424 FPS we can't call it a fast load, yet the bullets come apart almost every time at every range and on every animal. Only 2 were recovered with a core inside the jacket. And recoveries are common because the penetration is not all that great. I did get exits on 2 whitetails and on 1 mule deer doe.
In addition to my kills from the above mentioned rifles I have seen about 30 head of game shot with them from various other rifles and cartridges. None were what I'd call excellent performance. Some were "damn poor".

Will they kill? Sure. Any bullet can kill. But how well a hunting bullet preforms (in my book anyway) is about how well it gives me through-and-through wound channels in a fairly straight line.

But there are several other bullets on the market (or have been in the past 30-50 years) that work so much better for hunting anything over about 60 pounds that I don't buy any of the SSTs any more for any reason other then target practice or killing varmints.

On the scale of 1-10 I'd give them a 10 as far as accuracy goes--------- and only about a 3-4 as far as good terminal effects go. They are not the very worst I've used--- but they are not even at the 1/2 way mark for me.

Sadly the bullet makers of today seem to be following the mold of "high BC and great accuracy" and ignoring the fact that getting the bullet to the animal is only 1/2 the equation. The other half is how well it gets through that animal, how well it makes a killing hole and if that hole is pretty straight. When making hunting bullets, the focus should be on hunting, not paper target group size. My older Nosler Partitions, Remington Core Lokts (from the 70s and before) and Winchester Power Points all were accurate enough for any ethical range on any game they were suited for (if the man or woman with the rifle was actually a HUNTER)and they all killed better than many of the newer offerings we see today coming form that "High BC Long Range Accuracy" mold.

I tried some SST's awhile back on antelope. Shot a buck behind the shoulder at around 150 yds. The buck took off, ran about 100 yds. in a semi circle and fell over. Very poor penetration IMO. When we field dressed it, the SST blew apart on impact, left a gaping, shallow entrance wound and only took out 1 lung. I shot the rest of them at the range and never bought any more of them. They performed much like the early Nosler ballistic tips, maybe good on prairie dogs but not on anything bigger.

I don’t use Hornady bullets for hunting but I do use them in my “general defense” rifles. SSTs and ELD-Xs get used in 7.62x39, 6.5Grendel, etc. if muzzle velocity is <2600fps I have a little more faith in them for big game but for general duty they’re accurate and they’ll do the job. If I’m expecting higher impact velocity I use a mono or bonded.

I’ve been loading 180gr SST’s for my brothers 30:06 for a long time, and at just over 2700 fps they have been quickly killing everything he shoots. Pronghorn, sheep, goats, deer, caribou, elk, black bears.

I usually load them for target loads and they usually match well with a TTSX of corresponding weight. Never shot one into flesh, but my testing shows they are on the soft side but due to this I usually carry a couple while hunting if a long-ish shot opportunity arises.

South Texas,

Yes sir they are. I have also ran the standard 150 SST and the 150 Interlock. On game performance has been the same with all three. Accuracy in the ones designed for the .300 Savage have been slightly better in my rifle.  

Thanks, they shoot pretty will in my M99. May have to give one a shot at bambi!

The 123gr SST in the 6.5 Grendel is an absolute deer killer.

Had back to back bang flop, dead right theres on two deer within about 15 minutes of each other last season. Both were complete pass throughs.

The 150gr. In a 30-06 is quite as good of a combination, though the 180gr in a 30-06 and 300 WSM work just fine.

Used up a box of 162 gr. 7mm sst threw my 280 rem. About a year of two after there introduction.

They shot very good and with my highly non scientific clay test it shown they where rather violent immediately on impact and expanded very wide so I held off on using them on heavier boned and bodied elk. I did find on deer exit holes tend to be large and destruction was great... Had one neck shot i could see day light on the other side. I liked them very much for deer.

Did kill a 200 black bear with the same sst bullet. It was close 50-odd yard broad side shot and the bear dropped stone dead. While skinning the fat ol' bore I found the bullet managed to put holes threw both scapula and lodge again the hide on the far side. But instead of the jacket holding its lead core, it was holding bone for a core.

Again, that performance was from my 280 rem at 2830 f.p.s. I really wonder how volatile they would be from my 7 rem mag with 3040 f.p.s. behind them....