Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Hornady SST

It depends on what camp you fall into. Those that NEED and exit hole, or those that like stirred up innards. X bullets or bonded bullets don't stir up the insides of critters nearly as much as BT's or SST, but they exit 95% of the time. Most animals do run a piece before piling up...sometimes a far piece. I read about it all the time, "The bullet didn't exit, so I call that a failure. There were pieces of the bullet all over in the animal, so it failed." If you want an exit hole and smaller wound channel, shoot an X, partition or bonded bullet of some flavor. If you want stirred up innards and a dead on the spot critter, shoot a BT or SST. I like them dead right now, right on the spot. Give me a BT or SST. Tracking is for archery Flinch

Good point on the schools of thought, blown up innards, vs. an exit wound. I like a little of both, and feel I get some of both with the SST at moderate velocity. I'm currently working on a .240 Wby project and will be trying all sorts of bullets. An 80 gr. TTSX at 3,600 fps may do some of both. I'm trying to find the best ballance between performance, accuracy and suitability for a longer shot, i.e. retained energy and long range performance. Keeps me thinking and trying new combo's.

I have 95 gr. NBT's and SST's. I'll try them, but don't think I'd trust either one at 3,200 to 3,300 fps. on whitetails and especially on hogs. Of the two, I'd put the SST ahead of the NBT for toughness.

When I get it all worked out, I'll post the results.

DF

The 200gn 338 SSTs shoot well in my 338 Fed. I still have never heard of any reports on how they do on game, nor have I tried them yet. Based on bullet testing into other media I think they definitely fall into the "blown up innards" school of thought, but to what degree I would like to have a better feel.

One reason I like the North Forks is that they do �stir up the innards� but they also hold together and penetrate well. One cow made it all of 15-20 yards but the rest of the game I�ve shot with NF�s went straight down at the shot. Of two cows that got back up, one never moved from the spot and the other went down for good a couple steps later with a quick follow-up shot � a shot that I don�t believe was really necessary but was taken as a matter of my �shoot until they stay down� policy. A 6x6 bull didn�t drop immediately, but it never moved and fell sideways just as I was about to deliver a second shot. I drove a 7mm 140g NF lengthwise through a mulie buck, ham to sternum, and there was plenty of �stir� to the vitals � so much that it was on the ground before I recovered from the recoil. NF�s don�t always give an exit but they have yet to disappoint.

Ditto with the MRX and TTSX. Excellent accuracy and no animals that have gone more than a few steps � and most less than that. Even on antelope the TTSX show signs of rapid expansion with lots of �stir� as a result. I�ve driven them lengthwise through mule deer, with an exit. My hunting buddy has used Trophy Bonded with the same results I�ve had with the MRX/TTSX - deep penetration, lots of �stir� and no bullets recovered.

Because one never knows what angles will be involved when elk hunting, and because on bad angles from the south side I much prefer a bullet that will hold together and make it to the vitals, I�ll stick with bullets that perform well on the good angles but can handle the bad.

Light C&C bullets, driven fast, need not apply here except for varmint duty. To each their own, however.

I've only seen this bullet work on elk a couple of times. Pointer on here killed a big cow at 300 yards with them in his .338 Win Mag. Bullet entered behind near shoulder and nearly removed off side shoulder and sternum with a fist sized exit hole. If you need more trauma and damage than that, try a howitzer. One other old poster on here had same results. Neither animal moved. You will be MORE than happy with the bullet for anything that walks. Even Mule Deer, the gun writer on here has had fabulous success with the 200 grain ballistic tip. Flinch

I used a 150 SST on an antelope from a 300 WBY. The bullet blew up on impact and completely destroyed the cape, the shoulder and the neck. Couldn't have done more damage with a stick of dynamite. Range was a little under 200. At 700 or 800 they might work a little better.

There are far better bullet out there to risk and elk hunt with them. The foregoing notwithstanding, the 162 is considerably bigger and going considerably slower so might actually work. Who knows until you try, problem is that an elk is a tough way to test bullets. Go find an old horse and give them a dry run first.

The 162g SST is a really tough bullet.

If your groups are floading around, try one of Mike Bellum's over size hinge pins in your frame...it may be the answer you are looking for.