Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Anyone use Hornady SST on elk?

Maybe not a bad idea to go with Partitions for everything...

elk really don't require benchrest grade accuracy to get a shot into the vitals at any decent hunting distance.

Well, the first load with 130 Accubonds and H4831sc went about .5" at 100, so it looks like I've found my meat getter.

Bergers work well at all ranges. Albeit they ain't for everyone.

Practice with what you plan to use. No exceptions.

I've often wondered why some hunters accept minute of pie plate accuracy and sub par practice for killing? Some even think magnums will make up for poorly placed shots. Game animals deserve more respect than that.

jus' my .02

"a bit better accurate" and the tiniest of MOA standards are only what I am after. No exceptions. The game I hunt gets respect at many levels. Just how I feel 'bout it.

Depends on what you are looking for. Berger claims their bullets �will shed 40% to 85%� of their weight and produce a wound cavity that is �13� to 15� long�. I want more penetration than that and to get it you need a bullet that holds together. Just this morning I was reading of a Berger that failed to reach the far lung on a broadside shot at elk. Could be complete bullcrap, as I wasn�t thereto verify it, but what I do know is that the bullets I use drop elk fast on a broadside, usually straight down, and they have made the trip lengthwise on mulies, from both directions, dropping them straight down in the process.

Here�s the elk record for my hunting buddy (Dave), son-in-law(Kelan) and myself since 1999 when I started keeping good records:

1999 � Daves bull, 7mm RM/160g Grand Slam, 5x5 bull, 100 yards broadside, straight down
2000 � Daves cow, 7mm RM/160g Grand slam, cow elk, ~80 yard neck shot, 125 yards (A more frangible bullet would have been better here, as would a broadside to the body.)
2000 � 6x5 bull, 7mm RM/160g Grand Slam, 350 yards broadside, straight down
2002 � Dave�s cow, 7mm RM/160g ~100 yards broadside, 40 yards
2002 � Cow, 7mm RM/160g, ~100 yards broadside, 40 yards
2002 � 5x5 bull, 7mm RM/160g, ~100 yards broadside, straight down
2003 � 6x5 bull, .45-70 350g North Fork, 213 yards broadside, straight down
2006 � Dave�s cow, 7mm RM/160g, ~100 yards broadside, 20 feet
2006 � Cow, .300WM/180g North Fork, 282 yards broadside, 25 yards
2007 � Cow, .30-06/165g North Fork, 125 yards broadside, straight down
2007 � Cow, .30-06/165g North Fork, 25 yards broadside, straight down
2010 � Cow, .30-06/150g AccuBond, 262 yards broadside, straight down
2010 � Kelan�s cow, .300WM/180g PowerPoint, 363 yards broadside, straight down
2011 � Cow, .338WM/225g AccuBond, 265 yards, 1 poorly placed shot above the spine (my fault) allowed it to make 20 yards; 2 more broadside an inch apart, still standing after the first, straight down after the second (which was unnecessary but accelerated the inevitable)

If you were counting, that�s 14 elk with 8 going straight down where they were hit with the first shot. Of those, 9 were mine and 6 went straight down. Very acceptable.

I don�t shoot a lot of deer, just one every 2-3 years, but with one exception every one I can think of in the last decade has been shot with a North Fork, TTSX/MRX, Grand Slam or Trophy Bonded and has gone straight down, most on broadsides but two lengthwise with full length penetration. The one that didn�t go straight down took a quartering hit with a .45-70/350g and was leaking more than any animal I�ve ever seen. It made a tight circle and dropped just a few yards from where it was hit. I had an antelope make it 25 yards after getting hit with a 100g TTSX, but the others we�ve shot with various caliber/weight Grand Slam, TTSX and AccuBonds have gone straight down or made no more than a couple steps . XLCs were an epic failure on antelope but that�s why I don�t use them anymore (they did stop the buck in its tracks, though). My son-in-law dropped an antelope with a 168g A-MAX but lost a lot of meat as a result of shrapnel. That antelope made a few steps but didn�t drop any faster than the others.

Bullets that are advertised not to penetrate more than 15� don�t interest me. Although I try hard for broadside shots, I won�t turn down frontal or quartering shots. The one ham shot I�ve taken was the result of Murphy stepping in as the trigger broke � but the 7mm/140g North Fork made it to the sternum of a buck mulie and dropped it before I recovered from the recoil.

Use Bergers if you want, I don�t think they have anything to offer that I�m not already getting and I simply don�t trust them if things go wrong.



�Sub-par practice�? Your opinion doesn�t make it a fact. I�ve got practice loads that are cheap and extremely accurate and most shoot so close to the same POI as my hunting loads that there is no practical difference for hunting purposes. Saves me a bundle on practice and the switchover only requires a few shots to reconfirm zero and trajectory. Anyone can do the same.



My game gets respect, too � that�s why I develop accurate loads and practice as much as I can. My 7mmRM/140g North Fork loads shot the second smallest group I�ve ever shot, 3 shots at 0.262� for a scope check. Here�s a scope check target from my .338 WM, taken just before the 2011 elk season:


That may not be accurate enough for you. It is way more accurate than I need, but I�ll take it. Once I hit about 1.25-MOA, smaller groups don�t buy me anything in the field.

Respect for the game is also why I refuse to use what I consider sub-par bullets like the Bergers.

That�s my .02.

�Sub-par practice�? Your opinion doesn�t make it a fact.

Fully aware of what Ingwe has done. Stellar actually.

I'm not saying that these "board standard" bullets don't work nor will. What I am saying is go with the most accurate bullet for your load/rifle. I feel too many rely on marginal accuracy with a "hunting bullet" to make up for poor preparation and poor shot placement.

If a guy has a 1.5 moa rifle at 100 yards at 400 that equates to 6" add wind, weather and angles, now you could have a mess.

SST's will work, Bergers will work, Scenars will work and yes even the lowly matchking. Hell, I'm a fan of AB's if you can get a good load. Accuracy and bullet placement trumps all.

If you can squeeze out MOA at 100 you're marginally ok. .5 MOA is where I think you should be. Or better.

...
Too accurate is not accurate enough in my book.
Again my .02

All bullets are most assuredly NOT the same in "on game" performance

all bullet performance issues are not resolved by merely hitting the right "spot"

Cocadori,

You're a sniper/shooter who hunts...

And that's OK. Just some are more hunters and their equipment is just that, a tool.

I lean more toward you are in that regard.

DF

�

"Hunting" bullets cannot resolve issues of a miss placed shot either. Issues can be exponentially increased in realms of "oh schitt" by hitting the wrong spot. Proficiency in knowing your rifles/load and how it "acts" can reduce this significantly.

A well placed bullet regardless of make can kill and kill well.

How many here are willing to take on a running shot? A few I suppose. I guess a "hunting bullet" would increase confidence "just in case" huh? I guess that in itself could turn into an ethics discussion.

Success cannot be increased by a poor shot with a magnum or "hunting bullet". A paunch shot, leg shot, etc. Anyone with a modicum of of experience of killing animals knows this as well.

IN the end it's the same old same old hunting vs match bullet.

The OP wanted to know if the SST's would work on Elk. Yes they do. The ones I've seen hit/killed they didn't complain either and there were no issues. I never said it would be my first choice.
I simply stated my opinion that accuracy trumps all. In any case I'd choose the most accurate recipes with the bullets I wanted to use. Whether it be a SST' core lokt, Partition etc. save varmints types.

For years I carried the ought six with Partitions. Not because it was a Partition but because it was hands down the bullet the rifle liked the best. However I was limited in my range of effectiveness due to bullets issues in the areas of BC and speed bleed off due to bullet design.

You've your opinion I have mine.

Poor shots are not all equal. As long as the shot is placed in a straight line with the vitals, a bullet that holds together has a better chance of reaching them than do bullets that fly to flinders shortly after impact.

A bullet that holds together and penetrates deeply can indeed help make up for a misplaced shot.

BS. On many levels. All bullets are most assuredly NOT the same in "on game" performance, any more than they are the same flying through the air......and all bullet performance issues are not resolved by merely hitting the right "spot".Anyone with a modicum of experience killing animals knows this.