OK guys ..... there have been a couple of threads regarding jacket thickness in Nosler Ballistic Tips. Is/are there similar examples in Hornady SST's that have heavy jackets and/or hold up decently on antelope/deer/elk?

Specifically I would like to hear about 140gr in 6.5, 150gr in .277, and 180gr in .308.

I have seen numerous articles/threads saying the SST bullets don't hold up well as a big game bullet, but maybe there are some bullet weights/caliber examples with thicker jackets and harder materials just like with the Ballistics Tips?

Most of those articles are about the early SSTs, which did have problems--just like many of the early Ballistic Tips.

My experience with the later SSTs is they hold together and expand just about like Interlocks.

OK thanks. I should add I handhold for 6.5x55, 270 Win, and 30-06. Flat based Interlocks have always worked well for me..... generally speaking always had a little better accuracy with the flat base Interlocks vs the boat tails.

Some folks claim the flat base version of Interlocks hold up better on game than the boat tail Interlocks. I always limit my shots to about 300 yards so never got too caught up in the BC difference.

Full disclosure here...... after retiring the rifle Looney bug took ahold of me .... lol ... never used to overthink bullet selection.

139 SST has performed very well for me on deer(quite accurate, too) in a 280. Anxious to see how the 117SSTs do in a 257.

I shot an antelope this year with a 25-06 and 117gr SST. Distance was 303 yards. The bullet went in a little high between the brisket and shoulder. Traveled the ENTIRE length and came out just below the tail (TX heart shot in reverse). The exit would was as large as my fist and I DID NOT hit a vital organ. After waiting 8 minutes for the antelope to die, it tried to get up. I put a finishing shot in the neck - lights out. Bullet seems pretty tough to me.

I have killed deer with 7mm 162 gr sst.

Works every time.

I would put these bullets right behind nos bal tip.

Yeah I remember those first BTips from the late 80’s. They were like grenades. 270/140’s.

No can't be any worse than the first 130 gr nbt's no way lol..mb

Thanks for this insight. Is there a reason for choosing one over the other?


Okie John

I use the 139gr SST in 7x57 and the 117gr in 257 Roberts, these are factory Hornaday Light Magnum...the Light Magnum has been replaced by their Superformance but it's still available in both calibers
I have used my Roberts in Texas, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama and some of those deer in Georgia and Alabama were big body deer and never had a problem killing deer with it

I have been using the 154g SST in 7 Mags for many years, they thump deer real hard.

No kidding.

Used a 130gr BT out of my 270 in 1985. Made a bad shot and hit the deer in the hindquarter. Looked like a small grenade went off. Dad was pi$$ed that I ruined so much good meat.

It was a one shot kill, and no tracking needed. Shot the rest of those bullets up at the range and vowed to never used them again.

Then MD started talking about how they were improved. Have used them a couple times now and they work very well, similar to the Hornady Interlocks we have used for years.

I have shied away from SST's because of the initial reports. With MD's report, I may have to give them a try now.

Lol those 130gr nbt's pissed me off so bad I boycotted Noslers for 20 yrs before I tried them again. The early 200 gr 338 sst worked well on coyotes but never did poke a deer with them...mb

I know you asked about 277/150s but based on my latest experience in 2021, I used the Hornady 130 Gr. SST in my 270 Win. for a 509 yard Leica range finder measured shot on a Kansas Whitetail buck that dressed out at 185 pounds.
The buck went down about 10 yards from the POI hit.
The bullet passed through the ribs on both sides of the buck and an “empty” copper jacket was found on the far side under the skin.
I was very impressed with the performance of the “new” SST bullet at that range and will continue to use them.
My previous experience with the SSTs was back in the 90’s in a 30-06 and while these bullets shot very well, they were as most have said, “very explosive”.
Shot a South Texas hog in Webb county back then with a 160 Gr. SST and the hole going in was huge with no exit.
It essentially performed the same as a 22 Caliber VMax bullet would on a coyote.

I shoot SSTs in the 95 grain 6mm, 123 and 129 grain 6.5mm, 140 grain 0.277", 139 grain 7mm, 165 grain 0.308", 123 grain 0.310", and 200 grain 8mm.

I think that they are okay bullets, but I prefer to shoot game animals with Nosler ABs and Partitions in comparable bullet weights because I trust them to do what they are designed to do, expand and penetrate. Some will say that my preference is illogical, paerticularly about Partitions because they aren't quite as accurate as a lot of other options, and it may be so, but my preferences are based on my experience.

Still seems to vary a bit, like the Noslers.

Re the OP's original question, I've shot a lot of deer and pigs with both 130gr and 140gr SSTs in a 270. All under 200 yards. At that distance I usually saw almost complete fragmentation, but the 140's tended to leave exit wounds and the 130's tended not to. Maybe they've changed them, I stopped using them 3-4 years back.

Both were pretty explosive killers but the 140's seemed to do the same damage while going a lot deeper. Both made for messy butchering and finding random bullet fragments where you wouldn't expect them.

I have used the 123gr SST (6.5x55), 130gr SST (.270 WIN), and 150gr SST (30-06). Never shot anything bigger than coyotes with the 123gr SST: pretty massive damage but always killed well. In the .270 and 30-06 with aforementioned bullet weights have shot antelope and whitetails, again never failed to drop em but the meat loss was quite a bit esp if on a quartering shot.

I'm thinking with the heavy bullet weights stated in the first post I would still get quick kills but not as much fragmentation given the high SD and lower velocities. I wouldn't use SST's on anything bigger than deer.

Picked up 2 boxes of 150gr .270 SSTs yesterday to tinker with. If they shoot well I will use em on deer and antelope ..... if the lottery God sees fit to give me tags again ..... lol.

That was my experience with the 150 SST, loaded to 2600-ish in a .308. I won't use them. I will stay with the Interlocks. Accurate and dependable in everything.

Seems fitting. I keep eyeballing these SST's at the LGS. 6.5 140gr for $32/box. Doesn't seem like a bad deal and they have a ton. Maybe there is a reason they are not selling??

I can tell you the 95 grain SST out of a 243 has done very well on deer. We haven't caught one. The exit on a pretty hard quartering away shot indicated fragmentation but everything exited.

I'd have no qualms about trying those 140s for my 6.5 Creedmoor.

I went on a deer/pig hunt in South Texas with several other people in 2017. We were all "field testing" a new rifle, all chambered in .308, using Fiocchi factory ammo loaded with 150 SSTs at a listed 2820 fps. Since the rifle barrels were 22" long, I would guess the actual velocity was somewhere in the 2700s.

All together we killed 20 animals, including both deer and pigs up to 200 pounds. Never recovered a bullet, and one of the biggest deer was shot quartering to the hunt at around 100 yards, and biggest pig was shot through both shoulders at a similar range.

Thanks mathman. They are tempting. I have shot some 140gr sst's through my 6.5x55, when I was having a hard time finding the ELD match bullets. They seemed to shoot very well. I looked that particular SST up on midway, powder valley, cabela's and sportsman's and they are all wanting about $40-43/box right now, so $32 seems pretty reasonable: More like pre pandemic priced.

Even the early "soft" 165 grain SST was fine on deer from a 308. These were started at about 2740 fps with 46 grains of Varget (RP brass*, CCI BR2) out of a 24" barreled Kimber Longmaster.

*Years ago, before RP brass took a dive.

I loaded the 225 in my .338 for several years, worked great on several Mule Deer and Elk, loaded the 140s in my boys .270, also worked great on Muley bucks.

Makes sense - I haven't used them in quite some time, probably since about 2000. I used the 150g SST in a 308 at very pedestrian velocities and it literally was the most fragile non-varmint bullet I had ever used. I tried a couple of other boxes in other calibers but could never get them to group like I could competitors so I never saw a reason to go back to them. Good to know that they might be a viable option to return to given the general non-availability of components!

Buzz,

I suspect (and not just from guessing) that Hornady made changes like Nosler did after some (not all bullet weights and calibers) of the early Ballistic Tips came apart. Nosler solved the problems by making cores harder, and sometimes changing jacket thickness. Am pretty sure that's what Hornady did as well.

The big problem was that nobody realized how much using a plastic tip would affect expansion, so they used basically the same cores and jackets that had worked in the Nosler Solid Base softpoints and Hornady Interlocks. But a plastic tip requires a BIG "hollow-point" to insert the shank of the tip--which changed expansion considerably.

Prior to the Nosler Accubond coming out, I used the 139 grain SSTs in my 7-08. It accounted for a number of PA whitetails. Never had a problem with over-expansion or bullet failure, other than shedding a cup on a couple of occasions. Shots were 20 to 159 yards.
The only reason I switched over to the Accubonds was that they shot a bit better in my rifle and I could load up regular ballistic tips for practice rounds as they shot identically to the accubonds.

Makes sense. I suppose that they are better now, but I have zero reason to try them again. There are enough known performers out there, that I do not need to experiment again on the 20+ deer that I shoot every year. I would probably buy them, if it was some kind of super deal, though.

I have a baggie of 140SST for the .260, when/if I get around to reloading for it. I have used the factory H Superperformance 150's in 30-06 on caribou. 2016-2018. They are moving out at just over 3000 fps according to the box, perhaps a bit more in my 27 inch barrel.

Animals have been shot from 30 yards out to over 400.

Best used around 300 and out. Closer in created large wounds, most times, which isn't all bad, but not needed in open country either. Doesn't much matter with rib shots - not much meat there.

I effed up one time in cold weather. While fumbling around with the set up in thick gloves, I touched her off before I was ready. Right at 200 yards, I made a cantelope sized hole through both hams.

It's best not to do that.

The fact that it made it through both hams is still useful information.

I might also comment that shooting animals through the "rear shoulders" with just about any lead-cored spitzer will damage quite a bit of meat!

Cracks me up! 😁