Has anybody used the Hornady SST for elk. I'm shooting a 7mm Rem Mag and right now I'm using Winchester Accubond 160 gr. The problem that I'm having is that I can't get any better than a 2" group at 200 yds out of my gun and they seem to float around the target. I'm using a T/C Prohunter with a Nikon Monarch BDC 3x12x42 and shooting from a bench and lead sled. I picked up a box of the Hornady 162 gr SST to give them a try to see if the will close up the group. Any info will help. Thanks in advance.

A 2 inch group at 200 yards is 1 MOA.

That's not bad at all, in fact it's pretty good.
My experience has been that few "box stock" factory rifles do that good (1 MOA), most are more like 1.2 to 1.5 MOA.
It also takes a fairly skilled marksman to consistently hold 1 MOA with a sporter weight rifle with stock trigger.

I know you see lots of posts about people shooting half minuet groups, but half of them are BS, and the other half people who practice a lot, and have rifles that have been bedded, with trigger jobs and have spent a lot of time working up loads.

162g SST at 3150 has taken two eland and two Kudu that I am aware of, instant death on all 4 animals.

I've killed 3 whitetails, 1 muley, 1 antelope, 1 javelina, and 1 hog with 130gr 277 SSTs. They do kill if you shoot them in the right spot. However, they fragment into a million little pieces and often don't leave an exit wound. The muley I shot last year didn't leave a spot or blood or single hair after the shot. If you need a guaranteed big exit wound with a gushing blood trail, it's not the bullet for you.

Amen to that! That's where the "If I do my part" comes in. That way, they can shoot 5 shots, 3 of them are in 3/4 MOA and the others complete a nice 2 MOA group. They then claim victory and success by quoting,"3/4 MOA when I do my part" that places all of the blame of the 'FLYERS' on themselves and not their rifle.

When I do my part: (definition) My rifle has never produced a 1/4 MOA, 1/2 MOA, 3/4 MOA group but it can, I just know it can.

I have tried SSTs in .25, .27 and .28 caliber rifles and found all of them too soft for anything but smaller deer and pronghorns. As DP4 said, they tend to fragment if you hit big bones. That said, I have never tried the 162. It may be stouter than the 117 grain .25s, the 130 grain .27s and the 139 grain .28s that I have tried.

I use them in a ,338 225Gr at 3150, I have killed 9 elk with them, They hit like a hammer, but make sure you shoot them thru the ribs. I've made a couple of Texas heart shots and lost a ton of meat.

2" @ 200 is plenty good enough unless you plan on head shots way out there.

Good post.

2" at 200 yards is great shooting. Keep shooting the Accubonds that you know will work well for elk rather then switch to a bullet that may or may not be too soft (my experience with them in a 300wby says they are to soft). Also, drop the lead sled and start practicing from field positions unless you plan on dragging that contraption into the woods with you.

Not sure what 71.25 grains of H-1000 under 140 grain SST's in my 7MM Rem-mag leaves the barrel at? (is there a way to find out, with out a chrno?)

But for a rather less expensive bullet, they sure leave some nice close holes in paper! I am very pleased in finding the sweet-spot with these early in working up a load!

I have yet to put holes in elk with them, but do not expect any problems.
The thought of a bullets coming apart inside a rib-cage of an elk has an appeal to me. That is transferring energy!

Having found Nolser BTs in the rib-cage (no exit hole), the fact still remains. The elk was on its side.

Just thinking a bad hit is a bad hit. I for one am willing to hunt the SSTs and compare the taste.

For deer and antelope, they seem more then ideal. Bringing up the idea that they might not be that healthy for coyote either?

Absolutely. Or at least close enough.
1. Shoot the bullet at several different ranges and note the POI vs POA. Ranges of 100, 200 and 400 will be enough and you can get reasonably close without going to 400.
2. Use a ballistic calculator (I mostly use �Point Blank�, available free at www.huntingnut.com) and enter the proper variables (altitude, temp, BC, zero range, estimated fps, etc.
3. Modify BC, fps and zero range until you get a close match to the trajectory you noted in step 1.
4. The fps will be pretty close if done correctly.

This is the method I used for my 7mm RM before I got a chrono. When I finally did get a chrono, the chrono reading was less than 50fps different than what I calculated.



The thought of bullets coming apart inside the ribcage of an elk has little appeal to me. Yes, it can be very effective and will generally result in a dead animal � often with dramatic straight-down, DRT results. But what happens when you get a difficult quartering or THS opportunity at a fleeing elk that is or may be wounded? Will a bullet that comes apart quickly make it to the vitals?

There are a lot of bullets I would choose before I�d use a fast 140g SST for elk.
North Fork
MRX / TTSX
GMX
Trophy Bonded
A-Frame
AccuBond
Scirocco II
InterBond
Partition

That's how I see it, too.

My experience was that the SST's shot the best out of my rifle, but they were the only bullets I tried where I could pick pieces out of the backstop at the range. That didn't make me feel too comfortable, so I chose Interbonds instead. The sample of 1 found one pass-through on the rib cage with maybe 50% expansion (judging from the exit hole), & 1 slug recovered from the offside of the skull, similarly expanded. Since I'm launching them at lowly .30-06 speeds, I've since gone to Interlocks.

It would be great if we all had the experience of having 100's of kills with every bullet in every weight offered. Barring that, though, we have to make our own decisions about what we personally feel comfortable with, & go on from there.

I wouldn't feel comfortable with the SST's at 7 Mag speeds. Maybe 7x57 light-load speeds, or 7x30 Waters for sure.

FC

My two daugthers (13 and 16) have been shooting the 139gr SST out of their .280 Remington with good success.

They have shot six elk between them, at least 6 deer and three antelope and the bullets worked fine.

A couple bang flops on the elk and they are extremely accurate.

From what I've seen first-hand, no worries IMO.

140 gr. SST's in my 6.5-284 at 2,950 fps are about perfect regarding performance. In my .240 Wby, I'm going to try some 95 gr. SST's but at speeds >3,400 fps, a tougher bullet may be called for. Just got in some 90 gr. E-Tips, 100 gr. Part. and 100 gr. Speer Grand Slam's to try.

So, with SST's, I would think it's all about how fast you're driving them. I think they're pretty tough cup and core bullets compared to some. From what I've seen, tougher than NBT's, for example.

DF

Thanks CH,

I will chart a few at known distances. It would be good to know the real external ballistics.
So far, it seems they are dead on the range-lines of my 7mm-RM's Z-600 .

There is no doubt that there are better bullets for elk then the SSTs , I am from the Nolser school myself. Thinking that I have at least 3 boxes of better choices sitting behind a box of SSTs. The SSTs just plain do well in my rifle.

My elk rifle is in the truck right now, it and the dog go everywhere I go. Several ranches I visit will allow an occasional shot at their distant coyote, whistle-pigs (mountain version of prairie-dog), ravens and crows. Those SSTs seem to outshine about any choice available. Having about 220 loaded up (in range brass, the cheap bullets will be perfect to fire form better potentials), in the truck right now. What a year it would be if I have about 20 left come elk season!

And better year yet, if there are still 19 left standing over an elk?

I made the SSTs my go-2 bullet, till I know more about them. Believing in getting real comfortable where they are going to hit at range, the SSTs hooked me with the price (Midway had them on sale, about 2 SSTs for the price of a single Nolser), and sold me with holes in paper.

How wonderful it is to share ideas, as mentioned, I have not shot anything with the SSTs I wanted to eat, yet.
From this discussion, it will be etched in my mind a little deeper to hold for that shot into the bread-basket.

I have used SST's in a couple of Handi-Rifles:

95 grainers in a .243 to kill a doe antelope at about 200 yards; broke the off-side shouler and exited. I was kind of impressed...not much meat damage really;


then a 117 grainer in a 25 Remington to kill a doe mule deer at about 70 yards. No major bones were struck,the bullet exited. Again, I was satisfied with its performance.



Velocities were moderate, neither load would be considered maximum. However, elk are big, tough animals. One would have to really be careful of the shot agle, trying to place a bullet in the vitals without hitting any large bones with SST's, I think.

Please do not use the SST for elk. I had two come apart on WTs (a 139gr 7mm from a 7mm-08 and a 150gr from a 308) at very moderate MV of 2550fps. I did not hit big bones either, just ribs. No exit holes, and very sparse blood trails. Yes, I found the deer but they were tough recoveries. I know it is only a sample of two but they were the first two I used. While I would not say the bullets failed, they did not even come close to the performance I want in a hunting bullet.

IMO, they are only good for coyotes and pests.

RH

Very cool topic!

While some think that the SST might fragment at magnum velocities at closer ranges. Some might believe it would be a better choice for slower ammo (think 7MM-08)?

Just another view, inside a 100 ~ 150 yards, odds are in the hunters favor. Most anything is going to do a good job, if the Hunter does his. Add distance, and a 300Mag/7MM-RM turns into a 30-06/.280 , go out a little further, and it spins itself down to a .308/7MM-08 .

At range, that aggressive bullet may have an edge over a slower expanding bullet? As I understand it, transferring energy is one thing, watching an elk bleed out from a rifle shot is not unheard of. The SST sounds like it would sure do a number rearranging things a big ol bull thinks he needs.

The SST appears to me to be a good middle of the road bullet, on the tough end of cup and core, and with a reputation for accuracy. In my Model 70/Krieger 6.5-284, (2,950 fps) the 140 SST was slightly more accurate than the best I could get out of the 140 VLD after all the "jump adjustments", "sweet spot" loads, etc. In fact the 140 SST was the best bullet for accuracy and performance in that gun.

I don't think I'd trust it with the hyper-vel guns, thinking more of the TSX, TTSX, Grand Slam, Scirocco II, E-Tip, Interbond class of bullets. Those seem to perform better in the smokin' calibers. At slower velocities some of those bullets may prove disappointing.

You gotta match the game, the caliber, the velocity, the range for a "perfect" combo. And opinions will vary there, too, as true perfection is probably a figment of our imagination. We just need to get as close as we can and that's what makes it fun and a challenge.

DF

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.