Hornady sst bullets?
 

Has anyone used the SST bullets on a critter like a moose or elk. Just wondering how they stand up, what weight retention is like? I have a load worked up for my 7mm-08, with 139 grain sst and a mv of 2680fps. Just wondering if I shuold use them for elk or save them for deer.

I had the same question, my thoughts are that they would be great for deer and smaller but I would not use them for moose or elk. jmo.

My experience has been very poor weight retention and lots of pieces but they do kill.

I think it's something like this

SST = Nosler Balistic Tip
Interbond = Nosler Accubond = bonded ballistic tip

So the plain sst's are for the energy dump folks like most of the BT's

Like gramps I believe they are appropriate for deer sized animals and do a great job. Unfortuantely we had a grizzly encounter near our elk hunt last year so I stopped carrying them and loaded up some nosler partitions for both elk and "just in case". Found the SST to be very accurate in my 30-06 and fortunately the partition had same BC so point of impact did not change.

I shoot SST in multiple calibers as my practice bullet and due to the fact that ballistically they are very close to my go to hunting bullet Barnes TTSX.

After shooting 139 gr SST from 7 MM STW at 3450 ft/sec MV and picking up 1/2 a deer only on a couple occasions after poor placed shots (moving deer and my poor judgement) I've decided to use them for target practice and finishing head shots on game.

Same load was responsible for very quick kill on 100y broadside shot at big WT with entry hole fist size and no exit and complete fragmentation.

Would I use 7 mm 139 gr SST at 2860 ft/sec on Elk ? NO

I would like to have solid premium bullet as I try to eliminate voluntary lead intake from my diet and going to light for game bullet requires tougher bullet construction.
Nosler E-Tip, Hornady GMX, Barnes TSX and TTSX would be my choice with TTSX beeing my personal fav.

Andrew

My father and I have used them on Moose and Deer..had great results,my father shot a 800 pound bull moose dropping it where it stood useing a 308 win 150gr hornady sst lightmags..the exit hole was about 4

They've killed every deer I shot mind you I'm on the heavy side of my 300win mag. I would be hesitant though I think to use them on moose or elk, hence why when I hunt for those I have a 200gr premium bullet loaded for that gun. They are just a hornady interlock bullet with a plastic tip instead of the lead soft point. And I know of countless elk and moose taken with a hornady interlock bullet so... probably all about shot placement.

ruger300

I have just started using them for target shooting and found them to be very accurate but I have not downed an animal with them. after reading about
them for hunting I will only use the grand slam, interbond, or the accubond
bullets for killing animals. I have killed a lot of deer with the 100 grain ballistic tips in my 264 mag but always shoot the high shoulder shot so not to ruin so much meat.

I am going to insert a contrary opinion here.

I think the SST is a great choice for the 7-08 at the velocity you state. I would agree fully that it is a poor choice in the STW - seriously, at 3400+, what would you expect? But in your rifle at a reasonable velocity it should work excellent on anything you choose to shoot with it.

I find the SST's to be a reliable, predictable bullet as long as you do not drive them at unreasonable speeds.

Try it and decide for yourself. I would bet that the moose or elk will not be able to tell the difference on bit.

Sorry Okie, but that does not make any sense to me. If you do not want to ruin much meat, stick to heart/lung shots. Hitting the shoulder anywhere is going to cost you much more meat.

Maybe I should have said a spine shot if you take out a couple joints of spine
they fall where they stand and no meat loss at all I have downed 4 deer just like that.

i've been wondering this myself, currently i'm using 140gr Nosler accubonds in my 7mm RM and have been very happy with them. Though I think i'll be moving up to a 160 gr bullet if i'm going for anything bigger than deer.

I'm currently working a load for my dad's .270win using 130gr SST's.

Now i've done some reading and a lot of people have said that in practice they fragment too much and don't have the weight retention to get good penetration on larger game species.

I'm not worried about that for deer since I think the accubond has almost the opposite problem as any of the deer i've shot in the last two years were clean through and throughs with exit wounds not much bigger than the entrance wounds. That concerns me a bit but i'm VERY careful about shot placement and haven't yet had to deal with a 'bad hit' but I know the day is coming.

Is there a bullet that covers the middle ground? We're planning a big elk hunt for next year and i'm also planning on going on my first ever moose hunt and I really don't want to have to wonder about my bullet choice for the bigger critters but I also don't want to have to have 2 or 3 different loads and need to re-sight my rifle every time I switch from one load to the other especially in areas where I may see elk and deer.

Add to that i'm a cheap bugger :) The SST originally attracted me as it's half the price of the Accubond and there isn't a huge price difference from the Interbond to the Accubond so there isn't much savings there.

Just wondering what other guys are doing with those issues. I'll do the multiple loads if I have to but I'd prefer to keep it simple and just have one load per rifle that works for everything.

For a elk or moose hunt why try to save $5.00 on the bullets.
If I were you I would look for the most expensive ones I could find.
I LIKE THE SST'S VERY MUCH TOO THEY ARE VERY ACCURATE BUT THERE IS NO BULLET THAT IS GOOD FOR EVERYTHING.

The 130 SST in the 270 win is all I use these days. I have shot both elk and moose (and many, many deer) with this combination, and as suggested, shot placement is important. I have used accubonds, ssts, gamekings, fail-safes, partitions and a few others I am sure, but I have been most happy with the 130 sst in the 270 win.

Are tsx bullets better for penetration? Yup. Are Berger bullets more accurate? Probably. Do partitions offer a better combination of expansion and penetrate? Quite likely. But, if you are looking for a bullet that offers good, reliable performance at a good price, I do not think you can go wrong with the sst in most combinations.

JMO.

I have no experience with SST's, but if they are simply an Interlock with a polymer tip, then I wouldn't hesitate to use them. Interlocks from 139 all the way up to 265 gr. have performed admirably for me as recently as yesterday.

I have used the sst's on elk and deer out of my 300wsm and have found they open up to much and only left 15% bullet retention. They would work best at slower speeds. I found them very accuate. I have been using the gmx 165gr and really like them for holding together and accuracy. I shot a elk this year and it weighed 160gr after and mushroomed great. I also like the interbonds and shot a bear this fall with my 7mm mag and liked how it held up and mushroomed. I am a hornady fan and love there bullets and have been using them for alot of years. I find them very accurate and they work well. From my experience with there bullets I would recommened the interbonds to you, the speed you are shooting, I would say interbond would be your best bullet.

Sst
 

I hows everyone? I'm new to the forum and look forward to chatting, learning and sharing experiences with you all. I'm from NC, so hope you dont mind.
About 3 weeks ago I shot a doe whitetail at about 45 yards out of my 30-06 topped with 150 grain SSTs and the results were good. I am pushing them at a chronoed 2975 fps so they are zipping along fairly well. The bullet entered just behind the left shoulder and exited with about a 1 1/2 inch hole on the far side. There was heart matter on the exit side of the ground. The doe ran about 40 yards, which suprised me as I knew I had a good hit on her. I heard her fall and looked for the blood trail. The trail was massive, and after skinning her got to look at the terminal performance of this round. To be honest with you at first I thought at the velocity I was pushing and the short range that there might be some bullet blow up, but wasnt none at all. The damage to her heart was impressive. Literally half of her heart was gone. Looked like someone took a saw to it. If any of you are intrested, I can email some pictures of the deers heart to show you what the bullet did, but knowing what I know now, I feel comfortable shooting the bullet at short and longer ranges. Let me know if you would like me to email you the pictures. E.J.

^^^^ Good morning and welcome aboard ecellitti. You won't have to send me a picture as my brother's WT buck was taken 2 days ago with a 139gr. Interlock at nearly 400 yds. These are going about the same muzzle velocity as yours and they are basically the same bullet without the polymer tip. The heart was sliced in half, complete pass thru with a quarter, maybe loonie (our coin dollar) size exit hole. Deer was dead but didn't know it and walked maybe 15 yards. He was a 4x4 (8 point by your count), not a huge rack, but a pig of a body. I was quite impressed by the results at that range. :)

Sst
 

Gitrdun,
Thanks for the welcome. I have been reloading the 165 grain Interlock as well but havent had the chance to use them on any game yet. I didnt realize that the SST and the Interlock were basicly the same bullet until the other day. When I get back home from Korea I will probably order some more of the SSTs both in 150 and 165 grain as they both shoot very well out my 30-06. I think though that what I will change with them is the powder. Will try some RL17 instead of IMR 4064, as I have been using the latter for years. The SST seems to be a good bullet for the price. Its going to be my go to bullet for now.

used 139 sst from 7-08 on barren ground caribou, worked great

I imagine that you're going to swap IMR4064 for RL17 because you're not happy with the grouping?

Check out this Hornady discussion/pictures...

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=74011

I used sst for one season in my .270 and I would not use them on moose or elk. I found them to perform quite differently than the interlocks. From my personal experience you do not need premium bullets to kill a moose with a non magnum round but for about the same price as the sst bullets you could use interlocks, acubonds, fusion or coreloc bullets all of which are better suited IMO. With a 7-08 you probably shouldnt be taking shots much over 200 yards anyways so as long as you can get acceptable groups personaly I would sacrifice a little acuracy to use a bullet that holds together better if I had to. 150 grain corelocs are what I usualy use for moose because they are availible where I live but I prefer the 150 grain fusions when I can find them.

I've had less than stellar results with this bullet in this chambering. back to the 30-06 next year if I don't find a deal on a 338 Win -Mag.

My take on your situation is that there's no doubt that the sst would be effective at 40 yrds on a heart shot deer. Did the bullet go between the ribs? Even if it hit the rib I think deer ribs are relatively soft. Hitting a moose/elk shoulder would probably render less than ideal results with that bullet.
My take would be go with interbonds instead of sst's. BC may be less but insignificant for hunting purposes.

I have shot a moose, a sheep and half a dozen deer with a 150grain SST in my .270win. I personally find it to be the best preformance out there for the price. I was only able to recover one of the bullets after firing but it was nicley mushroomed with only 100ish grains left to it. Ultimatly if you've worked out a load that you're shooting well and can properly place the shot with it should be fine.

I was just wanting to confirm that they would penatrate far enough to take out the lungs and/or heart. Did not want them to wound and not kill the animal. I try to take only sure shot at the vitals, and do not shoulder shoot any of my game, just a personal thing. I prefer to put the bullet throught the ribs and into the boiler room, probably due to the fact that I started off hunting with a bow. This has deffinatly give me some food for thought and I appreciate all the insite that has been shared. Thanks for all the advise and who know after useing the sst's on a deer and seeing how they preform. I may just end up switching to the interbounds anyways.

Sst
 

Mountainguy,

It didnt hit rib on entry but did on exit. It was a good shot just behind the the left shoulder on the doe. I dont know how it would have reacted if it hit a shoulder at that range, as it may have done something differently but anyways its not like the deer here are anywhere as big as they are in your neck of the woods. I have read quite abit about the SST but dont always believe what I hear until seeing the results for myself, you know what I mean? E.J.

I hear ya...
I agree that bullet will do a good job everytime.....thats everytime the shooter can part the ribs. If always shooting at reasonably close ranges, or ranges that the shooter is effective in, then that bullet would work for deer,moose and elk !!
I shoot a moose a 1.5 weeks ago at 300 yrds that was feeding in some willows. By the time I got my rifle up and on my rest it had turned and started to walk back into the bush. I hit it a little far back and the bullet went in below the spine just below the backstrap in front of the hip, angling at about 45' quartering away.
The moose went about thirty yards and piled up dead.
I was using 180gr. interbonds out of my 300wsm.
I just dont know that a sst bullet would have done the same job. Possibly but questionable.