Hornady SST bullets

[Artos]

If you keep them away from the speedy big game rifles, they are wonderful...I shoot 150's out of my 16.5" 308 & every result been perfect bullet performance thus far. Pass through even when hitting bone on front shoulder, large exit wounds & great blood trails if they run. I really like this bullet in the 308.

I would NOT use them for deer on anything over say around 2900fps+...once you get up to those speeds, bullet failure can start to happen, especially at close range. If you are pushing them fast go with their solid GMX or another tough bullet like the Barnes or bonded bullet.

[rosco11]

I dont like posting carnage usually but this is exit side, about 90lb piggy 90-100yds. .270 140g sst. I've had great luck with the sst whitetail and several pigs all were down within 30yds if not immediate.. recently switched to the 130g and experimenting with the sierra gamekings too, my Rem700 shoots the gamekings the tightest but man, those sst puts the hurt in em

[TGoody]

My wife and I both shoot the 117gr SST from a 25-06! Never had an animal live from its experience... Several deer and at least 5 Aoudad. 3 of those Aoudad fell in their tracks. One ran 50 yards and died. I shot another in the front leg and blew it off he ran from me on three legs for an hour before I caught up to him and finished it with a .40 (which only penetrated a few inches)


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[BuckySWT]

I shoot factory superperformance 150gr SST out of my savage .308
Box says 3000 fps muzzle
My rifle loves em

Only shot out to 410 with it at steel but it leaves a pretty good crater. Hit a 12 oz Gatorade bottle from that distance a few weeks ago. Hopefully pole axe some hogs this weekend and get some field data.

[ACbob]

I've used them for a while and not lost any animals, but have had several that didn't pass through. Switched to the Hornady Am Whitetail because of that. My 25-06 likes them just as much, and pass throughs are now the norm. Both are 117 gr. advertised at 2990 from the muzzle.

[chrisk]

I just reloaded 70 150 grain SST's for my .308.

[bentstick]

Just a small sample size. My 25-06 gun shoots better with the Barnes bullets, if yours likes the Hornadys shoot them.

[Bowhuntamistad]

Got 6 wt deer on SSTs now, all down there or within sight with a 270. Only reason I switched from them to Barnes is because I'm starting to hunt elk with that rifle. I would still be using them otherwise.

My wife will be shooting them.

[Artos]

I've never seen advertised speeds ever achieved over an Oehler 35p chronograph...the results are what you are after.

Traditional bullets perform fantastically at the lower velocities...I have no idea what the factory sst's are doing out of my 16.5" 308 & do not care. They are doing their job.

[Mike D]

The SST has proven to be one of the most accurate bullets in my rifles thus far.

I've used the SST in 243, 7mm mag, 308 and more recently my 260 ai almost exclusively.

I've used the SST bullet on lung shots, neck/head shots, and high shoulder shots and have never lost a deer.

Out of everything I've shot I think I've only got an exit on a coyote and one neck shot deer, everything else has been recovered just under the offside hide. The bullet does fragment and in almost every instance the jacket separates from the core (some would call this a bullet failure). There is usually a pencil sized entrance hole and a fist sized "exit" on the offside shoulder/ribs with the bullet lying just under the hide. The inside is always mush with shrapnel throughout the vitals.

The few deer I have had take more than 5 steps have left absolutely no blood trail, which could be a problem on marginal shots. Fortunately I haven't had a problem on recovery after the shot, and the ones that didn't drop on the spot may have gone 15-20yrds.

One bad thing about these bullets, if you hit the shoulder, pretty much one or both shoulders will be destroyed. The two deer I shot last year were neck shots, I didn't want to run the risk of ruining the meat.

^^^^^ Those scenarios you laid out IMO are classic examples of bullet failure. Did it kill the critter? Apparently so. But personally I want more room for error than it sounds like these would afford.

Your experiences listed above mimic exactly my experience with Nosler ballistic tips out of my 260 and the exact reason I swore them off almost 20 years ago.


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[DRD]

Sst

It's a good bullet. Assume you're shooting the factory superformance which has advertised velocity of 3110. Most rifles seldom reach that but if you're close probably pushing the envelope on that bullet. The performance sounds familiar to what I used to experience back shooting small caliber Nosler BTs shot at high velocity. The SST has an interlock ring that is supposed to keep or at least slow down the separation. My rule is smaller caliber (.25s and down) at high velocity (3000 fps and up) to go with a slighty stouter bullet to eliminate the possibility of what you are describing.

[Jarred]

I've had no problems with them at all. Everything i shoot with them is drt. Shot a doe at 50 yards and she ran about 20 yards, the bullet exited. My weatherby s2 loves them as well.

[Arrowthreat]

I hate to join the bandwagon but I've never had an issue. I will say that i get a better blood trail from using soft points but most of the time there's no tracking required. (.270,25-06,.308, and 30-06)

[Shake N' Bake]

I've killed several animals with the 6mm 95 grain sst and none have gone more than 20 yards.

[TxHunter06]

I shot sst's out of my 7 mag and my 6.8spc, and love then. I've never had an issue. All the deer I've shot with them, have been stone dead. I've only had one deer run(only 20 yards) after being hit, and it left a great blood trail. It's about the only bullet I use now.