What do y'all prefer Hornady sst or Nosler ballistic tip? Any advantages or disadvantages either way?

Depends on the caliber, bullet weight and speed. In the 300 blk out, they both perform about the same for expansion and penetration. If you pick up speeds to like a 308 Win, and run the lighter bullets, I think the BT is a little softer and will expand/fragment easier than the SST.

Main caliber I'm wondering about is a 308. 1-12 twist. Im leaning towards a 165 gr sst.

Had a bad deal with a 270 shooting nosler ballistic tips, shot a deer at like 40 yards and it hit shoulder bone and exploded. This was like 6 years ago and I've heard they beefed them up some since then.

I would expect the two to behave similarly. I have always preferred nosler products over hornady.

308 is my primary rifle for hunting.

The 150 gr. Nosler Partition another to consider. It is a good bullet for deer and pigs out of a 308, without the weaknesses of the BT or SST.

Watch Shooter's Pro Shop for the blemished bullets. They run $16.95/50 and work as well as the regulars in my experience.

Please excuse the graphic nature of the photo, but here is the 150 NP on a 150 pound pig with shot placement to the lungs.

There was extensive damage to the lungs, but without excessive bloodshot meat.

The bullet exited, which can be an issue with lead core bullets with larger pigs.

The Barnes TTSX 130 is another to consider if you like monometals.

Entrance:



Lungs



Exit

From personal experience, this is the reason I ALWAYS shoot Nosler Partitions or Accubonds on deer-sized game or hogs.

I've killed a couple hundred deer with Ballistic Tips, so I think they work just fine. Never had a bullet failure. Not even once. Shot a near 400 pound boar with the less tough first gen BT in my 270 and it killed him on the spot.

I load the 150 gr SST in the grandson's 308, and they work fine also.

Right or wrong, I've always thought the Ballistic Tip was a bit tougher than the SST. And if I couldn't get more BT's, I'd switch to Sierra GK's. but, that's just me.

It is a ford vs Chevrolet thing which one do you like.

Ballistic Tips are stouter in my opinion, especially the 165, 168 and 180s. They have beefed them up over the years. At 308 speeds it won't matter which you use.

I keep reading that the SST bullet is fantastic in the 6.8 cartridge and that it leaves a hole the size of a golf ball when exiting however I was looking at the SST's in the 30-06 and the reviews were very negative from the lack of this bullet passing thru. why the difference ???

WOW. That's a LOT of deer.

Probably speed. The 6.8 is only going 2460 fps muzzle.

I shoot a 165 SST out of my 30-06, just the factory stuff. No failures on the 6 or so deer I've taken with the particular load.

I had a 150 NBT pop on a deer from the same rifle and know the frustration it causes. I've heard the NBT was redsigned a bit for certain bullets to prevent the splashing, but I can't bring myself to use them again.

Also had a younger boy come over and shoot a buck with his .243 using the 95gr SST and had similar results.

Just avoid a high shot, itll blow out the backstrap when it expands and frags.

Whoever said caliber size was right on.

In my 6mm, the 95 BT is the ticket. Not too much upset due to smaller dia bullet.

In my /06, 165 BT were like a hand grenade. Lost lots of meat. Switched to the Hornady Interloc and game on!

Loaded some 270 150 BT for a buddy years ago. Devastating but same as /06.

In my 6.8, I just started reloading them. 120 SST. They seem to come apart easy and rip the heck outta hogs. That's my main purpose. On deer, I'm not sure yet. Have been shooting Accubonds. Deadly accurate, hard hitting. Every hog was anchored in place, but thinner game were just pass throughs.

In smaller calibers, I think these bullets are great!

Agree with scottdallas......I'll take a BT over an SST any day.

X3 agreed..