Hornady SST bullets on Game

Anybody use the Hornady SST bullets in any of the 130 to 150 gr bullet weights on WTails & other stuff a bit larger & at what speeds??

I'm concerned about "over expansions & shallow penetrations with huge impact/exit wound channels" from what I remember hearing about from years ago.

1st Gen Nosler B'tips had the same problem, but the recent stuff in larger calibers from about 270 or '06 & larger have a heavier "hunting" jacket nowdays & the 7mm 120gr'ers are using the 140gr jacket from the base & trimming the excess length tip off is the skinny from the Left Coast guys.

I found some SST 139gr'ers I can trade for in 7mm's to use at 7x57 (7-08) MV's of about 26-2700fps, to go with the 150 ABLR's 154gr Hrn SP's's & Speer HC 160 SP's I've got headed my way next week.
Ron

At 7x57 velocities , they should perform well. I would expect standard cup and core performance at those speeds. I wouldn't expect to see the explosiveness you're talking about (to that extreme) until you get well above 3000 fps, and possibly square up on a heavy shoulder bone.

That sounds good and makes sense. thx
Ron

You should be fine at those velocities. I can recommend that you not use them at 7mag velocities. I've seen them hit bone and explode like a grenade. I will personally never use them.

Raider, mebbe that 7Mg story line was what I was remembering from a couple different folks some long time back...and I've avoided the SST's ever since, except to practice with when I could find'em cheap.

After reading the bullet's product description and looking at the cutaway profile in their homepage today, I was questioning why at these antique rifle speeds the bullet wouldn't hold together for the "average" impacts on Texas sized WTail...I know they are accurate though.

When do you go in for the retread job on the knee? Best wish's for a speedy recovery.
Ron

I'm a huge fan of the SST bullets. I used them for MANY years when I first started loading ammo for myself. I ran them right at 3198 fps in a 270 Win with a 130 grain SST. For a while I shot an AR-10 in 308 with the 150 grain SST. They did very well also. Now, I use the 125 SST in the 300 blk out as my primary hunting bullet. In the 270, some exits were very dramatic. A few shots did not exit, but most did on WT. The 308 with 150 SST was very adequate on expansion vs. penetration. Many pigs dropped in their tracks with the 308 and 270 loads.

Thanks for the well wishes Wiley. Much appreciated. I really do think SST's will be fine on deer size game, providing you stay off bone if possible, at non warp speeds. I agree that the 7mm 120BT is much tougher than a SST of about the same size, and is a deer killing machine, but so are the 140 and 150 BT's.

7mm Rem mag, 139SST, 3125 @ muzzle, 100 yd impact. This is why I said what I said:

[img:left][/img]

What a mess.

That has to be the most impressive exit wound I've ever seen... It's incredible that 139 gr of copper and lead can do that much damage.

I've killed (including culled) near 300 big game animals in the past 44 years, and have seen at least that many more killed. I have never seen anything like that antelope before or since.

http://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1775135/7x57_load

I killed a couple more deer and a pig or two with that load in my 7x57. No complaints.

I've been extremely pleased with the SST. Shooting the 129g out of my 6.5. Last year I shot over 10 animals from coyotes to a 250 lb S Tx whitetail and everything died right where it stood with complete pass thru and a good exit wound ( nothing like that goat!). It hits hard and penetrates..

I have given the SST's a try out of both a 7 RM and a 7mm 08. Out of a 7 rem mag ,inside 150 yards, the 139's on whitetail in my experience are too destructive. I never had trouble losing deer but I blew a few up. Out of a 7-08 at around 2740 they will hammer a whitetail. The 154's out of a rem mag are too explosive up close as well. When you get out to about 250 yards and they slow down they are spectacular killers. To sum it up, I would not hesitate to use the 139's out of a 7 08 for deer. Out of a 7 RM there are better choices, but as a dedicated long range bullet, the 154 and 162 deliver excellent terminal performance.

Sounds like I need to be "judicious" about the POI's and keep the impact speeds down to my "antique" rifles - 7x57 & 6.5x55 - even less than max level of MV's to start with. Given my state of ever advancing geezerhood I have not shot at game at over 200 yards anyway in a long time....too far to walk to drag something back to the truck.

After seeing that pic, that's exactly what I remember hearing about, Yuck. Last time I saw one of those was at Guadalupe Rvr SP when a guy using a hot 22-250 popped a 75-80lb WTail doe at about 50 yards about 10 years ago...what a mess that even the TPW biologist flinched at taking the measurement specs off of for their harvest records. About all that was left was just fajita meat.
Ron

Sounds like I need to be "judicious" about the POI's and keep the impact speeds down to my "antique" rifles - 7x57 & 6.5x55 - or even less than max level of MV's to start with.

Given my state of ever advancing geezerhood I have not shot at game I intended to eat at over 200 yards anyway in a long time...and according to the drop tables I'll zero both cartridges at 200 yards to keep the 250 yard impacts at about 3-4"s low & 300 yard impacts at about 6-8"s low and around 2" high at 100 yards for both of them...and easy peasy to remember.

After seeing that pic, that's exactly what I remember hearing about, Yuck. Last time I saw one of those was at Guadalupe Rvr SP when a guy using a hot 22-250 popped a 75-80lb WTail doe at about 50 yards about 10 years ago...what a mess that even the TPW biologist flinched at taking the measurement specs off of for their harvest records.
Ron

Not the size you asked about but 95s out of a 243 are a hammer.

The 139 grain is the bullet that is used in the Hornady Custom Lite in 7mag. That is just about all I shoot out of my 7mag anymore. At the lower velocities that are in the 7x57/7mm-08 level, deer drop like a sack of dirt.

PH Hmmm didn't know that...GTK for sure thx
Ron

I used to shoot SST's out of my 7mm-08 and killed numerous deer and hogs with them. I always got complete pass throughs on deer, but nothing like the results jgraider got. I can't remember a deer going more than about 20 yards (none dropped on the spot). This was factory ammo and I believe the advertised MV was around 2,800 but I never checked it. I would recommend them for cartridges in that velocity range.

I used to shoot 130gr SSTs out of my 270 Win. They were accurate as heck, but I didn't like the terminal performance. I had several instances where I did not get an exit or a good blood trail. It would expend all of the energy inside the animal and expand too much for my liking, turning the innards into soup. Just a huge mess. And, these were all classic behind the shoulder shots. I switched to the Accubond and have been much happier. Good pass throughs and blood trails, and the deer don't go far at all.

Many here seem to miss the point that the SST's are designed as long range bullets, meaning they will open well at lower velocities. Then you go out and shoot something at usual ranges with high velocity rifles loaded near max and oddly are surprised the bullet did indeed expand dramatically! I use the SST for a deer and hog bullet out of my 30-06 and 308 but load them at 2700 fps or a bit less, plenty for under 250 yards. The 150 grain 30 caliber SST is an excellent bullet when used as designed and within it's proper impact velocity range, as many bullets are.

All good info, and a heads up to keep the 7x57's MV's at less than max in the 139gr'er SST's. My usual hunting ranges run 75-150 and occasionally 200-300 yards.

I have other bullets that are tougher than the SST's and can run Max at slower than the 26-2700 max for Mauser loads, with some Speer 160's as my heaviest thing on hand that I prolly can't max out at 2700 MV's anyway...I know the the 154 gr Hrn IB's are a tougher bullet than the SST's...

These came from a trade deal with a guy in sight of Glacier Nat'l Park in far far N'west Montana who prolly used this selection of bullets for Elk & Black Bear, or mebbe even self defense on Grizz...and for sure shot'em at longer ranges in Big Sky Country.

If I start blowing up critters too bad I know how to fix it...just gotta make sure they shoot straight 1st, then pick the POI's carefully until I figger out whats what.
Ron

Exactly. If the internal organs explode into a frothy soup I don't care about a blood trail. They flop over dead.