My wife and I went hunting this weekend on a MLD place. She had not shot a deer before, so I was excited to get her on something. She has shot my Tikka .270 WSM a decent amount and she opted to use it for the hunt. We sat Friday night and Saturday morning and didn’t get an opportunity for any cull bucks or does. Saturday evening, several deer came in including the 3 point she shot.

She made an AWESOME shot. He was slightly quartering towards us, she just missed the onside shoulder, bullet exited just behind the offside shoulder, deer hit the ground where he stood. Could not have been happier. Complete pass through, minimal meat damage. Range was probably 75-85 yards.

An older doe was still hanging around, maybe 120 yards. I got the rifle, had nearly the same angle, and shot. I heard the bullet smack, could tell the doe was hurt, and she took off. She didn’t hump up like she was gut shot, didn’t mule kick like a heart shot, but I could tell she was hurt. She ran about 100 yards and fell over.

When I was field dressing the doe, it looked like the bullet just disintegrated when it hit the shoulder. The onside lung was pretty well torn up, but nothing had hit the heart and there was no exit. I had a similar experience with that bullet a couple years ago on a cull buck: bullet fragmented and turned the vitals to jelly, but he fell where he stood…. With no exit.

I’ve seen this happen with Ballistic Tips before, but figured I’d try the SST’s since they were relatively inexpensive and had a good BC. They are super accurate in my rifle. But I’m not shooting them at anything other than a coyote or pig from now on.

FWIW, we were shooting the 140 SST over a full charge of IMR 7828. Roughly 3050 FPS.

Dead animals

Vitals destroyed

Animals recovered

Yeah that bullet is crap.

Sounds like it did what every SST I've shot at an animal has done. What were you expecting it to do?

P.S. Congrats to the Mrs!

Except on the last doe, vitals weren’t destroyed, deer ran 100 yards, no blood trail and would’ve had a hell of a time recovering if it went some brush because there was no blood trail. So yeah. Pretty much $hit.

Not fragment when hitting a little doe shoulder at 100 yards? Stay together all the way through a tiny TX whitetail? Never had a problem with a gameking doing that….

And thanks!! She was super excited, and wanted to dress it herself

Drive the SSTs slower. I never had an issues with Nosler Ballistic Tips but I drive them 2600-2800 at the muzzle and they consistently exit.

SST bullet is a good one.

Two deer DRT….sounds like a winner

You want an exit every time shoot some FMJ’s and see how that works out for you.

Sounds to me like 3 deer with 3 very different results….

I can count on 3 fingers the times that I have not got a pass through on an animal:

.223 with a Partition on a deer ~80 yards
Cow elk with a 44 mag (hit her three times… two passed through)
.270 WSM with a SST. (Twice)


Usually I use a good bullet and enough gun to push it through. Learned my lesson on this one.

That’s a decent idea. But I have a WSM, so why neuter it?

The SST in that bore diameter is designed for 270 win velocities. Assuming you were shooting 140gr bullets there is going to be a 250fps difference between the 2 cartridges. This is perfect for long range but you will experience bullet blow up at close range. Don't push a bullet beyond what it was designed for and then complain about the results. You can improve the performance of an SST in applications like yours if you take the time to anneal the bullet with a candle. It works best with the heavier 270 bore SSTs.

If the shot was 200 yards vs 85, the bullet would have likely held together better. Everything is a compromise. I think given the impact velocity, it did about as well as it could given it’s a non bonded plastic tipped bullet designed for rapid expansion.

If you want to go Ricky Bobby at close range, use a TTSX.

+1

I prefer the SST for more moderate velocities, but a blanket statement of the SST is a $hit bullet is misleading. It's a great bullet. Best I've found for 300BLK. Pretty dang good in .308 too. As velocity climbs, I want a tougher bullet. There's something to be said about the bullet doing it's job, because you DID recover your deer. Accubond is what I like with higher velocities. I found some pro hunters in 125gr and they are super accurate out of my 300blk. But on sierra's website, they state that it won't expand well at 300blk velocities. Get a bullet designed for 3200fps MV and you'll probably be happier. That doesn't mean the SST is $hit.

Amen. High impact velocities would make me reach for tougher bullets.

Probably going to go with accubond for that rifle.

I don’t think the ballistic tip-type bullets are worth a darn in a fast paced rifle.

SST is a solid bullet but as has been stated a few times already, you’re pushing it too fast. Shot a big bodied panhandle mulie at 70 yds. Clean pass through, good blood trail for the whole 10 yds he ran. Shot many pigs and WT with it, all clean pass throughs and dead. All with 308 150 gr SST. The TSX, TTSX or GMX would be solid choices if you wanna run it hammer down. Having said that, congrats to on the animals but I wouldn’t be snubbing my nose at the bullet

I agree. If you want high impact velocities, something like a Partition or a TTSX is what you need. At more moderate impact velocities, BTs and SSTs are fine and hold up the idea that sometimes less is more.

SST is just a target bullet rebranded as a hunting bullet.

Same goes for Sierra game king (and many others)

Those bullets are made for shooting steel.

Not staying together while penetrating through muscle and bone.

Many would disagree with me, but there’s a reason I only shoot partitions or A frames.

It’s designed for hunting and nothing else.

Didn’t seem too solid when it ran into a doe’s shoulder

You were pushing ot beyond its design limits. It is designed to be frangible so it can have some expansion at low velocities while still being tough enough for non magnum cartridges.

Hey, read the description from the manufacturer themselves… “particularly at higher velocities”

https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifle/270-cal-277-140-gr-sst#!/SST

Wrong! I think we've discussed this before on another thread about the SST.

I have seen that exact same scenario on a long list of bullets. There is no magic one. If you want animals to drop where they stood, every time; then shoot them perfectly in the brainstem.

We hunt senderos in an area where brush is thick and everything has thorns. We don’t run stock so grass and undergrowth is substantial but we have a great fawn crop dang near no matter what. If you don’t have an exit and your deer runs more than a few steps you are looking blind. It’s not fun, been there done that got the t-shirt and don’t care to wear it again. I have zero love for an SST, said so many times for about the same reason the OP does. They are splat bullets, not my preference. Shot a doe a week ago that was well shot with a 140 NBT out of a 270 win. She covered over 100 yards easily with a blood trail my 5 year old daughter was able to follow on her own. If it would have been any of the sst/interlock bullets I’ve had not exit in the past it would have been finding the needle in the haystack to find that deer. Still never lost a deer using one but I’ve spent more time walking increasing circles or grid patterns than I want when choosing a bullet that reliably provides an exit will give you a trail straight to your deer.

Shot 125 SST’s and 125 nbt’s out of a 300 BO into the same test medium. Noslers retained more than double the weight.

Maybe so. But I’ve seen it a lot more with a NBT or SST than anything else.