Todd1700

I picked up a box of these the other day on the way to the old family gravel pit in 139 grain for my 7mm-08. I was quite impressed with their accuracy from my Browning A-bolt. They grouped well when I did my part. I was also surprised that despite being a light magnum load I did not notice any discernible increase in felt recoil. They did have a slightly different point of impact than the Winchester power points I had been using but I quickly sighted them in for 1 inch high at 100 yards. I shot two 3 shot groups (letting the barrel cool between the groups) that I did not measure but from past experience I would say they were both about an inch. Then I backed off to 200 yards and took a shot at a coke can I set on a rock. I assumed they would still have a little drop from just a 22 inch barrel at that distance even though I had them an inch high at 100. Wrong! I aimed right at the top edge of the can and sqeezed off a shot. The can tumbled off the back of the rock. When I retrieved it, the bullet had cut through both thick bands at the top of the can and clipped the pop top tab off. Thats very little drop if any at all. I was impressed again.

Now here is what I know about these bullets. SST stands for Super Shock Tip which is just basically another way of saying ballistic tip as these have the same little plastic pointed tip that a BT bullet has. The good thing about that is that it helps prevent tip deformation that sometimes happens with soft lead tipped bullets and the long sharp tip improves the bullets ballistic coefficient. The bad is that its been my experience that BT bullets can break up and fragment with heavy bone contact and not penetrate very well. However! The SST's also have a metal jacket that is thicker at the base and a Interlock ring in the middle to control expansion and help prevent jacket/core separation. My question is.....do they work???

Does anyone have any on game experience with these bullets? I would be very interested to hear about it either good or bad.

Danny45

They are a very accurate bullet. I shot some of their 300 Win Mag ammo a couple of years ago and got very good accuracy with it. Right at 1" groups at 100 yards consistently. They are very explosive though. I shot a deer at 175 yards with it and it destroyed everything in it's path. I mean destroyed!! I later got a 154 yard shot at a coyote. I pulled the shot a bit and hit him in the neck. It damn near decapitated him. On the off-side, there was nothing left between his jaw and his shoulder. I'm not sure I care for the bullet. Even the ballistic tips that I shot in both a .270 and a 30.06 weren't that destructive.

skeeter 7MM

Todd, I have found the sst to be very accurate in the different rifles I have shot them through. I also agree they do tend to be a bit more explosive than the NBT, but in all of my game they have worked incredibly well at dropping the animal in short order not unlike the NBT though. Main reasons I use either of these 2 bullets is I have yet to see a bullet put the spins on big buck like a BT style bullet & accuracy, my feelings if I have the accuracy or more important the confidence in putting the bullet in the spot I will be more successful and never give a thought to what if! However if your a pins or neck shooter I don't think they are the best choice available.

Reacher

I shot these last season in 30.06 and was very happy with them. They are the flattest shooting 30.06 I could find and they did great on the deer I shot.

swampcruiser

Todd, I think Hornady makes great Ammo. Light Mags are great for my .270 but.. I had a bad experience with the SST's- Hit shoulder on a walking muley and the bullet made a hell of a noise as it hit, problem was it basically blew up and shrapnell went all over the place - so the bullet lost all of its energy. After a few more shots the deer went down but it was ugly. SST's are very accurate but not real tough. I have talked to other guides that had similar issue's with NBT's as well. Probably should not have taken the walking shot but if the bullet held together -He's down.
If you want the best of both worlds check out the Interbond bullets by Hornady. They cost a couple bucks more but hold together much better. I'd leave the SST's to Varmits.

Todd1700

Thanks, swampcruiser thats exactly what I was afraid of. I have read some info on the interbond and other types of bonded core bullets but a lot of people claim they have trouble getting them to group well. But I may have to see for myself.

skeeter 7MM

Todd, I recently ran through some Hornady interbond factory ammo and was very happy with the accuracy. It was pretty equal to the SST IMO and I would have had no problems hunting with them. Haven't tried the accubonds yet but would expect similar results. In fact most I have talked with regarding these 2 bullets have not mentioned any accuracy problems. However the only way to know is shoot them yourself. The SST or NBT will work fine but if your affraid of the shoulder contact than either try the bonded bullets or stick with other bullets.

I could list many examples of how a BT bullet performed excellent but only one where I saw a problem, so I will share on that instead(it is also why I said if you aim for pins then pick the right bullet!). A number of years ago with a 270win/130NBT I shot a buck that was approx. 150 yards out, it was a slight quarter, very cold and getting late I made mistake one took the shot when I wasn't 100% comfortable, result pulled it flush into his shoulder! Mistake 2 was rushing to the site and jumping him! Mistake 3 was jumping him for the second time! I came back the next morning and found him about 500 yards from where I hit him, the bullet fraged/exploded might be a better term and punched the shoulder into the lungs, meaning fatal but never exited. Now I never aimed for the pins but rather pulled it and accepted the error as my own not the bullet! Since then I have taken a number of animals through the rib and out the opposite pin with no problems what so ever and in most cases dropping them on the spot. So I know they will work on deer for my situation, but only you can decide if that holds true for you. A big part of the bullet selection goes to picking the right bullet for the application and one must assess the bullets characteristics to determine if that falls into their goal. In my case I know the bullet wasn't at fault but the shooter and as such never veered my choice in bullet. Quite simply many lay blame on the wrong shoulders which can be attributed to shooter error or even selecting the wrong bullet for their application. Pick the right design and bullet for your own use, not what I or anybody else says.

If you want to stick with Hornady try the Interlock SP, flat based bullet that has always flew real nice out of my rifles and no question it works good on game either, especially deer!

Good luck!

herman

I have used the sst's in different calibers since they came out and I like them better than the BT,they are just as accurate for me and they do the job on deer.Have taken them from 20 to 200 yds and have yet to have one stop inside the deer,I guess mostly because I shoot behind the shoulder,It is the best bullet I have found for the muzzleloader also and they work on deer too.Wish hornady would come out with a 120 gr sst for the 7/08 and the 260.

bigcountry

Your the only one I have seen get good accuracy out of Light mags no matter what the bullet. I tried in three guns and 2MOA was the best they would do. And this is in guns that shoot subMOA all the time.

oldelkhunter

I think the jury(at least mine) is still out on SST's I have heard too many conflicting stories regarding hunting performance. I have used them 154 gr in a 7 rem mag and they shot just fine. Never have shot them at game though.

BC the only heavy mag/light mag ammo that has been consistent at least in my guns was made by Hornady. I have had terrible luck with Federal HE ammo.