In what regard? Accuracy, lethality, or what?

 

You started it! What do you think of them?

 

Wanted to try some in my 762x39 bolt gun but it shoots 308" 125gr TNTs so good I cant justify paying double the price

 

I had extreem success with SST in a 700 Rem .280
Rem very 1st loading w/ IMR 4350 -200 from max and we had 1/4MOA.
And absolutely no issues anchoring Deer.
I switched to the SST when Nozler quit selling 100ea and price didn't reflect that change.
My $0.02
Edit to add,,,
I have not found SST to out preform my ELD's in my 6.5Needmore.

 

Edit to add,,,
I have not found SST to out preform my ELD's in my 6.5Needmore.

When I recently started loading for a 30 TC again (had one 15ish years ago), I looked at SSTs since that's what they were factory loaded with but went with a 178 ELD-X instead. No deer yet but they shoot very well and readily available locally which is nice.

 

I find they shoot very accurate. Was curious how they hold up on game, black bear or elk.

 

They don’t.

 

They don’t. They are a long range low velocity bullet. In 30 Herrett, they worked well. In 270 WSM and 6.5x55, too explosive.

 

I’ve used SSTs in a .308 on whitetails. Super accurate, but up close they tend to grenade more than I like. Out past 200yds they settle down and perform better.

 

The 165's make great prairie dog bullets out of the 300RUM

RJ

 

A good windy day bullet. RJ.

 

They made me swear off of Hornady for big game bullets. Hornady is great when you want a frangible bullet like a V Max, but all three of the bullet failures I’ve had on big game were various Hornady ‘hunting‘ bullets. The last one was in fact an SST and it was ridiculous in it’s effect. Somewhere on this forum is the report I did on it a few years back. I also know of one other shooter who planted an SST in the chest of a bull elk at 300 yards out of a .300 Win Mag, only to have it run off and get taken out by another hunter hundreds of yards away. He walked up on the guy as he was doing a "gutless job" on the elk and got to see that his bullet never made it to the vitals. I think they are junk unless you want to shoot coyotes or the like.

 

At the right velocity, they are great hunting bullets. 300 WM at 300yds is the right velocity. There must be more to that story. I’ll never know, I guess.

 

The 165 and 180 grain Interlocks work quite well in my 30-06IMP. As good as the Remington Corelokt which are like unobtainium as components these days.

@Pudfark They are pretty hot, as in the barrel gets hot in 3-4 rounds. The 110 grain Vmax is adult content only, rated MA for gore, blood and guts.

RJ

 

Most of the manufacturers have a recommended impact velocity range. It might be something like 1800-3000 fps or so. It's normally fairly broad. However, IIRC, it was a Hornady employee who said he didn't like to use their bullets quite at the recommended maximum, but fifty or a hundred fps below it. Anyway, call Hornady and ask for the data.

 

Yep, @unclenick hit it on the head. Hornady is getting really good at answering questions. I haven't called them yet, but they do answer emails pretty quickly. 165 grain SST's are pretty OK in the 788 in 308 with some 4064.

RJ

 

I like them for the .300 Savage because the cannelure is in the right place. As for performance on game, I've only killed two deer with them. Both were broadside lung shots and within 50 yards, so not much of a challenge. Dead on the spot.

 

I've tried to like them but have never gotten good accuracy from 6.5, 270, or 223. Norma brass... Hornady brass... Federal, Starline, Remington... doesn't seem to make a difference. I'm talking not even close- 2 or 3 inch groups. I won't lie. I'm a .75-1.50 shooter. I'm a hunter that likes to shoot.

If I ever try again I'll weight and CBTO sort them and see if that helps.

I could lower my charge but what is the point of the SST if it isn't fast?

 

This idea that SST’s have a range of acceptable velocities while other bullets are killers fast & slow is just wrong.

Most hunting bullets fall into the 2800fps to 1800fps range. In genera, mono’s are effective above 2000fps. SST’s were developed when companies were trying to figure out how to handle long range and sub 1800 fps velocities. SST’s, ELD-X, and ABLR’s do this well, but Hornady still lists an 1800 fps minimu. I think this is because below 1600 fps, bullets become unstable after impact and tumble, which can be unreliable.

SST’s are a reminent of this time. They remain today because they almost always shoot great and kill effectively to near tumbling velocities. Their issue is hard bone over 2600 fps tends to splatter them.

The stories of sub-2500fps blow ups often lack the forensics to know for sure what happened. Regardless m this is not a magnum bullet. Hornady ought to own this better in their application materials, IMO.

I still use them when I need low velocity performance. Like a Nosler Ballistic tip.

 

.......I think this is because below 1600 fps, bullets become unstable after impact and tumble, which can be unreliable.

Are you sure that is what you were intending to say????

 

The SST's should work good at 7mm-08 and 7mm Mauser velocity. Barnes 140 & 150gr TTSX's will expand to 70% at about 1800 fps. According to their tech support.

 

Bullets tested 50 years ago are not the same bullets of today. Bullet designs have changed.

 

About twenty years ago, Randy Garrett (Garrett Cartridges' founder) posted here about an experiment at the Linebaugh Institute gathering in which the same 500-grain Hornady RN solid was fired from a 45-70, a 458 Win Mag, and a 458 Lott into wet newspaper to see the effect of their increasing velocities on penetration. The faster they went, the shorter the penetration. We spent some time speculating on the reason, but it wasn't until some time later I found the real reason in Hatcher's Notebook. He had photos of some oak block sets he'd shot with M2 ball ammo (152-grain FMJ 30-06 military load). One set of blocks he'd shot at 50 feet and one at 150 yards. The short shot had penetrated less than a foot, having turned sideways and hooked a little, while the longer shot went straight in, penetrating about 32 inches. The Linebaugh experiment had also been at short range.

When bullets exit the muzzle of a gun, they experience initial yaw, which takes some distance to settle out. Precession due to spin settles it out in a fluid, the density of air, but as the density of the medium it is passing through increases, so does drag, including drag causing the overturning moment. So when it hits an animal, wet paper, or even a wood density medium, the overturning drag easily overwhelms spin stabilization and turns the bullet sideways, greatly increasing drag and shortening penetration. The faster the yawing bullet hits the higher-density medium, the faster it goes sideways.

Eugene Stoner thought that in-medium tumble was great for stopping speed on human targets. If you've seen the late Dr. Martin Fackler's slides illustrating the gelatin performance of the 5.56 ammo, you'll have seen the huge cavities and damage paths the sideways bullet creates, and Stoner proposed actually reducing the M16's rifling pitch to ensure initial yaw never quite settled out so that tumbling behavior would be guaranteed to even longer ranges. But it screws up accuracy. And tumbling does nothing favorable for the meat condition in game. Hunting is a different animal.

 

The new 139gr SST @2950-3000fps and 162gr SST@ 2750-2820fps out of my 7mm08 anchor deer very reliably out to 450m. doa or 1-2 steps in my experience.. explosive terminal performance for the 1st 12" and overall penetration is usually 19-20". usually retain around 60-70% projectile mass. excellent energy transfer. wouldnt recommend them for texas heart shots however..