Hornady SST and Interbond in 6.5mm

david1976

Well-Known Member
Im picking up my new rifle tomorrow and going to pick up some reloading items at the same time. Im looking for a round which will retain a high percentage weight retention but for cost reasons dont want to go down the barnes or other similar bullet type route.

I fancy the hornady SST in 140gr although I also see it comes in 129gr as does the Interbond. If anyone on here has first hand experience of either of these rounds in the 6.5mm calibre I would really appreciate your thoughts and experiences on groupings / meat damage etc.

Cheers

David
 
I have used both the 129 and 140 interbond, found them both to be very accurate and effective meat damage never caused me any worries, but then again as long as it kills humanely and effectively meat damage will always be secondary for me, as I am sure it is with you.

John
 
i use 129 SST,very accurate work well on deer.
Very good BC and SD
 
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David, the SST is basically a ballistic tip, you won't get weight retention there, but they do kill well at the expense of some meat damage. They are also relatively cheap, should be around £30/100. They should be no better or worse than any other common bullet. I killed I think 5 Sika and Fallow with these SST's over the past year or two, I decided I liked the 120gr NBT better.

My impression is that the Nosler's where/are a little tougher than the SST's.

The Interbond is a bonded premium bullet, I have some in 129gr, cost me about £70/100. I have not killed anything with them yet, but plan to do so in this season. I expect they should be excellent, time will tell.
 
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I think the 129sst is a great bullet. I fling them at 2600-2700fps and although they do fragment (by design) they still tend to pop out the opposite side. I also get good accuracy. Sierra Gameking 140g and Hornady SP 140g retain more weight and are relativly cheap.

regards
 
Ive been shooting the 129g SST in my 6.5 x 55. Very accurate, shot a Roe with one earlier in the year and it caused minimal meat damage although it did fragment slightly. Loaded some more for a trip on Fallow later this year.
 
SSTs kill well.. bit of meat damage though. the interbonds have high weight retention which equates to not as much expansion and less meat damage.

For bog standard stalking i think the hornady SPs take some beating, ok theyre not the best BC but theyre cheap, easy to get hold of and work really well on deer.

Interbonds would be my second choice but the availability and price would put me off. Ive used all in 7mm and also the SPs extensively in 6mm. I have now settled on berger VLDs.
 
The hornady 129 sp will do everything you want.
All the ones that I recovered opened up nicely as far as the interlock ring and still weighed over 100 grains.
 
Yes been shooting 129 grn sst,s through mine for years now and must say they lay the deer down meat damage not much meat to damage on front end so why bother .Also get very good accuracy. From big to little the sst seems to treat them the same.
 
129 gr interbond is what i use. Tried sst's in 150 gr 30cal did the job but happy with 129 sp interbond.
 
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