hornady stt

Slightly bigger and heavier, I'm using them through my 6.5x55 as 140 grainers. The don't take any prisoners. In fact I pulled a shot recently, intended poa was heart and poi was close to the diaphram, a shot I would have got away with had it been soft points. Ended up having to cut a fair bit of mess out from between skin and ribcage.

Anyone else had experience of them being a bit too explosive?
 
I love sst in 270 they are superb, anything in the wrong place will do much damage if you get a deer run a little it is amazing the amount of claret left behind they certainly don't go far and you don't need the hound to follow the large blood trail, found this on another forum
 
I just got 129gr for my 6.5x47 very interested in seeing who else uses them have not reloaded any yet hopefully try a few loads and see what shoots best, Checked the reviews on the hornady site seemed very hard hitting on most calibre's.
 
I love sst in 270 they are superb, anything in the wrong place will do much damage if you get a deer run a little it is amazing the amount of claret left behind they certainly don't go far and you don't need the hound to follow the large blood trail, found this on another forum

130 or 140 gr in your 270? Where do you like to place the bullet?
 
Slightly bigger and heavier, I'm using them through my 6.5x55 as 140 grainers. The don't take any prisoners. In fact I pulled a shot recently, intended poa was heart and poi was close to the diaphram, a shot I would have got away with had it been soft points. Ended up having to cut a fair bit of mess out from between skin and ribcage.

Anyone else had experience of them being a bit too explosive?
In a word 'Yes'. I'm going back to soft points for that exact reason. "25-06 117 grains. Far too much meat damage for me. They're laser accurate though and for fox shooting they would take some beating.
Baguio
 
130 or 140 gr in your 270? Where do you like to place the bullet?

130 grain for deer and 150 grain for driven idealy i use the sst when stalking in scotland with small rides and inside the woodland i usually neck shoot so i don't have a runner but will heart lung if nessesary as long as you don't hit a leg on the far side you don't really waste any meat but if you do hit a leg it does cause a mess but you can garauntee they won't be running on these to be fair are my favourite bullet now along with partitions. atb wayne
just seen baguio post yes they are laser accurate and foxes do not like them at all
like anything bullet placement is the key to not ruining meat so with these you do not need to pin through shoulders or a high shoulder shot as you will create a mess
 
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In a word 'Yes'. I'm going back to soft points for that exact reason. "25-06 117 grains. Far too much meat damage for me. They're laser accurate though and for fox shooting they would take some beating.
Baguio

Baguio I never used SST's in 2 25-06's but had the same with noslers. I switched to Hot Cors and there wasnt much difference. I Think it was the speed they were doing.


Nutty
 
depends on what damage you are happy with.
not something I would put into a chest shot personally, fantastic neck shooting bullet
tried them in 130gr .270 but will stick to SP's
I like to put neat holes in things even when hit not exactly where planned

bought them as they are marketed as SST Interlocks so I assumed they were the same as Soft Point Interlocks just with a ballistic tip
they are not

they are designed for reliable expansion at much longer range targets and therefore much slower terminal velocities
Plains game, US antelope, 300, 400yds +
the difference between 3000fps at 100yds and 2200fps at 400yds is huge when it comes to expansion (almost half the energy) and it is shown by what happens should you clip the elbow or upper shoulder on the way in
 
I use them in 150gr out my 308 never had a problem with much mess even on roe. I find they punch a nice hole through the rib cage usualy the exit is no bigger than a 50p coin.. Very accurate round aswell.

Regards kev
 
Just got them for my .243 T3 in 95g and have been impressed with the accuracy, best factory rounds tried so far and took a fox apart at 60 yards. Not tried them on deer yet so can't comment but think they're gonna do fine for me.
 
depends on what damage you are happy with.
not something I would put into a chest shot personally, fantastic neck shooting bullet
tried them in 130gr .270 but will stick to SP's
I like to put neat holes in things even when hit not exactly where planned

bought them as they are marketed as SST Interlocks so I assumed they were the same as Soft Point Interlocks just with a ballistic tip
they are not

they are designed for reliable expansion at much longer range targets and therefore much slower terminal velocities
Plains game, US antelope, 300, 400yds +
the difference between 3000fps at 100yds and 2200fps at 400yds is huge when it comes to expansion (almost half the energy) and it is shown by what happens should you clip the elbow or upper shoulder on the way in
I read the same off their website after having these problems. I don't shoot too many deer at 300+ yards so I can only assume that what they are telling the truth. Unfortunately I had already loaded up 100 by then. They will still get used on the ranges so not a disaster. It clearly is a speed thing as NuttySpaniel has also says.
Baguio
 
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My T3 .243 shoots them very well- it likes most flat base designs like 100gr Sierra Pro hunters. For some reason I can drive the 95gr SSTs much faster than I might have expected: 3200fps without pressure and with good accuracy. O.5MOA 5shot groups are the norm (best is half that.) works well on fox (when out for deer) and deer (fallow are the biggest I've shot with them).

I also use the 150's in .308 (the .30cal bullets are a boat tail design.)
 
I started off using 129 grain SSTs in my Swede. I found the meat damage unacceptable. I lost quite a bit of meat from several roe I shot with them and wrote off the front end of a muntjac with one. All were from well placed shots. I switched to Sierra soft points.

I think they're a good bullet for neck shots, the bigger deer and vermin, but for boiler room shots on the smaller species I think they're a bit too explosive.

Cheers,

Bob
 
. For some reason I can drive the 95gr SSTs much faster than I might have expected: 3200fps without pressure
but.....is that really necessary or beneficial?
trajectory improvement are rarely significant until things start hitting high 3000's early 4000's fps
i bet there is an accuracy point lower down the velocity scale
 
but.....is that really necessary or beneficial?
trajectory improvement are rarely significant until things start hitting high 3000's early 4000's fps
i bet there is an accuracy point lower down the velocity scale

This was the most accurate load in testing; there will be a lower velocity node but to paraphrase you- "what's the point?" The bullet has expanded but held together well even in close range shots. It has outperformed Speer 100gr soft points, Sierra 100gr GK, Hornady 100gr BTSP and is more accurate (in my gun) than any of these. For accuracy, it parallels my previous "go to" load using 100gr Prohunters (which I find hold together better than the bullets listed above.)

There are so many variables involved in terminal ballistics and we are slaves to our own experiences. My experience with SSTs has been good. Others, clearly not.
 
fair enough
I try not to load fast and hot if there is an equally accurate load a little lower down, less barrel wear, cases last longer (the big one), less powder, less recoil, less muzzle blast and less carcase damage

you do get a lot of people pushing bullets very fast for the sake of it sometimes though

OP:

Experience with Hornady SST on deer? - Long Range Hunting Online Magazine

lots of interesting comments from first hand users here across a huge range of calibres and distances

(including a reference to a bat **** crazy wildcat, .270-300RUM!! A 300RUM case necked down to .270 chucking 150gr bullets at 3600fps and 135gr SMK's at 3900fps!!!)
 
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