2
270wsm
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Does anybody out there use hornady sst's. I was just wondering cause i am shooting them and just want to know how they perform on game.
sageadvice
Long Time Member
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270wsm, Welcome! I can't help you...yet. The .280AI is staying in the gun safe this year and i'll be hunting my .270wsm and factory loaded 150gr SST's. Pretty sure that SST's are the bullets in the Remington Premiun factory's that i have been shooting. I have read on other sites, favorable reports, that the SST's are a great bullet on game up to and including Elk.
I saw on the other thread where you are getting 3368 fps avg. with your 130gr handloads. Nice!, that should be bad news to any critter you happen to pop with that WSM. I have the dies and all the stuff to handload but i'm liking what the factory load is putting out and doing thru my gun, so haven't yet gone thru the process of working up a load.
Good luck,
Joey
I saw on the other thread where you are getting 3368 fps avg. with your 130gr handloads. Nice!, that should be bad news to any critter you happen to pop with that WSM. I have the dies and all the stuff to handload but i'm liking what the factory load is putting out and doing thru my gun, so haven't yet gone thru the process of working up a load.
Good luck,
Joey
2
270wsm
Guest
hey thanks sageadvice i think that the ssts are pretty good bullets i have only heard good about them. What are you thinking about shooting out of yours when you handload?
sageadvice
Long Time Member
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270wsm, That's a $20 question. First off, i like the 150gr SST at 3150FPS cause it gives 1748 FPE at 500 yds in a 24" barrel. I like heavy for caliber bullets. They hold their energy much better down range. The 130 will get out the tube faster and be winning the race but at around 400 yds, the 150 will pass it up and eventually, hit much harder. That said, it would be nice to shoot a lighter load with a lighter bullet, especially, if i'm hunting deer sized game. I'm a 500 yd guy. Rairly would i ever take a shot farther than that at a game animal. Up to that range though, i practice and feel pretty comfy as long as the wind ain't blowing up too bad.
So, most any bullet that opens quickly but holds together on high velosity impact, has a high BC, and don't cost too darn much would probably fit right in. As i mentioned, I don't reload that caliber so not quite sure what's available. Some say that the 140 gr accubond is tough to beat, prolly is. Some are sold on barns. Aside from some early reports, i hear nothing but good from the guys sold on their product.
130, 140, 150 grs, all good outa a .270 tube! But all else being near equal, i believe the 150gr. is gonna hit the hardest at 500 yds and be just about as flat shooting.
Joey
So, most any bullet that opens quickly but holds together on high velosity impact, has a high BC, and don't cost too darn much would probably fit right in. As i mentioned, I don't reload that caliber so not quite sure what's available. Some say that the 140 gr accubond is tough to beat, prolly is. Some are sold on barns. Aside from some early reports, i hear nothing but good from the guys sold on their product.
130, 140, 150 grs, all good outa a .270 tube! But all else being near equal, i believe the 150gr. is gonna hit the hardest at 500 yds and be just about as flat shooting.
Joey
2
270wsm
Guest
yeah i have put my load in a ballistics calculator and i get about 1500fps at 500. it is pretty good i chose the sst cause it holds together and it opens up at long range and i wanted a long range bullet because i am putting turrets on my scope. The turrets will go out to 1000 yards and i am confident that the bullet will open up at that range. I have tried the 130 and 140 accubonds but the 140's didn't shoot and the 130's shot good. I also tried barnes and they shot like crap but i decided on the sst's because they have a high b.c. and that is what i wanted for long range shots.
sageadvice
Long Time Member
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270wsm, i guess a 270wsm could be a 1000yd gun allright, especially for targets and accounting that your gun is accurate enough to begin with. A good rule of thumb says that your cartridge should have, for a clean kill, at least 1000 ft pounds of energy(FPE)left when it hits a big game animal. Your ballistics calculator should be able to tell you at what range you still have the 1000 FPE and at what ranges you don't.
My guess is that with the 130 gr'ers, you're going to run below 1000 FPE somewhere between 6 and 700 yds. Still that is one heck of a long, long shot, at any critter.
You might do well by taking a good hard look at those SST 150 grainers. Higher BC, they shine over the lighter bullets at 500 yds. Farther out from that you get, they shine even more. If you were thinking of taking a big game animal out there near 1000 yds, that bullet or one very similar would be the logical choice IMO. Not for me, not ever, too much can go wrong. But...
Good luck!
Joey
My guess is that with the 130 gr'ers, you're going to run below 1000 FPE somewhere between 6 and 700 yds. Still that is one heck of a long, long shot, at any critter.
You might do well by taking a good hard look at those SST 150 grainers. Higher BC, they shine over the lighter bullets at 500 yds. Farther out from that you get, they shine even more. If you were thinking of taking a big game animal out there near 1000 yds, that bullet or one very similar would be the logical choice IMO. Not for me, not ever, too much can go wrong. But...
Good luck!
Joey
I have shot 1 muley, 3x4 at about 150 yds. and 3 whitetailes at about 100 yds using a 130 gr SST at a little over 3000 fps in my old 270, with perfect results. All were shot just behind front shoulder, heart-lung area, and all exited with the exit wound about the size of 50 cent piece. They shoot very accurate in my gun, and can't complain about the performance on game.
2
270wsm
Guest
hey thanks tex270 i like the sst's and i am looking for that kind of performance out of the bullet because i am looking for a bullet that will open at longer ranges but still not explode and lose the core when the animals are close.
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270wsm
Guest
hey cjg do you remember how far the deer was?
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270wsm
Guest
hey thanks cjg i want them to be explosive but not too explosive
R
Rem308
Guest
LAST EDITED ON Jul-05-08 AT 05:31AM (MST)[p]I have taken several mule deer and antelope with the 95 grain SST out of my 243 winchester.All one shot kills.Very accurate and expand perfect.
The Interbond would be a better choice for elk I'm thinkin. I know guys that have used them on deer, and the deer were dead but, those were deer. Elk are different. The SST is Hornady's equivalent of the Ballitic Tip. Wouldn't use a BT on elk either. Just a thought. mtmuley
mountainstalker
Member
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- 91
I am planning on using these bullets for my elk hunt this year. My grandpa killed his elk last year at 400 yds with them. I used the winchester supreme ballistic tips to kill an elk in oregon but heard the sst's are faster.
sageadvice
Long Time Member
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Mtmuley said;
"The SST is Hornady's equivalent of the Ballitic Tip. Wouldn't use a BT on elk either.
Simply hogwash! They both have plastic tips, good idea, and they both are boattails with high BC's, also good idea. That's it, other than that the SST is a far the better and a quality bullet for hunting big game, including Elk.
An objective article from Guns and Ammo; Just one of many.
"Hornady's SSTs differ from other plastic-tipped rifle bullets in that they were designed from the ground up to be a big-game bullet, not a varmint pill. For starters, the copper jackets used on the SST bullets is .0010 thicker than the jackets used on Hornady's V-Max varmint bullets, and have a tighter grain structure. When the jacket cup is fully drawn, the jacket itself is 19 percent thicker, which aids in weight retention and assists in penetration. In addition, the lead core of the SST is a harder alloy, featuring a five-percent antimony content. These premium ingredients, combined with Hornady's "Interlock" construction helps hold the heavier and tougher jacket and core together until reaching the vitals on big game."
"The SST is Hornady's equivalent of the Ballitic Tip. Wouldn't use a BT on elk either.
Simply hogwash! They both have plastic tips, good idea, and they both are boattails with high BC's, also good idea. That's it, other than that the SST is a far the better and a quality bullet for hunting big game, including Elk.
An objective article from Guns and Ammo; Just one of many.
"Hornady's SSTs differ from other plastic-tipped rifle bullets in that they were designed from the ground up to be a big-game bullet, not a varmint pill. For starters, the copper jackets used on the SST bullets is .0010 thicker than the jackets used on Hornady's V-Max varmint bullets, and have a tighter grain structure. When the jacket cup is fully drawn, the jacket itself is 19 percent thicker, which aids in weight retention and assists in penetration. In addition, the lead core of the SST is a harder alloy, featuring a five-percent antimony content. These premium ingredients, combined with Hornady's "Interlock" construction helps hold the heavier and tougher jacket and core together until reaching the vitals on big game."
O.K. Looks like I am totally uninformed and wrong. Some folks around here can't admit that. I still believe there are better bullets for elk. If the SST shoots for you, chances are the Interbond will also. I've personally been involved in long aprehensive tracking jobs where elk were hit bad with the likes of Partitions and A-Frames and Scirroccos. Granted, I have one experience with the SST. A buddy shot a mule deer buck in the neck at about 175 yards with a 7mm Remington Magnum. The SST came apart. Books and magazines are no substitute for actually putting bullets in elk. mtmuley
sageadvice
Long Time Member
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- 11,849
Mtmuley, fair enough. There may be better bullets for Elk, but these SST's are built to hold together and penetrate. They are much the sturdier bullet than those ballistic tips that shoot so well from so many guns but regularly fail to penetrate. As far as boat tail tech, it's about time that somebody has come up with something reasonably priced other than a bullet with a high BC. This one will get the job done, Good for Hornandy!
I spent a lot of time on-line reading every opinion and field test review before landing on this bullet. The reviews are there if you care to punch them in and read the hunters comments. There are always exceptions to performance in any bullet but the SST is a darn good compromise between a bullet that shoots well in my gun, open quickly, yet holds together, even through bone, for full penetration, and reasonable cost.
Joey
I spent a lot of time on-line reading every opinion and field test review before landing on this bullet. The reviews are there if you care to punch them in and read the hunters comments. There are always exceptions to performance in any bullet but the SST is a darn good compromise between a bullet that shoots well in my gun, open quickly, yet holds together, even through bone, for full penetration, and reasonable cost.
Joey
I was wrong about the Ballistic Tip, and now I have to admit that I shot a big muley buck with one. And then a couple more and he was dead. That's all I'll say about that. I just know how damn tough elk are. With good placement, the SST is probably o.k. mtmuley
sageadvice
Long Time Member
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Mtmuley, You weren't wrong about the "Ballistic Tip", they are crappy big game loads.
You were wrong in saying that the Hornady SST's were Hornadys version of Noslers Ballistic tips. You're saying that does the Hornady SST bullet a major injustice. I will never shoot another Nosler Ballistic tip at a game animal. But that's another story.
You were wrong in saying that the Hornady SST's were Hornadys version of Noslers Ballistic tips. You're saying that does the Hornady SST bullet a major injustice. I will never shoot another Nosler Ballistic tip at a game animal. But that's another story.
HuntElk4Fun_
Active Member
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- 502
LAST EDITED ON Jul-08-08 AT 01:14AM (MST)[p]My family has alot of field experience with the SST's. Our hunting group of about 10, chases alot of antelope, deer and elk every year in Wyoming, plus many other states. We kill alot of animals each year and I'm the primary reloader for most of our group. They rely on me (good or bad 
) to load quality loads. I'm no expert by any means, but will share our field results.
We found that the SSTs didn't penetrate or hold up as well as other premium bullets on elk. Antelope and deer were fine, but found many fragmented bullets with elk. Calibers range from 7mm Mag, 300 Win Mag to 270 WSMs.
With that in mind, we moved to Hornady Interbond and Nosler Accubonds and have seen excellent performance. Both of these bonded bullets by either manufactor held up and mushroomed perfectly on elk. Everyone in our group now shoots these with high confidence.
This year, I am loading some Barnes TSX's for my son's 7mm and they will be tested on antelope.
ODDNUT1
Kirt C.
) to load quality loads. I'm no expert by any means, but will share our field results.We found that the SSTs didn't penetrate or hold up as well as other premium bullets on elk. Antelope and deer were fine, but found many fragmented bullets with elk. Calibers range from 7mm Mag, 300 Win Mag to 270 WSMs.
With that in mind, we moved to Hornady Interbond and Nosler Accubonds and have seen excellent performance. Both of these bonded bullets by either manufactor held up and mushroomed perfectly on elk. Everyone in our group now shoots these with high confidence.
This year, I am loading some Barnes TSX's for my son's 7mm and they will be tested on antelope.
ODDNUT1
Kirt C.
Velocity is the key. In my opinion, nothing but the premium, (accubond,Interbond,Patition etc.) should be used on elk with the hyper velocity cartridges. At lower velocities, most bullets will do ok. You crank this up, to the velocities of the magnums, and the regular bullets, when they contact tough animals, will almost always come apart. I shoot SST and really like the way they shoot. But when I go after elk, with my 300 mag. I will be shootng a Partition, or Interbond etc. Just to help stack the odds in my favor.
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270wsm
Guest
I have shot an elk with a accubond and it dumped it i like the accubond, i was shooting 130's but i wanted a bullet with a better b.c. and tried the 140's and they didn't shoot. So then i decided to go to the sst and i think they will do good on elk. Where i hunt most of the time the shots are 450 and over.
>LAST EDITED ON Jul-08-08
>AT 01:14?AM (MST)
>
>My family has alot of field
>experience with the SST's.
>Our hunting group of about
>10, chases alot of antelope,
>deer and elk every year
>in Wyoming, plus many other
>states. We kill alot
>of animals each year and
>I'm the primary reloader for
>most of our group.
>They rely on me (good
>or bad ) to
>load quality loads. I'm
>no expert by any means,
>but will share our field
>results.
>
>We found that the SSTs didn't
>penetrate or hold up as
>well as other premium bullets
>on elk. Antelope and
>deer were fine, but found
>many fragmented bullets with elk.
> Calibers range from 7mm
>Mag, 300 Win Mag to
>270 WSMs.
>
>With that in mind, we moved
>to Hornady Interbond and Nosler
>Accubonds and have seen excellent
>performance. Both of these
>bonded bullets by either manufactor
>held up and mushroomed perfectly
>on elk. Everyone in
>our group now shoots these
>with high confidence.
>
>This year, I am loading some
>Barnes TSX's for my son's
>7mm and they will be
>tested on antelope.
>
>ODDNUT1
>Kirt C.
I think the caliber you choose has something to do with your bullets fragmenting. You are shooting high velocity calibers which need a thicker jacketed bullet on them in order to penetrate. If you were to slow down your loads with the SST's I bet you'd see some better results. I shoot vmaxs in my .243 and have had a bullet pass through a coyote from the chest(frontal facing shot) out the hind end. Vmaxs are suppose to fragment but I don't push the loads very fast and in return the bullet holds together.
>AT 01:14?AM (MST)
>
>My family has alot of field
>experience with the SST's.
>Our hunting group of about
>10, chases alot of antelope,
>deer and elk every year
>in Wyoming, plus many other
>states. We kill alot
>of animals each year and
>I'm the primary reloader for
>most of our group.
>They rely on me (good
>or bad
) to >load quality loads. I'm
>no expert by any means,
>but will share our field
>results.
>
>We found that the SSTs didn't
>penetrate or hold up as
>well as other premium bullets
>on elk. Antelope and
>deer were fine, but found
>many fragmented bullets with elk.
> Calibers range from 7mm
>Mag, 300 Win Mag to
>270 WSMs.
>
>With that in mind, we moved
>to Hornady Interbond and Nosler
>Accubonds and have seen excellent
>performance. Both of these
>bonded bullets by either manufactor
>held up and mushroomed perfectly
>on elk. Everyone in
>our group now shoots these
>with high confidence.
>
>This year, I am loading some
>Barnes TSX's for my son's
>7mm and they will be
>tested on antelope.
>
>ODDNUT1
>Kirt C.
I think the caliber you choose has something to do with your bullets fragmenting. You are shooting high velocity calibers which need a thicker jacketed bullet on them in order to penetrate. If you were to slow down your loads with the SST's I bet you'd see some better results. I shoot vmaxs in my .243 and have had a bullet pass through a coyote from the chest(frontal facing shot) out the hind end. Vmaxs are suppose to fragment but I don't push the loads very fast and in return the bullet holds together.
