Anybody shooting the Hornady SST for deer?

daisy2007

New member
Wondering what your guys experiences have been with these bullets on deer sized game?
How did they perform?
I am thinking about using them this season for my 7MM Remington, specifically the 139gr.
 
I worked up this load several years ago for a Wy. antelope hunt. The gun is a Rem. Mtn. rifle with a very slender barrel. PLEASE BE ADVISED, THIS LOAD IS A LITTLE WARM. Primers were fine, just a very slight extractor mark on a couple of cases.

45.2 gr IMR4064, Hornady 139gr SST, CCI 250 primers. Avg. speed 2978, ES 26.6 SD 10.0

Shot was taken at 286 yards. I was aiming just behind the shoulder but the wind was stronger then I thought. Bullet entered dead center low on the shoulder, took out the top 2/3 of the heart and exited off side shoulder. The goat never took a step, fell on his nose, and kicked a rear leg once.
 
I hve killed two deer with them. One was killed at 513 yds the bullet was a complete pass through and left a soft ball sided hole on the exit side that actually blew the apex of the deer heart out of it's chest.

The second was at 76 yds the bullet did not pass through and fragmented to the extreme I was finding small fragment through out my deer. Even though I did not hit the front shoulder I still destroyed it.

Both deer were shot with a 300 wsm 165 sst traveling at 3100 fps.

I loaded up the same bullet for a friend to shoot out if his 30-06 traveling at 2980 fps he shot a nice 6x6 bull at 280 yds Buttelt was found just under the hide on the opposite shoulder. We weighed the bullet and it weighed 132 gr. Not bad

So in short. Not a bad bullet as long as your target is not to close.
 
Have witnessed the SST in 06 kill several deer.
I use the Interlocks in 270.
Either bullet is way more than needed on up to 150# deer from 50- 400+ yards.
Seventeen this year.
Plus two with 110 gr. in an 06.
We just shoot what the guns like.
 
I shoot the 154g SST in my 7 Mag with 63.0g of IMR 4350, Rem brass with 9 1/2 primer, bullet seated just barely touching the lands, less than 1/2" groups.

My 7mag would not shoot the 139's.

The 154 SSt is one whale of a deer bullet, good penetration with great shock. I shot one buck at 325 yds and he jumped straight up in the air like a bottle rocket going off, landed on his back with the horns stuck in the ground!
 
I love 'em. I've shot three deer, half a dozen or so antelope, and a number of hogs with my 6.5x55 shooting 129 grain SSTs. On shots from close to nearly 300 yards, I've never recovered a bullet. On-game performance has been excellent, with evidence of complete expansion and massive tissue damage. Interestingly enough though, I have noted that they don't cause as much meat damage/waste as the Barnes I shot before or the 125 grain NBTs I shoot in my .30-30 AI. They're not a real "hard" bullet, and I suspect that in a higher velocity cartridge you'd get more explosive results. I think they're about perfect for mid-range cartridges like the 6.5, .270, -06, etc. For that reason, in your 7, I'd recommend the 154 grain version.
 
They are the bullet of choiice for me in my .260 Remington. 140 gr. SSts definitely have cool factor besides they shoot so well.
 
They did not perform very well in my wife's 25-06(117gr) on a large muley, had to shoot the thing three times, all within 3 inches of each other and all lung shots. We switched to the 100gr BT and it has done so much better. Bang, deer stumbles and falls right down
 
Would the GMX be a better bullet? Supposed to have better weight retention than the SST.
Anyone with any experience using the GMX? What's your story?
 
The SST is the Hornady equivalent to the Nosler Baliistic Tip. It is very frangible with results varying from highly dramatic, immediate kills to excessive fragmentation with excessive meat damage or need for follow-on shots. I believe they are best served slower than normal for shots under 75 yds and at normal to high velocities for long range hunting.

The problem is you rarely get to choose your hunting range with any certainty. I think you would be best served with a cup and core style bullet or a premium style of bullet at normal 7mmRM velocities.

You can have excellent results from the SST or BT for years and then have one bad day with them and feel terrible because of it.

The GMX is at the total opposite end of the spectrum as the SST. It is designed for very deep penetration with virtually no weight loss. Great for tougher game than deer. The Accubond, Partition and Interbond heads are excellent for an all round load but you can get by just fine with Core-Lokts, PowerPoints and Interlocks for deer size game.

EDIT - I must recant some of my post here. I was thinking V-Max when I stated that the SST was very frangible. It is simply an Interlock with a polymer tip to increase BC and improve expansion. It is a very viable whitetail bullet at non-magnum speeds. My apologies.
 
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I'm like ackleyman with the 7MM RM and the 154GR SSTs, except I'm using 60 grains of IMR4831 and CCI 250 primers. Seven deer have succumbed to that combination of which 6 were one shot DRT and one 'poorly' shot. The poorly shot had splash(shoulder hit), however, the resulting bullet breakup (fragmentation) plus 2 follow up shots finished the job. If we had waited an hour? the first shot would have finished the job on its own but we we chose not to wait and risk not finding that buck. Shooter error.
The others were pretty well pulverized through the heart lung area and all had exit wounds and they were quarter sized. One of those bucks dressed out at 350 pounds.
Pretty good shocking factor when that bullet passes through.
For us it works very well..
 
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I shot a medium sized pig at about 150 yards with a 25-06 using the 117gr. SST.

It was a spine shot but the bullet still exited. I cannot complain.
 
I use a 130gr SST in 270 cal 308 case (2850fps). At close range (< 80yards) they tend to blow up a bit and I have retrieved copperless case bases, but then again NO deer has made more than 20 paced before they dropped and most only one or two paces. They go of like an internal grenade in the boiler.

That's just my experience though
 
Originally Posted By: ANGCorsairThe SST is the Hornady equivalent to the Nosler Baliistic Tip. It is very frangible with results varying from highly dramatic, immediate kills to excessive fragmentation with excessive meat damage or need for follow-on shots. I believe they are best served slower than normal for shots under 75 yds and at normal to high velocities for long range hunting.

The problem is you rarely get to choose your hunting range with any certainty. I think you would be best served with a cup and core style bullet or a premium style of bullet at normal 7mmRM velocities.

You can have excellent results from the SST or BT for years and then have one bad day with them and feel terrible because of it.

The GMX is at the total opposite end of the spectrum as the SST. It is designed for very deep penetration with virtually no weight loss. Great for tougher game than deer. The Accubond, Partition and Interbond heads are excellent for an all round load but you can get by just fine with Core-Lokts, PowerPoints and Interlocks for deer size game.

EDIT - I must recant some of my post here. I was thinking V-Max when I stated that the SST was very frangible. It is simply an Interlock with a polymer tip to increase BC and improve expansion. It is a very viable whitetail bullet at non-magnum speeds. My apologies.


Your not entirely wrong. I started out shooting SST's in my new .308 last year. They performed very well on paper but not so well on deer. I hit a doe right behind the front shoulder last year. She was only 100 yards away and standing still. I had a good rest and took a good shot. When the bullet impacted all I seen was a massive cloud of hair and the deer took off. I walked over to the spot and all I found was a huge amount of hair and no blood. My son and I tried tracking her for several hours only to find a couple drops of blood several hundred yards back in the woods. After that I gave up on the SST's. I believe they would be a good bullet if not pushed to fast but at higher velocities I won't trust them.

JEV
 
I shot two deer last year with 139 gr SST's in a 7mm-08, I could see no advantage over the 139 gr soft point. I have used the 154 gr soft point in a 7mm Rem Mag for several years and much prefer it to the 139's.
 
I've only shot one forkhorn deer with the 139gr at about 60yds.He ran about 150yds and dropped.Cant say I was impressed with the performance but they group well enough from my 7x57 and .280 Rem.I use Sierra bullets now because they shoot and perform better from both.
 
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