Hornady SST

My brother has taken loads of deer with the 139 gr. SST out of a 7mm Rem Mag. I think it would be a great choice for the 280 Rem.
 
They work, I used the 165 sst all last year. Never got an exit on the deer. I have switched to the Sierra HPBT for this year though

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I think they are too fragile. I have seen them dynamite with a slow .308. I would stick with Interlocks. They are cheaper, and every bit as accurate. They also cost less. Just my opinion.
 
I used that bullet in a 7mm-08, they worked allright but if I were to use a premium bullet I would go to the inner-bond, they seemed more accurate and seemed to work better in my opinion. I would also agree with sbhooper, use the 139 grain interlock they are all the bullet you need for deer.
 
Originally Posted By: sbhooperI think they are too fragile. I have seen them dynamite with a slow .308. I would stick with Interlocks. They are cheaper, and every bit as accurate. They also cost less. Just my opinion.

I won't shoot them for deer in my .308 anymore. I have a feeling I was pushing them on the upper end for speed, but I was not impressed with their performance on deer. Can't say they weren't accurate though....
 
I shoot the 154 and 162 in 7 mags, fast and they have never failed me. The 162 in particular is a very tough bullet, both the 154 and 162 have fantastic BC's.

I have a friend that hunts deer all over the usa and canada and he shoots a 270 with the 130 sst with close to a max load of H4350...boy does he have some great stories to tell.
He had rather fight than switch, but he does like a bullet that dumps all the energy on the animal. He says that when you open one of his deer up, they look as if they had been shot with a 150g out of a 300 Win Mag.

In the 30 Caliber, the Hornady 150g flat base el cheapo bullet is fantastic to say the least, boy do they knock a hole in a deer on the off side.
 
First off, I commend your choice of caliber for a Deer rifle. In my humble opinion you couldn't have chosen better. Even better when you handload, about every Big Game bullet ever made is available in 7mm.

I've done more experimenting with my .280 than any other rifle I own, always looking for that perfect combination of accuracy and terminal performance. I've shot both the 139 SSTs and Interbonds, both with good results, but I keep coming back to the 140 Barnes TSX. I just can't find a better bullet.

Try the SST, try the Interbond, try every 7mm bullet available. Just make sure you include the 140 TSX. With a little experimentation you'll find the correct powder charge and OAL for your rifle. Then I think your search will be over, especially after you shoot a couple Deer with it.

My rifle likes H-4831, R-19 and R-22. H-4831 gives me the highest velocity and good accuracy, R-19 is about the same, but 55.5 gr of R-22, although a little less velocity, about 2950 vs 3050-3100 with the other 2, produces near half minute accuracy. That's what I've settled on. This is from a 26" barrel.

Not intending to jump your thread, but as a fellow .280 shooter I have to urge you not to pass up trying the TSX.

By the way, my .280 is one of those "inaccurate" #1 Rugers.
 
Thanks for the replies ive owned my 280 actualy its a 7mm express since 1981 when i bought it new and i have killed a truck load of deer with it but i bought these sst to give a try i always shot nosler ballistic tips and love them but they were out so i though i would give them a try.
 
The sst bullets do alot of meat damage. If you hit shoulder its going to jello the whole thing. I just started using berger bullets and they definately perform well with great accuracy and velocity. I shoot a 7 mag, also h 4831 and re 22 have been my favorite powders. I like the barnes 140ttst alot and am gonna load some 120s for antelioe next year.
 
I spent awhile infront of the bullet rack yesterday with the same question. This fall will be the first I hunt deer with my new 284. I pondered the SST for quite a spell there. Recalling all I had heard and read about them. I just couldn't get myself to jump into them based on the input I had gotten. I'm sure the are fantastic performers on paper. As are the A-Max. Another bullet I love for their accuracy. But,for my deer hunting this fall in the 284 I've come to the 140 Sierra Spitzer and the 150 ballistic tip.
 
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Well this past weekend I killed 2 does, one in Minnesota, and one in North Dakota. One deer was hit at 150 yards in the lungs and it EXITED the far front shoulder, other one blew the neck out on a 60 yard neck shot. My son and I have taken over 16 deer in the last 4 years in Minn, Nodak, and Wyoming with 30-06 165SST handloads chronoed at 2810 FPS, we have dropped most in there tracks or they have gone no more than 50 yards and dropped. Yes they can be a little tough on meat but we have never lost a deer shot with this bullet. We will not load any other bullets for our deer hunting rounds. Thats my $.02 on the subject, Good luck on your choice of bullet.----Riflemann
 
I shot 165SST out of a 17" XP100. Accuracy is great meat damage is great to. They dont run very far.

All you can do is get what you want to try and go for it. Get them shooting and hit something and see if you like it.
 
Well i killed 2 deer with them this week a big doe at 413 yrds shot her in the shoulder and it went threw both shoulders with a exit hole the size of a 50 cent piece. The other was a 8 point buck at 320yrds he was walking away after i missed him at 250 yrds i shot over him i put the crosshairs on top of his head and hit him at the base of his neck just above the shoulders and it blew a hole as big as a quarter out the front and took out the lungs somehow i think they stay together pretty good and they are very accuate.
 
I set out on a quest to help my dad find a bullet for his gun a few years ago. He'd all but lost faith in his .30-06 's ability to knock animals down quickly and keep them down. He'd shot several different factory offerings with all of them performing essentially the same. Animal is shot, bullet passes all the way through, animal walks or runs and usually needs a 2nd or 3rd shot to end the hunt. He's never lost an animal to my knowledge but had to track a few.
Now some of you might ask what's wrong here? The bullets did what they were supposed to and the animal died... Well a 1" hole all the way through the vitals will kill almost anything but is it using all of those foot pounds of energy on the animal? No, because the bullet still has energy to pass through the other side of the animal and continue into a safe backdrop... It's a great idea for those who like to track their animals because you'll have two holes spraying blood...
Well we decided to go a different route. Why not shot a bullet that is accurate but dumps all the energy inside of the animal? That's what brought me to the SST. We settled on the 165 grain to get a little more speed out of the '06. Well accuracy was amazing with all test loads under 2". We settled on a mild load of IMR4350 that would put 5 shots in a quarter.
Well, time to see how it performs... I had a deer tag to fill so I borrowed my dad's gun and we ended up finding a good 3-point and got within 350 yards. One shot and the deer immediately jumped into the trees about 10 feet away... Well I felt good about the shot but was skeptical on how the bullet performed... We ended up finding the deer right by the first tree he had run by. After cleaning and skinning the animal we saw the devastating results. One whole side of the ribcage was very badly damaged and the lungs and heart looked like hamburger. Exactly what we were looking for. Our meat processor even asked us what we shot habitat with and couldn't believe it when we said it was a .30-06.

One sample test is never enough so I used it the following year to shot another buck at 75 yards. The deer dropped so fast that I couldn't see him after the shot. My dad also used it to harvest a small bull elk at 50 yards and it ran 10 yards and fell over. Since then we've taken 2 cow elk and another deer with the SST and all have had similar results to the first in regards to the damage. The furthest an animal has travelled was the bull elk that ran 10 yards. To say that we are pleased with the SST is an understatement. We've used bonded bullets, the HPBTs, and several others and this bullet seems to fit our requirements.

Again, the bonded high penetrating bullets will kill but I just don't like to track. I like dumping all that energy in the animal.

Now all of the shots were broadside and behind the shoulder. It is probably not the best bullet for shoulder shots but I think it would still do the job.
 
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