Hornady 123g SST - What Can I Use It For?

CalCoyote

CalCoyote

New member
I loaded up some Hornady 123g SSTs over som H414 and went to the range last Saturday and they they shot an incredible group out of my 260 Rem. I thought I had found my deer bullet. I called the Hornady help line the following Monday and when I told the tech guy what I was going to use it for here is the response I got:

Me: I use this gun with 100g NBTs to call coyotes but I was going to use these 123g SSTs for deer.
Tech: How big a deer?
Me: Idaho Mule Deer this October.
Tech: Uhhhhh. I don't think I would do that. There is a very good chance that it won't penetrate. Mulies are too big of a deer for that bullet.
ME: Really? Okay, well I also hunt Blacktails here is Western Oregon and they are typically a smaller deer than Mulies. How about using the 123g for them?
Tech: Nope. I would not use the 123g SST for Blacktails either, but they would work great on those coyotes that you call.


So, has anyone on this forum used this bullet for hunting at 260 Rem velocities. What were your results? Is it ONLY good for shooting coyotes? I can use an 85g SGK in my 243 running at 3180 FPS for deer but, a 123g SST running at 2900 fps is too much velocity??? I am confused. What was this bullet designed for? Just the Grendel?
 
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Looking at the bullet configuration, I can understand the tech guy's hesitation since the ballistic tip will have a greater probability of limited penetration on a large animal...Unless you just have a bunch of the 123gr SSTs, You might want to consider bumping up to the 129gr Interlock SP...For most small/young White Tails that we have around MO, I would be willing to at least try what you have, but having shot a lot of the ballistic tips, they do tend to 'explode' at any form of resistance...
 
I shot some large deer with the 129g Sp, and consider it one of the best bullets for a 6.5 of any kind! Great penetration, great expansion, knocks a baseball size exit hole in a deer, great blood trail!

I shoot SST, but heavy for caliber. In 7mm I shoot the 154 and 162g SST.
 
I shot some large deer with the 129g Sp, and consider it one of the best bullets for a 6.5 of any kind! Great penetration, great expansion, knocks a baseball size exit hole in a deer, great blood trail!

I shoot SST, but heavy for caliber. In 7mm I shoot the 154 and 162g SST.
 
Yes you absolutely can use the 123 SST for deer hunting. I don't know why anyone would say that you could not. It would probably even be fine on elk.
 
Been using (4+ years) 6.8 SPC with the 120sst on hogs, whitetail and Axis deer up to 275lbs.

Total of 36 Axis and all dropped in their tracks except one, he ran 65yds and the shot was at 286yds.

Shot placement is king!
 
Ok not a 260, but we (my son and I) have hunted deer for over 12 years with 165gr. SST's out of 30-06 and have killed over 20+ whitetails and around 8 muleys and this bullet works great. Last year my son took a 11 point muley at 385 lazered yards with one shot DRT. We have buddies that use the SST's in there 243 and they put deer in the freezer. I think you got the janitor on the phone who was disgruntled at his job. ( I worked 15 years as a janitor from high school to 30 years old). I recommend SST bullets to anyone for deer. If I would go away from 30-06 I would look seriously at a 260.
 
I'm loading them in my grendel for use on deer & pigs.

now if I can just find a place to hunt...

So far I've found that my rifle likes 95gr VMax and 123gr SST's. It's OK with the 129's but so far I have not found a load that's as accurate as the 123's.

So I'm loading the 95 VMax for predator calling and the 123 SST for general purpose to include big game or predators incidental to other hunting.

if I ever find a place around here to actually hunt.
 
Originally Posted By: CZ527Yes you absolutely can use the 123 SST for deer hunting. I don't know why anyone would say that you could not. It would probably even be fine on elk.

I think the SST line of bullets is the worst mistake that Hornady ever made. My experience with them in 30 cal at low velocities was not good. I will never load them for big game again. They come apart way too easily. They are suppose to be Interlocks, but they sure do not perform like them. If you hit any bone, they would be a disaster on elk. There are much better options for that (Partitions, Abs, or even regular Interlocks).

Personally, IF I was hard up enough to load them again, they would be for targets or varmints. There are far too many good options to load them, as far as I am concerned.

Just my opinion.
 
I bet he thought you meant Amax... Thats the most popular 123 grain bullet they make. The 129 grain SST has been the standard for 6.5 CPX2 class game for years in .264, dropping down 6 grains shouldn't make a difference. It's listed for deer in their manual. It all depends who you get on the phone up there. I had a tech there tell me once that Vmax were great deer bullets as long as you don't shoulder shoot... Gotta say he was right in my experience.
 
the older hornady manuals listed hunting as a use for the AMax, they've since dropped that recommendation.

I've not used .308 SST's for anything so can't comment on them.
 
Originally Posted By: sandy hicksI dont have a 6.5,but I do have 243s,708,7mag, and a 308 that I load with the sst.

I took a second look on Hornady's website and they call this the 123g SST (Grendel/Lapua). Evidently they engineered this one for slower velocities than the 260 Rem. I will use this for coyotes this winter, but that is about all.
 
I am new here and this post is about a month old but thought I would tell you my experience with SSTs. They work on Mule Deer/White Tail and Antelope just fine. I have used out of my 7mm 139/154/162 grain SST to take game from 212 yards out to 646 yards. None of them were shot more than once and only one ran. He went 21 feet down hill and piled up. As for the 123 SST, I also use it out of my 6.5x55. It's basically the same as a 260 if you ask me. I took 2 Mule Deer with it last year. One Buck at 156 yards he was dead before his legs folded on him. This was with a muzzle velocity of 2875 also which is quite a bit faster than the Grendel it is made for. Took a fat doe as well at 313 yards, she died the same way. So to me I say use them they work fine. Side note the 123 AMAX works too.
 
I don't agree with the Hornady Tech's answers and I don't disagree. I think he based his answer entirely on the 123 SST only. This bullet is designed for rapid expansion and fragmentation can be around 50ish%. So he is basing his answer on this caliber/bullet weight only. Like is mentioned above a 154 or 162 7MM SST are devastating.

If you want a good 6.5 hunting bullet try the new ELD-X, Accubond, LR Accubond, Barnes TTSX or even the 140 AMAX. Lots of good choices.
 
I know I'm a little late to the party, but I run a 6.5 Creedmoor with 140 grn Berger VLD absolutely devastated 2 mulies and an antelope last year. I couldn't get the sst's to shoot worth a darn in my rifle.
 
I run 123gr SST's from my Grendel at about 2600 FPS. I don't load them for coyotes but can tell you I have killed a handful with them. They were all just shot while deer hunting. I can tell you that if you are in to saving fur, I would choose a different bullet. As for deer, they work there too. I have killed about 6 with them from my Grendel from 100yds out to about 400 yds and all were one shot kills. Not sure what kind of velocities you are seeing from the 260, but guess they will work there as well. I don't know for a fact, but can't imagine they engineered that bullet to only perform at velocities within a couple hundred FPS of a set point.



Shot these two last year within minutes of each other. I can tell you from this single experience, I would rather use them on deer, than I would on coyotes.
 

If you are worried about lost game, use them on pigs and then head shoot them. Even if the bullet fragments, chances are the ft-lbs of energy will turn the brain to mush. Just shoot them right and don't worry about it. The bullet is NOT going to blow up on the surface if I am a betting man.

But I won't shoot "edible game" with a plastic tipped bullet, because I may have to make a body shot, and I don't want a lost animal OR a mess of bloodshot meat I have to trim around. My experience with plastic tipped bullets showed too much of both, so I try to use either controlled expansion or mono-metal now.
 
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