Hornady 165 SST vs Nosler 165 BLT Hunting

[diamondmfarms]

Hornady 165 SST vs Nosler 165 Ballistic Tip Hunting
We are looking for a bullet to hunt whitetails from 50 yards to 400yards and put some holes in paper the same distances.
I am worried about the bullets on game in and around the 50 yard marks. Not sure if they would exit or not.
1:10 twist 24" barrel 06 cal Rem 700
Trying to stay away from the recoil of the 180's
Or any ideas on a load that you all know that works well with this type of setup.

___________________________________
Thanks to everyone for all the help and
Long Range Hunting
God Speed diamondmfarms

 

[RJ338]

I have used the Ballistic Tip in the 06 at the 50 - 100yd ranges with DRT results and fine accuracy. The SST I have used were 338's and while never having any hunting results, in testing they appeared rather "soft". I think I would prefer the standard Interlock at 06 velocities. Just personal opinion but I don't think you are giving up any great long range reach using the plain cup and core bullets at 06 speeds. Inside 400yds any of the above will work with "proper application".

 

[kiwi3006]

My experience was that the NBT was easier to get to group. The SST was very fussy, about 0.5 grain either side of the sweet spot doubled or tripled group size. From memory the best load with both was 58 gr ADI2209/H4350, WW cases federal 210M primers. Vel about 2700 from a 22" barrel.
I shot a few red deer, hinds and stags with the NBT at close range 8m - 30 odd in the bush, I never lost an animal although not all dropped on the spot. Not all shots exited, but I didn't see that as a problem as I could see the dead deer from where I shot from.

Stu.

 

[500yd]

Hornady 165 SST vs Nosler 165 Ballistic Tip Hunting
We are looking for a bullet to hunt whitetails from 50 yards to 400yards and put some holes in paper the same distances.

165s will certainly put whitetails down, but in my opinion 150s are more suitable for a 308/30-06 for a couple of reasons. If you're hand loading, 125s/130s are even better.

1. The extra velocity yields a little flatter trajectory to over 500 yards.
2. The lighter bullets and powder loads are a little easier on the shoulder.

Since the mid 90s I've killed around 30 NW Missouri whitetails with Federal NBTs and Win BSTs with great success, head/neck/chest shots at long range. The only issue I've had is a few instances of the round not putting the animal down at less than 150 yds with lung shots. Seems to sail right through without producing enough shock or a large enough wound channel, assuming you don't hit a rib. If you hit a rib on entry at close range it's DRT. If you miss ribs a 2nd shot is often required.

Due to cost reasons, my next ammo purchase will likely be the Hornady Custom 150 SST. It's about $10 cheaper per box than Win BST. If I was a hand loader, I'd whip up some Barnes TTSX 130s, tune them to my 788, and never look back. 3000 FPS muzzle would shoot a nice bit flatter than my 2800 FPS 150s, and the solid copper bullet would allow shoulder shots that are not practical with NBT/BSTs.

In summary, if you're stuck with factory ammo, use the Custom SST 150s. If you hand load, go with the Barnes 130gr TTSX. Or if you want a really flat shooting zipper, load up the 110gr TTSX. Note the 243 Win is one of the most successful white tail calibers, and those bullets are 80-100gr. So a 110gr 30 cal is plenty big enough for whitetails.

 

[RFtinkerer]

I don't know that I'd suggest a 150, and especially a 125 gn over a 165. The velocity difference is overcome around 600 m or so for 150 vs 165, as the 165 preserves more due to a better BC. And the correction is only about 0.2 mils different, not much at all. The SSTs are explosive at fast muzzle velocities, as would be seen in the 50-100 meter range, and the 125s would probably be very bad for that close in. I think the heavier bullet would do better over the stated range.

 

[500yd]

I don't know that I'd suggest a 150, and especially a 125 gn over a 165. The velocity difference is overcome around 600 m or so for 150 vs 165, as the 165 preserves more due to a better BC. And the correction is only about 0.2 mils different, not much at all. The SSTs are explosive at fast muzzle velocities, as would be seen in the 50-100 meter range, and the 125s would probably be very bad for that close in. I think the heavier bullet would do better over the stated range.

You're looking at the short range aspect backwards. The occasional lack of expansion of the NBT 150/165/168/180 (and other heavy, high speed, plastic tipped bullets) at short range is precisely the reason to use the lighter bullets. The lighter bullets have less mass, less energy, and lower sectional density. Consequently they decelerate more rapidly when they pass through strictly flesh, initial expansion is more rapid, they mushroom better, and tend to stay inside the body cavity instead of exiting. The 165/168 will expand even less at short range, causing more pass throughs than the 150s. Keep in mind I've only had a few of these. Not all short range shots pass through without a kill. Depends on the individual animal and other factors.

As to the long range WT performance of the .30 NBT/BST 150s, here are some photos of a 515 yd (walking yardage) single shot doe kill a couple years ago. Click the thumbs and then the buttons at the bottom to navigate the full size images.

Photo Gallery

I killed her just before dark, walked off the distance and took the pics the following day. The pictures of the hunter in orange in the distance, Mom, who still hunts at age 68, were taken at max optical zoom, and no zoom, on the Fujitsu camera. I'm sitting at my firing position, she's standing by the gut pile. Gives a good visual indication of the range. Note the shot placement, severing the spinal cord at the base of the neck. The rifle on the left made this shot. The fiery red rifle on the right is the same Rem 788 .308 Win, but with a Boyds stock I hand finished and installed a few weeks after this kill.

 

[jehu]

I shot some deer this summer ,crop damage permits , with a Sako 7RM using Hornady 139gr SST Superperformance. Some of the animals shot in the vitals under 200yrds either fell down then got back up and limped into the woods or ran 50-70yrds and collapsed. Animals shot at 250-400yrds mostly fell where they were hit. I think the velocity of this load is so fast that the bullit does not expand very well at the shorter distances. I went to the Federal Nosler Ballistic Tips 150gr. Just my experiance.

 

[Scot E]

Maybe I am missing something here but the most common complaint with both the Nosler BT and the SST is that they are too soft and blow up on impact at the closer ranges. I think this was RFtinkerer's point as well.

I have personally never seen or heard of an under expansion issue at close range with either of those bullets.

Scot E.

 

[jehu]

I don't know if your missing anything but I'm just relaying my real world experiance that I encountered shooting aprox. 35 animals not punching paper. The OP is talking 165gr maybe the lighter bullits I was shooting cause what i explained happened to me.

 

[Catbird]

Like one of the other posts said,the Hornady were harder to get accurate.I have always had such good results with the BT's, both 150&180, it's kind of hard to use something else.If I take a double lunger,my favorite shot, they rarely go over 50 yards and leave a trail a blind guy could follow.Don't get me wrong,neck and head shots are nice too.No tracking.

 

[Gunpoor]

I have shot one deer with the 165SST out of a 300WSM at 400 yds. and it was a neck shot, DRT. My friend has shot 2 elk with this bullet, also a 300WSM, both through the vitals and both complete pass throughs with little meat damage. We are both using the same load which runs at 3000 ft/sec I cannot tell any difference in accuracy or POI between using the SST or the Interlock bullets. YMMV

 

[500yd]

Based on everyone's experience here with the plastic tipped bullets, both NBT/BST and the SST, the takeaway seems to be that at short range shot placement is critical. Bullet expansion seems unpredictable at short range, sometimes causing pass throughs with insufficient damage, sometimes the bullet over expanding or blowing up, dependig on the shot angle and the bullet path through the animal.

So I think our advice to fellow shooters of these bullets should be something like:

1. At longer ranges aim where you wish and the bullet will do its job
2. At short ranges aim for the neck/head if broadside or from behind
3. At short range, if head on, aim at the base of the neck.

#3 is a DRT shot with the .30 150gr NBT/BST at any range. If you hit the spine s/he is DRT. If you hit a little low the round will tuck under the spine and between the shoulders, travelling the length of the body cavity, turning the organs to bloody jello. I killed a medium-large doe (140 lbs gutted) with this shot placement at less than 30 yds in a howling, pouring rainstorm in the mid 90s. She folded instantly, dead before she hit the ground I'd guess. After I hung her in the garage and skinned her I found the remains of the mangled jacket/base, lead missing, in the flesh in front of the right hip. The downside to this cavity shot is the bloody mess you have when gutting them. With head/neck shots I only get a little blood on my gloves during gutting. With this one I had blood up to my elbows.

 

[Nomad]

With different hunter and different bullets all kinds of reviews will be shared about it..
Having hunted for several years and found that shot placement and a a standard lead tip
bullet still gets the job done..
Most shots are under a hundred yards. People speak of 300 plus yard shots walking up a
ridge at 7000 plus elevation and off hand shot.........LOL.
Shot a plastic tip nosler 165gr bullet once on a quarting shot could put a football in the exit wound.......no I'll save my meat lead tip works and have meat in the freezer yearly.......
Now long range shooting is a different subjects Nosler 180gr BT and others plastic tip
do a great job.
Have used the Nosler Accubond once was happy with it. But went back to the 180gr Sierra GK.
This is just my shared opinion or ....... .02

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

Why don't you just use a 165 hornady interlock boat-tail(lead tip) and 4350 with a wlr or 215 and get it over with. I've had three '06 rifles that like that combo, and most went to 57 grain IMR or so. The sst's are flakey to get shooting and the nos bt's are explosive. I'd use either the lead tip hornady (I shoot 100's of these in my 300 win) or the nos AB.