Hornady SST for Long Range Shooting/Hunting?

[General RE LEE]

My .30 06 rings the steel at 600 yards with the 180 grain SST. I've been very impressed with the accuracy and I like the price point for the bullets. At 600 yards it's about 1700 FPS and 1175 fpe.

Anyone like the Hornady SST for long range shooting and hunting?

 

[MagnumManiac]

I used 208g A-maxes in my F-class rifle after switching from 200g Accubonds. Astounding accuracy for a cheap bullet…then I thought I would try them in a hunting rifle in 300WM with a standard SAAMI chamber and mag box of 3.4".
Got them to group into .75MoA and was happy with that.
The on game performance was dreadful!
The bullets would blow up on rib bone, tumble and leave a mess like a bomb had gone off with shrapnel everywhere.
Shot 4 animals ranging from small Fallow deer through to Sambar, same performance on every animal and all needed follow up shots to end their misery.
The SST is the same, very frangible.
I no longer use ANY Hornady bullets for hunting or target shooting…even the name gives me a sour taste.

To be perfectly honest, a Ballistic Tip does a better job at long range than a SST.

Cheers.

 

[LVJ76]

My experience with the SST has been different. The SST is a hunting bullet unlike the Amax that for target shooting.

On magnum or high velocity cartridges the SST on the heavier side for long range is great, it holds together well. I've seen several elk put down with the 7mm 162gr SST out of a 7 SAUM and 280 Rem and leave a nice exit wound with severe damage to vitals. Kills made between 120 yds out to little over 600 yds.

When pushed hard in my 7mm Rem Mag it's a great deer bullet out to 800 yds and for elk out to 600 yds.

With the 180gr SST you'll probably be good out to about 500 yds.

The 162gr Amax has worked great on Mulies and Coues with the 7mm-08, and that's because it doesn't push it too fast. But I would not try it in the 7mm Rem Mag. It's a very soft target bullet and will fragment on impact at those high velocities especially at close range.

At the muzzle velocity you will get in the 30-06 with the 180gr SST it will work perfectly. I like that this bullet will actually go through bone on shoulder shots.

The 139gr version in my 7mm-08 also works great out to 500 yds on deer. Also goes through shoulder and turns lungs to smoosh. For Deer it's my go to bullet in the 7mm-08 and the 162gr on the 7mm Rem Mag. Last year I did try the 168gr Berger Hybrid Hunter on my 7mm Rem Mag and has a similar performance on a Coues deer, DRT.

That said I would not try the light 139gr SST or any 140gr soft hunting bullet on my 7mm Rem Mag, they'll fragment on Impact.

Like any other hunting non bonded cup and core bullet, heavier for caliber bullets work best, especially on high velocity cartridges.

They SST's have never failed me, and I hope I didn't just jinx it LOL.

 

[General RE LEE]

I used 208g A-maxes in my F-class rifle after switching from 200g Accubonds. Astounding accuracy for a cheap bullet…then I thought I would try them in a hunting rifle in 300WM with a standard SAAMI chamber and mag box of 3.4".
Got them to group into .75MoA and was happy with that.
The on game performance was dreadful!
The bullets would blow up on rib bone, tumble and leave a mess like a bomb had gone off with shrapnel everywhere.
Shot 4 animals ranging from small Fallow deer through to Sambar, same performance on every animal and all needed follow up shots to end their misery.
The SST is the same, very frangible.
I no longer use ANY Hornady bullets for hunting or target shooting…even the name gives me a sour taste.

To be perfectly honest, a Ballistic Tip does a better job at long range than a SST.

Cheers.

I thought the AMax was essentially a ELD-M and not a SST.

 

[MagnumManiac]

I thought the AMax was essentially a ELD-M and not a SST.

Perhaps you are correct….but the number of times Hornady have changed the construction and names of their bullets it's hard to keep up.
I was sure the A-max was the same construction as the SST…if I am wrong, I stand corrected.

Cheers.

 

[LVJ76]

Perhaps you are correct….but the number of times Hornady have changed the construction and names of their bullets it's hard to keep up.
I was sure the A-max was the same construction as the SST…if I am wrong, I stand corrected.

Cheers.

I thought the AMax was essentially a ELD-M and not a SST.

Yes it is hard to keep track.

The ELD-M is an improved Amax. The SST, ELD-X, Vmax, Interlocks, Interbonds and GMX are their hunting bullets, and I probably missed a few.

 

[2ndson]

I shot those SST in my muzzleloader a few years ago. I was shooting XTP and they came out this the SST (easy to load) They shot great, repeatable, and accurate, even in a dirty MZ. Shot two deer with them and had the same experience you stated above (75 yards, right behind the shoulder no blood trail and died 100 yards away ). The first one I thought was just odd, the second one convinced me to go back to my XTP. Can't explain the reason, just had to switch back because of the non existant blood trail.

 

[bengineer]

My .30 06 rings the steel at 600 yards with the 180 grain SST. I've been very impressed with the accuracy and I like the price point for the bullets. At 600 yards it's about 1700 FPS and 1175 fpe.

Anyone like the Hornady SST for long range shooting and hunting?

Take a look at Nathan Fosters info at www.ballisticstudies.com Treasure trove of experience with lots of bullets and calibers.

 

[Terry Lightle]

Used them in my 264 Win Mag when I had it ,wish it was still here.Had great results with the 129 grain on whitetails ,think that was the weight,been a while ago.

 

[Steves1911]

I've been using the 117gr 257 to fill our crop damage doe tags. I've had mixed results with 2 clean pass through kills that showed golfball sized exits 1 at 75yds and 1 at 280yds. The third deer was at 325 yds and the bullet came apart on a rib and what was left of jacket and base was stopped on the offside hide. The bullet shredded everything in every direction once it hit that rib and made an absolute mess. Muzzle velocity is 3375 so I really didn't expect them to hold up great at close range and after killing the one so close I was really impressed but after the last one I'm left scratching my head. These deer aren't huge 150lbs or so at best.

 

[DJ Fergus]

I've took animals with the 162 7mm sst & 180 30 cal sst. Instantaneous kills are the normal for the sst on deer sized game. Accuracy was very good for me, especially for a traditional hunting bullet. The B.C. is just a little bit better than a ballistic tip, quite a bit better than a partiton. Not as high b.c. as a Berger or eld.

 

[Jud96]

I had a .270 140gr SST barely expand at 720 yards. Muzzle velocity was around 3000fps. The bullet went through both shoulders of a whitetail doe. The exit wound was about 1/2". At closer ranges inside 300 yards the exit wounds would be 1-3" in diameter. It's a great bullet out to 400 yards.

 

[jbo829]

I've had very little experience but the little I've had was more favorable for the amax I've shot 139gr sst in a 280 rem and a 162gr amax the amax perform better would leave an exit wound on everything still have 700 to shoot the 139gr sst would always go in and blow up never an exit wound every animal died I've shot with them 5 with the amax and 7 with the sst all shots where 320 yards and in

 

[General RE LEE]

I had a .270 140gr SST barely expand at 720 yards. Muzzle velocity was around 3000fps. The bullet went through both shoulders of a whitetail doe. The exit wound was about 1/2". At closer ranges inside 300 yards the exit wounds would be 1-3" in diameter. It's a great bullet out to 400 yards.

720 yards might be below the reliable expansion threshold of 1800 FPS.