Hornady SST in 30-06 and 7mm Rem Mag

[daniel brothers]

My tikka 7 mag has been shooting deer with 162 sst for two years... all deer have dropped except two bucks in the 180 lb class... one ran 15 yds and the other 40 yds. No exit holes on any animal... just blow up stuff inside. I will be changing next year to 130 or 140 gr Barnes triple x bullets because if a deer is going to run even a tad, it better bleed blood... but I'd rather have DRT.... so I'm hoping that higher speed, lighter bullets like the barnes will dump them on the spot without the need for blood trails.

 

[DDWing]

I have a thread about getting my buddies old rem 700 .30-06 up and running. We were able to get his group size down from 4 inches to 2 inches. He had several boxes of the Hornady superformance ammo in .30-06 185 grain I believe. The best we could do consistently was 2 inches. He shoots a nice buck at ~50-75 yards. He experienced the same thing. Clean pass through, no blood trail, exit hole a tad larger than entrance. Tracking job was about 150 yards. It's was planted pines so it was easy. If the buck had ran into briars or thickets it would have been a different story.

He's kind of stuck in his ways and doesn't want to change anything up during the season. So we are back to the drawing board as soon as deer season is over. Probably won't be using superformance again in his rifle.

Both of our rifles are shooting sub moa with the factory ammo. We love the ammo itself, but that is three deer that have been shot with no recovery. I absolutely hate to let an animal go to waste. I think we will put those two rifles back in rhe safe until i can do some hand loads for them. We have other rifles that we can use for the rest of this deer season.

 

[daniel brothers]

I never had a problem with their accuracy..they are great.

 

[IllinoisBurt]

Last year my wife shot two deer, one at about 30 yrds, and the other at about 50 yrds. I shot one at about 185 yrds. No recovery or blood trail on either deer. This morning i shot a large doe at 72 yrds, straight broadside, perfect placement in the boiler room, deer runs off, no blood trail. I searched for the deer, or some sign of a hit for almost five hours. No luck. Checked my rifle for zero, scope is dead on. Has anyone had any experiences on pass through with these bullets and no expansion? I have dropped a number of deer with the SST, but all were at longer ranges.
Thanks.

How do you know you hit the deer? See/hear any impact? Reaction from the animals?

Not trying to be argumentative. I have seen plenty of accurate guns on benches then shooters completely miss a gallon milk jug at 50 yards when fired offhand.

If you are confident of hits, how did you search? A deer can run a darned good distance even with a lethal hit. Finding a starting point 180 yards away can be a challenge without immediate blood sign. I've found deer people "missed" or gave up on by simply following game trails a few hundred yards without blood or other obvious sign. They are creatures of habit and will head for known safety given the opportunity. Dogs are really good in these situations too.

 

[DDWing]

How do you know you hit the deer? See/hear any impact? Reaction from the animals?

Not trying to be argumentative. I have seen plenty of accurate guns on benches then shooters completely miss a gallon milk jug at 50 yards when fired offhand.

If you are confident of hits, how did you search? A deer can run a darned good distance even with a lethal hit. Finding a starting point 180 yards away can be a challenge without immediate blood sign. I've found deer people "missed" or gave up on by simply following game trails a few hundred yards without blood or other obvious sign. They are creatures of habit and will head for known safety given the opportunity. Dogs are really good in these situations too.

We are both excellent shots and have taken many deer over the years. At those distances, we could hit eith our eyes closed, but i understand your line of questioning. The doe that i shot the other morning was a definite hit.

 

[Glenn Tullius]

I have shot a few does at 100 yards or less with the 150g in a .308 win. All dropped dead in their tracks!

 

[IllinoisBurt]

We are both excellent shots and have taken many deer over the years. At those distances, we could hit eith our eyes closed, but i understand your line of questioning. The doe that i shot the other morning was a definite hit.

If there are coyotes in the area, not much point looking after a day on the ground. Otherwise take a hike down the main game trails will probably turn her up. Vultures and crows in a nearby tree are fairly common.

 

[KyCarl]

I tryed their Superpreformance 117gr.SST's in my 25-06 and I didn't care for them at all!
I went back to Nosler with 100gr. Partitions?

 

[DDWing]

If there are coyotes in the area, not much point looking after a day on the ground. Otherwise take a hike down the main game trails will probably turn her up. Vultures and crows in a nearby tree are fairly common.

I searched over 200 acres and found nothing. I have also been watching for buzzards. Those deer traveled a long distance. The bullets didn't do their job.