Hornady SST's for deer in 308???

[Kevin R]

Hello,

Has anyone had good luck with the Hornady SST? I'm getting good accuracy with the 165gr from my 308 and want use it for deer and caribou?? I have read that it has the potential to destroy allot of meat, but my main concern is getting a good kill??

Some questions I have.

Will it perform well at any distance? Is it much different then the Nosler Balistic Tip? ( I don't have any experience with that one either) Am I better to use a bonded bullet like the Accubond?

I'm not interested in using a copper bullet.

Any info will help. Thanks.

Kevin.

 

[tnshooter111]

The sst is a great bullet for deer sized game.

 

[fj40mojo]

I've seen 3 deer killed with variations of this bullet, all were DRT or near and none suffered catastrophic meat loss. I wouldn't hesitate to use it on elk either.

 

[Browninglover1]

The SST is an awesome bullet out of a 308. We shot 3 coyotes from 200 to 365 yards with the 150 grain Superformance load and the damage was devastating on the thin skinned coyotes.

Two weeks later my buddy was able to shoot 2 mule deer does one at just over 300 yards and the other was just shy of 550 with the same box of Superformance ammo. The one at 300 yards ran for 10 yards and piled up dead with a bullet right through her lungs and the only meat loss was from the ribs. The doe shot at 550 caught the bullet right through the shoulders and looked like she'd been hit by a 300 mag instead of a 308 she hit the ground so fast. Meat loss on the near shoulder was minimal and he only lost about a big hamburger sized piece of meat from her offside shoulder.

My boss shoots a 7mm Rem Mag with the 154 grain SST Superformance load and took an elk, bull moose, and a decent mule deer buck all with one shot. He hit the elk a little high in the shoulders (200 yard DRT shot) and it put some bullet fragments in the front end of the backstraps but he didn't really lose any meat off the shoulders. He hit his bull moose right through the shoulders at 150 yards and it dropped on the spot. The bullet didn't make it to the offside shoulder but the lungs were gelled. He hit the deer through the back of the lungs at about 275 yards and it ran 20 yards before piling up and he lost just a little of the offside rib meat.

The SST is a great bullet from everything I've seen. While it wouldn't be my first choice for Moose it worked great for my boss and you should never have problems with it on deer out of your 308.

 

[Dochawg]

I have not had a chance to shoot any game with the SST, but I am reloading in my 308 and I am getting pretty good groups. Does anyone else reload with them. For best results do you have to seat the bullet to the cannular or can it be long?

jb

 

[Browninglover1]

Dochawg when I reloaded the SST's for my 270 best accuracy was obtained by seating out the bullets closer to the lands so the cannelure was not even with the top of the case mouth but was ahead of it.

 

[zxd9]

Dochawg when I reloaded the SST's for my 270 best accuracy was obtained by seating out the bullets closer to the lands so the cannelure was not even with the top of the case mouth but was ahead of it.

Good to note. I shot my first loads at 100y and was not happy with the results when loaded at 2.75 in .308. I was going to try them loaded out further and your posting hopefully confirms my next step.

 

[Browninglover1]

@zxd9 if you don't like how the SST's shoot even after playing with the COAL try a different bullet weight. My 270 shot the 130 grain SST's at about 1.25 inches at 100 yards but would pile the 140 grainers into 1/2 inch groups on a good day (3/4 inch groups on a bad day) and still has my best group to date at just under 1/4 inch. Like an idiot I sold that gun so I could have a lightweight varmint gun and I would love to have it back.

 

[Kevin R]

Thanks for the info guy's, thats the bullet I'm going to use then.

Do you think I would be better with the 165gr or 150gr. I do like the higher BC on the 165's. The only reason I ask that is because I'm shooting a X-bolt and it's 1-12 twist, maybe the 150's would shoot better??

Kevin.

 

[Browninglover1]

Kevin do you have the standard X Bolt or the Varmint version (just curious cause I've always wanted to find someone with the varmint version to see how they liked the balance of it)? With a 1 in 12 inch twist either of those bullet weights should be fine. The Hornady's are so cheap I'd buy the 165's and try them first and if you don't like how they shoot try the 150's for another 25 bucks. Keep us posted on how they shoot.

 

[Kevin R]

Kevin do you have the standard X Bolt or the Varmint version (just curious cause I've always wanted to find someone with the varmint version to see how they liked the balance of it)? With a 1 in 12 inch twist either of those bullet weights should be fine. The Hornady's are so cheap I'd buy the 165's and try them first and if you don't like how they shoot try the 150's for another 25 bucks. Keep us posted on how they shoot.

I have the standard X-bolt and I love it!

I have tried the 165's and they shoot pretty good. I've only tried 44,44.5 & 45gr's of Varget, so far 44.5gr's has been the best but not by much. I'm going to play around some more in around the 44.5 range.

Kevin

 

[Browninglover1]

Kevin I have an X Bolt in 300 WSM and love it too! I like it so much I would really like to handle one of the varmint versions to see about buying one in a 22-250 for rock chucks. Good luck with your load development!

 

[buck52]

I have a Sauer .308m reload my own and always use 150 grn SST's, I kill an average 180 deer a year, Roe weighing up to 50lb on the hoof and Red up to 300lb on the hoof.

I get differing levels of meat damage but mostly acceptable, the only time its bad is when I placed the bullet badly but the mostly always drop on the spot, if the dont its because they hav'nt realised they are dead!

 

[sniper1958]

I shoot the 165 from my .30-06. My friend prefers the 150 in his .308. Absolutely lethal on deer! My first bang-flop was with the 165. I shot a doe at 175 yards between the shoulder and the spine. No twitching, running, kicking - nothing. I push my 165 at 2900 fps at the muzzle. I just tested the 180's and am more impressed than ever. You won't be disappointed with the SST.