elkaholic
Well-Known Member
+1 I had 180 sst's blow up in mid air at over 3400' when fired out of a three groover......Rich
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SST and Balistic Tips on deer. A good choice?
- Thread starter deermaster
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+1 I had 180 sst's blow up in mid air at over 3400' when fired out of a three groover......Rich
Trickymissfit
Well-Known Member
Powder_Burn
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I've taken two whitetails and a hog over the past few weeks using the 117gr SST load in 25-06. All were DRT at about 200 yards.
Trickymissfit
Well-Known Member
but your also talking 2500 to 2600 fps on impact. We're talking about the bullet doing bad things at 3300 fps. Hornaday told me that the bullets max out at about 3000fps.
gary
If you check out the Nosler web-site you will see them state that the hunting Ballistic Tips need to be under 3100 fps for them to work like they were designed.
I have killed in excess of 75 white tail deer with ballistic tips over the years. When they first came out the jacket was too thin and the bullet would blow up. 30-06 150 gr bt at 2900 fps 100 to 200 yards would go in and really come apart on a behind the shoulder shot. I stopped using them for a while because the deer would run off a ways and there was NO BLOOD TRAIL. They bled inside. I heard that Nosler changed the bullet and I tried them again. THEY WORKED. I have used them in different calibers and mostly try to take a shoulder shot either going in or exiting. Many times inside 200 yards if you start the bullet out at 3000 to 3100 fps it will not exit on broadside through both shoulders shots but will find the jacket of the bullet just under the hide on the off side. Beyond 200 yards where the bullet has slowed down some it will exit most of the time. The .308 125 gr Nosler ballistic tip if kept under 3100 fps muzzle velocity is a real deer hammer. My 30-30AI Contender 14" barrel pistol loves them. At 2670 fps they just DRT deer. I have shot around 30 deer with the 125 BT in three different caliber rifles and pistols and I have not had but two even take a step after taking one. Those did not go more than three jumps before they were down for the count. I have never used the SST. My buddy tried some in his 25-06 117 gr and could tell no difference in them and the 117 SP interlock. They killed deer just fine.
For those who disdain the damage done to the shoulders from a ballistic tip don't shoot them in the shoulder. Most any high velocity bullet hitting the shoulder bone of a deer is going to really mess it up. But if you don't want to trail a deer shoot it in the center to a little high of dead center on the front shoulder and most of the time the only trailing you will do is with your eyes watching it bounce when it hits the ground.
I have found that if you are going to be pushing a bullet over 3100 fps then the Noselr Accubond is the one you want. I have been using the 130 gr in my 264 Win mag at 3350 fps and as close as 80 yards it went in one shoulder and exit out the other with a 25 cent piece size exit and deer was DRT. I have killed 5 deer with this set up from 80 to 250 yards and all were DRT. I did recover one bullet from a big buck shot at 111 yards. It was almost facing me and I placed the bullet on the edge of it's left front shoulder and when cutting up the meat I found the bullet in the right ham. Text book mushroom and weight was 87 grs.
I have killed in excess of 75 white tail deer with ballistic tips over the years. When they first came out the jacket was too thin and the bullet would blow up. 30-06 150 gr bt at 2900 fps 100 to 200 yards would go in and really come apart on a behind the shoulder shot. I stopped using them for a while because the deer would run off a ways and there was NO BLOOD TRAIL. They bled inside. I heard that Nosler changed the bullet and I tried them again. THEY WORKED. I have used them in different calibers and mostly try to take a shoulder shot either going in or exiting. Many times inside 200 yards if you start the bullet out at 3000 to 3100 fps it will not exit on broadside through both shoulders shots but will find the jacket of the bullet just under the hide on the off side. Beyond 200 yards where the bullet has slowed down some it will exit most of the time. The .308 125 gr Nosler ballistic tip if kept under 3100 fps muzzle velocity is a real deer hammer. My 30-30AI Contender 14" barrel pistol loves them. At 2670 fps they just DRT deer. I have shot around 30 deer with the 125 BT in three different caliber rifles and pistols and I have not had but two even take a step after taking one. Those did not go more than three jumps before they were down for the count. I have never used the SST. My buddy tried some in his 25-06 117 gr and could tell no difference in them and the 117 SP interlock. They killed deer just fine.
For those who disdain the damage done to the shoulders from a ballistic tip don't shoot them in the shoulder. Most any high velocity bullet hitting the shoulder bone of a deer is going to really mess it up. But if you don't want to trail a deer shoot it in the center to a little high of dead center on the front shoulder and most of the time the only trailing you will do is with your eyes watching it bounce when it hits the ground.
I have found that if you are going to be pushing a bullet over 3100 fps then the Noselr Accubond is the one you want. I have been using the 130 gr in my 264 Win mag at 3350 fps and as close as 80 yards it went in one shoulder and exit out the other with a 25 cent piece size exit and deer was DRT. I have killed 5 deer with this set up from 80 to 250 yards and all were DRT. I did recover one bullet from a big buck shot at 111 yards. It was almost facing me and I placed the bullet on the edge of it's left front shoulder and when cutting up the meat I found the bullet in the right ham. Text book mushroom and weight was 87 grs.
jthod
Active Member
When I bought my .308 VTR this fall, I had not started reloading yet. I started using Hornaday Superformance loaded with thier 150 Grain SST's.
After sighting it, I shot three deer in three shots. First was 5x6 buck dressed at 150lbs, 210 yards, broadside, ran about 50 yards, split the heart in half. Two-finger sized exit hole.
Second was a 4x5, even larger buck, 135 yards, broadside, took 10 steps and fell dead.
Third was a mature doe, lung shot at 50 yards running, went another 20 yards and dropped.
Those were good enough reasons to reload them.
After sighting it, I shot three deer in three shots. First was 5x6 buck dressed at 150lbs, 210 yards, broadside, ran about 50 yards, split the heart in half. Two-finger sized exit hole.
Second was a 4x5, even larger buck, 135 yards, broadside, took 10 steps and fell dead.
Third was a mature doe, lung shot at 50 yards running, went another 20 yards and dropped.
Those were good enough reasons to reload them.
264junkie
Well-Known Member
#1 Took a 160lb whitetail facing me at 15yds...Hit him square in the chest with a 168gr Combined Tech. Ballistic Tip from my 30-06...it passed above the heart, began to veer up, took out one lung and ended up lodged in the spine just foward of the hind end...I dug the bullet out of the vertibra and it was almost a perfect mushroom, about 70% intact and the deer of course didn't take a step.
#2 Took a 120lb whitetail at 110yds ..broadside right behind the shoulder with the afore mentioned combo.....entrance would was the size of a penny..complete pass through with exit the size of a qrtr....made complete mush out of the lungs....Very, very good blood trail.
#2 Took a 120lb whitetail at 110yds ..broadside right behind the shoulder with the afore mentioned combo.....entrance would was the size of a penny..complete pass through with exit the size of a qrtr....made complete mush out of the lungs....Very, very good blood trail.
Trickymissfit
Well-Known Member
your round falls right into the perfect window for the SST style bullet. Figureing a near max load of 2700 fps, and you couldn't ask for much more
gary
sniper1958
Active Member
I shot one doe at 175 yards with my .30-06. I used a 165 grain SST at 2900 fps MV, hitting the deer between the spine and the shoulder (no bone). She was my first bang-flop - no twitching, no running - nothing. BT's and PT's, OTOH, deer tend to run a bit before collapsing. With the SST, I saw minimal meat damage and never recovered the bullet. This is my go-to load for deer and smaller critters, though I recently worked up a 180 grain SST load if shooting in higher cross-winds. The 165 grain doesn't do well at longer ranges with cross-winds. BT's and PT's don't damage much meat either (in the four I shot), but the SST shoots better out of my rifle.
I shoot the Hornady 165 GR SST out of my 300 win mag and it is deadly accurate! I have not shot a deer in the neck or shoulder that has taken a step in the past 4 years. I took a 9 point buck this past year in texas at 100 yards broadside. High shoulder shot that broke the first shoulder severed the spine and broke the other shoulder and stayed in the skin on the far shoulder. about 50% weight retention with devistating terminal effects. I swear by them. I have heard of many people having problems with the silvertips that winchester makes. I don't think very highly of them. I just got a 25-06 and started shooting the new superformance sst 117 gr bullets with it and have high expectations.
I shoot the Hornady 165 SST in my 300RUM, but have loaded it down, to save some barrel life and so my dad can shoot it. We hunt VA whitetails here, but don't have anyplace that we can get over a 250yd shot, so I don't need the long range reach with it. For longer ranges or elk out west, I load a SMK 180, but not at max velocity there, either. With the 300 load I get .25 inch groups at 100yds. Haven't tried the 180 SST yet.
So far, I have shot 3 deer with the 165. One neck shot, shattered the vertebrae, got a 30cal entry with maybe a .75in exit. The other two were does, about 150lbs on the hoof, rib cage shots, with one exit on a shoulder. Neither bullet was found in the dirt on the other side. None of the deer took a step, just dropped on the spot. One doe had a bigger entrance wound, than the exit. ??? I found a 1in chunk of heart and part of one lung on that one, broken ribs on both sides, and the far leg shattered, right where the armpit is. I couldn't find any piece of bullet in the wound channel, just shards of bone. The second doe, was a clean side to side shot, broken ribs on both sides. Tiny entrance, and maybe .5 to .75 exit. No bullet pieces in this one either.
The main reason I went to the plastic tips, is seeing how the lead tipped ones deform under recoil in the magazine. The SSTs get a little flat on the tip of the nose, but nowhere near to what the lead does.
So far, I have shot 3 deer with the 165. One neck shot, shattered the vertebrae, got a 30cal entry with maybe a .75in exit. The other two were does, about 150lbs on the hoof, rib cage shots, with one exit on a shoulder. Neither bullet was found in the dirt on the other side. None of the deer took a step, just dropped on the spot. One doe had a bigger entrance wound, than the exit. ??? I found a 1in chunk of heart and part of one lung on that one, broken ribs on both sides, and the far leg shattered, right where the armpit is. I couldn't find any piece of bullet in the wound channel, just shards of bone. The second doe, was a clean side to side shot, broken ribs on both sides. Tiny entrance, and maybe .5 to .75 exit. No bullet pieces in this one either.
The main reason I went to the plastic tips, is seeing how the lead tipped ones deform under recoil in the magazine. The SSTs get a little flat on the tip of the nose, but nowhere near to what the lead does.
