Poor game performance using Hornady sst bullets

B

BC Buck

New member
My A bolt shoots 180gr SST better than anything else iv fed it. First deer shot was whitetail close to 300lb broadside at 50 yards. First shot double lung right behind shoulder. After recoil buck just standing there looking away from me. I think deer must have heard percussion off far ridge and though that is where noise came from. Loaded and fired again. Loaded and fired shot 3. Scope comes down with buck still standing like a statue looking away. Buy this time have crap running down both legs, think scope way off and missing Booner. Start loading shot 4 and see deer tail start flickering and goes down. All 3 shots where 10 ring and no blood. Pencil hole in and exit about .5".
Lost interest in gun for 8 years. Pulled it out this year thinking Id try again. Shot big whitetail at 100 yard broadside at top of heart. Ran 50 yards and fell. Could not find entrance hole till skinned and exit .5". All blood was internal and would have been hard to track if needed. Entrance rib fragmented looking like did as much damage as bullet.
Every thing I read on poor performance of the SST was fragmenting and no exit wounds. That would be opposite of what Im experiencing.
Load 30-06
IMR 4895 47.5gr
2659 fps
 
I use to use hornday brass and bullets (interbond). I quit using them cause I couldn't get the consistincey out of them as I could nosler bullets with Norma or federal brass. My dad shoots the sst's out of his 270 and personally I wasn't happy with the performance of that bullet vs the nosler accubond when skinning deer or hogs.

I quit using all hornady equipment and even factory rounds when this year I bought a box of horndy's American whitetails for a 25-06 I acquired for my girlfriend and daughter to hunt with. Sighted the rifle in and wasn't real pleased with the accuracy of the round but 2 inch groups at 100 yards would work for the girls. Got a wild hair on October 26th and grabbed it out the closet to take with me. Had to draw first blood with it lol. That afternoon I had a 152" 9 point come into the field about 90 yards away. Got on target, safety off and squeezed off. CLICK!! OMG, my heart fell out the tree I was sitting in. I figured I forgot to put a round in the chamber. Slowly opened the bolt and pulled it back. Shell flew out and deer took off when the round hit the stand. I climbed down and picked up the round to see a dent in the primer. So, I feel you on this. I was sick!

Next day I shot the rest of the box (14 rounds) all together 4 rounds misfired out of the box including the one from the previous afternoon. Went and bought a box of federal and a box of Winchester. All 40 rounds fired. Contacted hornady about the issue. They wanted me to send the rest of the box in and they would send me another box. I didn't want another box of that garbage. So, in turn I quit using and buying anything with the hornady name on it.
 
And just to clarify I knew the deer was 152" 9 point cause a buddy of mine killed him out the same Stand November 19th.
 
BC Buck said:
Loaded and fired shot 3. Scope comes down with buck still standing like a statue looking away. Buy this time have crap running down both legs, think scope way off and missing Booner[\QUOTE]


You have a strange reaction to disappointment
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First deer I kill with a SST...bullet and jacket separated...lead exited through the offside shoulder and jacket exited out of the offside flank...80lb freezer bound doe.
 
I too am unimpressed with that bullet. 1 deer, 1 hog, bullet disintegrated on hog, no exit. The wife shot the hog with a 270 sst, hog died by my hand with AR-10 and 165 gr sierra game king.

the deer was shot twice by me, both shots perfect. No blood, no bullet, no fragments big enough to see. Ran about 1/4 mile and fell over. Holes in the lungs but nowhere near enough damage. If it would have ran afelter the 1st shot I would have never recovered it.

For serious hunting, I'm using partitions or accubonds For hogs, 165 gr game kings in my AR-10 and I'm going to try the eld-x.

I am not a brand name "hater". I love hornadys match bullets, the AMAX/ELD-M. I do not like their brass, do not like their non-bonded hunting bullets.

For hunting bullets on a budget I like the speer hotcore. For quality I like the partition. For premium I'm like the weld core or a-frame
 
Most of the problems with over expansion and SST's involve light for caliber bullets at higher speeds. The SST's are a softer bullet, but 180's at that slower speed will slow expansion quite a bit. If the bullets managed to slip between rib bones there wasn't much resistance on the 1st deer. Stuff happens.

The 2nd deer was textbook perfect. A 1/2" exit is normal, running 50 yards is common. Both deer were dead on their feet at the 1st shot. Any animal shot through the lungs dies from suffocation as the lungs fill with blood. It takes 30 seconds to 1 minute for them to die. Some lie down, some stand around until they fall, others run like HE11 for the last few seconds of their life. Every animal is different. I've had them drop in their tracks from 223's and run over 100 yards with 2" exit wounds from 165 gr 30-06 loads through both lungs.

Using another bullet with that shot placement may result in a bigger or smaller hole, but you'd get about the same reaction from the animals. If you don't want them to run hit the Central Nervous System or break shoulder bones.
 
A bud of mine had such poor performance with hunting bullets in deer, he changed his point of aim. He was trying behind the shoulder shots, with a 308, and the deer would run off, disappear in the dark, and the next day be found eaten by coyotes. The premium hunting bullets he was using were not expanding, and I think they were Hornady.

So now, he aims between the shoulder and the neck, much more meat and bone in that area. He claims, "knocks them down". He has done head shots but won't share the "brain on hollowpoints" pictures. Apparently, knocks them dead, but gruesomely.
 
I always chose 150-grain bullets for deer over 180-grain bullets because I thought that the manufacturer of the bullets may use a thicker jacket on the 180's to accommodate heavier game like elk or moose. I did not have any problem with 150-grain bullets when shooting deer with .308 Winchester and 30-06 Springfield...they always fell in an assured distance when shot behind the shoulder. I always used non-premium Hornady 150 S.P.'s.
 
So now, he aims between the shoulder and the neck, much more meat and bone in that area. He claims, "knocks them down". He has done head shots but won't share the "brain on hollowpoints" pictures. Apparently, knocks them dead, but gruesomely.
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I've never had a head or spine shot fail to be fatal.
Ugly, but effective.


(Everything from home-brew swaged bullets using .40 S&W cases as jackets, to Remington Core-Lokts, to Nosler Partitions, to Norma Oryx/Vulcan, and more... Doesn't really matter, unless you're looking at a tough, old Elk [neck skin is very tough and can be 1"+ thick] or a thick-skinned Moose. Smack 'em in the brain or spine, and they're done.)
 
My experience with Hornady SSTs is limited to their factory loaded 6.8 SPC 120 grain version being shot out of two 16" barreled ARs. Thus far, my kids and I shot 3 Texas deer and 4 Missouri deer with it, and the longest shot was lazed at 114 yards. 4 were DRT, another 2 didn't make it more than 5 yards, and 1 ran a long way, but that was because I pulled the shot.

Internal damage has been impressive with all on lungs, heart, and even the gut shot I pulled. Exit hole on the gut shot was damn near 1.5". The smallest exit wound was this year, at just about 1/2" on a shot through the lower portion of both shoulders, heart, and lungs.

No complaints on my end.

@ Dmiller, I've shot probably 1500 rounds of Hornady factory ammo over the years in .308 with their 150gr Interlock and the 6.8 SPC rounds mentioned above as well as their 6.8 SPC VMAX. Never 1 failure. Most of my rifles are shooting Hornady because that's what they shot best out of what I've tried. YMMV, but even the best organizations put out a lemon every now and then and it sounds like Hornady did exactly what anyone would expect: get some of the problem ammo to analyze and return to you a full box.
 
I have no experience with the SST's. I still use Remington cor=lokt because I have a stock pile of this ammo. This year I am using the box priced at $9.99. My 30-06 rifles love the 165 grainers better than the 180. Have you ever used the Winchester PSP's.
 
I've been shooting the 6.5 CM for a while now, using only 123 SST's at this point. They have been dropping hogs and deer just fine. Last week I shot a 180 lb. sow and she dropped on the spot. I have dropped 2 deer so far this year with these bullets...backed by H4350... one made it about 20 yds. and the other dropped instantly.
I've been very happy with the bullets accuracy and performance.
 
{I always chose 150-grain bullets for deer over 180-grain bullets because I thought that the manufacturer of the bullets may use a thicker jacket on the 180's to accommodate heavier game like elk or moose.}

That is a interesting thought that maybe the 180 gr being a tougher bullet than say a 150 gr or less. I told my brother while we there skinning I thought this performance was more suited for elk or moose. I chose 180 gr only because that is what this gun shot best.
 
I have used them for years with excellent results. 30.06 150gr SST IMR 4064 52gr 2885 fps and .243 95gr SST IMR 4064 33gr 2680 fps. I've shot them in the lungs, shoulders and face on with a solid exit wound every time. Ranges from 15 yards to 150.
 
The SST's are a softer bullet, but 180's at that slower speed will slow expansion quite a bit.
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I'm in the 150 camp for deer. At 2800-2900, they hit with authority. Have used Hornady Spire Points for decades.
 
I've had multiple failures on deer with Hornady interlock/bond, and Sierra Gameking over the years. I've seen those bullets either come apart in the near shoulder or poke a 30 caliber hole all the way through without expanding. Tracking for miles isn't fun. About 10 years ago I switched to Nosler Accubond and haven't looked back. Every hit has been a kill, farthest recovery has been about 70 yards, and always bleeding from two holes makes tracking easier.

If it's possible I'll take a neck shot, DRT is the norm. Anything faster than a walk and I'll aim just behind and above an elbow.
 
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I have an article written by Ralph Walker of Walker Arms in Selma AL. It was written in the early 1980's. He was using a 30-06 and a 130 Speer or Sierra hollowpoint. He stopped using heavier bullets, like 150 grain and up, because deer ran off after being hit. In his article he mentioned the south Alabama deer he was hunting were 100 lbs, maybe 130 lbs, and that the heavier bullets made small entrance and exit holes. The deer died, but ran off. That is until he went with the much more fragile hollowpoint bullets. Those bullets would stay in the deer, but kill them on the spot.

I think there is something to that,
 
A key in bullet selection is choosing a bullet that's built for the velocity that you'll be driving it at. A 30 caliber 150 grain SST is constructed differently than a 30 caliber 180 grain SST... which is constructed differently than a 30 caliber 123 grain SST.

- The 123 grain SST is made for 7.62x39 velocities. (very slim jacket will open at low velocity)
- The 150 grain SST is made for 308 velocities.
- The 180 grain SST is made for 300 Win Mag velocities. (thicker jacket takes more speed to open, really meant for larger game than deer)

If you shoot a bullet at lower speeds than it's designed for, it won't open. If you shoot it much faster than it's designed for, it will fragment excessively.

I'm thinking this is your problem.
 
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