Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Muzzleloader Hunting => Topic started by: CaptainMorgan1995 on October 10, 2013, 03:11:11 PM

Title: Hornady SST 300gr
Post by: CaptainMorgan1995 on October 10, 2013, 03:11:11 PM: I did a switch to the SST's this year and am having a bit of a problem with them. Shot a deer last week and the good is the deer dropped within 10 yards.
The bad or more like a pain to deal with is the SST pedals went in 4 directions. Perfect broadside shot took out heart, lungs and stomach. There were holes all over him.

One petal destroyed his very full stomach.

Is the SST designed to send the petal in all directions.

They kill quick but man what a cleanup job.
Title: Re: Hornady SST 300gr
Post by: MichaelD on October 10, 2013, 11:01:28 PM: A friend of mine had the same issue. Lost their deer though....buck of a lifetime.
I am having the opposite problem with my box. Four deer shot and not one of the bullets mushroomed or opened up. Same size exit wound as entry.
Looking for new bullets next season....no more SST's for us!

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2
Title: Re: Hornady SST 300gr
Post by: throttlejocky20 on October 15, 2013, 06:48:01 AM: I have heard this about the SST muzzle bullet and was advised not to shoot them. Its all i shoot out of my 243. we found the breger bullet in my buddies bull this year and it looked like a perfect mushroom. this is the 3rd berger he has recovered with the same outcome.
Title: Re: Hornady SST 300gr
Post by: Wose on October 15, 2013, 04:12:21 PM: How close were you to the deer when you shot it? My bud just shot a spike with one, over three pellets of pyrodex at about 40 yards. It fragged a little bit but it all exited the deer on the off side of the chest.

The problem with bullets is that they have be designed to work across a wide range of velocities. If it's going real fast (like at close range) when it hits the animal, it might frag. If it's slowed down (say at 150 yards or so for a muzzleloader) it might just drill through with no expansion.
Title: Re: Hornady SST 300gr
Post by: Patarero on October 15, 2013, 06:12:44 PM: I hit a whitetail at 30yrds with the sst, same experience as MichaelD. It dropped after 15 yrds, but no mushroom, small exit wound. I also had some precision issues with these.
Title: Re: Hornady SST 300gr
Post by: meatwhack on October 15, 2013, 08:29:20 PM: My suggestion would be to switch to Barnes tmz 290 gr. these bullets shoot extremely well and perform flawlessly.
Title: Re: Hornady SST 300gr
Post by: Wenatcheejay on October 15, 2013, 08:43:38 PM: 2013 cow hunt about 90yds through one shoulder took out the heart and exit on the other side. She dropped inside of 15yds. Worked fine no complaints. Very accurate out to distances I'd only shoot at paper.
Title: Re: Hornady SST 300gr
Post by: CaptainMorgan1995 on October 16, 2013, 07:21:03 AM: The more I think about it, it had to be the range. It was only about 15 yards.

I am thinking about going to the Speer Deep Curls but they are hard to find up here in Bellingham and online they are always out of stock
Title: Re: Hornady SST 300gr
Post by: elkh8me on October 16, 2013, 07:53:40 AM: I will be happy to dispose of ALL of those lousy hornady 300 grain SST for you guys. They are junk and you should get rid of them. PM me and i will pick them up.
Title: Re: Hornady SST 300gr
Post by: Wenatcheejay on October 16, 2013, 08:29:20 PM: Quote from: elkh8me on October 16, 2013, 07:53:40 AM
I will be happy to dispose of ALL of those lousy hornady 300 grain SST for you guys. They are junk and you should get rid of them. PM me and i will pick them up.

:chuckle: I forgot where I was, (((cough))) horrible, yes, horrible, no good, don't buy them. Just, just post where they can be found but, don't buy any.
Title: Re: Hornady SST 300gr
Post by: kerrdog on October 17, 2013, 06:17:10 AM: Quote from: meatwhack on October 15, 2013, 08:29:20 PM
My suggestion would be to switch to Barnes tmz 290 gr. these bullets shoot extremely well and perform flawlessly.

I Recovered my Barnes TMZ 290 from my bull this season. It was very accurate, but no expansion at all. There was a good couple of dents in the tip and on the side of the bullet, and the polymer tip was smashed in. Shot him broadside (from a steep downward angle) at 150 yards where he fell dead. Bullet was in the opposite front shoulder.

Last year my buddy shot a cow with three bloodlines. None of those expanded either.

I'm growing skeptical about these solid 'lead-free' bullets. It seems that if they hit at and angle, or encounter bone, they might not open up? Maybe I'll use them to hunt ballistic gelatin- placed at a 90 degree angle. :chuckle:
Title: Re: Hornady SST 300gr
Post by: Patarero on October 17, 2013, 11:56:39 AM: Think I have a handful of them. Different loads for different guns. My wolverine does not like them. PM me if you want them, think I might still have some powerbelts on the shelf as well if someone wants them.
Title: Re: Hornady SST 300gr
Post by: andersonjk4 on October 17, 2013, 01:58:36 PM: I used the 250gr SST last year out of my CVA Elkhorn. I shot a buck at ~160 yds. He was standing perfectly broadside and the bullet destroyed both front shoulders and took out his lungs. I found the bullet up against the far hide on the opposite shoulder. I never weighed what was left, but I would guess it was about 50% of the original 250grns. In this case I think the bullet performed pretty well. I was surprised the bullet performed as well as it did given the long shot. I have been shooting some 245grn Barnes TMZs, and I want to try them out this year.
Title: Re: Hornady SST 300gr
Post by: rumrunner on October 17, 2013, 08:13:21 PM: I had a buddie of mine shoot a black tail 4 times with them one went through did not expand one blew up on impact one made it in the cage and blew up and the last was pulled from the sholder on the exit side intact 100 gr of trip 7 fff all shots were under a hundred yards need less to say we dont shoot them anymore
Title: Re: Hornady SST 300gr
Post by: elkh8me on October 18, 2013, 05:23:16 AM: "a buddy of mine" told me a picture is worth a thousand words...

Each one pulled from a dead elk.
Title: Re: Hornady SST 300gr
Post by: andersonjk4 on October 18, 2013, 07:07:42 AM: Quote from: elkh8me on October 18, 2013, 05:23:16 AM
"a buddy of mine" told me a picture is worth a thousand words...

Each one pulled from a dead elk.

Can't argue with those results. :tup: Looks like perfect performance to me. How much powder where you loading under those?
Title: Re: Hornady SST 300gr
Post by: CaptainMorgan1995 on October 18, 2013, 05:56:09 PM: Wish my Sst worked that well. All I found were small pieces. I will probable take a bite of a steak one night and break a tooth.
Title: Re: Hornady SST 300gr
Post by: Lingcod on October 29, 2013, 09:01:30 PM: These shoot great out of my Vortek. I haven't whacked an animal with them yet but I hope they perform well because they are the best shooting bullet I've found.