HORNADY 300GR SST USERS

[ENCORE50A]

Let me put it another way. Would you have the confidence to take a 200 to 300yd shot with one of these bullets ?

Without hesitation.

 

[Hac]

Last elk season in Az both my boys shot cow elk, one at 86 yard the other at 236 yards I ranged both animals and was next to both boys when the shots were taken, both boys used a tc omega with a 300gr PT Gold and a crush rib sabot and 114gr by volume of BH, W209 primer, both elk were dead rite there, both were pass threws the cow elk that was shot at 236 yards on the last day we were hunting was shot in both shoulder blades a solid pass threw, a buddy of mine was also hunting on that hunt and he shot a cow elk at 110 yards with the same powder charge and primer same sabot only difference was the projectile he shot a 300gr sst out of a cva v2 optima, the shot was behind the shoulder and the bullet was recovered on the opposite side under the hide, the cow was recovered 70 yards from the place it was shot, I have the projectile, I was not part of that hunt so I didn't see the shot or the range I was involved in the tracking and recovering of the cow and saw the projectile first hand, my kids during range sessions shot out to 250 yards there groups ranged from 2.5" to 3.5" with a few 2" groups out of the omega's with the load stated, my experience with the 300gr sst, my boys shot deer with the 250 grain sst and both deer were recovered, both 10 to 15 yards from pointment of shot no blood trail both sst were recovered both stayed together, I will look for the 300gr sst from my buddy cow elk and post a picture

 

[gmstack]

Thank you . I know they shoot very well in my Remington ultimate at 100 yds I haven't tried longer ranges yet. I will after turkey season. good luck and good hunting. guy

 

[Hac]

Here is the 300 grain SST recovered from a cow elk shot at 110 yards with 114 by volume of BH and a w209 primer in a crush rib sabot out of a cva optima v2, a very small blood trail was left but in two foot of fresh snow it was all week needed to track it at least 70ish yards

 

[LarryBud]

We've shot many deer with the 300 and 200 grain SST. No problems with penciling, actually, I think the problem is them breaking to pieces on impact.

They get the job done just fine but I believe there are better options ( Lehigh for me ).

Oh yea, extremely accurate for me with 110-110 BH209 or T7. Not a bad choice but better available IMHO.

 

[gmstack]

thank you to everybody who took the time to contribute to this thread. guy

 

[03mossy]

Long time ago I had 3 of them Pencil through and so did my Nephew. Both were with 250 grain and If memory serves they were hard tip. Over the last few years what I have noticed when reading the same bad experiences, both 250 and 300gn, were that they were almost always shot with 2 Pellet (Pyrodex or 777) loads. I have come to believe that the 2 Pellet loads do not generate enough velocity to get reliable expansion. I have not shot them on game since but If I did, I would use 100 grains of loose and no less. I think they would work fine then.

Just my 2cents.

interesting... all 3 of our bad experiences were with 2 pellets of pyrodex...

 

[ShawnT]

Long time ago I had 3 of them Pencil through and so did my Nephew. Both were with 250 grain and If memory serves they were hard tip. Over the last few years what I have noticed when reading the same bad experiences, both 250 and 300gn, were that they were almost always shot with 2 Pellet (Pyrodex or 777) loads. I have come to believe that the 2 Pellet loads do not generate enough velocity to get reliable expansion. I have not shot them on game since but If I did, I would use 100 grains of loose and no less. I think they would work fine then.

Just my 2cents.

interesting... all 3 of our bad experiences were with 2 pellets of pyrodex...

Mossy,

Yup. I shot 3 of those 250s in the same deer and got 3 pencil throughs, with 2 pellets of Pyrodex. I was totally shocked and very disappointed as that was a very accurate bullet in my MK-95. I switched back to my old bullet and no more problems. Almost threw them away. Then My nephew called me and told me he wants a new bullet for his CVA Wolf and wanted to know what he should get. When I asked why he wanted to switch he told me he was getting the same results on his last 3 deer and even though he recovered them he was not happy. His load was 2 777 pellets. I at First bashed the bullet (not the Brand) but there were too many that had good results, so I stopped. I got more curious about all those good results and started paying more attention to the loads that they used. What stood out to me was that pretty much all of the pencil throughs were shot with pellets. It has been said that 2 pellets (100gns) is not the same as 100grns of loose. I have not used a Chronograph to prove that to myself but I am pretty sure that 2 pellets (50 grainers) of Pyrodex is slower than 100grains of loose Pyrodex and the same with 777. So If I were to try them again I would stick to 100 grains and up of loose powder. I know some are shooting the 200 grain SST's in the 45s but I have no idea if that bullet has a lighter jacket or not. Most are shooting it with 110 to 120 grains of BH so it is plenty fast and I think that is why they do well.

 

[Busta]

I've shot 30ish deer with the SST/Shockwaves, in all sizes and weights. Most with the 200 grainers, probably half, with the remainder split about evenly between the 250 and 300 grainers. Most of the 250 grainers were SST Saboted Slugs out of a 20 ga 1:28 rifled bore. The others were mostly out of .50 cal rifles and pistol, as well as. 45 cal rifles.

I've never had one pencil through, or blow up. All holes showed characteristics of bullet expansion. Only recovered one 200 grain bullet under the hide after passing through both front shoulders. This was over 100 grains volume Black Mag'3 at 115 yards. No deer ever made it further than 60 yards.

I keep a close eye on these bullet failure threads. I would bet over 95% of these so called failures were with people shooting pellets, shooting reduced recoil friendly "youth" loads, shooting them with the red "Low Drag" sabots, shooting long range (over 125 yards), or a combination of the above.

I have never used pellets, reduced powder loads (under 80 grains), those loose fitting red "Low Drag" sabots, or attempted any shot over 115 yards with these bullets.

I can remember the first deer I took with a 300 grain SST like it was yesterday. Quartering to me at 35ish yards. Through rf shoulder, both lungs, some plumbing above the heart, exiting half way back the rib cage.35 yards recovery. This was over 85 grains V of Triple Se7en.
Bullet performed perfectly, just like they all always have for me.

No complaints here.

 

[cljohnson24]

I have used the 250 & 300 SST (as well as XTP)on numerous deer. IME the 250 at BP speeds works perfectly at ALL ranges but comes apart at impacts over 2000fps.
The 300's achieve the same rapid expansion as the 250 (because the jacket & nose are same), but the additional 50gr of shank enables it to stay together when pushed beyond BP speeds and ensure a pass thrus.

The 300's have a better BC, and has been more accurate in all of my rifles than the 250's. The ONLY trade-off in my opinion is the difference in recoil.
If I were shooting softer BP Loads(<100grBP), I would choose the 250 XTP and save some money. If I were pushing hotter loads and my shots were inside 200 yds, I would step up to the 300XTP. If I wanted the flexibility to go long range at higher speeds with a great BC as well as perform well in close, the 300 SST does it all perfectly for the small price of a bit more recoil.

 

[gmstack]

Thank you, good posting and nice buck too. guy

 

[ENCORE50A]

Check for blemished at Midway. I just received quite a few myself :wink:

 

[cljohnson24]

Thanks and you're welcome!

 

[pooldoc]

I used Hornady's 300Gr SST, the Traditions version and the TC (regular and "bonded core") versions for several years in W. Texas. The TC package on the bonded core bullets(blue tip) states "bonding allows expansion at low velocities while retaining weight at high velocities." I shoot 50 cal Knight Disc Extremes or Disc Elites, with Lehigh bare primer conversions for all my my hunting. My go to hunting load for all these bullets was 110 gr. BH 209, the Low Drag Sabots and regular Winchester 209 primers. i used the 300gr because our typical shots are 125 to 175 yds. and I like the better retained energy of the 300 at that range. Accuracy with this load was never an issue. If I did my part, 3 shot 100 yd. MOA groups were common.
Our low fence lease has a wide variety of native game available as well as feral hogs, Axis, Fallow and Aoudad. This load accounted for 60 plus animals over a 3 yrs years and I never lost an animal. However I was troubled by inconsistent bullet performance. It ranged from massive internal damage to relatively small wound channels. I never recovered anything but the bullet's copper cup. After reading(on this Forum and others) a number of posts about similar results, I switched to Harvester's 300 gr PT Gold bullet and their Black Crush Rib Sabot. Accuracy was even better than the SST; i had one .297 inch group 3 shot group out of my Knight LRH and I'm extremely pleased with bullet performance. In the last 2 years I've harvested a nice Aoudad, a Fallow, 12 feral hogs, 2 nice whitetail bucks and several WT does and cull bucks. The one bullet I recovered weighted 265gr. so I'm comfortable with the new setup and will stick with it until something better comes along.

 

[Hatchet Jack]

I have killed lots of deer with the 300 SST pushed by 120 gr of BH209.From 20 to 200 yds.Most have dropped in their tracks.Never had one go more than 40 to 50 yds.Great performance,most times an exit hole.Lungs usually end up vaporized on broadside shots.