Last weekend, a buddy of mine shot 170 class deer at 25 yds with this bullet over 100 grs of pyro pellets. High shoulder hit and it destroyed the right front leg. It didn't pass through and we never found the deer. We tracked it for 1.5 miles and lost the trail in a big CRP field. Any thoughts? I shoot 300 gr barnes expanders and that is where I always aim. Never had to track a deer too far with this shot placement.
250 SST
- Thread starter smokepole
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I shot a buck one time with what SOUNDS like almost the same exact shot placement except I used 2 Triple Se7en pellets at about 35yds. The buck never knew what hit him. No two shots ARE exactly the same tho so it's really hard to say what went wrong with your friends shot...
If your gonna take sholder shots,you need to go to a better constructed bullet. The Bonded SW's are made for this,they get much more penetration. At 25yds. I would have shot him right where his neck and front sholders meet,hitting the neck,or spinal cord. No tracking with this shot,and a easy one to take at 25yds.
Shot a big 7 point 2 weeks ago at 150 Yd's with a 250 SST, with a shoulder shot he ran about 10Yds. and died. Two days later I shot another 7 point with a 250 SST at 100 Yds', hight shoulder shot he droped in his tracks. I have shot a lot of deer with Hornady 250 SST's and don't plan to change bullets.
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Shoulder shots to anchor 'em fast....that's a job for a BIG conical or a 300gr Barnes MZ IMO. Sorry to hear though that the buck was lost; from everything that I've read the SST/Shockwaves CAN have a narrow window in which to give text book performance. Drive them to fast and/or shoot to close and you have a 250gr varmint bullet, don't drive them fast enough through the 'boiler room' and you may not get adequate expansion 
Even so there are many experienced hunters who have had good success with them.
Whitesmoke
Even so there are many experienced hunters who have had good success with them.Whitesmoke
whitesmoke said:Shoulder shots to anchor 'em fast....that's a job for a BIG conical or a 300gr Barnes MZ IMO. Sorry to hear though that the buck was lost; from everything that I've read the SST/Shockwaves CAN have a narrow window in which to give text book performance. Drive them to fast and/or shoot to close and you have a 250gr varmint bullet, don't drive them fast enough through the 'boiler room' and you may not get adequate expansion
Whitesmoke
Horse Hockey!
Sorry I just can't agree with that. I've tried to make them fail and on a tiny animal the size of a deer it just hasn't happened. Most here know I drive the 250 as hard as I can out of my Encores with 150 grains of Pyro. This year every deer (7) other Sandi's buck were high shoulder shot. Sandi's buck was through the front leg and through the heart. None of them took a single step, ranges from 10 yards to 190. I've shot moose, bear, caribou and elk through the shoulder with the SST/SW and have had instant results everytime. If your buddies deer ran off then he missed his shot, plain and simple.
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Horse Hockey? Seen the pictures myself on this forum, one was of a hog hit in the hind quarters with an entrance hole you could stick your fist in (it was out of a Savage though and I don't know what the velocity was). Not trying to be contankerous :wink: but it does seem to happen from time to time with this bullet but not for everyone. Remember there's alot of people shooting this bullet in a wide variety of guns/velocities and field conditions. BTW I don't think it's a bad bullet, just like the heavy weights when it comes to smashing bone structure
Whitesmoke
Whitesmoke
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Amen omega,,, the shockwave is a killer!!
Reading this post I am somewhat surprized so many are shooting for the shoulder. Two lungs always kill my deer and I get a lot more meat that way. I guess if I was hunting an area that I needed the deer to fall right away i may condsider a shoulder shot but that would have to be an exception.
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I also reported a while back of having trouble with the Hornaday 250 SST. It was the first "Light" bullet ( under 300 grns ) to shoot well from my Knight MK 95 Mag Elite 50 cal. I used it over 2 Pyrodex Pellets to shoot a small Doe. I had to shoot her 3 times. First was a bit high just behind the shoulder and the next 2 were in the lungs. When I dressed her out I found that none of them seemed to expand much if any. Looked like it just punched 45 cal holes all the way through her. First shot was at about 25 yards. I think that it did not open well at close range because It needed to be pushed a bit faster. I have since switched back to my old standby and favorite Deer bullet, a Knight 310 lead hollow point. Shot 3 deer last season and 2 this season with it. All were one shot kills from 20 to 110 yards. I do think that the SST would do better if I switched to loose powder and shot around 110 grains or so for a bit more velocity.
ShawnT
ShawnT
Tracker12 said:
That's what I am thinking.
The 250 SST has been great for me. I have a friend that did hit one with it at about 85 yd in the shoulder and it dropped that buck in it's tracks with a complete pass through. Maybe at close range the bullet is not expanding or something, but then it should still shoot through. Sorry, but I don't buy the 25 yard shot that will not shoot through with no expansion, and the need for two lung shots to finish off a doe is not making much since either; a solid lung shot will kill an already injured deer before you can load a ML to shoot it again.
omega said:Horse Hockey!
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I like that. Brings back memories of Colonel Potter in epesodes of "Mash"
My experience with the 250 SST has been great. Most of my deer have dropped in their track. Had 2 that went 10 - 20 yds. Only thing I've found better was this year with a 250 bonded SW. Deer dropped in it's tracks too but the bullet held together better and was almost in tact.
Unless it's a Looooong shot I allways go for the sholder! It drops them in their tracks,and there's not enough meat on the front sholder to worry about. If you pump that load up to 3 pellets,or 120grs. loose,when the smoke clears your deer will be there.
high shoulder
If the deer is angled more than you think, its easy to blow the dang leg off without hitting anything that will kill the deer immediately. They don't always stand broadside, and in low light with exitement added, it's possible to misjudge the angle of the deer. It seems to me, a 250 grain bullet at under 50 yards is PLENTY to break up a deer!
If the deer is angled more than you think, its easy to blow the dang leg off without hitting anything that will kill the deer immediately. They don't always stand broadside, and in low light with exitement added, it's possible to misjudge the angle of the deer. It seems to me, a 250 grain bullet at under 50 yards is PLENTY to break up a deer!
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In the case of the Doe I shot, I did get complete pass through with all 3 shots. Last shot was at about 50 yards. She did keep falling down and getting up. Yes she would have died on her own as all 3 were lethal shots. But why let her suffer any more than need be. I was very surprised that all 3 shots had exit holes that looked like entrance holes. I have never had that happen before or since that lot of SST's. I figured that either I was not pushing them fast enough for good expansion at close range or I just had a bad box of them. I have shot several Deer with the Knight 310 lead hollow point, Hornady 240XTP, and Swift A-Frame and did not have that problem. So you an either beleive it or not that's your choice. I just reported what happened to me this one time. I have not used the SST since. But I am not saying that it would happen again or that the SST is a bad bullet. :?
Shawn
Shawn
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Whoops, guess I stirred the pot a little oke: seriously though the SST/Shockwave is a good bullet within the right velocity window. I guess that's with three pellets or 110-120grs of loose T7.
Whitesmoke
oke: seriously though the SST/Shockwave is a good bullet within the right velocity window. I guess that's with three pellets or 110-120grs of loose T7.Whitesmoke
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No pot was stirred up that I see. Someone seemed to indicate they did not believe my post, or I think it was mine they were referring to. So I just wanted to clarify the incident. Did not understand it at the time either. After all of the posts to the good about the SST, I am really starting to think I somehow got a bad box of them. I might try some next year but with some loose powder just to bump up the speed a little. :wink:
ShawnT
Someone seemed to indicate they did not believe my post, or I think it was mine they were referring to. So I just wanted to clarify the incident. Did not understand it at the time either. After all of the posts to the good about the SST, I am really starting to think I somehow got a bad box of them. I might try some next year but with some loose powder just to bump up the speed a little. :wink: ShawnT
