.40 200 SST terminal performance questions

[bowbender6]

I have five .45 muzzleloaders that are shooting the 200 sst for wife, kids family and grandkids. They have not hunted much but I anticipate that this year they will be doing more muzzleloader hunting. We have never shot a deer with this bullet so I don’t know how the 200 sst performs. I think a lot of the board members have used this bullet. Muzzle velocities will range from 1700 to 2400 fps. If I remember the old posts higher speeds could fragment on shoulder but will it open up on slower speeds that the grandkids will use or would an xtp be a better bullet. I am also looking at getting some Fury bullets. Anyone got advice? Thanks

 

[Lee 9]

It does ok at 110 grains of Blackhorn, for lower velocities I recommend the 40 caliber 200 grain Bloodline bullet. Pull up Ron's tests and check which bullets are useable at low velocity.

 

[ronlaughlin]

The bullet was hunted with a few years ago. Load was 115 grain Blackhorn; mv was 2250 fps. Killed two deer with the bullet; they tasted good. Killed an antelope out over 300 yard with the bullet. The antelope was sleeping; after being hit, it was unable to get up before it died. Never have hit an animal in the shoulder with this bullet.

Also caught the bullet one day.

 

[GoexBlackhorn]

Numerous times I've read where the 200 Shockwave/SST outperforms both the 250 and 300grs. Same with the 40-cal 195gr Barnes Expander, versus that of the 250gr. Same with the PR/Precision 195/200gr versions of the Dead Centers and QT Polymer Tips, versus those of 240-300gr versions.
https://www.prbullet.com/qt.htm

 

[dbowling]

Ive killed 3 deer with the 200 gr SST and farthest one ran was 80 yds(shot was70-80 yds) but was pouring blood out that you could follow at a run, another was a 220# live weight buck shot at 40 yds thru both lungs who dropped on the spot and last was a huge doe shot at 90 yds that made it maybe 15 yds bleeding profusely out both sides.. load was 110 gr of BH.

 

[jims]

They have always worked well for our group.

 

[LarryBud]

I've used these much over the years.

Accuracy has been excellent for many different rifles with the light blue harvester and 90-110 of BH 209 by volume. They will fragment upon arrival.( not sure how many deer I've taken with these but at least 5 ) I often will find the core in the oft side hide which means one hole vs two.

They are a classic lead core bullet which is accurate and will delivery the energy, then, disperse it as it expands and detaches. Perfectly functional.

I believe the Lehigh's are an upgrade but these will get the job done in MHO.

 

[cljohnson24]

I also have taken 3 large deer with these. MZ was 2365fps.
#1 @ 35yds(2200fps impact)-downward in between shoulders at base of neck, bullet lodged in spine mangled >1" expansion after traveling 6" through bone..DRT(obviously).
#2 @ 220yds(1500fps impact) behind shoulder .5" in & 1" exit...He staggered, fell over and slid down the snow covered hill he was on.
#3 @175yds (1750fps impact) also behind shoulder .5 in & 1" exit...Buckled on the shot and didn't get up.

They perform well at these speeds, but any slower than 1500fps impact I would choose the 200 gr .40 XTP...It is also a spectacular killer that is every bit as accurate in ALL of my .45's.. It's only limitation is that it will fragment badly above 2100fps impact velocity, however I've intentionally driven this bullet @2635fps into a buck at 50yds into his brisket after being warned it would be a bad choice...Well that's the fastest I've ever seen a deer die from a non spine/CNS hit. Deer hit the ground before I heard the shot I think. The bullet entered into chest head on and exploded inside never penetrating diaphragm. Chest cavity was like a blender drink. Largest piece of bullet I could find was several fragments of the jacket no bigger than a BB. This was clearly an example of hydrostatic shock. I'm confident that at slower impact speeds(aka long distance or low recoil loads) this would be a better killing bullet than the SST.

 

[hawki]

I have used this bullet for years, with only one failure and that had more to do with poor placement than the bullet. Ranges have been from 10 yds to 200+ yds. All but that one exited. This has worked on dozens of Iowa whitetails, a large number of these were bang flops, none traveled more than 80yds. The load is 120 grns of BH209, blue harvester sabot. It's a good bullet.

 

[WV Hunter]

I have not killed anything with them, but I sure like how they shoot :yeah:

 

[twild]

I've killed 8 deer with this bullet,100 gr BH 209 from 50 to 155 yards and have not recovered a bullet all but one died with 50 yards. The one that didn't was a bad shot (gut) and my fault, That deer went a little over 80 yards laid down and never got up again. I could tell it was a bad shot and didn't push him, evening hunt and cold so left til morning. Had a youth hunter that shot one in the neck at 75 yards ( we had to have a discussion on shot placement after that hunt. It was his first deer and he got excited but he was a natural shooting. ) with 70gr of BH, didn't recover that bullet either. I've tried other bullets but keep coming back to the SST.

 

[borebutter]

Are you guys shooting these out of fast twist or 1-30 or 1-28 twist guns, thank you

 

[Lee 9]

In a 1-28 the 200 grain matches it well.

 

[dbowling]

1:28

Are you guys shooting these out of fast twist or 1-30 or 1-28 twist guns, thank you

 

[borebutter]

Is anyone shooting them in a 1 in 20 and if so how accurate are they, thanks

 

[jims]

I used them in a 1 in 28 but most are I think in the 1 in 16 or 18 ratio.

 

[BuckDoeHunter]

They shot good out of my 1:30 Knight Disc Elite at 100yds with 120gr V. BH209 in a Harvester Light Blue Sabot

 

[jims]

nice shooting

 

[BuckDoeHunter]

My 1:22 twist McRem 700ML liked them with a Harvester Light Blue Sabot

 

[jims]

good shooting with both