Hornady sst

[ENCORE50A]

What qualified as a "failure"? If you punch a half inch hole thru a deers vitals, they'll generally die....

I agree. I've taken many whitetail at 200+yards with Barnes 250gr TMZ bullets and of the few bullets I ever recovered at that range, they all performed perfectly. It all boils down to proper shot placement and you can kill a whitetail with a marble.

 

[brucesmith0817]

I like 240 gr xtp hornadays works for me

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[GM54-120]

2 pellets and a 300gr bullet will be lucky to break 1700fps at the muzzle. It probably closer to 1600fps than 1700fps. 100grV of loose Triple7 is around 1700-1750fps.
https://www.hodgdon.com/wp-content/uplo ... l_2008.pdf

You would be far better off with another bullet. Even the cheap 250gr XTP is a better choice if using 2 pellets. The Speer 250gr DeepCurl/Golddot sounds like a great combination for those kinds of loads too.

 

[Busta]

It's not the bullet, I've killed 35+ deer with SST/Shockwave 200/250/300 grain bullets. This is in .45/.50 cal rifles, .50 cal pistol, and 20 ga 250 gr SST Sabot Slugs. None made it over 60 yards, all pass throughs except one, with exit evidence that all expanded. The one bullet I recovered was a 200 gr Shockwave with Black Mag'3, shot through both front shoulders at 115 yards on a mature whitetail, and was found under the hide on the offside shoulder. Bullet expanded over 2x caliber and stayed together after going through all that bone.

Old Pellets and Low Drag (EZ Glide) Sabots are the problem. Pellet boxes are not sealed from the factory, and start degrading from day-one. You might have purchased them a year ago, but they could have been made a year or two before that? We read these stories every year of the bullets that don't expand, yet ironically the deer all died and were recovered. Then you have the guys trying to use one 50 grain pellet and the Low Drag sabots for an easy loading and light recoiling load for their kids. This is a recipe for poor performance, even though it looks good on paper. Don't fall into that trap!

I do not use pellets or Low Drag/Easy Glide type sabots for hunting. The so called failures that we read about every year are using one or the other, if not both. As mentioned earlier, even at poor velocity that doesn't promote full expansion for easily followed blood trails, the deer were recovered in relatively short order. Shoot those bullets through a chronograph with the same sabots, and I think you'll find out where the root cause of the problem exists.

Just for the record, I've never had a SST or Shockwave "pencil" through or "grenade". I think I have enough examples and experience with these bullets to have developed an informed opinion on how they have worked for me. All shots were in the heart and lung area. I've used between 80 and 120 grains by VOLUME of BlackMag'3/Triple Se7en/Blackhorn 209, or the factory 20ga SST. Never pellets, and never loose fitting Low-Drag/EZ-Glide sabots.

You're on the right track going to loose powder, and those bullets will work just fine with the right load and sabot. So will the XTP's.

 

[Cattledog]

Just had a .40 200 grain sst come apart last night. The copper jacket separated from the lead core. I found the jacket sitting in the doe's liver. Never found the lead core. It was a close shot 40 yards. I was using 63 grains weighted blackhorn 209 out of my omega X7. This will be the last sst I use for hunting. The bullet worked, she dies in under 10 yards. I just prefer the tmz at this point.

 

[WV Hunter]

Just had a .40 200 grain sst come apart last night. The copper jacket separated from the lead core. I found the jacket sitting in the doe's liver. Never found the lead core. It was a close shot 40 yards. I was using 63 grains weighted blackhorn 209 out of my omega X7. This will be the last sst I use for hunting. The bullet worked, she dies in under 10 yards. I just prefer the tmz at this point.

Cup/core bullets that are not bonded, can and sometimes do shed the jacket depending on the shot and impact. I've had that happen with hi powered rifles, and ML rifles. Doesn't mean they don't work (or fail) as you obviously pointed out. It would be great if they always held together but if you want that you must get a different bullet. I've shot probably 60+ with cup/core bullets... never lost one, even though sometimes they've shed the jacket. Most of the time they pass thru with a good wound channel.

The sst/shockwave... I use them in my .45 Elite. I have not taken a deer yet with them, but damn they are so accurate. I'm not concerned with performance at all, as mentioned shot placement is the key first and foremost.

 

[twild]

I've probably shot 10 to fifteen deer with either the 45 cal 250gr or the 40 cal 200gr SST. Never lost a deer and have never recovered a bullet only one deer has made it over 40 yards after the shot, probably a third have dropped in there tracks. All of the deers insides have been mush. The one that went over a 100 yards was my longest shot about 175 yards and was all my fault. I didn't figure the wind right and hit it too far back but there was a nice blood trail up to the very dead deer. I am playing with some other bullets right now but I don't know if I will ever change for hunting.

 

[Dougs136Schwartz]

I don't like to make quotes like this but I have killed over 150 deer with all kinds of different combinations . Like Encore50 posted a well placed marble would kill a deer . But if The deer does not drop you need a blood trail in order to find the deer. The biggest mistake some hunters are making is using the wrong bullet with the wrong powder combination . You can kill deer with loads as low as one 50 grain pellet but you have to use a easy expanding bullet such as a Barnes XPB pistol bullet that has a big deep hollow point just like 52 cal stated . Barnes and Leigh make some amazing bullets that will preform at very low velocities BUT ! They normally have to have a fairly big and deep hollow point . The pointy bullets will and do work but need to be pushed faster .

When I started taking kids hunting I made the very same mistake . I had kids using Powerbelts and Hornady XTPs because I was told that both of these bullets will explode if pushed fast so I thought with only one 50 grain pellet would be perfect?! Wrong ! I was able to find the deer but had no expansion at all ! I had to do some research and find a bullet that would expand at very low velocites. Myself I learned that a pistol bullet such as a Barnes XPB worked perfect at a wide range of velocities but it's not a long range bullet . There are all kinds of bullets that will work with the right powder combination.

One thing that is really nice about this site is that we have guys like Ron that have done testing on all these bullets . That's huge ! I would of loved to have this info 10 years ago . Yes I know that shooting through water jugs and carpet is not the same as a deer but it's still very very useful information . Thank you very much for taking the time and doing all those tests !

 

[ENCORE50A]

Not saying this includes everyone or anyone, but I think that there might be to many hunters who are satisfied with just "hunting accuracy". Might be possible that some hunters shoot well beyond their capabilities. Yes there's a fairly good size kill area on an animal, say deer. However I suggest that very seasoned hunters who have harvested many animals try to avoid high POI's. IMO even the best bullet, if there actually is one, can pass through high on an animal and still leave an extremely poor and/or hard to follow blood trail. Those hunting in very thick areas sometimes look for hours before finding an animal and in the worse case, they never recover them. Poorly placed shots have given rise in some states to trained tracking dogs for recovery. There's always the possibility of different contributing factors, "buck fever", rushing the shot, lack of experience and certainly lack of practice to build confidence, and so on.
I always attempt my POI to be lower on an animal, basically attempting to destroy the animal's heart and/or arteries. Lower shots at the heart with pass through, normally leave a blood trail that is easily followed. There's much less of the body cavity to fill, thus a blood trail is generally quite large. Put even a poorly designed bullet, round ball, or marble through a deer's heart and you'll be eating venison.
Lots of practice builds confidence. If an animal doesn't present itself for a properly and well placed shot, hold off until it does, or let it walk until next time.

 

[jims]

Now I have not shot as many deer as some here but I have taken a fair number with the SSTs and like them. These were big bodied Ohio deer. I always found them very accurate, affordable, plentiful to find and the deer always died in a short distance.

 

[Dougs136Schwartz]

Jim lots and lots of deer have been killed with the SST . They have to be a good bullet .

Encore never to old to learn . You posted something I never really thought about . I'm not a high shoulder shooter . I'm a bow Hunter by heart . I like to shoot deer in the vitals and let them run . Normally easy to find with good blood trails . I never gave the thought to lower my shot placement to even get a better blood trail. I field dressed many deer with the chest cavity full of blood . That makes a lot of sense .

 

[emrah]

I've posted this before on the umpteen different SST threads but I'll post it again. I've switched to Barnes 250 gr TEZ.

Had a 250gr SST fail on me. 35 yard chip shot on a shoulder shot on a medium sized doe. She got hit. She got knocked down. She kicked a bit. She got up and ran off with a broken leg never to be seen again. No blood at impact site and no blood trail. Nothing. No thanks.

Emrah


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[MrTom]

Encore never to old to learn . You posted something I never really thought about . I'm not a high shoulder shooter . I'm a bow Hunter by heart . I like to shoot deer in the vitals and let them run . Normally easy to find with good blood trails . I never gave the thought to lower my shot placement to even get a better blood trail. I field dressed many deer with the chest cavity full of blood . That makes a lot of sense .

When I was bow hunting I always wanted a low in the chest shot for bleeding. A deer's chest cavity can take a while to fill with enough blood to show a trail if a shot is high, and I wanted blood right now. This ideology has followed me into the firearms arena as well.

The buck I just got on opening day I hit in the neck on purpose and his chest was one solid clot with very little on the ground. He dropped on the spot. The shot I took was going to be the only good one I could make on him because he winded me and was turning to wave bye-bye. Normally I like a full broadside chest shot and aim for the knee...perfect for a blood leaker.

 

[WV Hunter]

I've posted this before on the umpteen different SST threads but I'll post it again. I've switched to Barnes 250 gr TEZ.

Had a 250gr SST fail on me. 35 yard chip shot on a shoulder shot on a medium sized doe. She got hit. She got knocked down. She kicked a bit. She got up and ran off with a broken leg never to be seen again. No blood at impact site and no blood trail. Nothing. No thanks.

Emrah


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Not saying it was . But shot placement could have been the issue. I've seen guys hit deer low in the shoulder that with .300 mag and they got up and ran off. It wasn't the bullet, but the placement. A well placed shot will in most all cases kill the animal regardless of bullet choice. I'd say the Barnes has a better reputation than SST but again, shot placement is key. Glad ur happy w ur switch