Hornady SST / S&B PTS: is this THE hunting bullet?

[Para Bellum]

Hi there,

almost by incident I've bought a pack of S&B "PTS" for my 7x57 today. Then I checked the ballistic data. Wow. Less initial velocity but hey, at 200m they outperform my RWS stuff by 500Joules!

The S&B PTS are said to be identical with Hornady SST.
Dou you have any experience with these?

Here's what Hornady say about them:

1) Premium Polymer Tip
The sharp point increases the SST’s™ ballistic coefficient, making it faster and flatter shooting. On impact, the tip also initiates controlled expansion at all velocities.

2) Secant Ogive, Boattail Spire Point Profile
It’s a simple fact: bullets that travel faster hit harder. The Hornady secant ogive, boattail spire point profile gives hunters the incredible speed and downrange energy they’re looking for.

3) The InterLock™ Ring
Ensures the core and jacket remain locked solid during expansion, so the SST™ retains the mass and energy needed for dramatic wound channels. Perfected in the famous Hornady InterLock hunting bullet.

 

[davlandrum]

Para - I have been happy with Hornady interbond. Looking at the 2, I don't see a ton of difference. I think Hornady makes great hunting bullets in general.

but....there is no such thing as "THE" hunting bullet. Lots and lots of bullets make things dead, and that is the goal of a hunting bullet.

 

[Doyle]

The Hornady SST performs much like a standard ballistic tip. The Interbond tends to stay together more - especially at high velocities and in thicker skin/boned game.

Lots of people shy away from the SST/Ballistic tips because of the excessive meat damage it does at shorter ranges. It was designed to give good mushrooming performance at long ranges. When used like that, it gives good performance. However, at short range, it is just too explosive for my tastes.

 

[davlandrum]

Doyle - thanks for the info. I have used the interbonds on mule deer and they performed very well at +/- 100 yards (30-06) in unchronographed handloads.

Like I said, though, there are a lot of bullets that work well for general hunting applications. The choice gets smaller the more specialized the hunting gets.

 

[roklok]

I dont think the SST is THE hunting bullet, but I think the SST is THE hunting bullet for deer sized animals at longer ranges. I use them in my .270 loads and love them. I have also hit deer moving through brush a few times with less than ideal shot placement and it still anchors them. It does damage a little more meat than some other bullets at close range, but it seems to put them down fast, which is important in thick brush where it can be difficult to find a deer that does not go down quickly.

 

[Art Eatman]

I know as fact that on whitetail, a 150-grain Bronze Point was a DRT deal at 350 yards. Same-o/same-o for a Sierra 150-grain SPBT at 450.

Lotsa bullets work. "Best" is opinion and hype.

 

[Para Bellum]

Lotsa bullets work. "Best" is opinion and hype

I know as fact that on whitetail, a 150-grain Bronze Point was a DRT deal at 350 yards. Same-o/same-o for a Sierra 150-grain SPBT at 450.
Lotsa bullets work. "Best" is opinion and hype.

Yeah, I know. Thanks for the two experiences. The SPBT would be my second choice. It seems that these aerodynamicly shaped bullets (SPBT, SST, PTS) get the edge out of older calibers such as the 7x57...

Have a nice weekend!
PB

 

[PredatorHunter]

I am not a fan of the SST. I loaded some 165 for my 308. I have shot two trophy whitetails with them and BOTH didn't open up. Both were perfect shots in behind the shoulder and both ran a good distance before expiring. I am now shooting them at coyotes.

 

[Art Eatman]

Some FWIW about bullets: From WW II until he quite killing deer around 1980-ish, my father's reloads were exclusively 150-grain Hornady Spire Points for his '06. More than once and in front of witnesses, he made one-shot kills out to 400 and 500 yards. He killed a fair number of bucks for other folks, so his average per year was quite a bit higher than for the average Texas hunter.

Datum: Sierra's .30 150-grain SPBT can be overdriven. Impacts above around 2,800 ft/sec can result in a blowup. Doesn't happen with flat-base 150s. I use the SPBT because most of my probable opportunities would be more "out yonder" shots. Inside of 150 or so yards, the flat-base would be better. (My 26" barrel and all that ballistic stuff. )

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

I know as fact that on whitetail, a 150-grain Bronze Point was a DRT deal at 350 yards.

Yep, I love me some bronze tips. Or, loved, that is. Seems they are no longer available as components in .270. I shot four deer with them, no exit hole, everything forward of the diaphragm internally was a soupy mush. No wasted meat.

I switched to SST's but have yet to shoot a deer with one. They do seem to be as accurate as the old bronze tips, though.

 

[jbcricket]

For years my dad and i have been using good ol 225 grn hornady spire points and they have performed wonderfully out of our 338's. Great accuracy and tend to knock the animals right down. Recently i loaded up some sst's and gave them to my dad to try out. They were extremely accurate but he shot a deer with one and it went right thru and didnt seem to expand much. We'll have to try them out a bit more to see for sure.

 

[Art Eatman]

The efforts put into R&D for premium bullets have produced great results. My problem is the ancient, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." If something has worked for me for a long time, what difference does it make if the reason I began the use was that it's what my daddy did?

Drifting a bit: From what I've seen, and from a good bit of reading, it seems to me that the greatest improvements in bullet technology have been in two arenas: First, bullets of .223 which give a much wider range of performance than just varminting. Second, the VLD bullets for long-range target shooting.

 

[pilothunter]

The discussion on the "best" bullet for deer (or any type) hunting is, and will continue to be a never ending saga. There are way too many scenarios for anyone to simply make a blanket statement about any one bullet. Such things as range, game size (100 or 300 lb deer), deer's state of awareness, calmness, spooked or alert, tense or relaxed, etc, etc, etc.

These are just some of the endless variations of the target that can and do make a huge difference on bullet performance. A bullet that performs DIT on a relaxed feeding deer may (and likely will) not perform the same on a buck hopped up on testosterone chasing a doe at exactly the same range, with the same point of impact. Trust me, it's true, if you've not performed both of those types of shots on deer already.

Deer are not very difficult to kill, but "deer" encompasses both a 95 pound Texas buck and a 300 pound Maine buck. A significant difference. The same as shooting a 75 pound sow and 400 pound boar; simply night and day.
Just an observation taken from the use of a lot of calibers and a lot of different bullet types.