Many things influence bullet performance besides velocity. Within the past week, I killed two unusually large hogs at ranges of 165 and 155 yards using a 24"-inch-barreled Contender in 6.5x30-30 AI using 123 grain Hornady SSTs at app. 2600 fps MV.

Both were quick, clean kills, but the recovered projectiles look nothing alike. One is nothing but a jacket; the other is closer to the textbook mushroom. Did one fail? No way. It's certainly not a textbook mushroom but about what I expected due to the size of the hog (bottom photo), the structure of the bullet, the impact velocity and the hard impact (shoulder) before encountering soft tissue. The hog died in its tracks, the bullet plowing through the onside shoulder and then carrying forward to damage the heart and a portion of the lungs before lodging in the meat on the inner portion of the off-side shoulder. It weighed 28.1 grains, retaining none of the core (just some smeared lead on the interior of the jacket).

The second boar was taken with a tight, behind-the-shoulder impact as the boar's front leg was forward (ribs only bones hit), and the bullet was recovered under the hide on the far side after thoroughly wrecking the lungs and again penetrating the ribcage. It weighed 72.3 grains and had a max diameter of .530".

The final appearance of the two bullets may be quite different, but the end-results were the same: dead hogs.

You sir are one hog killing son of a gun. I do enjoy your posts.

Dave

Interesting to read this and thanks for posting. This week a friend shot a warthog boar behind the shoulder with a 150 gr SST 30-06 factory bullet. The bullet appears to have broken up on entry and, while the animal expired instantly, it does not generate much confidence in SSTs.
More feedback and opinions will be welcome.

Many of the SSTs seem to be on the soft side, and comparable Nosler BTs out-penetrate them. At 2600 fps MV, I have no qualms with the 123 grain/6.5 version, though.

When I had a different 6.5x30-30 AI (aka 6.5 Bullberry IMP) barrel, I used the 129 grain Hornady SP with very good success. So when the SST in the same weight became available, I tried it -- and hated it as it was far too fragile for my usage. It seems all Hornady did was elongate the neck to accommodate the plastic tip instead of changing the geometry/construction. It resulted in poor performance in test medium and looked like a grenade was launched inside the coyotes I shot as jacket and core material were everywhere. Like I noted, though, that was years ago, and I am not sure if Hornady ever addressed this issue and changed the 129 grain SST or not. I do know that the 123 grain version performs better than the original 129 -- perhaps because it had to be designed from the ground up, so to speak.

I have suspicion that Hornady has addressed the problems you first observed Bobby. I shoot nothing but 129 grain SSTs in my 6.5x55. It's a modern rifle, so I shoot modern loads, which by loudenboomer standards are still pretty sedate I wager. I want to say I'm running 49 grain of Re19. I've killed mule deer, whitetails, hogs, and antelope with these bullets and never recovered one - pass-throughs every time.

Your recent posts make me wonder though - should I try these 123 grainers?

With the 129s working that well for you, I'd stick to them and forget about the 123s. Another person just mentioned, too, that Hornady must have addressed those early problems. In an e-mail, a friend from SC said the first animal he shot with the then-new 129 grain SSTs was a doe using a Kimber-customized 6.5x55. Mark said the MV was around 2800 fps and that the doe was 90 yards away. From what he described, the bullet went to pieces on the shoulder and only seemed to pepper the heart-lungs with shrapnel. He said there was no exit and that he only a small sliver of jacket made it to the opposite ribcage/shoulder. He said the doe went down hard but was still breathing when he walked up to her, so he fired a coup de grace, though she probably would have expired as he said the chest cavity did have lots of blood in it.

Fast forward to now: Mark said he bought more of these bullets to try again a couple years ago when his .260 didn't seem to like the other bullets he had on hand and that the results are completely different. Him and his son-in-law have taken 5 deer and about eight hogs using the Swede and .260 and have had exits with all of them.

So it sounds like they now are working well -- much like the lead-tipped 129 grain original.

As such -- and considering the 123s were supposedly designed for the speeds of the Grendel -- I would stick with what is working so wonderfully for you.

Bobby: Thanks for all the bullet performance info you have made available in your posts.

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As such -- and considering the 123s were supposedly designed for the speeds of the Grendel -- I would stick with what is working so wonderfully for you.

That's solid advice. Sometimes a guy just likes to tinker though. I've stocked up several hundred of the 129s anyway - probably more than I can shoot at game in the next three decades.

Your pal's experience mirrors my own very early attempts to use the SSTs. I loaded some 150s in a .308 Win Encore and killed a couple feral Spanish goats with them. Those acted like big V-maxes, with immediate violent expansion and shallow wound channels. Dead goats, but not near the performance I'd want for even deer-sized game. With these 129s though, I wouldn't be afraid to chase elk with my 6.5x55.

I will be testing some of the SST's in factory ammo for the Grendel when it arrives and it is nice to have first hand experience to draw from. I read through all your posts in the last ten pages and see you like the 120 grain Ballistic Tip a bit better and the 129 grain Hornady Spire points work well for you also. The 20 inch barrel of the Grendel I ordered should be able to get at least 2600 fps or close to it with these bullets. Some people say they can reach 2700 fps in their rifles I think a mild 2500 fps will be just fine and easy on the brass in a bolt gun. Your shots are longer than what I usually take, usually under 100 yards though this year I have shot 4 big hogs and two were 250 yards out and in broad daylight!

I am impressed at all of the bullets you are able to recover. I don't think I have ever recovered a bullet shot into an animal.

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Originally posted by Buglemintoday:
I am impressed at all of the bullets you are able to recover. I don't think I have ever recovered a bullet shot into an animal.

Wow, a blast from the past! How are you Justin?