I have shot 65, 139 grain SSTs through my 700 mnt rifle now and they have all grouped great, 1/2 moa most times. With 44 grains Varget

I planned on hunting with the Interbonds though, but the best group I can get is 1.5 moa or so and most are bigger.

I have some concerns on the SST as a deer round at 2900fps or so. Anybody else had problems with the Interbonds not grouping as well as the SST's, I've shot 50 or so and I've moved them to and away from the lands, 43-44.5 grains powder and nothing seems to help.

Maybe you should try a different powder...........

I don't have any experience with Interbonds. But I killed a mature buck at about 65 yds with a 140gr SST from a 264Mag. The buck was facing almost directly toward me. The bullet entered and broke the right shoulder, traveled through the lungs and exited behind the diaphram. The buck raised up like a bucking horse and dropped. I've also taken about 5 or 6 deer with a 139 gr SST from a 280. All have been complete pass throughs. I know most people on these forums put the SST in the same class as the Nosler Ballistic Tip. That hasn't been my experience. And when I asked Hornady, they said that the SST was designed to penetrate as well or better than the Interlock.

Sounds like you are shooting a 308. If the SST's shoot well, I'd use 'em.

I've tried the 154gr/7mm in my .280 & the best group I can get is about 2". This rifle shoots everything into 1 1/2" or less, even factory stuff. Anyone want some 154gr/7mm IBs?

I load the 165 grain SST and Interbond for my 30-06 and they shoot just as accurately (<1MOA). I'm using IMR 4350. I use the SST for target shooting and sighting in and will use the Interbonds for hunting.

PPosey, At the speed you mentioned, the SST should perform flawlessly on whitetails. Shoot what you feel the most comfortable w/. The 1/2" load would really make me feel confident while in the field.

Good Luck!

Reloader

I'd try a different powder. I shoot the 139gr Interbond in a 7mm Rem Mag I get 1/2" groups with RL 19 and 3230 FPS. I did have to switch primers using a CCI250 rather than the usual Fed 215.

Here's a couple groups that I came up with using the 165 interbond. This is in my 300WSM, using H4831SC. I won't post the weight, it's over Hornady's recomended max. First one is .450, the second is .550, same load two different days.





This one is with the 180 interbond, I was expansion testing these and the accu-bonds. The load workup was strictly looking for velocity levels, not for accuracy. I suspect some fine tuning would lead to under the one inch seen here. This powder charge is also over what Hornady reccomends for max, but is perfectly safe in my rifle.

Both the SST and interbond can be accurate bullets. Load developement can be quick if you stumble on "THE" perfect load right away. Other times it takes a while, especially with a new rifle. The first load workup was a bear with the Browning WSM. It took a while to find a load, I think the barrel needed to break in properly.

I have not had that good of success with the SST in my .270 yet, but in all fairness, I've only tried 2 powders and 2 charges. But all 4 groups were at about one inch.

Hornady also told me that the SST was designed to open up rapidly but penetrate well...better than a Ballistic Tip.

But I've used the B-Tips for 12 years and have never recovered one.

To answer your question...sounds like you need to try a different powder.

FWIW, my guns liked Re19, 22, and H4831SC in my .270 with 130 SST's.

What caliber are you shooting? You may seriously consider IMR 4350. If you were to ask a group of reloading guys what one of the most DO ALL powders is, the consensus would probably be IMR4350, at least that is my experience. It is my trouble shooter powder for most all of my rifles.

Regarding what Grizz posted...I must also admit that my experience with Hornady bullets over the years IN MY RIFLES, is that they do like ALOT of powder for accuracy.

I would go above published max loads as well but only with their bullets (with several powders) to get better accuracy. All were completely safe in my rifles.

I got the Hornady 130 interlokt to group better than 1/2" time after time with 1.2 grains over max with IMR4831 in my Ruger .270 with the Hart barrel.

I haven't tried the interbonds because the sst do so well in any caliber I have tried them in.I have taken deer in many different calibers with the sst up to 3250 fps and everyone of them has made complete pass throughs and a dead deer.From 40 to 200 yds so far.
If the sst's shot better I would go with them for deer.
Some one posted on one of the boards that they were made on the same machine.Don't know???

Doc, I posted in other forums about just how carefull I am while going over published max charges. The last time with the 180 interlock, it was a mistake of only consulting one manual for loading data.

I looked in the sierra manual for their loads for R-19. It had showed promise with 190 matchkings, so I wanted to try it for the 180's. Sierra showed a max load of 70.5 grains behind any of their 180's. So I loaded at 1.0 grain intervals from 67.5 to 70.5.

I then looked at my printout from Hornady the showed 67.8 grains to be max.

I decided to shoot them anyway. While shooting groups over my pact chrono, I also measured the pressure ring. Steady climb in velocity and no abnormal preasure ring measurements, told me I was in a safe area. I did notice a small vel. reduction from 68.5 to 69.5, so I didn't fire the 70.5's. I was at 3103 for a 180 gr. bullet! This was all in Norma brass, which seems to be stronger than the win stuff. Without a chrono and micrometer capable of reading to .0001, I would never go over max.

In this rifle at least, it seems to shoot these bullets well at full throttle. It also seems to have a fast barrel. Gotta love it when a plan comes together!

Trust me, injury is the last thing I want. I only went over max loads by .2 grains per load! Yea, it's a bit cumbersom, and time consuming but I weigh each charge individually and check pressures at the range too.

I went back and read my post. In the second paragraph where I start by saying, "I would load..."

I meant that THAT is what I did, not recommending someone else to do the same...I thought I should make that clear.

It is odd that we've both had similar experiences with the full throttle/Hornady load though. I was very dissatisfied with them til I started pouring on the juice.

Sorry guys its a 7mm-08.



here are two groups I shot yesterday the best yet from the interbonds, and a typical group from the SST's, man those things are shooting great for me,



http://groups.msn.com/ThePoseyClan2/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=38



At 44 grains Varget the ssts shoot great, I worked up to that load and it got better and better every .5 grain I added,,,very happy with it,



I called Hornady and they said that 43 grains and setting as close to the lands as posible should produce the same results but I am already at the full mag lenght for seating and tried 43 grains,,,I guess I will try some different powders and see, It would have been to much luck to get the same results as the SST's ehhhhhhh



thanks again for all the sugestions,,,,,,,,it really helps a newby....



I am sure the SST's will take a deer but I like the thought of the more controled expansion of the interbond, less meat damage and an exit wound are both things I like

Yes, good thing to know about internal ballistics. You actually get into an area of diminishing returns as the pressure goes over the top. When the gain slows down you've reached the usefull limit of the powder/bullet combo. Going higher in powder charge only dangerously increases pressure. It also shortens case life and increases bolt/locking lug thrust.

Once when working with a wildcat, I got a reversal in velocity. As the powder charge was increased the rise in velocity turned around and got LESS. Being a fairly new reloader, I asked a question of the pistols builder,(XP-100 7 x 47). He insisted on checking the headspace and locking lugs for damage. Then he educated me that pressure gains per grain of powder should be linear, about the same amount of increase per grain while in the safe pressure range. The year was around 1975, or pre internet. If only there was a source at that time like this and other forums!