In a previous post I promised to publish the results of my expansion testing of the new Hornady 225 grain SST bullets in soaking wet phone books. From prior testing of hundreds of bullets and comparing them to actual field returns we are confident that these results will be similar to actual field results in game. These bullets appear to be very soft and I would be hesitant to use them on bigger moose or elk sized game although they would be acceptable on smaller deer sized game. However, from the damage they did in the phone books they would leave a fairly explosive entry wound similar to Nosler Ballistic Tips. I shot 2 bullets at 50 meters and they retained 65 and 64% weight and their cores. I shot 3 bullets at 100 meters and they all separated the cores. The retained weights were 60, 63, and 63%. I shot 3 bullets at 200 meters and the retained weights were 66, 75, and 68%. One bullet lost its core. The muzzle velocity was 2825 fps and these were shot from my 338 Win Mag. If you shot these from a more powerful rifle I think they would act like varmint bullets. They are very accurate however. More to follow. Steve

Thanks Steve,
I just bought a 338 and that's one of the bullets I was considering. It seems like it would be okay to use on Whitetails, but not for elk or moose. Keep us posted!

Bob257

fwiw--One rainy day I was bored and cut a 30 cal sst apart and also a 30 caliber interlock. (There had been rumors that the sst had a thicker jacket). I foundthe jackets to be identical. Then I saw some pictures in a test and the sst definately had "opened up" more than the interlock. The jacket had peeled a little further down the shank and the pedals were folded tighter to the shank. I was a little perplexed till someone pointed out that the plastic tip gets expansion going immediately upon impact where a lead tip might get a little bit more penetration and help control that initial expansion at high speed.
Bottom line as far as I'm concerned the interlock is a tougher bullet and the sst is nothing more than a ballistic tip with a cannelure (which might help durability).
I loaded 2 guys with 140 sst's in 270 win this fall for wisconsin whitetail hunting. Both shot deer within 100 yds and both reported "monster" exit wounds. One guy wants more cause he doesn't want his deer to run to another hunter 200 yds away and the other guy wants something tougher in case he has to take a bad angle shot.

BEAUTY is always in the eye of the beholder!!

I used the .308 150gr SST this past season in a .308WIN to take two whitetails. 1st was at almost point blank range, bullet went in the top of the back and came out the bottom with rib and lug damage. Exit hole was about 1" roughly the size of a quarter. The second was somewhere around 100yds. It was a classic lung shoot. One broke rib, two damaged lungs, one dead deer. I can't comment on shooting elk or moose with the bullet, but I think at nonmagnum velocities the SST makes a super whitetail bullet but then again so does a Remington coreloc. Terry

Thanks for the report. I was afraid of this. I was certainly hoping the Interlock had at least some what resolved the core launching problem.... Perhaps bonding these cores (Hornady and Nosler) is going to be the only way they ever perform like they should.

I don't know about the larger dia. bullets and larger game than deer in the SST but I have taken 12 deer with them since they came out ,with 260,7/08,and 30/06.From 45 to 200 yds,haven't been able to check the weight because all of them has past through the animal.Shot a 170 lb deer this past year at 95 yds,went through the front shoulder about dead center,looked like a pencil hole came out on the other side about three inches behind the shoulder hole looked about 1 1/2 inches in dia.That was with a 06 and 165 gr bullet.
Going to try the 243 and the 280 with the sst's this year.
Every one that I know that uses them really like them.

Hi Owensby: Ray (Downwindtracker2) and I did the tests with the 338 caliber SST's and he loaded up some 165 SST's in his 30-06 to 2600 fps muzzle velocity to duplicate my 308 Win. We found that the 165 SST's actually held together well, in fact, better than Nolser BT's that we also tested. The SST's penetrated deeper than the BT's and the remaining shank length was longer. I wouldn't hesitate to use them in the 30 calibers anyway. It appears that the jacket on the 338 bullet is just too weak for the size of the bullet and large game. It will work well on deer sized game though. Steve

I tried some 130 grain SST's in my .270 rem model 700 and they don't shoot worth a hoot ie about a 2 inch group compared to the noslers that shoot at or under 1 inch. Also hornaday is supposed to be coming out with a new bullet called the interbond supposed to have the benefits of a poly tip and the toughness of a interlock or partition bullet i wonder how these will shoot

I have tried 180SST in four different 30.06s,all went under 1 1/4" at 100 meters,three under 1".In one rifle with the same load Interloc SP, they tightened the group up.These are hunting loads.The constuction in the 165gr 308 caliber and the 225gr 338 caliber looks about the same.The difference is in the impact velocity.

Well owensby, the 165 SST from a 30-06 is consistant. I did the same as you on three whitetail last fall. Similar angle, same results at 50, 100, and 150-200 yards.

FWIW-I shot the 139 gr. SST this fall out of my 7mm STW. Was launching it at 3250 fps and shooting .75 inch groups. At 200 yards, I hit a big buck in the chest, and it went right through, exiting out the opposite side shoulder blade. He went approx. 15 steps and fell dead. Lastly, didn't hornady come out with the interbond bullet, so it could have the same features as the SST, yet still work well on larger, elk size game? My opinion of the SST is that I am sold and won't shoot a different bullet. Period.