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I'm new to this forum and have a question on the bullet I used pronghorn hunting. I was using a 264 win mag and had loaded 140gr. hornady sst bullets. Should have been pushing a little over 3000fps. My shot was only 100 yd straight on so I shot just above the brisket. The buck dropped like a rock but when dressing him out I noticed that the liver and lungs were destroyed and one shoulder blade was shattered. No exit wound. My question is this: Was this bullet moving so fast that it came apart too quickly and would I be better off with a different type of bullet? Also are there any ideas on how this would have worked at a 250-350 yd. shot? That is really the distance I was expecting to shoot. I'm not complaining he's a great buck and the bullet worked,just concerned about the penetration. | ||
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YOur impact velocity was high enough that the bullet fragmented pretty thoroughly. To get a complete pass through of an antelope from that angle your looking at somewhere along the lines of 36" of penetration. YOu still would have been fine at longer distance as the penetration would likely have been similar or possibly a bit better due to scrubbing off some velocity allowing the bullet to hold together better. This year I watched a friend of mine use a 165 sst in a 30-06 take a shot at about 50 yards on a large bodied whitetail. The shot was broad side and the bullet didn't exit. The recovered piece of the bullet was 45 grains. The impact velocity was just shy of 2800. From my own experience the sst's will come apart pretty throughly until the impact velocity s down around 2500-2600 fps. Then they hold together a bit better and start giving consistent exits. The result has still always been dead animal within very short distance. Just make sure your not trying to go through heavy bone with it and it does fine. Yes it's cocked, and it has bullets too!!! | |||
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Congrats on the goat. I will avoid rushing to judgment on the bullet for 2 reasons. #1 I have never used a Hornady sst #2 You usually need more than one kill to make a fair assessment of a bullets performance. NRA Life DRSS Searcy 470 NE The poster formerly known as Uglystick | |||
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Thanks for the input. Big game seasons are over for me this year but I'll try these on coyotes this winter. I was thinking along the same lines as to the speed effecting the bullet performance so you have eased my mind. I had thought about that same load for elk, but have changed my mind and will go to somthing different. Maybe a Berger or possibly a Nosler partition. Ideas? | |||
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I've been very pleased with partitions, trophy-bonded, and accubonds; all factory ammo. Lots of guys love Barnes or Swift A-Frames, I have yet to try them. 26 caliber can be very effective, period. However, when you send a 'smallish' bullet at high speed it will mushroom more readily than a larger caliber, heavier bullet. Because of this, ESPECIALLY on elk, I would go with a bullet with more 'structural integrity'. | |||
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I've run a fair number of the SST's, and the Bergers along with about a half dozen other bullet types. If you don't like the fragmenttation of the SST then don't use the Berger it comes apart even more so. Yes it's cocked, and it has bullets too!!! | |||
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I'd have to agree that the impact velocity may have been pretty high. With bullets like the SST or the Ballistic Tip I prefer to use heavy for caliber bullets, although for the 264 the 140 gr is the heaviest that I'm aware of. | |||
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While your post doesn't state it, I am assuming you didn't find the bullet. Just because you didn't find it, doesn't mean the bullet disintegrated. How hard did you look? My point is simply I have shot several animals that had no exit wound and I was not able to find the bullet. That doesn't mean the bullet vaoprized. How much penetration did you actually get? Mike Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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You're right, I didn't find the bullet. As far as penetration goes, the lungs were gone, so was the liver. The right shoulder blade was destroyed probably from a fragment.The bullet did the job because I'm eating antelope now. My main concern was using this bullet on larger game such as elk. Seems like I should probably use a different bullet for that. At the beginning of this post I was perplexed at the fragmentation before it hit any bone but now I see that excessive speed can cause that also. You must remember, I'm very new at reloading and big game hunting for that matter. I have lots of questions. Thats why I'm here. Thanks to you all for the input. | |||
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Mike, I've shifted to the 130gr Accubond in my 264. For my 140 gr load I use the old Hdy I-lock. Both bullets have performed very well for me on numerous animals. I think the SST and the Balistic Tip are to frangible for use in the 264 and have had similiar experiences as your antelope. I chose the Accubond since it was the more accurate bullet vs. the Interbond and I've taken many animals with it in the past several years. The old Hdy I-Lock loads are just sitting there corroding but I'll shoot them up someday. Pancho LTC, USA, RET "Participating in a gun buy-back program because you think that criminals have too many guns is like having yourself castrated because you think your neighbors have too many kids." Clint Eastwood Give me Liberty or give me Corona. | |||
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Thanks Pancho, I'll give the 130 accubond a try. Nice to here from another 264 shooter. Don't think there are many of us around. I sure have got some good advice on this forum. I think I'll use up the sst's on coyote this winter while working up a good load for the accubond. | |||
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Another .264 user here. I quit reloading about 10 years ago, so just use Win. factory 140 gr. now in my M70. That bullet kills everything I aim at just fine. Since I quit reloading I've used it on 11 of 12 critters in Africa; a tahr, chamois, arapawa sheep and a wallaby in NZ and several mule deer here in the US. All but one of these were 1-shot kills. Next weekend I'll be shooting it at a scimitar oryx and a whitetail in TX. Tony Mandile - Author "How To Hunt Coues Deer" | |||
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While I have not used the 140 gr SST in my Swedes, they do tend to show the best performance in standard caliber velocities. I would not recommend using them on elk. The interbond or the accubond's would be my suggestion. | |||
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