What type of performance are you guys getting using the 165 SST in 30 caliber on deer size game? Do they blow huge holes in the deer or create a bunch of bloodshot meat? Thanks Esox357.

My experience with the SST in a 30-06 is fenominal accuracy, jello internal cavity and some meat damage. With a 45 cal, 250 grain SST in a muzzleloader sabot, same fantastic accuracy, but again, blood shot meat.

The positive is that if you are good with your rifle it goes exactly where you point it, with pleanty of range distance, but the downside is some lost meat.

It is really one hell of a good bullet. If you connect, you won't be tracking far. The SST puts them on the ground.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend I shot two whitetails using a 7mm08 & the 139gr SST. Both of them never took another step. I did not lose any meat at all. One was about a 150-160lb buck & the other a 70-80lb doe. The does was a head shot at a range of 60yd, give or take & the buck was shot behind the shoulder at a range of about 25yd. I don't know how I managed not to mess up any meat on him but I did notice the "jello" effect mentioned by Mighty Joe.
All in all I was very impressed by the performance of this bullet & I would definatly use it again. BTW I was only pushing them at around 2500fps, that was where they were the most accurate from my rifle.

I have shot two deer with 130gr SSTs in a 270. In both cases, the deer dropped promptly. Both deer displayed the internal jelly phenomenum described above.

In spite of my experience, however, the SST bullet makes me somewhat nervous. On skinning the first deer I shot, a small doe, I discovered that the bullet blew up on the OUTSIDE of the ribcage going in! The residual bullet retained enough momentum and mass to pass right through the deer, although I found copper shards throughout the carcass.

On the second deer, a largish buck, I found a copper shard inside the very first steak I ate. Thank goodness it was in my steak, and not my wife's or a guest's!

Both deer were shot through the ribcage. What if the bullet had struck a shoulder or leg bone first? Are we all such deadly shots that we can slip every bullet between the ribs? Is the SST a three legged, runaway deer waiting to happen? Personally, I am considering moving to a more strongly constructed bullet for my deer hunting.

I've had good luck with it in my 300 WM. I've shot four deer with it. Anywhere from 50-200 yards. Three were shot through the lungs. All bullets exited. 2" entrance and exit hole at close range. Two were bang flops and two of the deer ran 50 yards.

I shot one deer in the shoulder at about 100 yards. It dropped right away. The bullet didn't exit, and I lost a lot of meat.

I used the 165 gr SST from a 30-06 on this buck at 110 yards. Excellent buller performance and very good internal damage. I recovered the bullet at 115 gr on the off side on a quartering toward shot. Deer travelled about 20 yards. I am a firm believer in using these type of bullets on deer vs the TSX/Partition/GS/TBBC.

I agree with Battle River. I've had better luck with "softer" bullets on deer sized game. I found Interbonds to be a little too hard on lung shots on deer. The SST's worked better for me.

quote:

Do they blow huge holes in the deer or create a bunch of bloodshot meat?

It depends on how fast you push them.

If you keep them below 2800 they seem to do well but, If you push them fast they explode quite violently and will not exit often.

I load them in 308 win at 2700 FPS.

Good Luck

Reloader

I use the 150 SST and get great bullet performance out of my 30-06 with them. I shoot them through the lung not the shoulder so I don't know how they hold up to shoulder shots. In my opinion they are about the perfect deer bullet.

Took a cow elk with a .308 165 gr SST at about 50 yds. It wobbled for about 10 seconds and dropped. At that range it was no surprise that the bullet didn't exit, but it didn't make a big hole. On the other hand, shot a whitetail buck at about 200 yds with a .280 140 gr Accubond that left the biggest hole I've ever seen...it practically gutted the animal. Ya just never know....