Hi Folks,
Since I am too lazy and way too busy to load my ammo for deer season this year, I have elected to use the Hornady factory stuff.
This afternoon I zeroed my .300 win mag with the 165 grain SST load. Has anyone used this load on deer? If so what were the results?
Good Shooting,
HBB

Not on Deer but on hogs I have loaded some up and went hunting hogs 2 days ago. They worked great the first one was shot at 145yds. and it went thru both lungs and heart, the hog went right down. the hole was about 3/4" on the exit and the meat damage was very small. the 2nd one was a head shot and it was a mess the head came apart in 3 places and the bullet damage was large. I would hunt most anything that is around here with this load. As I stated I handloaded this round. My load is 78.0grs. of H4831SC in a W&Wcase with a WLR primer I am getting very good vel. 3180fps.
I am getting groups that are .556" 5 shots.

I hope this helped.

Doc in Texas

I havent used that load, but from my experience with the 300 win mag (as limited as it is), Id say that a 165 gr polymer tip might not hold together. The SST is a sturdy bullet, though. So it might be up to the task. Im just thinkin that at those velocities the polymer tip might explode, but the SST has the locking/crimp ring in the jacket (I forgot what thats called).

Not with the 165 or the .300 but with the 180 grain SST in the .30-06. I came up with a load that shoots great out of both my Ruger No. 1 and my Remington 700. Two weeks ago today I shot my first Antelope and broke in my new No. 1 ( I have done alot of shooting on the range with it just never at an animal yet, until then). It was walking at 200 yards and would not stop so I held right on the front edge of the shoulders and one shot ended my hunt. I actually wish I would have held back just a little because the bullet went right through both shoulders, but did not ruin as much meat as a Balistic tip would have in the same place. The Antelope went down with only a slight shudder afterwards.

It is just as bad going hunting over gunned as it is under gunned. Magnum cartridges that drive bullets in excess of 3000 fps are very explosive on any deer sized game animal. You will probably see excessive meat damage and loose both front shoulders. If you place your shot directly behind the shoulder that should limit the damage. Deer are thin skinned animals and it is better to harvest them with cartridges and bullet weights that develope less than 3000 fps at the muzzle.
The 165 grain bullet in the 300 mag is an all around any sized game getter up to the Elk. Shot placement is as important as the bullet the weight you choose to use. The 300 Mag is better suited for open country hunting where longer shots are the norm. In medium to heavy cover where your shots will be less than 100 yards the 300 mag is not the best choice for harvesting deer. There are a multitude of cartridges from the 243 up to the 30-06 much better suited for deer.

I would think you are gone get a lot of meat damage on any game at that velocity

I've used the 165 grain SST in my .300 Weatherby on deer and it has performed perfectly at ranges as close as 20 yards. I get complete penetration with a quarter sized entrance wound and silver dollar sized exit. My shots have all been behind the shoulders and meat damage was minimal. In fact, since I don't use the ribs for anything, I have lost zero meat so far. Shoulder shots would be a different situation I'm sure, but I try to avoid those kinds of shots.