What’s your opinion and experience with this bullet for deer hunting ? I’m considering this bullet for a Caribou hunt using my 25-06. Should I rather use the 110 gr. accubond or similar bonded bullets ? Is the 117 gr. SST tougher of weaker bullet than the 117 gr. SPBT ?

My opinion is, if you are hunting for a trophy animal, stick with bonded or better, something like a TSX. If you are culling or messing around or meat hunting, cheaper bullets may be appropriate.

That said, I really like the SST and they shoot VERY accurately in my 243 and 7mm, just dont aim for meat, they expand fast and violently. I have never had one not exit, but I havent shot a lot of animals with them, I quickly moved to premium bullets and thats primarily what I hunt with now.

i shot hornadys 150gr interbond in my 308 for some time and killed several deer, but everyone ran like hell and hardly left a trail. My brothers lab found most of them. Now all shots were inside of 150yds, broadside, through the shoulder. I have since switched to the sst and have yet to kill a deer with them. I felt the interbond was just a little too tough. That being said, in a quick 25-06 i think that the best bullet would be a good bonded bullet as well. Only time will tell what is the best choice, good luck.

Last year I took two does, one hog (250#), and two racoons with the 117 SST in my .257 Bob.

My opinion? The SST is a great deer bullet or heavy varmint bullet. The Tip is brutally expansive. I had expansion on all five kills and the doe's had 2" + exit wounds. The heart & lungs on one deer looked as if a blender went off in it's chest, exited taking out three ribs.

The first racoon got hit in belly and just plain "blew up". The second one died more "normally".

The hog got hit behind the ear, the bullet hitting the spine. There was no exit.

As to the Second deer that I shot - I hit it with a neck shot and the deer went straight down. And then it kicked a couple times so I put a second round into the back of the doe's neck to finish things off. The SST vaporized on impact with the spine - there was no bullet recovery. On the other hand, this doe was, literally, missing an entire vertabrate...



And yes, you guessed it - it still kicked a few more times.

So, my direct summary of 5 kills: it's a great deer bullet and heavy varmint bullet, but I wouldn't want to shoot an elk with it. In .257 Roberts, it's marginal for hogs, so place the shot correctly.

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Originally posted by Ingvar J. Kristjansson:
What’s your opinion and experience with this bullet for deer hunting ? I’m considering this bullet for a Caribou hunt using my 25-06. Should I rather use the 110 gr. accubond or similar bonded bullets ? Is the 117 gr. SST tougher of weaker bullet than the 117 gr. SPBT ?

If you are going to spend the $$ required for a guided hunt on relatively large animals, don't skimp on the bullets. Hornady, will tell you that their 115 SST is softer than the 117gr SPBT or their 120gr HP.

IMO, the 25/06 is on the light side for caribou anyway. But if you use the right bullet, you should be ok.

I asked a question in this forum as to what was tougher, the Hornady Interbond or the Nosler Accubond and almost all posters said the Accubond was better.
As a result, I am wary of Interbonds and would consider SST's to be considerably more flimsy.
I did recently shoot a wounded bushpig at 10 feet with a 338 Win 225gr Interbond and it did pretty well. A lighter rifle and bullet may not do the same.

The interbond retains more weight than the accubond. If you hit vitals with a fmj bullet the animal will die, it may take longer but a heart shot of a lunger and it will die. I have killed two does with sst in a 243 both with great results. In a 7mm rem mag and 139 interbond at 3200 fps I had a 3" exit wound at 200 yds. Both work, but the sst is DESIGNED to expand quick on thin skinned game.

I've used the SST on deer with good success.

I'd like a little better bullet than that however for caribou.

In .257 caliber I'd be looking for Hornady's 120 Hollow point or any of the bonded bullets.

The 100 grain spire point is tougher than the SST. Never fooled with the 120 HPs or the bonded stuff. I really like the 100 grain spire point. Then again, I busy myself with lung shots on does. They go maybe 10 yards in most circumstances.

My opinion? Bou aren't that big, you want a flat accurate round, odds are you will shoot under 300 if not 200 yds though I would think, and anything stronger than an outright varmint bullet in the lungs will take one......BUT, my question to you is.....will you have anyone with you? Are there bears in the area? If so, a partition or barnes would be what I would want chambered, JUST in case, but if there are no bears and you want to use the SST I'd try to go broadside on lungs and quick death should be the outcome. Many bullets will do the job but if you want something in the event of 'there's a trophy I want, but I MUST shoot from hind end...or opps, a Griz just popped up and I am in between it and it's cubs.....' THEN take a controlled expansion bullet is what I would do...

Don't sweat using the 25/06 IMHO, many 'bou taking with lesser rounds just fine, just place your shot and on longer shots, if you have a rangefinder, it might help knowing where to hold, or click scope if by chance you have target knobs.

Good hunting!

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That said, I really like the SST and they shoot VERY accurately in my 243 and 7mm, just dont aim for meat, they expand fast and violently.

I agree! Especialy in the Hornady Factory "Light Magnum" 243 Winchester with the 100 grain bullet! It can be very destructive!

My experience is with 150gr SST in 30-06 used on whitetail doe. Like Karoo said, they're pretty flimsy. OK for a broadside lung shots. But I wouldn't use them on an expensive guided hunt in the frozen north where a raking shot on a trophy is all I'm presented with.

25-06 is a good caliber for caribou, just not with SST bullets. Save them for varmints.

Thanks for the advice guy‘s....I think I’ll use the 110 gr. Accubond.

I tried some loads at the range this morning with the 110 gr. Accubond, and my Sako really likes them !

In this picture the 3 shot group is 0.37†and the 4 shot group is 0.65†Not bad for the first load !

I am using 139 SST in 7-08 out of my Kimber Select Grade for my October antelope hunt in Wyoming.I think they will perform great on that size animal.

On my first trip to Africa one in our hunting group made all one shot kills on his 6 animals using a 300 Win Mag and SSTs. They were either 165s or 180 grains and I think they were 165s. He killed a big Kudu and I think a Blue Wildebeest. I do know there was very little left of his recovered bullets while my 165 grain Barnes X and Trophy Bonded Bear Claws in 308 Winchester were perfect.

Typical Sako accuracy! Got to love it! Shot a 5/8 group the other day M75 G Wolf- 260/130 accubonds and the group before put first two in about 1/4", so its a good bullet in my rifle. Likely would be my one bullet does all in that gun.

Talking about Sako accuracy....this is my 5 shot goup from my Sako Gray Wolf .300 win mag, 4 shots almost in one hole and the fifth and final shot on the left is surely my fault

My experience, accurate little hand grenades! I used them in a .308Win with good success then tried them in a .270Win and got explosive results. I didn't like what they did to deer so I used the rest on varmints and target practice. They were extremely accurate in both rifles I tried them in.

Terry

I think the SST is a great deer and antelope bullet and have killed numerous animals with the 139gr out of a 7mm08.

Not sure if the smaller SSTs are a bit more 'explosive' since I would imagine they are used more for varmints than big game. It would be a good question to forward to Hornady.

I have used the SST's on Whitetails with very good results. That being said, I don't think that I would use them on an animal as big as a Caribou. IMO stick with something tougher, like a the HDY IB or Nosler Accubond, maybe the Barnes TSX. Which ever one shoots the best from your rifle.

I shoy a caribou earlier this month with the 165 SST out of a 300 win mag,no bulllet was recovered but it made about a 4" exit through the ribs.They seem very accurate but are on the explosive side.For game up to about 500lbs they should kill very well.You will experience some blood shot meat though.