antelopedundee
Well-known member
When people field dress their animals they should try to get pics of the bullet damage and post them here.
Sst and gmx bullets suck.
- Thread starter wyoboypt
- Start date
When people field dress their animals they should try to get pics of the bullet damage and post them here.
A quick refresher on how different bullets work, they either 1) expand rapidly and create a massive temporary and permanent wound channel in terms of diameter BUT not necessarily all that deep (i.e may not penetrate all the way through), 2) expand in a controlled fashion that creates a smaller temporary and permanent wound channel that reliably penetrates all the way through the animal.
You've listed two different types of bullets here. The SST is a bonded bullet, but is still likely going to exhibit more rapid expansion than the monolithic GMX bullet.
You said in your other post an elk shot with the SST left an exit hole of 1" in diameter. That tells me the bullet (.270 original diameter) likely worked exactly as it should have. If it blew up inside and only the rear cup exited, it likely wouldn't have left much of an exit hole. To repeat, I have no personal experience with SST bullets. Hornady says they are good to go for elk. I have nothing to support or refute that, other than the fact the Hornady Interbond bullets I've used many years ago worked just fine. Keep in mind, the faster you drive bullets, the more likely you are to see funky shit happen.
Copper monos typically don't leave a huge wound channel. They aren't designed to (with the exception of Hammer bullets). The are designed to mushroom and retain a very high percentage of their weight as they penetrate through just about anything in front of them.
You've listed two different types of bullets here. The SST is a bonded bullet, but is still likely going to exhibit more rapid expansion than the monolithic GMX bullet.
You said in your other post an elk shot with the SST left an exit hole of 1" in diameter. That tells me the bullet (.270 original diameter) likely worked exactly as it should have. If it blew up inside and only the rear cup exited, it likely wouldn't have left much of an exit hole. To repeat, I have no personal experience with SST bullets. Hornady says they are good to go for elk. I have nothing to support or refute that, other than the fact the Hornady Interbond bullets I've used many years ago worked just fine. Keep in mind, the faster you drive bullets, the more likely you are to see funky shit happen.
Copper monos typically don't leave a huge wound channel. They aren't designed to (with the exception of Hammer bullets). The are designed to mushroom and retain a very high percentage of their weight as they penetrate through just about anything in front of them.
PsRpOiGrRiAtM
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2017
- Messages
- 359
The SST isn't a bonded bullet, but on all other accounts, you've done an excellent job in summarizing
You are absolutely correct. Upon looking again, I see it only has the interlock ring. As such, I would expect weight retention of 60-70 percent (similar to what I saw with other Hornady interlocks), whereas most bonded bullets exhibit 80-90% weight retention.
WildWill
Well-known member
I have used the 130 gr SST in my .270 and they work great for deer. They fragment in the chest cavity and puts the deer down quick, in my experience. I have used them from 450 yards to 100 with no problems. They are cheap and accurate. I use them for the challenging Texas blind hunts haha. Now I wouldn't use them for elk. I have the barnes lrx loaded up for that.
antelopedundee
Well-known member
Better would be pics of the inside, esp. the rib cage.
Yeah the rest were shot with sst. Your point? Sst and gmx both make tiny exit holes in elk
I have to seat them a lot deeper than I do for lead bullets. I'd try 30-100 thousands off the lands.
Any bullet with the Interlock ring will perform similarly. Variations will occur if there are differences in jacket thickness, and may be exacerbated by very high velocities. I dug a few Interbond bullets out of the berm where I shot and they were very consistently weighing in at about 60% of original weight. I do need a know the specifics about SST jacket thickness relative to the Interbonds.
Best of luck in your search for a suitable bullet.
GlockZ
Well-known member
The SST's are just a simple cup and core bullet with a fancy tip. I used them in the past and they do get the job done, sometimes immediately, sometimes it takes a bit. The more important question is, why would one skimp on premium ammo. it doesn't make sense to me if your on a planned hunt, and dump anywhere from a couple of hundred to a couple of thousand dollars on that hunt, to then buy the least expensive ammo on the shelf. The price of a box of premium ammo is the least expensive item going on the hunt. Do SST's work? They sure do, but they have their limitations. I'm not saying the premium ammo is perfect either, but the limitations are far fewer.
Brian in Montana
Well-known member
The way I understand it, all the Interlock ring actually does is mechanically lock the jacket to the core and prevent them from separating during expansion. The SST and Interlock SP will perform quite differently. SST has a polymer tip which will plunge into the core producing rapid initial expansion. The Interlock SP or BTSP is a soft tip, meaning the lead core is exposed at the tip. Expansion should be somewhat slower and more consistent as the bullet plows through the target. The difference is roughly similar to the Nosler Balistic Tip (SST) and the Partition (Interlock SP) - operative word being "roughly".
I understand they are different bullets. I was not intending to imply they are the same. Yes, a polymer tip/hollow point bullet will certainly expand more rapidly and at lower velocities than a soft point bullet will.
That said, the interlock ring is nothing more than a mechanical means of bonding the jacket to the core. It helps maintain the integrity of the bullet cup so the base does not fragment in a come apart during the course of impact. I am willing to bet that at traditional hunting ranges, you will see very similar results in weight retention between the polymer tip and the soft point.
It is easy to overthink this, and in the end one must decide whether you want rapid violent expansion, slower and more controlled expansion, or a monolithic bullet that maintains its full integrity during impact. Every thing has costs and benefits. There is no free lunch, and you have to choose what is most important to you.
That said, the interlock ring is nothing more than a mechanical means of bonding the jacket to the core. It helps maintain the integrity of the bullet cup so the base does not fragment in a come apart during the course of impact. I am willing to bet that at traditional hunting ranges, you will see very similar results in weight retention between the polymer tip and the soft point.
It is easy to overthink this, and in the end one must decide whether you want rapid violent expansion, slower and more controlled expansion, or a monolithic bullet that maintains its full integrity during impact. Every thing has costs and benefits. There is no free lunch, and you have to choose what is most important to you.
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Husker hunter
Active member
I shot an antelope last weekend 270 yds with 6.5cm 129gr sst. Dropped with a 2" exit hole. I personally love the sst for deer & antelope. I'm also from Nebraska so I like supporting Hornady
You are correct. I don’t know bullets, and I don’t reload. So educate me and tell me why the corelokts put elk down quicker than sst.
S13tsilvia
Active member
I shot 5 sambar deer with 225gr sst from ranges of 3meters to 100 yards and they all exploded into shit, terrible penetration etc. killed the deer but I shoot through a lot of bush and don't want them blowing up so went to woodleighs and have never looked back. Perfect mushroom time after time
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