Thread: Hornady 150 sst going to fast

Originally Posted by Jhon

I did some load development recently for a young fella who had been shooting Hdy Superperformance 150gn SST and wanted them matched if possible. 16 in X-Bolt Suppressed.

We chronoed the Hdy at late 2800s fps. Made some enquires on this forum and went straight to 45.6gn AR2206H. Chronoed average of 3 at 2830 and very accurate. Loaded 10 up and half of them showed ejector imprinting, one had a blown primer. Knocked it back to 45gn, no primer issues, a couple of shiny spots from ejector. Still very accurate and averaging around 2800fps. We decided to drop it back to 44.8. Waiting for him to shoot some.

The previous loads he was grouping 3 touching shots on a painted gong at 300m. Still has to take it hunting tho. Personally I'd be happy with 2700 if it still had that kind of accuracy. Heck of a nice rifle setup. Be keen to hear what you come up with.

Any chance you still remember the shells used mate?

I run them at 2800 average FPS in 308 T3X its bang flop every time. From near point-blank range and up too 4 hundy and I am sticking with them, never had a problem with them.

165 SST is a more stout bullet (and for that matter the interlock has the same sort of relationship which I am told is the same-ish pill just without the plastic tip). I saw similar issues with the 150 and went up a weight to the 165. No more of that issue so far... Reported to be a much more reliable pill, I'll let ya know if I have one that doesn't do the mahi.

I know the most common loading in .308 in NZ is the 150gr, but when I started having issues like this I hit the web and had a look about a lot of different places and one outfit had a comparison between a few different caliber factory rounds for weight, then sectioned the bullets in those loads. The 150gr .308 was comparatively more lightly built in the jacket and also seemed to me to be relatively short for it's length which is why I went to the 165gr in the same caliber and brand as my 'everything' bullet.

Yep. I have the same problem with handload tnts. To fast they just don't blow up.

I've used factory ssts in my 307 and 243 for years. They are fantastic. Grenades. Big stags, little fallow. Anything. Everything. Solid shoulder bone hits with an ssts still just create mayhem.
Yes the bullet has often lost alot if it mass but nothing runs.

Side note: Anyone ever create they're own version of a ballistic gel? Or some way to test two bullets at a certain speeds. Water jugs is erratic.

Originally Posted by Cowboy

Yep. I have the same problem with handload tnts. To fast they just don't blow up.

I've used factory ssts in my 307 and 243 for years. They are fantastic. Grenades. Big stags, little fallow. Anything. Everything. Solid shoulder bone hits with an ssts still just create mayhem.
Yes the bullet has often lost alot if it mass but nothing runs.

Side note: Anyone ever create they're own version of a ballistic gel? Or some way to test two bullets at a certain speeds. Water jugs is erratic.

Have used very water soaked newspapers before....hard to come by nowdays

Once all you guys have been though all the fancy expensive projectile phase you might come to your senses and buy standard cup and core soft point ones such as the Sierra gameking. Now all my deer run at the shot for 30-50 yards and pile up just like they should just like the old days.

Cheers for the advice. You think we haven't put hundreds of deer on the ground with those bullets as well?

Originally Posted by Cowboy

Yep. I have the same problem with handload tnts. To fast they just don't blow up.

I've used factory ssts in my 307 and 243 for years. They are fantastic. Grenades. Big stags, little fallow. Anything. Everything. Solid shoulder bone hits with an ssts still just create mayhem.
Yes the bullet has often lost alot if it mass but nothing runs.

Side note: Anyone ever create they're own version of a ballistic gel? Or some way to test two bullets at a certain speeds. Water jugs is erratic.

Ballistic gelatine is fairly easy to substitute, make up a saucepan full of supermarket gelatine and 'cast' it into a plastic kitchen container of the right size. You may need to 'stack' a few together to get the thickness of gelatine needed to stop a pill. Bigger issue is getting a large enough supply of it at a cheap enough price - maybe commercial suppliers like Gilmore's and the like have commercial volume packs?

Originally Posted by Cowboy

Cheers for the advice. You think we haven't put hundreds of deer on the ground with those bullets as well?

He's making a joke. I think.

Interestingly I tried the initial 130gr ssts in 270 and they were not impressive performers at all. Never got through a full box of projectiles we were so unhappy. But later on we used the factory superformance 140gr load and that was fantastic!

But I look at this thread and see the same range of performance perceptions, from bad to good. I tend to think it's more about an individuals preferred aiming point.
@Hornady ELDX. Did you perform any autopsy of the wound cavity and if so what were your thoughts?

My sons mate was running bought 150gr SST and complaining about performance. Loaded up some 110gr TTSX Barnes with 748. Just flattened a 13pt red stag @150m. Not a body shot. Never moved . A very dynamite pill in 308.