The Most DISSAPOINTING Bullet there ever was...

[Ol' Red]

Remington core lok have hated them for over 25yrs. My friends always shot them and I always had to track for them.
Aso am not a fan of Eldx, have seen many sub par performance from them From friends animals.gernading and jacket seperation.
I have killed one antelope with berger hybrid, once again not impressed.

I do not believe the " well it killed it, didnt it" theory. . I want a bullet to hold together and do as its designed. Enter, mushroom, and exit or get trapped under the offside hide.

There went my last choice. I can't use a bow or slingshot due to getting shot through my wrist years ago. I have to fashion a good spear this weekend.

 

[Prieto9000]

For me it's the ELDM. I lost several animals with them due to poor penetration. I lost a coyote to the 147 eldm launched from my 6.5 GAP 4S. Hit was un the center of the chest. After an awful season using them I switched to tougher bullets with great success. My go-to bullets now are:
Hornady Interbond
Hornady CX
Hornady SST
Berger classic hunter
Barnes LRX
Swift scirocco II
Nosler Partition

 

[CEB]

Accubond Long Range. Never had any luck in the half dozen rifles I tried them in.

 

[Majestic 6.5]

I just read all 52 posts and feel like I should go home and throw away all of my bullets. I'm also going to check the freezer and make sure the wildlife is still dead. I have to find some Remington Corelocks, nobody dissed them yet.

I wouldn't use them beyond 150 yards because of penciling and can't ever get them to group on paper under 100 from factory load's. They need to strike bone for expansion and when they do expand there deadly! There has to be something that will expand bone or no bone that's accurate.

 

[Jeffpg]

I always find these threads very amusing, if not entirely informative. I am certainly not as experienced as some here, but I have hunted all of my life, all over the US and abroad, and extensively in Africa during my 4 years there, and have lost count of the number of animals that I have killed and seen killed by firearms and bullets of various types. I can honestly say that I have never witnessed bullet failure. Bullet placement, yes. I have seen animals effectively taken by the cheapest target bullets to the premium hunting bullets. There are certainly some that perform better than others, but they all kill pretty quickly and cleanly in my experience. Of course, I also hunt with handguns, muzzleloaders and archery equipment, so a high power rifle is always an advantage. I am somewhat of a bullet nut, as I believe this is the most important component in the killing game, and I collect rounds from animals bodies whenever possible to inspect them.

I will point out a couple of interesting things I have experienced. I was never a fan of the Barnes bullets. I had zero experience with them, and just wasn't interested. Then I used a borrowed 300 Win Mag in Africa that my PH had loaded up with Barnes handloads and they worked very well on a variety of plains game animals. One of the best "new to me" bullet experiences was my very first safari in Africa where I used the late Jason Bridger's custom Mauser in 30.06 loaded with 180 gr Norma Oryx factory ammo. Those bullets worked extremely well on everything from the smallest tiny antelope to large Eland. I would use them anytime for just about anything.

Hornady. It's my go to factory ammunition company. Not the only one I use, but the main one. The SST bullet has been so good to me that I cannot even begin to effectively tell you how well it has performed on deer sized game. From accuracy to terminal performance, it delivers. More bang flop kills from close range to 500+ yards than I can ignore. The lighter bullets can be violently explosive, so an option is to simply increase the bullet weight for game larger than deer, or go to a more heavily constructed bullet meant for penetrating the . I only wish that I could get equal accuracy from the Interbond, as it acts more like a premium hunting bullet perhaps should, but then I was a fan of the Nosler Ballistic Tip for years as well. My limited experience with the Hornady Eld-X and Eld-M are thus far encouraging. I have used many other manufactures bullets over the years, and none have let me down when I do my part.

Everyone's opinion will vary, and I believe what I see a lot more than what I hear. I'm particular about what I buy and use, but I am not too awfully critical on bullets... I think I can kill with almost anything as long as I make sure my bullet placement is good. Having said that, if I am hunting elk in the mountains I will definitely use plenty of gun AND bullet, because a quartering away shot on a big bull at several hundred yards on the last day of a hunt, for example, requires a whole different projectile than that 200 yard broadside whitetail. Cape Buffalo in Africa just screams out for something like a Nosler Partition or Swift A-Frame, but shoot straight!

Your mileage may vary.
Jeff

 

[Philward]

The one bullet I don't touch or own in my over 15k bullet collection is the Hornady SST. Had a few bad experiences with the 117 grain out of my 25-06 and sent them down the road. I didn't even save them for the coyotes for whatever reason. I have other Hornady bullets, eld-m, eld-x, interlock, interbond, etc but no SST's.

Same with me, never look to SST bullets. Never got them to shoot well enough to use. A friend had some loaded by someone in 270win and they wouldn't shoot for crap in his rifle. But in the loaders defense he just used some standard load out of the book and not tailored to the rifle.

 

[LVJ76]

The one bullet I don't touch or own in my over 15k bullet collection is the Hornady SST. Had a few bad experiences with the 117 grain out of my 25-06 and sent them down the road. I didn't even save them for the coyotes for whatever reason. I have other Hornady bullets, eld-m, eld-x, interlock, interbond, etc but no SST's.

In my limited experience and humble opinion the hornady SST is an amazing killer if used in the ranges and velocity it was designed for. I've killed a number of animals culling and besides the speer 6.5mm 140 seconds from midway it's the second best killer for culling 10 yds out to 500 yds. Light skinny framed goats approx 70-100 lbs out to 1,000+ lbs wild cattle. I never had one not work and I've even killed my biggest bull elk with a 30-06 and 165 gr SST. I took a second shot on an already dead animal to secure him while we made a slippery climb to him 300 ft down a gulch. This is my go to bullet for anything in Hawaii but each bullet has its limits and purposes. I don't use them in ULTRA VELOCITY 3200 FPS+ but they hold up excellent in normal conditions. Test book mushrooms up against the far side hide!! Aloha

Edit.. I use them today exclusively in my 243 win 95 gr SST, 257 +P 117 gr, 6.8 SPC 120 gr, 7mm-08 140 SST, 308 125 gr SST, 30-06 165 gr SST and 300 RCM 180 SST. They all shoot 1/2" or less and of course better bullets exist. I've lost animals but it was from human error. Up to 500 yds HORNADY SST KILL.

Agree, the SST like all bullets they have limitations, but they are a fast killing bullet when used correctly. I use the 139gr SST in the 7mm-08, and the 162gr on the 7mm Rem Mag, and they work perfectly, when shot placement is right on of course.

 

[slv hunter]

Nosler ABLR
They don't shoot good enough to ever try on game

 

[6.5x300 WBY]

Berger 7mm 195 Elite Hunter from there early years. Pathetic !! Shot good on paper and steel but had horrible performace from them on critters.!

Have they changed how they are made in recent times to fix those issues? It's not the first time hearing this.

 

[340 in Va]

Hornady made a great bullet, the interlock. Then they had to screw with it to improve it.

Yes and I loved the Interbond. Luckly I stocked up years ago.

 

[horsefor4]

Barnes bullets not because they don't shoot good they don't kill for crap seen more wounded animals with them then any other bullet all because of poor expansion.

 

[Huntsman66]

Did they make ammo for the 6.5 Carano?

Sorry, not a clue!

 

[Jeffpg]

The one bullet I don't touch or own in my over 15k bullet collection is the Hornady SST. Had a few bad experiences with the 117 grain out of my 25-06 and sent them down the road. I didn't even save them for the coyotes for whatever reason. I have other Hornady bullets, eld-m, eld-x, interlock, interbond, etc but no SST's.

I have fired a 25.06 rifle just one single time in my life. It was on a friend's ranch in west Texas using his rifle loaded with the Hornady Superformance 117 gr SST. We slipped within 100 yards of a big Aoudad ram standing broadside and I put one round right through his shoulders. Jay immediately told me that I would probably have to shoot him again due to their toughness, but the big ram just lay down and died.
Just goes to show how much one's mileage may vary.

 

[memtb]

This has been mentioned a couple of times pertaining to claimed bullet failures and the inevitable response….."well it killed the animal, didn't it"!

I personally think that's a pretty darn irresponsible, irrational remark to make.

I personally have killed 2 small big game animals, with a bullet that I would describe as "catastrophic" bullet failure! Yes the animals died, and died quickly! But, when you shoot a Spike Buck Mule deer and a medium sized Black Bear, both with broad side shots with a 300 grain bullet from a .375 H&H (designed for use in the .375 H&H) at modest velocity, yet do not get an exit while recovering only small shards of bullet jacket inside the animal…..there is no other way to describe this as a "bullet failure".

Anyone choosing to argue that with a sarcastic commit as mentioned earlier…..is either just attempting to be a S…A.. or is in denial of reality !

Sorry to be so blunt, but having experienced this and then some making the aforementioned remarks, simply put…angers me pretty darn good! memtb