Hornady SST's for deer in 308???

[texan79]

Ive killed 2 deer (one .308 the other with '06 both 150 gr bullets) and 3 hogs. All shot in or behind the shoulder, and nothing has taken a step yet after impact. Maybe Ive gotten lucky with the factory loads, but I'm sold on that bullet for 100-300 yard work.

 

[zxd9]

I finally got a good load for the 165 SST in .308. Nearly a max load of Varget at 2.755 OAL. Today I got a 0.368" 4 shot group and a 0.604" 3 shot group at 100y. Shooting these in a Savage 10FP.

Now I have to push them out to 200/300/400 yards to see how they do.

 

[Greyfox]

I have shot a few deer with this bullet in my 308 from 100 to 500 yards. All shots have been in the shoulder or chest. The 165 performs perfectly at all ranges. Have had no deer move more than a few yards. The 165 SST's seem to hold together better than the Ballistic tips at closer ranges. I use 45.3 grains of Varget with Lapua Brass and Fed match primers. I seat them in the cannelure. Velocity is 2800 fps. Rifle is. Reminton mil spec with 11.25 twist, r-5.

 

[sniper1958]

Congrats on some very tight groups! I got similar results with my .30-06 and the 165 grain SST. I'm at 2900 fps MV and get 1.20" at 300 yards. I haven't shot targets at 400, but am consistently hitting a 4" gong. You should be getting better with your .308 (and yes, they are fantastic on deer!).

I just loaded and tested the 180 grain SST (2700 fps). I haven't used it hunting (yet) but am getting 0.50" five shot groups at 100 yards. Good luck & please post again with your success!

 

[zxd9]

I'll take 1.2" @ 300 any day. That's great.

 

[Batt4Christ]

I'm new to the 165gr. Superformance SST in my .308 and have shot two whitetails this season with them (have used the Superformance ammo in my .270 with great results).

Deer #1 was a small doe - I had to make a snap shot at fairly close range - entrance through ribs on near side, exit was fist-sized with lung hanging almost completely out.

Deer #2 was a 130lb whitetail buck at 40 yards - deer was angled toward me, so I placed bullet just in front of near shoulder (chest). Bullet exited right behind far shoulder. Exit wound was only about 3 inches in diameter. BUT - the chest cavity was a gelatinous glob with heart and lungs literally blown up. Deer fell dead in its tracks.

Accuracy is way above average for factory ammo in my rifle.

 

[bbckfh]

Good to see that seven years later, people are still having good results; seems it's standing the test of time.

My brother smacked a small button buck broadside this year that ran maybe 20 yards with a 123gr SST out of my 6.5 Grendel. Worked like a charm with a pencil entry, lung obliteration, took off the right atrium of the heart, followed by a baseball-sized exit.

 

[Rob96]

I'm really interested in the 180gr performance on deer. Per Knowledge Base the 180 at 308 speeds is a very good combo.

 

[SEOKGuy]

I have used the 150gr and 165 gr out of my .308 with mixed results.

1) First deer was muley buck shot at 300 yds with 150gr SST Superformance. One shot kill through both lungs slightly quartered away and deer lunged forward once before dropping. It was out of site when it went down in the sage brush so I don't know how long it took to die, but it certainly didn't run and was dead when I got to it. Bullet was a passthrough.
2) Second animal was a bull elk shot through the chest at 275 yds with 165gr SST Superformance. The animal ran off and I got off more shots on it before it went down. Follow up shots were probably around 325-350 yds. It was still alive when I got to it and had it's head up. Two more rounds required to finish the job. Four rounds where found in it. First was again through the chest broadside-possibly slightly quartered forward. Second shattered the hip joint as it ran away from me (this one took it down - thankfully). Third and fourth at close range before it died. BTW no rounds exited the animal.
3) Muley buck shot at 300 yds. This one was on me. I somehow managed to gutshot it and had to shoot at close range to finish it off. First shot did not passthrough.

I'm not completely sold on the bullet, but I still hunt with it. And I just bought a box of 162gr SST Superformance for my recently bought 7mm Rem Mag.

 

[257Tony]

The SST is an outstanding Deer bullet in just about every caliber, and will work on Elk in the larger calibers. I've killed a couple with the 225 in a .338 WM, one shot all.

 

[Jack E]

Have shot superformance in 308 FN and marlin mod 14 and love the accuracy. Unable to find any ammo last year I reloaded with Superformance and found 2 things. Used military brass won't hold as much powder and the powder I bought looks different than the powder in the factory ammo but still shoots just as good.

 

[voodoo21]

This is my experience with sst in 308 take it as u wish

I've killed approx 7 deer with sst last two years in 308 all ranging 50-100 yards

half were shot with 150s super performance box ammo
Half were shot with 125 custom light box ammo

the 150s ran 30-60 yards with good blood
The 125s never made it out of the plot. Most were drt, and the farthest may have ran 10 yards

I'm not sure why. But that was real world expierence

I don't shoot shoulder, meat lost was minimal except the one time I spined a buck with a 150 and lost both backstraps. That was the only drt from 150