200 grain hornady sst's from a 338 win mag

[Boogershooter]

Anybody have any experience with these bullets on whitetails? I've shot ballistic tips for years in most of my rifles but decided to try these sst's in a medium bore. I know the 338 is a bit much for deer but I'm gona use it regardless of anyone's opinion. I'm just looking for a bullet with a thin enough jacket to expand in deer.

[AllenJ]

I don't think they'll disappoint you. My only experience with SST's was a 154 grn bullet shot from a 7mm Rem Mag into a blacktail bucks neck. It expanded violently to say the least leaving only a small portion of skin still connecting it.

[T. O'Heir]

"to expand in deer" is what Hornady says those are for.
An SST and a BT are essentially the same thing. CIL and Winchester made 'em eons ago.

[Boogershooter]

Thanks gentlemen for the responses. Let me get a Lil bit more specific. Some bullets are constructed different depending on caliber. At least I think. Case in point. A 120 grain nosler partition in 25-06 will expand very reliably and is great on deer. A partition out of any of my .30 cals does not. Even with the velocity of a 300 weatherby. I shoot behind the shoulder and always get my meat but I get no mushroom with the partition except with 25-06. I'm hoping the sst construction isn't alot tougher with the 338. I shoot bt's with all but 2 of my rifles. One I shoot Sierra game kings and the other federal fusion. I'm basically asking if the sst is tougher with the larger calibers or the same throughout the spectrum?

[jmr40]

I have no experience with that exact bullet, but SST's have a reputation for rapid expansion (often too much), Partitions have a reputation for deep penetration. Generally heavy for caliber bullets expand less and penetrate more. A 200 gr 338 bullet is on the light side, a 120 gr 25 caliber bullet is heavy for caliber. You don't say what weight you are using in 30 caliber.

An SST and a BT are essentially the same thing.

That depends, they look similar, but the SST's tend to over expand at faster speeds. That still isn't a problem with good shot placement, just not the best bullets for larger game shot at bad angles. Plus, in response to complaints of BT's failing on larger game such as elk Nosler started making the jackets thicker on SOME BT bullets. I know the 165 and 180 gr 30 calibers are much tougher than 150 gr 30 caliber BT's. Possibly others, but those are the only 2 for sure.

I think it would work just fine. Even if it does over expand a 200 gr bullet on deer size game is still going to give a lot of penetration.

[Boogershooter]

150 in my 308's, 165 in my 300wsm, and 180 in my 06. These all produce mostly DRT shots and are all bt's. The partitions I shot were 180 in 300 weatherby and 150 in 308 and 300 winmag. Entrance and exit wounds were the same size. They were all pass thru shots which is a good thing but only the 25-06 produced DRT shots with the partitions. The funny thing is most people say the bullets blew thru the deer before they had time to expand but I just can't wrap my brain around that concept. Velocity should make the bullet expand more than tit ( time in tissue ).

[skizzums]

look closely at your SST, you'll see the serrations that follow around the nose of the bullet. These create almost instantaneous and rapid expansion, and lacking a true bonded core, will lose a lot of retention and likely will never have a through and through shot. These bullets have a fantastic profile for flat and very accurate shooting, and although it will likely have no problems taking a deer good size, will lack the penetration of an "inter-bond", but with your caliber and game combination, I think you'll have a great time knocking them down and the "inter-lock" ring does actually keep the cup and core in a good sized piece 60-70%. you should have violent expansion/fragmentation of the top 30% of the bullet if that's okay with you. If you decide it is too damaging, or that you prefer an exit wound, I would pony up the few extra for the GMX 185gr. As for your question if your's will be "tougher" due to larger caliber, no but yes, your still going mid 3000's with a 200gr bullet, and although it's going to react the same as a .224 sst going mid 3000's, your weight difference is huge and will definitely have a much bigger hunk of lead at the end, the reaction will be the same, but your left with a 120-140gr expanded slug at the end of the day....vs. a 35gr slug. tougher? depends on your definition. I guess my definition is how much weight was retained when it came to a stop, and figure 60-70% with an SST, it'll get it done on deer with a 200gr 338WM no matter what IMO.

[Boogershooter]

Skizzums if u are not a salesman for the hornady sst; you need to be! I can't imagine a better theoretical picture of the perfect deer cartridge. Violent expansion with enough core left to penetrate deep into SOFT tissue. Of course this is a 338 win mag on light game but that's exactly what I want. I've killed many a deer with 100 grain 243 so if I can't get a 338 caliber to rapidly expand and carry that much weight with the core I'm beyond happy. If it performs nearly as well as the 165 gr 300 wsm winchester ballistic Silvertip I can't wait to see the impact on a 180 lb buck. Not likely tho considering the recoil. But a man has to have hopes and dreams.

[Boogershooter]

Correction for the last post. If I can get that not if I can't get that.

[Ben Towe]

I've considered trying them in my .338 Win. I've been using Winchester Super X with 200 grain Power Points for 12 or so years. They have been delivering sub MOA groups and instant kills all these years so it's difficult to find a reason to change.