Does one of these bullets have any advantage over the other for killing deer? I have always shot the ballistic tips but a lot of friends use the SST's. I know both bullets are good but I just wanted to see other peoples opinions.
Hunting & Fishing Hornady SST vs Nosler Ballistic Tip
- Thread starter Nosler243Shooter
- Start date
My father in law shoots balistic tip, I shoot SST's, we have had many discussions about which is better. Neither one of us has expirenced a bullet fail to perform. We have both shot 300 yard neck shots of mule deer across a canyon with DRT results with .243 and 25-06. We have both found that at ranges closer than 100 yards, if the plastic tipped bullet hits bone first, the damage to meat can get a little excessive for us. We both selected our preferred bullet due to availability at the store we were standing in, developed a load for tha bullet and are now too lazy to change.
In the end the deer don't care what brand of bullet killed them.
In the end the deer don't care what brand of bullet killed them.
I have killed a lot of deer with the 308 caliber 150 and 180 gr sst and the 154 gr 7mm bullet. They perform well. For me they are a great combination of accuracy, terminal performance and cost.
I tried both my experience" i dont know if it just the animal or what, but the sst gives deel less chamce to walk away..BAL tip i great till one day axis kinda shake it and i foun it about 67yrd away so far the sst PACK! 1-3 step DOWN!
Yes
Either will do the job. At the end of the day the best is going to be decided by the shooter with the best shot placement.
Yep. Both are great on whitetail.
Ballistic tip damages too much meat
Care to back that up? I shot a nice 4x5 in eastern Montana mulie with a 225 gr sst out of a 338 lapua. It did horrible things to the deers lungs but there was very little ruined meat.
Fixed it for you.
You nailed it. I have seen the massive ugly wounds left by match bullets with soft cores and thin jackets. The wonderful thing about the sst is its made for controlled expansion and penetration. It dumps all of its energy inside the animal.
Depending on where it is a massive wound doesn't mean a lot of meat damage. I shot three deer with 185gr juggernauts this year and they all had massive exit wounds but even the two shot in the top of the shoulder/spine had very little meat damage. A lot of match bullets act the same way as the SST does. It's all about where you put it though.
I meant massive entry wounds with little or no exit wound, that to me says they were using the wrong bullet. I have shot a fair amount of game with the Berger hunting vld and like its performance.
I shot a whitetail in mo this year at 350yds with a 308 180 SST. Lungshot quartering away. Deer ran about 20 yards and was done. Bullet did a great job killing the deer. There was a very small exit wound like the size of a 17 hmr bulllet. When we boned out the deer, we found fragments of the bullet. I am mixed on SST after this..did a great job killing, but I personally am not real excited about the fragmentation.
Sounds like you want a solid copper or a bonded bullet. You cannot expected premium bullet performance without paying for it.
180 gr SST's out of my 300 ultra have been the end of many elk for me.
I gotcha. That's typically an indicator of thin jacketed bullets and very high velocity though. Berger match bullets as well as Scenars have pretty thick jackets, the Berger hunting bullets are thinner.
I'd rather have a bullet dump all it's energy in the animal by fragmenting than opening up a little and poking through.
I can't answer your question as I've never killed anything with Nosler Ballistic Tips. I have shot several animals (3 mule deer, 2 antelope) with SST's. It's my experience that SST are great for broadside-behind the shoulder shots, but I don't like them for hard quartering shots. I killed an antelope buck at 80 yards with a SST 139 gr. 280rem. Impact was centered on the lungs...DRT, but no exit wound. The SST had hit a rib on the enterance and fagmented, I found only a few small peices. Similar situation with a mule deer too. If I was a neck shooter, SST's would be at the top of my list! My two cents.
So the bullet fragmented and was DRT but you dont like it's performance. Dead is dead.
Been using Ballistic Tips ever since they were introduced years ago...24, 25, 27, 28, and 30 caliber...well over 100 dead deer, all dropped in their tracks...I like them, they work, and they are accurate.
All off those bullets except 3 have exited the deer...
30-06....straight away shot, bullet penetrated about 12" of spine...dead deer.
30-06....straight on, head shot while his neck was straight....bullet was found in the spine where the neck joins the body.
25-06...400 yard deer shot through the shoulder....bullet was just under the skin on the far side.
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All off those bullets except 3 have exited the deer...
30-06....straight away shot, bullet penetrated about 12" of spine...dead deer.
30-06....straight on, head shot while his neck was straight....bullet was found in the spine where the neck joins the body.
25-06...400 yard deer shot through the shoulder....bullet was just under the skin on the far side.
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Tried to edit the above to add this but it wouldn't let me...
The vast majority of those shots were shoulder shots...I shoot shoulders because I don't like having to go look for my deer.
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The vast majority of those shots were shoulder shots...I shoot shoulders because I don't like having to go look for my deer.
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Thanks for the replies. I didn't see any need for me to change to the SST's but I ordered a box of the Superformance 95gr SST's anyway.
