BT vs SST on game

looks like a nice  mushrooming bullet.  I'm glad to hear it because I never liked BT bullets and found them to be difficult to shoot accurately, in 308, and 338.  When I got my dies for the 260 Remington I also bought a couple of boxes of the SST bullets as that was the only 6.5 pills the shop had. 

What caliber is the bullet in the picture?

BEAR

Kirby,

The Ballistic tip was designed and introduced to prevent bullet tip distortion in the magazine when earlier rounds were fired.  The plastic bounces back.  I've never found them to be as accurate as other types/brands.  I've kill very little game with them.

I regard Hornady as the best hunting bullet that is made.  I've killed over 150 big game animals with Hornady.  And probably loaded Hornady for friends and family member that have killed as many more.  Lots of deer certainly, dozens of African plains game, 4 Caribou, two grizzlies,  2 cape buffaloes, 3 giant Kudu, and a few moose.  All with a single shot Hornady.  Shot placement is the number one reason for these kills.  I don't take a shot unless everything is perfect.  One grizzly was at 200+ yds with a 400 grain Hornady in 416 mag.  Most of my bullets are not recovered, as they exit.  The grizzly was quartering away and the shot  entered at the lower ribs and diagonally cut the heart and exited out of the front close to the shoulder.  I still think that was perfect bullet performance, from a Hornady.  I use Hornady exclusively for big game, it is the only thing I trust (some Barnes originals in 400+ grains for Africa).  I load for 42 different cartridges, so my Hornaday kills range from 100 gr 243 win to the 416 Weatherby.

Remember I'm NOT saying that the BT doesn't kill.  I've had friends than have lost whitetails, black bears, and mule deer with them.  BUT I ATTRIBUTE THAT TO POOR SHOT PLACEMENT.  Even though they say they had good hits.  I've tracked too many animals of others that were said to have a heart shot, only to find the bullet hitting 6-10 inches away (usually back) from what I was told.  In addition most hunters don't think in 3-dimensions; so a bullet 3 inches back will often times be exiting 12 inches back on the far side.

I read your stuff on this board, and I respect your opinions and experience level.  But I find the 7mm STW with a 165 grain spine shot stopping cold totally opposite to my my experience.  Even the 38 special will cut thru a spine shot deeer from my Blackhawk (poor placement on my part, but I was 40 years dumber then).  I've used Hornady 154 gr and the 175 grain in .284 to make at least 6 large deer kills (one shot) out of my 7x57 Ruger no. 1.  Never a problem.

I guess everyone has different experiences.  But my experience with Hornady is 100 percent satisfaction, no bullet failures and all game recovered.

Again, the BT may kill as quick but in the 308 winchester, 338 mag and the 340 Weatherby had marginal accuracy FOR ME.  Granted these are only 3 calibers that I tried to develope loads for; but I really on't have the time to play with something after 3 poor performances.  Three strikes and BTs were out.

My SST 6.5mm  Hornady are 129 grain, and they are also boattailed slightly.

BEAR

If they work for you great, just not my cup of tea.

From an on-game performance angle, I'll never be able to trust anything Hornady on big game.  I used to be taken in by their cheap cost and hoop-la surrounding the interlock ring.  No more.  The way I see it, there's a reason they're so cheap.  I have no choice but to view the interlock ring is a joke.  From Hornady's perspective, it is one of the greatest marketing pitches ever concocted by any company.  It's made them rich, so ya gotta give them their dues.  But really, the ring is nothing, except easily compromised.  And once this happens, it yields a highly explosive bullet.  We always talk about the explosive nature of the Ballistic Tip but I have seen nothing that indicates a Hornady interlock offers anything better.  And much to the contrary, Ballistic Tips handle higher velocity impacts far more consistently and to my liking.  I admit having no on game experience with Hornady bullets at low velocities.  I've got the 400 RN's loaded to 2400 fps in the .416 RemMag, but that's it.  I imagine they'd do just fine in the lesser rounds, where impact stresses are lower.  My experience starts at 7mm STW velocities.  What I saw with my STW confounded me, those in my shooting party that witnessed the occurances and even the Hornady techs I chatted with.  Bottom line is, any more, Hornady bullets can not be trusted by me.  I would never consider pushing any interlock bullet to the 3400+ fps ranges that the .25-06, .264 WinMag, 7mm RUM or Warbird gets with their perspective hunting weight Ballistic Tips.  Never.  Tapered jackets and solid bases have proven a lot more faithful to me then an interlock ring.  So, being as this is my big game rifle battery, that effectively eliminates Hornady from any use on big game.

From the accuracy angle, I've gotten both Hornady and Nosler Ballistic Tips to shoot real well.  I've found them both extremely easy to reload for.  Obviously, I've more experience with the BT's then anything Hornady and from 40 gr. .224 up threw 225 gr. .358, I've found it all but impossible to get them "NOT" to shoot well.  That Hornady I used in my STW was a wonderfully accurate bullet.  That ceratinly wasn't my complaint with it.  But it was no more accurate then the 140 gr. Ballistic Tip that replaced it.  Honestly, this is the first I've heard of accuracy issues with the Ballistic Tip.  With accuracy consistency being the trademark characteristic of the Ballistic Tip line of bullets, it is interesting.

Either way, I do recognize that we all have our favorite bullets and respect that.  BEAR, Hornady works for you.  I'll gladly leave'em all for you and I'll take the BT's and/or AccuBonds    .  Later.  >>  klallen

I'll bite,

I guess that I'm a traditional nosler fan who's moving into the Hornady realm here lately. 

I've shot several whitetails with the BT's, 30 cal's and 7mm's.  Results were deadly.  Never loaded any hornady polymer tips even though I have used their interlocks.  It's hard for me to compare the two but suffice it to say that I'd hope to find the Hornady polymer tips  as accurate and deadly as the Nosler BT's for the simple reason of price.  You can get nearly 100 Hornady bullets for what it costs 50 Noslers.  Is it worth it?  I don't know, need to do some more testing!

Fiftydriver wrote: My concern is with smaller caliber Interlocks driven to velocities well over 3000 fps.

the subject of bt's and 'anything hornady' comes up on this forum pretty often... i've said it before, and i still stand by it: hornady btsp interlocks work very well for me. never had a failure, never had inadequate performance, or anything else of that nature. i've used them, at full-power, in all of my guns at one time or another (and we all know that i am an unabashed magnum fanatic), and is my 'go-to' bullet when i start new development. actually, i run about a 60/40 mix of hornady interlocks/sierra gk's.

as far as the bt's go... well, i had no trouble getting accuracy out of them. i did have a lot of trouble knocking deer down w/ them, though. i don't trust 'em, and i won't use 'em for anything, not even prairie dogs (because i think the v-max's are more accurate).

i've hashed this out w/ klallen before and his conclusion was that the calibers i was shooting at the time (25-06 & 243) were on the cusp of varminting calibers, and perhaps the results were to be expected given the velocities that i was driving 'em at. ok, fair 'nuff, i guess, but when i switched to hornady interlocks in the 25-06 using a like bullet weight and max velocity (and sold the 243), my problems ceased...

anyway, fwiw, i guess, because this is a topic that will never die.

back on track... the hornady sst's... busted only 2 deer w/ 'em out of a 7 rem mag (154's, i believe). 2 shots, 2 dead deer, no recovered bullets and nice exit wounds (202 and 317 yards)... however, i went back to interlocks. i am at a point where i am no fan of plastic on guns or bullets.