140 grain .270 SST ??

[Cariboo]

Anyone use the 140 grain .270 calibre Hornady SST on deer? I have used the 30 calibre SST's and have found them to be a bit "tougher" than similar sized Ballistic Tips. Does this hold true with the .270's as well?


Other than this bullet does anyone have any suggestions for a non-bonded all purpose bullet for the .270? Use will be on critters up to the size of mule deer and paper.

[willyqbc]

When my wife started hunting I loaded 130 grain SST's over a reduced load of H4895 giving a chrony'd speed of around 2500FPS. She shot 2 deer with them and had big ugly wound channels...lots of damage, lots of bloodshot. I would think they would not be all that great on a heavy bone hit. Granted this is very limited experience with this bullet though. On a positive note they were very accurate.

Chris

[Cariboo]

Chris, what distances were the deer at when hit? I am assuming the shots your wife took were "through-the-ribs"

[martini]

why not use the Interbonds?

[StoneChaser]

I loaded for my brother's 270 Win for ~ 8 years, and it accounted for 8 or 10 deer and a handful of blackies.

I ran the 150gr Speer BTSP, the 150gr Hornady SP and NEVER recovered a bullet from any of his critters (at some fairly extreme angles sometimes too).

The 270 Win is not hard on 150's, but they sure knock the critters down.

Were I starting from scratch, these days I'd pick the 130/140 TSX or 140gr Nosler Partition because I know the other bullets can't kill critters

However, knowing what the 150gr Hornady Interlock did, I'd be shocked if a bullet did any better.... they were impressive, accurate, and very affordable!

StoneChaser

[ruttinbuck]

hornady 140gr BTSP, I have used them in custom and light magnum factory ammo and handloaded in front of 53.2 gr 4350.Deadly bullet on mule deer,I have a few recovered but not many until you get over 150yds away.

[srupp]

Boo what were the 140 grain bulletts you loaded for my .270 they worked AWESOME....thank you !!!(Im @ work so cant check) but they did some serious hurting to all the deer I used em on...

steven

[Spitzer]

I've loaded and shot quite a few 140gr. Hornady BTSP's and they're very accurate. 60gr. Reloder 22 WLR primer going 2990fps. Another accurate load was 55.7gr. IMR 4831, WLR primer @ 2865fps, I got 1/4" groups with that load out of my Rem7600.

I don't know how the Hornady BTSP's perform on game as I use 140gr. Accubonds with impressive results on deer.

[bushrat]

I prefer the plain 140 interlock btsp over the plastic tipped sst. They are pretty much the same interlock bullet and jacket but without the plastic tip. Tried the sst when they came out, shot a couple deer with them and they seemed to make more mess and bloodshot. The plastic tip seems to act as a wedge and causes them to split open and fragment faster on impact than the regular. Have found the plain ones just as accurate but less costly. Been using them in various .270's for a couple decades loaded to about 2900 fps.

[willyqbc]

Boo... if i recall the two deer were shot at approx 100 yards for one and about 150 for the other....first shot on both was ribs...no heavy bone (shoulder) hits, follow up shot on one was a spine shot....that one made a big ugly hole! I'm guessing it would not be a real "pelt friendly" bullet!!

Chris

[longleader]

Originally Posted by Cariboo

Other than this bullet does anyone have any suggestions for a non-bonded all purpose bullet for the .270? Use will be on critters up to the size of mule deer and paper.

Cariboo, I have had very good results from the Hornady Interlock, 140 BTSP, but have not shot anything larger than black bears and mule deer with them, though. In my Super Grade, .270 Win. with 24” barrel, 60 g. of Reloder 22 pushes them at an average of 3100 fps. At loadings somewhat less than that, I have shot ¼” groups, probably just luck, but I think these bullets are capable of pretty decent accuracy nonetheless, and at a pretty decent price, too. Here are a couple pics of one that I recovered from an Alexis Creek buck I shot about a dozen years ago. The deer was more or less facing me 75 yds. away, at a slight angle, so I poked him in the near shoulder. He collapsed on the spot, never moved. The bullet hit a fair amount of bone, but still made its way through the chest, paunch, and lodged just in the hind quarter. Retained weight was 60 per cent.



Hornady 2



Another non-bonded bullet I use is the old Nosler Partition, which has also served well, although they are quite a bit more expensive than the Hornadys. Here’s what is left of one that didn’t quite make its way out of a huge black bear, shot out behind the house. Also 60 per cent retained weight. My chrony says that 57.5 grains of Reloder 22 gives an average of 3000 fps, in the same .270.

Nosler Partition

[Cariboo]

Thanks for all the answers folk.

I think I will order a box of the Hornady 140 BTSP and see if this new rifle likes them. (Steven, that is the bullet we loaded for your rifle.) I also am planning on trying the Partition as well but in truth this particular rifle is destined to be used mainly as a medium to long range deer rifle so a "tough" bullet is not really a requirement.

As an aside I have used the various bonded bullets in 30 calibre for 4 years now starting with the Scirocco and then later the Interbond and finally this year the Accubond. I have found with all the bonded bullets damage to deer sized critters seems to be more extensive than with standard cup & core bullets. While I would be the first to admit their usefulness on larger animals I personally think they are too much of a good thing when used on light-skinned animals.

[srupp]

Thanks Gary they were absolutley awesome..devestating.....not gonna change a thing as you cant argue with success.

Steven

[Kevin]

Another vote for the Hornady Interlock. I've used the .277 140gr standard interlock boattail in factory "light mag" loadings on a few mulies and 1 moose. Worked great, the single one I recovered was from a mulie buck at less than 25 yards (~ 2,950 muzzle velocity), and I found it hanging in the skin on the far side of a double lung shot that hit a few ribs square on. It held together very well, and looked pretty much identical to the one in longleaders pictures. I haven't shot any animals with the 150, but I use tham as my practice round, now that I'm loading my own. They seem to shoot pretty well with them, and haven't had trouble working up MOA accuracy. I have switched to the 150 Partition for everything, but they seem to work more or less the same as the Hornady, on deer sized stuff.

good luck 'Boo!

[elkchaser]

I use Hornady Interlock 140 gr with 54 grns of 4831 in my Gustav and I find they can really cause some damage if you hit bone. This years whitey was hit in the front shoulder @ 50 yards and it broke the shoulder/top of leg, went into the bottom of chest. The entire shoulder was like ground meat as was the brisket and I had shards of the copper jacket everywhere. Never did find the bullet even though it didn't exit the chest cavity. The deer ran for 60-70 yards after being hit as it was low lung shot..