Hornady 120 grain SST reduced recoil ammo, 18" barrel 7mm-08

Ridgerunner665

Ridgerunner665

Handloader
Oct 28, 2008
2,516
299
I'm not impressed, not at all...the bullet itself did great, but the loaded ammo is terrible...the extreme velocity spread of this ammo is 177 fps, speeds measured with a MagnetoSpeed.

Muzzle velocity was 2,294 fps, the bullet stopped in the 4th jug...pieces and parts of the bullet were scattered all around...I found the tip in front of the first jug.

I weighed the core and jacket...72 grains.



http://vid217.photobucket.com/albums/cc ... mmkpvk.mp4
 
Oh, yeah, results such as that could put a damper on further experimentation.
 
Wow- I knew SSTs were soft, but that's unreal.

I'd think some reduced 4895 loads and 120BTs would do much better.

I had the opposite issue from Evan's- 140 Fusions were too tough!
 
I gotta say I don't know much about how the "jug" test correlates to the boiler room of a deer. However, if those pieces all made it to the fourth jug I would think that shrapnel would have done a real number in a deers lungs. Dads opinion always was that tis is what he was looking for from his 7Mag. One mans opinion, and more velocity, but nothing ever walked away. He used 130 gr Speers exclusively.

A former poster here, Bob in TX, shot the 7mm-08 almost exclusively. Here opined that the 120 BT had the same Jacket thickness as a 140. As a result it was a tough bullet for its weight. I have seen pics of all kinds of critters he took with it. That bullet has a similar rep from what I can see. CL
 
Too bad the factory ammo is not up to par with such extreme velocity spread. That bullet however will kill deer quickly I bet. I have killed moose with bullets that only do 5 jugs, no deer is going to survive the 120 gr SST in the boiler room.
 
177 fps extreme spread? That's not good - seems like poor quality control to me?

Handload. Control your own ammo quality! (y)

Oh, and if you want a tougher, 120 gr, 7mm bullet, Nosler's is excellent!

We still hear from Roysclockgun now and again - Stepehen - he and his wife have made excellent use of the 120 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip bullet on wild hogs, mule deer, and pronghorn. Lots of one-shot drops from both her 7mm-08 and his .280 rifle.

Regards, Guy
 
I've found the SSTs to be great killers. Very reliable on game.

However I always go for the heavier version in the SST when handloading it for my hunting; 150g in the 270 Win, 180g in the 30-06, 165g in the 308.

If shooting it in a short barreled 7-08 I think I'd be looking at the 154g or even the 162g version. I think you'll still get a lot of expansion but better penetration, though it does go against the grain of looking for reduced recoil I must concede.
 
Charlie-NY":1c2lry4z said:
How about the 110gr TTSX?
Click to expand...

I never really liked Barnes bullets even when it was Barnes...now that Barnes is under Remington's umbrella, I like them even less.

I know some of you have to use them...but I've fired a lot of bullets into a lot of things over the past 43 years, followed by careful and in depth examination of the effects and I don't buy into the hype surrounding monolithic bullets...not for hunting animals of flesh and blood...hunting engine blocks and bad guys behind hard barriers...yeah, solid brass or copper has some advantages.
 
gerry":2mgyogas said:
Too bad the factory ammo is not up to par with such extreme velocity spread. That bullet however will kill deer quickly I bet. I have killed moose with bullets that only do 5 jugs, no deer is going to survive the 120 gr SST in the boiler room.
Click to expand...

Agree 100% all day long!
 
Ridgerunner665":2f6ls6jg said:
3 boxes of 120 grain Ballistic Tips arrived today...
Click to expand...

Excellent plan. The 7mm 120 BT is a very robust bullet.

JD338
 
JD338":vm3smmey said:
Ridgerunner665":vm3smmey said:
3 boxes of 120 grain Ballistic Tips arrived today...
Click to expand...

Excellent plan. The 7mm 120 BT is a very robust bullet.

JD338
Click to expand...

I wanna try some in my boys 7x57. Should be a fun one in that rifle as well.
 
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