Barnes TTSX vs. Hornady SST

[clayg08]

in regards to rifle bullets, ( not necessarily caliber specific ) , what do y'all feel is the better bullet of these 2, for medium game hunting ?

i have quite a bit of the Barnes factory ammo now and had good results with it this past season. i just bought some hornady ammo with the sst but haven't put it to the test yet.

who has personal preferences on these 2 bullets, positive and negative ?

i got a reloading kit for christmas along with several die sets. i'm slowly trying to piece things together and looking at options.

and, "if" caliber matters, this would be for 243, 250 savage and 30-06. nothing long range, just practical blind / ground blind hunting ranges for whitetail. (50-150 yards)

thanks

[Big 10]

I shoot the Hornady SST out of my 243 and have never lost a animal. They make a lot of damage once they get inside. I've killed a 330 pound hog with a less than desirable shot and he just fell over. The Hornady American Whitetails are really good too

[Stick'n'String]

Following his thread.
I just finished up a 6.8 AR build and those are the 2 rounds I was looking at as well. On 68forums.com the general concensus (if price doesn't matter) is the TTSX. I read some of the ballistic results a few guys did and the TTSX has 100% weight retention and expands well. The 120 SST tends to fragment pretty bad so if your a big meat hunter, you may not like that round so much. It does a lot of structural damage (from the pics I seen) and a few people claimed they found some bullet fragments when eating lol

[huntmaster]

I dont think you or an animal will know the difference with a well placed shot. Both are great bullets.

[kd350]

Used both, Barnes in a 25-06 and sst in 25-06, 270, 30-06, 7mag

No negatives for me, both killed anything I shot at. The sst does more damage, and really messes the insides up. Barnes didn't do all that much damage and passes through, I guess you could call that a negative even though it still died?

Just shoot the Hornady now because it's cheaper and shoots good in my guns and causes enough damage that when you open them up you realize why they didn't go very far lol

[Drycreek3189]

The Barnes is a good bullet if you shoulder shoot deer. If you normally punch them through the lungs, I would rather use the SST or any other tipped bullet. The Barnes mushrooms beautifully, but sometimes doesn't leave much of a bloodtrail. If penetration is your goal, the Barnes will do the job.

You will get more copper fouling with the Barnes and it is more sensitive to seating depth.

[Walding1989]

either is fine for medium sized game. the barnes will penetrate a shoulder much better especially at distance than the sst is going to. if it were me I would shoot the barnes bullet.

[clayg08]

The Barnes is a good bullet if you shoulder shoot deer. If you normally punch them through the lungs, I would rather use the SST or any other tipped bullet.

i'm not afraid to smack one through the shoulders, BUT, i have an 8 and 9 year old who will both be shooting this year for the first time.

i guess i can just load accordingly. thanks for the info thus far guys

[treestand]

They will both do fine on your typical Texas whitetail. I use mostly Barnes TTSX because I like the idea of having the extra penetration ability if a huge hog or exotic comes along.

[bphillips]

Two completely different bullets there.. For penetration and bone TTSX if you know it will be in the lungs SST.

[Coyote EMT]

I have shot many animals with the SST and none have taken another step. Have not had any significant meat damage either. That is with a 6.5 grendel and 308. The Barnes I shoot with my 22-250 and it is a great round for all game. Minimal pelt damage on Coyote with great penetration on hogs.

[WyoBull]

I shoot Barnes exclusively in my big game rifles and I purposely high shoulder shoot all of my animals. You do that and they will drop in their tracks. Shoot them behind the shoulder and a little high (lung shot) and they will die quickly but will definitely run a ways.
We shot 12 animals in Africa with my 7mm RUM, all of them taken through the shoulders, not one took a step the length of their body. Only recovered one bullet and that was on my Blue Wildebeest. It took out both shoulders and hung up just under the opposite side skin. I was shooting 160 gr TSX's over in Africa.
Barnes bullets are not designed to blow up inside the animal and disintegrate. They are designed to open up and peel back in 4 nice petals, retaining almost all of their weight, and doing tremendous terminal damage on their way through. That is exactly what they do. You will rarely find your bullet if you shoot Barnes.

I cannot speak to the Hornady SST because I have never shot them.

[rosco11]

I put down 3 hogs and a mid size 6 point cull this year. My 1st time using the SST. .270 140 grain. Here's a pic of an entrance and exit on a ~70lb pig.

[texas bound]

I love the ttsx bullets. Don't be afraid to shoot em in the vitals. They perform very well. Here is a heart hit with one out of a 7-08.

[Gladesgator]

I shoot Barnes bullets both in my rifles .270, .243, 7mm, and in my .50 and .54 caliber muzzleloaders have shot scores of animals from deer, elk, hogs to gators. Bullets have always performed very well and seldom find a bullet, almost always a pass thru with little meat damage. Have been using them for many years.
My girlfriend just shot not two hours ago, a 350# Red stag with a .243 using an 80 grain Barnes at 100 yards, Stag went 20 feet and piled up.