# Hornady SST/GMX comparison



## KineKilla (Jan 28, 2011)

A friend of mine shoots a 30-06 and usually uses 165gr SST's. Factory Loaded.

Last season he took a shot at a cow elk and either missed or didn't connect well. We searched for a long time and never found a spot of blood so I'm leaning towards a miss but there's always the possibility of a poor hit or no pass through equaling no blood.

Fast forward to this year...he's still beating himself up about the event and is now looking at using a GMX instead to hopefully increase the odds of a pass through and/or blood trail.

Anyone have first hand experience with these two bullets? I load and use mostly Noslers but have some knowledge of the monolithic designs used by Barnes and Hornady in their GMX line. You think making the switch will have the desired effect? The guy is a pretty good shot with his -06 and I've seen him take game multiple times before.


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

In all honesty, I doubt that bullet construction had anything to do with the elk mishap. Hit properly, an elk will be killed very quickly by a 30 cal 165 grain hunting bullet of any type. Conversely, an elk missed or hit poorly with any bullet will likely run away. 

That being said, confidence is everything in shooting and I submit that anything which increases confidence or limits doubt is worthwhile.-----------SS


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

Springville Shooter said:


> In all honesty, I doubt that bullet construction had anything to do with the elk mishap. Hit properly, an elk will be killed very quickly by a 30 cal 165 grain hunting bullet of any type. Conversely, an elk missed or hit poorly with any bullet will likely run away.
> 
> That being said, confidence is everything in shooting and I submit that anything which increases confidence or limits doubt is worthwhile.-----------SS


 I somewhat disagree with this.
A bad shot with a poor bullet and you most likely loose the animal.
A poor shot with a good bullet and you most likely have a short tracking job.
That's been my experience.


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## Airborne (May 29, 2009)

cup and core bullets have been killin stuff for decades, the SST is quality. Honestly, I can't think of an awful cup and core bullet. From powerpoints to corelocks to innerlocs/SSTs they are all good.

I like Barnes bullets and have done well with them. They blow right through most critters--the bonus with these is that they break bones like no other. I'm with SShooter on this--if it gives your buddy confidence then go for it, plus no lead to worry about. Shot placment is key regardless

ridgetop--tell me what brands you consider to be poor hunting bullets? If you say Barnes we are going to have an argument!


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

I can find common ground to agree with Ridge. Over the course of my life I have seen a small number of freak instances where a bullet just simply failed miserably on impact. All of these occurred with standard, cup/core bullets. Mostly light-for-caliber Nosler Ballistic Tips.

While I have never personally witnessed it, I have heard of monolithics failing to expand....just ask Dallan C.

The WORST record that I have personally witnessed belongs to the target/VLD clan. Some folks swear by them and seem to make them work, but you will never catch me using these on game bigger than a coyote.-------SS


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

Airborne said:


> cup and core bullets have been killin stuff for decades, the SST is quality. Honestly, I can't think of an awful cup and core bullet. From powerpoints to corelocks to innerlocs/SSTs they are all good.
> 
> I like Barnes bullets and have done well with them. They blow right through most critters--the bonus with these is that they break bones like no other. I'm with SShooter on this--if it gives your buddy confidence then go for it, plus no lead to worry about. Shot placment is key regardless
> 
> ridgetop--tell me what brands you consider to be poor hunting bullets? If you say Barnes we are going to have an argument!


After shooting a big bull elk in the shoulder with a 154 gr SST and then watched the bull run off without even a limp. I will never use a SST on elk again. I did put down a 4 point buck with the same SST bullet that same year.

I personally have found the accubond to be the best bullet I've shot.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

ridgetop said:


> A poor shot with a good bullet and you most likely have a short tracking job.
> That's been my experience.


I've never really seen ANY poor shot result in a short tracking job.

-DallanC


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Springville Shooter said:


> While I have never personally witnessed it, I have heard of monolithics failing to expand....just ask DallanC


Seems like Barnes was changing their design every few years trying to improve expansion. Lots of people were complaining of them not opening if you happened to miss bone on the way through (hit between the ribs for example).

Barnes opened up the nose a bit, then later when they came out with the poly tip the nose was even more opened. They are probably very reliable now... I'll never use them again though because I could never get any form of acceptable accuracy out of them.

They were fast though... holy chit they were fast. I was well over 3600fps with 140's out of my 7STW. Might as well have loaded them backwards though for all the accuracy they had. I tried every powder I could think of to try and get them to shoot.... RL17, RL19, RL22, RL25, H1000, 7828 /sigh. I blew enough money trying to find a accurate fast load, that I could have bought an entirely new rifle. I'd always go back to that cheap Rem corelokt ammo for comparisons, that stuff shot .75" all day long. Some barnes bullets loads would be over 6MOA!!! -O,-

-DallanC


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## derekp1999 (Nov 17, 2011)

I'm with Ridge on my opinion of the SST...

I have only used them on pronghorn and after seeing how they performed on a very light skinned game animal I am looking for something else to use on elk.


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## KineKilla (Jan 28, 2011)

Fairly mixed opinions thus far....but most would take the solid constructed bullet over the softer (faster expanding) SST on Elk.

I believe he plans to use the GMX this season provided he can find it in the stores and also provided that it shoots as well. Both appear to have the same shape (looking at the pic in my Hornady Reloading Manual) so I'd imagine they'll shoot similarly well.

If nothing else, perhaps they will restore his confidence as mentioned....in this game, confidence can be an often overlooked yet critical factor.


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## utahgolf (Sep 8, 2007)

Airborne said:


> cup and core bullets have been killin stuff for decades, the SST is quality. Honestly, I can't think of an awful cup and core bullet. From powerpoints to corelocks to innerlocs/SSTs they are all good.
> 
> I like Barnes bullets and have done well with them. They blow right through most critters--the bonus with these is that they break bones like no other. I'm with SShooter on this--if it gives your buddy confidence then go for it, plus no lead to worry about. Shot placment is key regardless
> 
> ridgetop--tell me what brands you consider to be poor hunting bullets? If you say Barnes we are going to have an argument!


Plus a million to Airborne! I know if I hit a critter with a barnes bullet, it's going down or a short track job. I've punched animals through the ribs and they don't go anyhwere and I've taken elk right through both shoulders no problem. They make a great bullet.


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## Airborne (May 29, 2009)

Cup and Core bullets have their place but folks need to remember to go with the heavy for caliber bullet weight when hunting tough heavy animals. Using cup and core I wouldn't hunt 'OIL' Utah big bull elk with anything less than a 180 grain bullet going 2700 fps regardless of caliber (somebody better mention sectional density and the 270 just so we can have a debate!). Using a Barnes TSX I can step down to a 150 grain bullet, jump the fps up to 2975 and have a flatter shooting bullet out to 500-600 yards which will kill just as well as the 180 grain cup and core bullet.

cup and core bullet-> hunting cow elk or large deer I would look at 165 grain bullet going around 2,800 fps. My 150 grain Barnes is still superior to this--going faster and maintaining bullet weight upon impact

cup and core bullet-> standard deer and antelope sized critter, shoot a 100-150 grain bullet. My Barnes bullet is doing the same speed and maybe faster. 

Basically, my 150 grain Barnes bullet is a the magic answer from small doe antelope all the way up to huge bull elk and moose. It can do it all and I count myself lucky that they group so well in my rifle. I've never tried Accubonds but i'm sure they are a fine bullet--are they as versatile as the Barnes TSX as state above?


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

DallanC said:


> I've never really seen ANY poor shot result in a short tracking job.
> 
> -DallanC


A few years ago I shot a spike, which my bullet hit it too far back. Missing the vitals and making contact with the very last rib and guts. I was shooting 7mm mag. 150 gr. Remington Scirocco. At 250 yards, the exit hole was about 3" in diameter and the bull bled out within 80 yards. I doubt the same thing would have happened with a core lok.


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

DallanC said:


> I've never really seen ANY poor shot result in a short tracking job.
> 
> -DallanC


Saddest thing I ever saw was this girlfriend of a flatty brim dude shooting doe antelope on the San Rafael north? With 2 shots she managed to break three legs on a small doe. It laid there pathetically while they hiked over to finish it off. Really pathetic but it was a short tracking job.-------SS


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## Kevinitis (Jul 18, 2013)

I have shot both GMX and SST. I have not shot SST at animals, but my friend has. Both were deadly. My friend killed an elk a few years back with SST bullets out of a 7 mm mag with a 140 grain bullet. It was a drop right there kind of hit. As a lead bullet, if he hit that animal it would have had blood and major damage. I do think SSTs open up quickly on animals. I shoot GMX and have taken an elk with one just last week. IT was a complete pass through the rib section. He was dead on the first shot, but with elk I keep shooting until they go down. A second quartering away shot passed through about 3 feet of elk and was found between the rib cage and the hide. The internal organs were liquefied. Monolithic bullets penetrate way better than lead bullets, and I don't have any accuracy issues with any that I have shot (Barnes TSX, TTSX, and GMX). They all grouped an inch or under. I shoot non-lead to avoid lead in my meat. I have not found that you can interchange GMX with SST and have the same ballistics/point of impact as advertised.


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## gregkdc (May 19, 2008)

I shot a cow elk a few years ago at about 70 yards with a 150 grain GMX fired from a 30-06. The bullet broke the left humerus and destroyed half the meat on that quarter. It continued through the lungs, heart and out the other side. I felt like I gave her plenty of time to die but when i walked up on her she turned her head to look at me so i fired another shot this time into her sternum. The bullet went through her length wise and ended under the hide in the lower abdominal area, luckily the only abdominal organ hit was the liver. 

That lengthwise shot equaled 3.5 to 4 ft of penetration, if I had any complaint about the GMX bullets it would be that they need to open up more than they do. There was immense damage to the lungs with buckets of blood and a decent sized hole in the heart. I agree with the above post about the copper bullets. They are good if you want to shoot a lighter bullet then what is typical, this is ok because they work better at faster speeds anyways. The trade off is you loose down range energy but I don't think that is a problem with most shots taken during hunting. My 2 cents.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Springville Shooter said:


> Saddest thing I ever saw was this girlfriend of a flatty brim dude shooting doe antelope on the San Rafael north? With 2 shots she managed to break three legs on a small doe. It laid there pathetically while they hiked over to finish it off. Really pathetic but it was a short tracking job.-------SS


That is pathetic, I woulda drove over there.

Nevermind, I just got up to pee and thought I'd stop in.

.


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

wyogoob said:


> Springville Shooter said:
> 
> 
> > Saddest thing I ever saw was this girlfriend of a flatty brim dude shooting doe antelope on the San Rafael north? With 2 shots she managed to break three legs on a small doe. It laid there pathetically while they hiked over to finish it off. Really pathetic but it was a short tracking job.-------SS
> ...


I got up to pee too around 2:30. You young guys take notice. Your days are coming


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## Tall Tines (Apr 16, 2017)

DallanC said:


> I've never really seen ANY poor shot result in a short tracking job.
> 
> -DallanC


You've never seen anything shot in the pelvic bone... that's a "poor" shot and they don't go anywhere but straight to the floor when hit there with a bullet


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## KineKilla (Jan 28, 2011)

Well, he took the -06 to the range and it shot the GMX in the same POI and group size as the SST's so that's what he's going to use this year.

We only have spike tags this weekend but hopefully we'll get a chance to see how they perform.


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