[img]https://imgur.com/a/Ke7PtUh[/img]

Thats a 120 grain Nosler BT out of a 7-08 at about 30 yards. Quartering away from me. There was blood, hair, lung tissue and other "stuff" one the ground, and deer went maybe 30 yards.

It's the bullet, not the caliber. The only polymer tipped bullets I have used that I liked are Swift Sirocco and Nosler Accubond.

I’ve killed deer with the SST with no issues. I swapped to monos because you almost always get an exit. It’s just a tougher bullet. That being said if that deer was hit where you say it was then he’s dead inside of a couple hundred yards at most. Get a dog!!!!

Bullets can do weird things though. Shot a 190lb bucks back before Christmas. 90-100 yards slightly quartering. Bullet destroyed the inside shoulder but didn’t exit. Found him with a dog because there was zero blood. But here’s the thing, I was shooting a 250g core Loki at 2500fps out of a 444 Marlin. That’s a crap ton of energy and a BIG piece of lead. Just one of those fluke things.

Interesting. Perhaps he has.

Something often overlooked is matching the bullet for its intended purpose and speed. A bullet that preforms well in one gun may not work across the board. Example... I stated earlier that I had good success with the SST. I was shooting 30-06 150 gr handloads Chronographed at 2650 FPS. Yes I know that is slow, But it worked great. If you take that same bullet and run it at 3300 from a .300 Winchester and it will likely come to pieces. A heavier more solidly constructed bullet would be needed.

The picture Lockjaw linked tells the tale of SST's. Remember, the man said the deer was quartering away so that is the entrance wound. The rest of his discription tells the tale that there was an exit wound.

SST's expand immediately and violently. IF they hold together and exit it will be devastating. If he had hit the shoulder of a big old buck, it would have most likely been a different story.

Big old buck? Man i had folks telling me not to shoot hogs (probably 15 years ago) with SSTs (ballistic tips period) and shitttttt they would smoke 'em like a pack of damn Kools

Hope y’all find it.
My wife uses Hornady 308 125 gr sst and my little girl uses 300BO 125gr sst, and we’ve never lost a deer. They’ve killed 10-12 combined prob. They rarely have an exit would though. I’ll agree to that. The inside is tore up though.

I was having trouble with the 120 grain. Switched to the Winchester match grade 140 grain and they drop now

That was the exit hole. The entrance was on the opposite side, high right behind the shoulder. I shot this deer out of a tree in a creek bottom, it went uphill into a pine thicket. There was blood everywhere, even 3 feet high on trees along its path. Blood all over the ground. It was not hard to follow. I have always been told deer don't bleed much going uphill. That was not the case here.

If I see a buck, I won't hesitate to pull the trigger on it with this ammo either.

I sure expected to see a picture of a dead deer

I’ve shot sst out of my 308 and my son shot them out of his 270. Neither one would have a exit hole . If you shot a deer and it didn’t drop you would struggle to find them . I now shoot a 6.5 and use federal fusions , you can get them on their website and they ship for free. Anyways I shot a buck 2 weeks ago behind the shoulder and it looked like a movie with the blood spray . This bullet left an exit would and massive damage . The deer ran 40-50 yards with plenty of blood to follow . I’ve also used hornady eldx 143 grain with good results . I only switched from these hornady because of stories like this . I promise if you use the federal fusion or the blue box and do your part there isn’t anything wrong with the caliber . Good luck !

I use 123gr sst in my 6.5 grendel. Shot 6 deer got 6 deer last year plus 1 hog

My wife has killed a pile with 120 grain Nosler BT's in her 7mm-08, one with a .25-06 and 117 grain SST, and several with her old .270 and 130 grain SST's. It ain't the bullets.

My son and I have prolly killed 100+ with SSTs out of 308s and 7-08s. Never had one hit where you're supposed to go over 75 yards. Now we shoot Barnes TTSX .

Mines was dead!! 😂

If I can get one to walk in front of me with my 270, I'm gonna bust it with a BT too.

...the problem is bullet placement,shoot in the base of the neck..they fall down dead.

Number one thing I've learned shooting my 260 Remington since 1998 same .264 diameter as the 6.5 needmore is DO NOT USE 120 nosler ballistic tips or sst bullets.they are both of poor construction or to thin jacketed for anything but coyotes.they blow up like using HP bullets.if you hit just perfect both are super fast kills but if any bone is encountered good luck on pass through.shoukder shots usually result in deer running off dragging it's leg with both bullets
Carlos hathcock can't make perfect boiler maker shots on deer in hollers everytime period.those two bullets are to explosive