6.5 smk recovered

[Bud Martin]

Here's a pic of a .264 140 smk recovered from a deer at 1070 yards. impact velocity of 1550+ or - a few fps. way to far and slow it would seem.

[Buffalobob]

Was the deer dead?

Could you tell if the bullet had tumbled? That is a general characteristic of bullet wounds from bullets that do not expand and have a center of gravity that is not FOC. Tumbling will produce a very good wound channel.

[Bud Martin]

Originally Posted by Buffalobob

Was the deer dead?

Could you tell if the bullet had tumbled? That is a general characteristic of bullet wounds from bullets that do not expand and have a center of gravity that is not FOC. Tumbling will produce a very good wound channel.

I do not think the bullet tumbled, there was a small entrance wound and a very clean wound channel. bullet passed thru part of one lung, the heart and stopped just under the skin on the far side. never touched a bone.

[jeff 300]

Man that looks like you could reload it again.LOL you need some bergers

[royinidaho]

Bud,

From my testing and some other's experience that's the performance I'd expect.

I couldn't get them to reliability expand at under 2000 FPS in media with a bone simulator.


The SMK's jacket it pretty tough.

[Bud Martin]

Originally Posted by jeff 300

Man that looks like you could reload it again.LOL you need some bergers

I have a pic of a berger posted on here somewhere from last year. it was from the same rifle on a antelope at 925, the results were the same. and the berger velocity started 255 fps faster. at this range and velocity there is not a penny's worth of difference between the two.

[Kevin Thomas]

Bud,
It's not a bullet failure; you're using a bullet that was never designed to be a hunting bullet in the first place. The SMKs are used/allowed in US sniper ammunition (Lake City's M118LR) exactly BECAUSE it performs like a FMJ bullet, and is therefore not a violation of the Geneva or Hague accords. All this, despite its open-tip design. The MK designs actually have a fairly thin jacket, at least compared to their GameKing or ProHunter designs, but they are not designed to expand.

Bergers (the original design, now listed as their hunting bullets) have both a thinner jacket than the SMKs, and generally a higher BC (particularly true in the case of the old-style 6.5mm 140 MK). They're outstandingly accurate and will be arriving at the target with higher retained velocity. I'd recommend them as being a far better choice for this application.

Kevin Thomas
Lapua USA