270 WSM 135gr MK Failure

[rbkeiser]

Called coyote broadside at 94 yds. (Inspecting my remote e-call.) At the shot he trotted off looking back several times and remaining visible for about 4 to 5 seconds. (I was too shocked to shoot again but it would have been a low percentage shot anyway and there were no signs of a hit. Too close for a "whack" and no stutter steps, etc from the coyote.) I sat still for a bit and tried to call him back but no go. Reviewed the shot call and decided I had somehow twisted the elevation turret a full revolution off. (Done this before.) Went over to collect the call and look for blood, hair etc... nothing. Ranged a tree with a knot on it at 212 yds, got prone with bipod and fired with turret set at 200. Went to look and dead center in the knot. Mystery. Continued hunting and about 7 houtrs later, on my way back, spotted circling turkey vultures. Oh, oh! Here's my coyote, drilled through just as I'd held. Tiny entrance and exits (had to search) no expansion whatsoever. Impact vel would have been about 3000 fps. This is my first and only experience using MKs on game. I've used Berger 88gr LDs out of a 6mm on chucks and coyotes plenty with no problems. Too bad as this rifle simply refuses to shoot anything nearly as well as the 135 MK 66 gr IMR 7828ssc, F215M.

 

[CatShooter]

I have had the same experence. SMKs will open fine, if they hit a bone, even a small one...

... but I have had them zip through without the slightest bit of expansion.

Try the A-Max bullets - they are quite good about reliable expansion.

.

 

[Boss Hoss]

That is pretty interesting but my experience on coyotes, feral dogs and feral hogs as well as deer have been the opposite over the years -- never had one fail to bring down an animal in short order. In fact, yesterday morning about 9:00 dispatched a large feral Pit Bull at 310 yds with my Warp 7 with a 150 MK and it dropped him like a stone. Nothing but a few yelps and that was all she wrote.

 

[Guy M]

rbkeiser - same thing happened for me with 168 Matchkings from my .308 on coyotes & rockchucks about 10 - 12 years ago. Penciled through with little damage done. The critters ended up dead, but not the bang-flop results I was accustomed to with varmint bullets.

The Matchkings are great target bullets and I shoot a mess of 'em, but they didn't work out well for me on smaller critters. Never tried 'em on larger. Went back to rapid-expanding bullets for varmints and 'yotes.

These days I'm messing around with the Berger VLD's for hunting. They're getting rave reviews from most who have tried them, so I'm giving 'em a try too. Accurate as sin for sure!

Regards, Guy

 

[Boss Hoss]

If you want to know why the SMK will NEVER EVER BE MARKETED as a hunting bullet-----read my post at the end of this thread...
http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/smk-24326/