338 300 grain SMK test results

[goodgrouper]

Well, as some of you know, I have been tinkering with the 300 grain SMK in my 338 thunder just to see what it would do. I found a load that pushes it a tad over 2800 fps with 90 grains of H1000 and put some tidy little 7" groups on the gong at 1k. So I decided it might be worth hunting with it IF it passes my phonebook test. So yesterday I put 60 grains of N170 into the case and fired the bullets into a bunch of paper at 100 yards. They clocked over the Oehler 35 at 2135 fps which when slowed down by 100 yards of atmosphere, they impacted the phonebooks at around 2025 fps. For a side by side comparison, I also loaded up a couple 225 accubonds with the same 60 grains of N170 and shot them right into the same paper. They clocked over the Oehler at 2179. This test would replicate a 1000 yard impact velocity.

Well, I was surprised to see that none of the three SMK's zipped all the way through the paper! And none of the Accubonds did either but I expected that. After tearing into the paper I found that the wound channels were almost identical in size with the AB being just slightly larger. At about 8" into the paper, the bullets had both opened up and started making holes about the size of a quarter. At about 12", they both had holes about golf ball sized. And at about 20", the Accubond stopped and was a nice tidy mushroom with one side of the jacket top sheared off. Final hole size was about the size of a tennis ball. The SMK was still going but only for about another 3". It had a final hole size just slightly smaller than the AB and the mushroom was pretty textbook except for the fact that the core was gone and replaced with a little spitwad that could not be picked from the copper with my finger nail. I searched around for the core and found it in the paper at about 15" depth. It was mangled pretty hard.

So, these SMK's are actually pretty impressive. I would not have a problem launching these at wild animals ( I launched them before at a bison but it was penned in and not really wild) because they performed so well. Quite a contrast to the 250 grain SMK which wouldn't even open up slightly at 500 yards at full speed! In fact, they wouldn't even wiggle a bowling ball off a rock at 435 yards!!! They just zipped through and melted their entry hole shut. BTW, the Accubond launched that same bowling ball off the rock about 2 feet!

I sure would like to have someone explain to me how the 250 grain SMK can be a FMJ and the 300 be so much more explosive. I just don't get that. The sectional density of the 300 is way higher and both bullets are made of the same jackets and I presume the same lead.

As for the 300 SMK, it looks to be a formidable game bullet but at 1500 yards it only has about 450 ft/lbs of energy over the 225 AB and only saves about 20" of wind drift. And it drops about 6 minutes more so I don't know if it really has that big of an advantage over the 225 AB. Plus it is really hard to spot my own shot through the scope whereas I can always see the 225 flying all the way to the target.

So I'm still undecided as to which to use for my moose and antelope hunt. I have to load ammo up tonight for my antelope hunt that starts in the morning and I don't know which to load! Maybe I'll just load up 10 of each and do the eeny meeny miiiny moe trick. I can do that because they miraculously have the same 100 yard POI!

Anyhow, I have some pics of the testing and will try to get them on here soon. As for now, I've got loading to do!

 

[royinidaho]

goodgrouper,

Way to go. You pulled through again. Great test. I'm loaded for elk with 300 SMKs in the RUM @ 2735. ES = 1, SD = ziltch. Accuracy is grate. Drop chart is spot on.

Armed with the additional confidence provided by your test I should feel comfortable w/the any broad side or slightly angling shot that I get.

Thanks a bunch.

 

[ol mike]

Goodgrouper ,

The 250gr matchking not opening is odd ,were these findings from one shot only ? Or have you seen the 250 smk act this way under other conditions ?

Good luck on your hunt..-Mike

 

[Down Under Hunter]

Appreciate your report. As someone who is jumping into a similar rig with the 300 smk, this gives me plenty of confidence we are on the right track.

Good luck

 

[jwp475]

Goodgrouper ,

The 250gr matchking not opening is odd ,were these findings from one shot only ? Or have you seen the 250 smk act this way under other conditions ?

Good luck on your hunt..-Mike

GG,tested the 250 SMKs last year and shot quite a few into both wet and dry news paper.........

 

[Boss Hoss]

Never used any SMK's either 250 or 300's on phone books but have killed a lot of hogs and they all exited and the furthest that any of the hogs ran was about a 100 yards. Ranges were all between about 250 and maybe 600yds.

These were out of my 338 Lapua as well as the 2 338 Lapua AI's that I have. Very impressed with the performance both on the paper and on the hogs. The testing with the AB bullets is very reassuring --THANKS for taking the time to do the tests!!

 

[davewilson]

i'm not smart enough to load the bullets so they can be shot at much slower speeds so just last weekend i shot some 250SMK's into milk jugs with wet magazines at 500 and 1k. muzzle velocity would be around 3125. i lined up 5 jugs and put thick magazines in front and between each jug. put the phone book after the third jug. first was at 1k and the jacket and core completely separated, with the bulk of the lead and 2 other pieces making it into the 5th jug.couldn't find the jacket but the biggest piece of lead has a nice circle on it that i know is the bottom of the boat tail.at 500 couldn't really find any part of the bullet as it just blew the 4th and 5th milk jugs apart so bad i couldn't accurately put them back together. my best guess was about a golf ball size hole with fragmentation on the near side of the 4th jug. the phone book, which again was after the 3rd jug, had about a 1-1.25 hole in it. have heard from several that the 250's work better on game out to1k so i've been planning on using them this year. still waiting on Walt's version of the 338 for next years elk hunt.

GG,i thought the 250's you tested last year were the Lapuas, not the SMK's?

 

[jwp475]

If I am not mistaken GG tested both the Laups and the SMK in 250 grains...

 

[jeffbird]

So, if the 225 Accubond and 300 SMK both resulted in about the same terminal performance, why not shoot the lighter bullet and save the pounding on the body? I seem to remember you obtained a good result in actual field application with the Abond last year. Any comparative results for the 265 Wildcat?

 

[Down Under Hunter]

GG

Do you have any plans to shoot the 265 wildcat bullet ?

 

[goodgrouper]

Jwp is right. I shot both the 250 SMK and the 250 Scenar into wet and dry phonebooks and the SMK had inconsistent performance with some opening up ok and some just zipping through with no destruction at all. The Scenars never opened up and are probably still drilling their way to China.

I actually did have plans to work up a load with the 265 Wildcat bullet to use on the moose but there were no new ones in stock. Richard did offer some test bullets from the original batch that had tips that were not as good as current production but I decided to wait until he gets more new ones made. They should beat the pants off either the SMK or the Scenar for bc.

I have decided to use the 300 SMK for the moose hunt. The 225 AB kills with such boring regularity that it is time to stir the mix a bit. At least, that's what I'm thinking right now. I still might reach for an AB when mrs bullwinkle is in my crosshair!

 

[davewilson]

i'd like to hear the formula to safely shoot these bullets at 2000 instead of 3000. where i shoot 500 and over i can't drive or ride anything. i have to carry everything i need about 600 yards and then carry everything out to the target area, whatever distance it might be.i don't mind some exercise but it is extremely time consuming and that's what i'm short on. you mentioned a powder you were using to shoot at much slower speeds but is there a filler or something else involved to do this?

 

[Shawn Carlock]

GG,

On your findings, if I am not mistaken the 250's are made from the same jacket cups as the 300's thus a thicker jacket. Also if I remember right when I cut a 250 apart when they first came out several years ago the lead core goes clear to the tip. The 300 of course has an air gap from the tip to the core allowing the tiny SMK hollow point to actually work. I haven't had any apart for quite sometime but that is what I remember.

 

[davewilson]

as part of my ongoing testing with these bullets, i've started to drill open the hollow point to see how it makes them act.haven't actually put any through the air, but i have drilled several out. i've only completed about 5 of the 300's and around 12 of the 250's. in every 300, i've pretty much had to drill all the way in. there doesn't really seem to be an air pocket. with every 250, once i've broken through the jacket tip, the bit just goes in not quite a half inch and smacks against the core. this has happened on every one i've done so far.certainly not like grinding them in half but it has been very consistent so far with the few i've done.