I have shot about 300 animals with the Amax in 6.5, 7mm and .30 cal. Animals- Goats, deer and pigs. I agree with winmagman, better past 250 yards when used in the magnums but excelent allrounders in the smaller 6.5x55/7x57/7mm08 etc. They do work ok in the magnums at close range, just a bit shallow penetrating and in some cases, bullet blow up on the surface of the animal has allowed a long death run before the internal bleeding finally caused death. In other words, the bullet made it through to the vitals but did most damage on the onside shoulder- I recently had this result in the 7mm RUM, 3275fps, 50 yards on billy goats. In the 7RM, the 162gr Amax is pretty lack lustre till velocity falls down below 2700fps. The .30 caliber is more forgiving in this regard, shooting heavier Amax bullets that produce heavier, deeper penetrating fragments.
I don't understand how somebody could conclude the the Amax is in any way, even remotely similar to the SMK. They are the extreme oppostites. The Amax is very similar to the Berger but at low velocities, tends to shear lengthways rather than (for want of a better word) disintegrate. Regardlesss, the end results are similar in many instances. Wounding from the Amax at low velocities, particularily in 6.5 and 7mm on medium game can be extremely violent. Exit wounds can be very large, clearly visible through the scope after recoil. There is only one problem with the Amax- its not available in .338 or .375.........