Federal gold Medal Match on deer

[ShootnMathews]

I know there has been lots of debates on using SMK and other match bullets on animals and I'm not trying to start another debate of why not just use a hunting bullet.

My question simply is, Have any of you used the Federal Gold Medal Match 308 168 grain loads on deer? And what were your results?

 

[ShootnMathews]

Really? No one has shot a deer with this?

What about just 308" 168 grn SMK then, anyone shoot a deer with those?

 

[txhoghunter73]

I have. Performance was terrible. Bullet tumbled was the only reason I found the deer. It exited sideways.

 

[JOHNNIE WALKER]

I've had horrible results with SMKs on game. Penciled right through, similar to a FMJ. Tried them twice, follow up shots were required, so never again. Personally, I would recommend finding a different bullet to hunt with. There is all kinds of factory ammo for the 308, it shouldn't be to hard to find a decent shooting hunting round.

 

[Greyfox]

Sierra says that the SMK should not be used on game. I have never tried it but have seen mixed reports on this site on their performance since I joined. Why bother with so many proven Bullets?

 

[Waynzee]

If you hand load your ammo why not use the Sierra Game King 165 gr. bullet. That is all I use in my 30/06 and have never lost or chased a deer. I've shot a lot of deer over the years with that bullet.

 

[J E Custom]

The SMKs are designed for shooting paper and do not perform with any consistency on game.

There are many people that use them for hunting and like them. Even though I don't recommend using them ,I found that if you open up the nose just a small amount by using a Meplat trimmer that it helps the consistency on game. (On some SMKs the bullet nose is completely closed and they act like a FMJ and may not expand.

Back when they were the best most accurate bullet, many people used them. Now that there are plenty of good bullets available, you can just pull the bullets and load a hunting bullet in it's place
if you have lots of the ammo. I would recommend something like the Game king or the Accubond
because they have very similar shapes to the SMKs.

Just My Opinion

J E CUSTOM

 

[ShootnMathews]

Thank you all for the real world info on this load/bullet on deer. I know some people use them and a lot report great results. The only reason I was considering it is this is the only load I have put in a new savage fcp-sr I picked up and the gun loves it. I've heard those it's a great deer bullet posts , but I don't like chancing anything on an animal. It's sounds like there is enough negative feedback for me to not use them. Maybe I'll just buy some dies and load some noslers for it. Or maybe some Berger hybrids

 

[wackinandstackin243]

Federal Gold Medal is horrible hunting ammo. I use it because I haven't been able to load anything as accurate, and as cheap as it is why bother reloading.

The SMK bullet is just like an full metal jacket. I shot a cow elk through both shoulders and still no expansion. All the coyotes have shot spin and run at least a quarter mile. I even had a prairie dog get back up and run a bit. I am switching to Hornady match HPs to see how they do. Visually it has a bigger hole in the hollow point and a finer tip so hopefully it expands.

 

[RT2506]

Doing crop damage control for 15 years I got to shoot a bunch of deer with many different calibers and bullets. With the SMK 150 and 168 gr .308 bullets you might get some that act like a Berger VLD that goes in and just comes apart and blows baseball size exits and drop deer in their tracks. The next one will act like a FMJ and zip right through and you have to go get a dog to trail up the deer that ran off a mile and left no blood trail. If you hand load the 165 gr Sierra game king HP will shoot just about as good as the 168 match king and it is a deer killer. If you do not hand load I am sure that you can find some store bought hunting ammo that is accurate and it may not be the high dollar newest wiz bang thing to come out. The cheep O Federal blue box ammo in any caliber has been very surprising for it's accuracy. My hunting buddy did a lot of rifle sighting in for a gun shop and I used to go with him a lot. The store owner would send this blue box Federal ammo much of the time when people did not specify which ammo or provide any. It was very accurate most of the time and it killed deer very well. It has a standard cup and core SP bullet.

 

[wackinandstackin243]

I agree. I did shoot one antelope with Gold Medal just because I figured an antelope couldn't be too hard to put down and it blew a hole big enough to throw a cat through. I also shot one coyote in the shoulder and it nearly blew him in half. However these examples were the exception rather than the rule.

Some say the Amax works for hunting, but I don't have any experience with it.

 

[ShootnMathews]

I wonder if doing the paper clip test like on the bergers would help?? The test where they say to stick a paper clip in the meplat hole to make sure it's open all the way down.