First experience with match type bullet on game

[chickm1]

Sounds like the bullet did ok to me. Why is everyone getting all bent out of shape about it? So the deer made it 20 yards. BIG DEAL! The only way your going to get a bang flop every time is when you hit the CNS somewhere. These animals have an incredible will to live. I've killed many deer with both and I'll take a "match bullet" hunting anyday of the week. If you want them to flop every time start shooting for high shoulder, neck, or just go get a 50 bmg.

Yeah, butttt....., You're shooting that magic Creedmore.........

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

Yeah, butttt....., You're shooting that magic Creedmore.........

Nope I shoot most critters with my 7mm rem mag. Just killed one Saturday with a 180 eld-match. My creed is my target/prs/varmint rifle. Although I have killed my fair share of deer with the creed.

 

[chickm1]

LOL!

 

[jareese]

The animal died within a few yards of the impact. Not everything drops in its tracks unless you take out the spine, or the nerve bundle above the heart.
Lots of tests have been done with the SMK's and all have concluded that it is not a desired bullet for hunting. Berger and Hornady Match bullets have all done much better in all of the reviews and tests that I have read. BUT they do better at lower velocities which equates to further distances. Closer, higher velocity impacts caused major damage and shallow penetration.

 

[foul bore]

good question, I have always wondered what a SMK would do on game. hollow point seems it would work well, but I have never tried. What about using on yotes, or p/dogs

 

[floyd kittrell]

I just don't get it? It says right in the name! S. MATCH K. it doesn't say one word
about hunting! So why would you even try?

AMEN to that . Why would you use a MATCH bullet in a hunting situation ??

 

[Lonnie Pendleton]

I just don't get it? It says right in the name! S. MATCH K. it doesn't say one word
about hunting! So why would you even try?

sierra recommends these bullets are not for hunting

 

[chickm1]

good question, I have always wondered what a SMK would do on game. hollow point seems it would work well, but I have never tried. What about using on yotes, or p/dogs

The hollow point on the SMK is made by a pin that pushes the bullet out of the precision die. The hollow point is not designed for expansion, and does not contribute to the accuracy.

 

[Lonnie Pendleton]

AMEN to that . Why would you use a MATCH bullet in a hunting situation ??

exactly been in a lot of arguments about this but to each his own,personally i would use a hammer to drive a nail not a screwdriver.

 

[chickm1]

The animal died within a few yards of the impact. Not everything drops in its tracks unless you take out the spine, or the nerve bundle above the heart.
Lots of tests have been done with the SMK's and all have concluded that it is not a desired bullet for hunting. Berger and Hornady Match bullets have all done much better in all of the reviews and tests that I have read. BUT they do better at lower velocities which equates to further distances. Closer, higher velocity impacts caused major damage and shallow penetration.

I have had complete pass through with 140 Berger VLD.

 

[palerider3]

Sounds like the bullet worked about perfectly for the OP. I personally am not a huge fan of the SMK for hunting, but I do mostly hunt with match bullets. ELD-Ms kill like the plague. Bergers OTMs have done very well for me as well. Everyone here that criticises match bullets but hunts with Berger "hunting" bullets should know that it's just a target bullet with a minimally thinner jacket. That's it. I have never seen a tipped match bullet fail to expand. In fact the only bullet I've had personally pencil through a deer was a "hunting" bullet. A Hornady GMX. The writing on the box is marketing folks, and that's it. Look at the bullet construction for yourself and decide what to use based on that. I hunting with ATIPs this year and they have been exceptional killers.

 

[villagelightsmith]

"...liquified the heart ..." Correct me if I'm wrong here ... That critter is operating on nothing but the blood pressure the rest of the cardiovascular system can muster by vaso-constriction and the O2 present in the blood cells right there right now. The red cells are no longer circulating, and they are not a very good storage reservoir of O2 from which the adjacent tissues can continue to draw. There's not much more than what you saw ... it's close to a bang-flop. A bleed-out lasts some longer.
For years I have experienced intermittent blood pressure drops (vaso-vagal). The experience? Hearing is the last thing to go. I recall a nurse's panic, calling "I'm getting 50 over NOTHING!" I tried to tell her "It'll be lower than that someday," but couldn't get the joke out. Nobody laughs at my jokes anyway.
It's really not a bad way to go. We mammals usually don't need blood pressure any longer than we have it, and we don't have it any longer than we need it. If it hap's to me out on a mountain somewhere, I just hope it'll be a downhill drag for my friends.

 

[Spd522]

I used the 168 SMK in a 16" barrel DPMS 308 once on a 10 pt at 50 yards. Hit right behind the shoulder broadside. The buck ran about 100 yards and fell over. The heart and lungs were scrambled and the exit hole looked like a quarter sized cookie cutter made it.

My father in law used 85 gr SMK bullets in his 243 for years and always dropped his deer. It wasn't the bullet I would have used but it always worked for him.

For the past several years, I have used loads with a 178 Gr A-Max in that same DPMS 308. I have taken about a dozen deer from 40 yards out to 438 yds. All but one dropped where it was shot. That one ran about 150 yards before rolling in the hayfield. Shot placement was perfect but as others have said, sometimes deer don't know they are dead. I know the A-Max is more of a target bullet but I have really been impressed by it's performance on deer and accuracy.

 

[Deleted member 48126]

I've witnessed about a dozen elk, Barbary sheep, and oryx shot with SMK. From 175 gr in 308, 200gr 300 WM and 250gr in 338 rum. Most all penciled with little expansion, and just about all passed through. We recovered all animals, but had some intensive tracking jobs one one or two. Most all ran a ways and didn't appear hit.

Great accurate bullet but I don't like them. My buddy who I watched all these continues to use them. He likes them and has never lost any game with them. I think there are better choices for hunting.

^ this. In my experience I have had terrible results. Shot 4 deer with 175 SMKs in a .308 win. Penciled through, no blood, no organ damage, just little hole through the lungs. Each tracking job was anywhere from 2-300 yards from the original shot.

I'm not discounting your experience because it's sounds like it worked better than most hunting bullets, but from my use it showed terrible results, so I will only use them to shoot small groups on paper.