Hunting with SMK?

[GABR13L]

I know the 300gr SMK is a very popular bullet around here (and rightfully so, what a BC!!), but do you guys actually hunt with these things? If so, what type of game and at what max range? Just curious

 

[Dave King]

I have used the 300 SMK on 3 moose (all one shot kills), many feral hogs in central Texas, Alberta whitetail deer and whitetails in other places too. It is a fairly good bullet for long range, my furthest BIG game kill with it was a paltry 439 yards on an Alberta moose.

 

[GABR13L]

Fair enough I just wasnt sure how the impact ballistics played out with these things at long ranges (i.e. enough expansion for ethical kills, etc)

 

[Coues Sniper]

Depends on what you are shooting them out of. Go here: Defensive Edge Custom Gunsmithing Click on videos, then "2007 bear video". If you have a gun to get them there, they work plenty well. That guy is a sponsor of this site, and could shed a lot more light on the subject than myself.

 

[GABR13L]

Yeh I've seen Shawn's bear kill vid... and I wanted to shoot them outta my own .338 Edge someday of course

 

[Kevin Cram]

I use the .300 SMK's in my .338-.378 Weatherby and have taken several PA whitetails between 1200 - 1400 yards with the furthest at 1515 yards. We've shot some black bears out to 800 and they all just dropped. A very precision rifle is a must at these extreme yardages. Yeah we miss on the first shot sometimes ( there is a alot of air between you and 1500 yards) but a quick follow up and correction ( if the animal hasn't changed yardage) and usually the 2nd shot is dead on. You must know your rifle and be confident on making extreme long range shots. I've been long range hunting for 18 years and I never took a shot past 750 yards until about 5 years ago. Now I live for the extreme long range. As I remember, only one deer that ran more than 50 yards before piling up, it did about a 400 yard death run straight down the mountain before piling up on his back, got it on video, it's pretty cool.

 

[Coues Sniper]

Yeh I've seen Shawn's bear kill vid... and I wanted to shoot them outta my own .338 Edge someday of course

Me too . I'm saving now. Maybe next year

 

[Shawn Carlock]

I've have great success with the 300 SMK at a varity of ranges from 400-1276 yards on game. They don't typically act like a hunting bullet but have very good terminal ballistics none the less. An awful lot of one shot drop on the spot shots and the rest not going very far. I would use them in a heartbeat as long as you are launching them out of something that will place them well.

 

[edge]

These are generic questions on using SMKs for hunting deer size game.

Would you worry about close encounters at near MV? ( I can shoot a 200 grain 8mm SMK @ just over 2800 fps )

Is the risk with this bullet not having enough velocity to open, or too much and perhaps blowing up...or both? Thanks.

edge.

 

[Boss Hoss]

I have been using various SMK's for many years with no problems---the bullet you asked about has killed many feral hogs up to 400lbs with no problems all exited and no pigs survived.

 

[GABR13L]

awesome, thx all!

 

[Lightvarmint]

Prior to your next hunting season, Berger will have their 338 model(s) up and running. I am expecting some for testing in the near future (during the early summer).

Additionally, there are some awfully slick (aerodynamic) rebated boat tail bullets with aluminum tips being produced right here in the USA. I should have some of them tested as well (this spring).

So, the 300 SMK has been the standard for a long time, but some new options (made in the USA) that should be readily available are just around the corner in the next few months.

James

 

[Lightvarmint]

The reason I placed the above post was to let you know that you will have some additional options soon. So, unless you are going to shoot them up quick, you might want hold off or getting a train load of them until the two options I mentioned become available.

James