Hunting & Fishing 175 smk 308 elk

J

Jkoehle1

Private
Minuteman
Jan 20, 2019
26
3
#1
Curious if anyone has usef the 175 smk out of a 308 on elk and what performance was like.

All ive seen/read is that the tip must remain open but since these bullets are out of vogue not much comes up aboit them.

175 smk loaded ammo can be had cheap and is very accurate out of my rifle - so it would be nice to use one ammo/bullet for everything.
 
#2
There are a couple threads on here about SMK kills. That will give you some insight. Quite a few have fallen to that bullet.
 
#4
#5
Given the results I had with 168 and 175 SMK’s on deer (50% of the time pencil through, 50% fragment) there’s no way I would use it for big game hunting unless there was just no other options besides FMJ.

There’s so many better bullets out there for game, including other match bullets.
 
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#7
redneckbmxer24 said:
Given the results I had with 168 and 175 SMK’s on deer (50% of the time pencil through, 50% fragment) there’s no way I would use it for big game hunting unless there was just no other options besides FMJ.

There’s so many better bullets out there for game, including other match bullets.
Click to expand...
Curious - were you drilling the tips?
 
#8
www.sierrabullets.com

.30 Cal 175 Gr. HPBT GameKing - Sierra Bullets

The exact duplicate of the renown 175 grain Matchking. The 175 hollowpoing boattail Gameking has the same ogive profile and dimensions of the MatchKing. This allows you to have a true Match bullet and a Hunting bullet that will require no seating die changes. This bullet was designed to give...
www.sierrabullets.com www.sierrabullets.com

These r what im gonna try out this year.
 
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#9
Stevo86 said:
www.sierrabullets.com

.30 Cal 175 Gr. HPBT GameKing - Sierra Bullets

The exact duplicate of the renown 175 grain Matchking. The 175 hollowpoing boattail Gameking has the same ogive profile and dimensions of the MatchKing. This allows you to have a true Match bullet and a Hunting bullet that will require no seating die changes. This bullet was designed to give...
www.sierrabullets.com www.sierrabullets.com

These r what im gonna try out this year.
Click to expand...
Whats curious to me is there seems to be no difference.

Saw a cross section and all it showed was s slightly more open tip.
 
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#11
Jkoehle1 said:
Curious - were you drilling the tips?
Click to expand...

No and I don’t believe it would make a difference. Berger match bullets and Lapua Scenars are no more open on the tip and they perform great on game.

Stevo86 said:
www.sierrabullets.com

.30 Cal 175 Gr. HPBT GameKing - Sierra Bullets

The exact duplicate of the renown 175 grain Matchking. The 175 hollowpoing boattail Gameking has the same ogive profile and dimensions of the MatchKing. This allows you to have a true Match bullet and a Hunting bullet that will require no seating die changes. This bullet was designed to give...
www.sierrabullets.com www.sierrabullets.com

These r what im gonna try out this year.
Click to expand...

The HPBT game kings perform better phenomenally.
 
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#13
This is a bit off from what you are asking but during my 2020 Arizona bull elk hunt against recommendations one of my cousins was using 190gr FGMM ammo for his 300WM, (Kimber w/26" barrel) . He had great confidence with that round as he used for years only it was on two legged targets in the sandbox, but I digress.

He tagged out on a smallish bull on the last day of the hunt. Don't remember the exact distance of the shot but it was between 400 and 450 yds into a shoulder. We ended up throwing out a good amount of that shoulder as the round grenaded into a million fragments. Perhaps it would not have been so bad had it not gone into a shoulder hard to say.

I would recommend a round built for elk. I prefer 190gr Barnes TTSX LR but that's because it makes very small groups out of my Bergara 300WM HMR. YMMV

HTH
 
#14
Faronth said:
This is a bit off from what you are asking but during my 2020 Arizona bull elk hunt against recommendations one of my cousins was using 190gr FGMM ammo for his 300WM, (Kimber w/26" barrel) . He had great confidence with that round as he used for years only it was on two legged targets in the sandbox, but I digress.

He tagged out on a smallish bull on the last day of the hunt. Don't remember the exact distance of the shot but it was between 400 and 450 yds into a shoulder. We ended up throwing out a good amount of that shoulder as the round grenaded into a million fragments. Perhaps it would not have been so bad had it not gone into a shoulder hard to say.

I would recommend a round built for elk. I prefer 190gr Barnes TTSX LR but that's because it makes very small groups out of my Bergara 300WM HMR. YMMV

HTH
Click to expand...
Dead means it worked though right?
 
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#15
redneckbmxer24 said:
No and I don’t believe it would make a difference. Berger match bullets and Lapua Scenars are no more open on the tip and they perform great on game.



The HPBT game kings perform better phenomenally.
Click to expand...
Screenshot_20241103_194730_Chrome.jpg

This is what made me think that 🤷‍♂️
 
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#17
SMK are very accurate. That is why they are called Match Kings. They are not hunting bullets for big game. Deer are not big game. Elk start what I'd call big game. Moose, bear, elk are big game. What you need on real big animals is penetration, and expansion. Use a bullet that gives you both, guaranteed. You spend real money to travel and hunt elk, spend a little more and use a hunting bullet. I've killed all kinds of big game with Nosler Partitions and have always been happy with the results. Yes, you sacrifice a little accuracy. You do not need 1/4 minute accuracy for elk. The kill zone is large. You do need proper bullet performance. Good luck on your hunt.
 
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#18
Jkoehle1 said:
Curious if anyone has usef the 175 smk out of a 308 on elk and what performance was like.
Click to expand...
One of my favorite bullets for 30 cal for hunting or otherwise. I can think about half a dozen elk and countless other animals we've killed with the 175 SMK. Aside from the thread linked above directly about smk and match bullet kills, I've got a bunch of documented kills with them HERE if you care to browse.
 
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#19
coldboremiracle said:
One of my favorite bullets for 30 cal for hunting or otherwise. I can think about half a dozen elk and countless other animals we've killed with the 175 SMK. Aside from the thread linked above directly about smk and match bullet kills, I've got a bunch of documented kills with them HERE if you care to browse.
Click to expand...
Are you doing anything to the smk tips? Ever had one open too fast/early? Ever had any pencil through?

Appreciate the link!
 
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