Interesting, I've had great luck with SMK's at almost every distance we shoot.
For me the results have been mixed. Also shot them a lot for crop damage before switching to ELDX. So lots of kills with them as well
I ran:
142 SMK in 260 Rem
168 SMK in 308
175 SMK in 308
300 SMK in 338 LM
My results varied from awesome performance, specifically when hitting bone, to pin hole entrance and exit wounds. Recovery rate wasn’t nearly as good with smk as it is with the ELDX.
Even the 338 Lapua had very mixed results. That gun was used in a field where shots varied from 300 to 1000 yards. Longest confirmed kill being 1000. Most shots 400-650 yards. Had I kept the rifle I planned to switch to 285 ELDX. With the 338 one deer would have half a shoulder left on the exit side, the next would be almost impossible to track and run 80 yards. To me I’d rather loose the shoulder than loose the whole deer. These are results with good vital hits in both scenarios
I ran a mix between different rifles of SMK, SST and Gamekings for about 10 years before switching. Of those SST were my favorite but the base to ogive measurements were not consistent even within the same box. Sierra was a lot more consistent and we’re way more accurate at longer ranges with the SMK design. Which is why I used them in my primary long range guns at the time which were the 260 and 338 LM
I was looking for several things in the bullets performance
1) Accuracy at long range (ELDX and SMK are the best out of what I’ve used)
2) Easy recovery and preferably not a long track as most of the land around the fields we shoot is not owned by the farmer we shoot for. Hands down ELDX and SST were best for this
3) Consistency when reloading. SMK and ELDX have both been great. SST were the worst and Gamekings were decent but not a long range bullet design and was easily outshot by the ELDX and SMK
Had I not switched to ELDX I would have tried Bergers next.
To date I have 34 kills over 600 yards. With 2 over 1,000. All taken with SMK or ELDX. I can say the 142 SMK in the 260 were the weakest. As you’d probably expect. This is the rifle I started with before acquiring the 300 and 338 LM
The 178 ELDX and 200 ELDX were run in 300 WM. The ELDX in the 300 WM had probably 15 of those kills.
The 300 grain SMK in 338 LM had probably 10.
The 300 WM with ELDX were more consistent. Always pleased with the results and preferred them to the SMK in the 338 LM. Which is why I just continue to use the 300 and sold the 338.
At closer ranges the 338 LM would make a mess of a deer so I saved it for the longer fields. But the SMK out of that gun did very well when closer. But then again a 300 grain marshmallow would flop a whitetail on its ass at 100 yards..
