now the bullet type in the Federal Premium ammo (only ammo I have ever shot out of my .308).

There are mixed reviews on whether this is an adequate hunting bullet as opposed as just a target bullet.

What say you, OB?

Not a hunting bullet.

Can it be used? Yes, but it's not designed for hunting and you have no guarantee that it will have the same performance from round to round. Use a Game King or comparable hunting bullet for hunting.

Ran into same prob when i took my 308 hunting for first time.
Dropped down to 165 grain and started shooting Nosler Trophy grade partitions.
Works fine

Hornady SST is more available at stores and also works fine.
OR...... if ur barrel can stabilize them, pick up some Hornady eld-x in 178gr. O my goodness those bullets are sweet.

Shoot whatever is most accurate in your gun. On whitetail shot placement counts for a lot more than bullet selection IMO...

I have used 168g SMK for years and never had any problems.

Use Sierra game kings. I've had good accuracy results compared with other hunting bullets.

I like them

Shot placement is everything though

Don't do it. There are so many good hunting bullets available it isn't worth it.

My buddy shot the best buck of his life with a 168 gr SMK Gold Medal Match ammo. Hit him right in the boiler room.

He waited about an hour before trailing because the deer didn't seem too bothered when hit.

Small blood trail and they found the deer bedded down a few hundred yards away but still very much alive. Deer popped up, buddy and his dad watched it run off into the brush. They kept trailing for another couple hours but the deer kept moving.

They got out thermal and tried to follow that way. No luck with recovering the deer.

I used the Hornady 178gr ELD-X on my last hunt. They are quite accurate in my gun. Killed the deer in one hit @430 meters. He went 10 feet at most.

Shot 168gr out of a Lazzeroni Warbird at 3700 FPS.
Best terminal ballistics of any bullet I've ever shot

NW80 said:

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Shot 168gr out of a Lazzeroni Warbird at 3700 FPS.
Best terminal ballistics of any bullet I've ever shot

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Well, to be fair, it really didn't matter what was shot out of any of the Lazzeroni designs - at that speed everything has outstanding terminal ballistics.

Match kings are designed to punch paper. They do a great job at it. They aren't designed for hunting applications. They can certainly get the job done, but that is not what they are designed for.

I do not disagree with you at all. The reason we even tried them was, I had a 30 Hart ( basically a 300 Wby with a shortened neck and flat shoulder) that was loaded with 190 MK ( 3200 fps). I shot a buck at about 300 yds and got a $.50 cent size exit wound.
At the time very few "accurate" bullets afforded you an exit wound (not Nosler BTs). So, we tried the 168s and from 70 yds to 545 yds on 6 different bucks I got the same performance everytime.... $.50 cent exit wounds.
Don't think there's a lot of difference between them and Bergers on critters ( maybe in the lab).

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My buddy shot the best buck of his life with a 168 gr SMK Gold Medal Match ammo. Hit him right in the boiler room

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Small blood trail and they found the deer bedded down a few hundred yards away but still very much alive. Deer popped up, buddy and his dad watched it run off into the brush. They kept trailing for another couple hours but the deer kept moving.

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No luck with recovering the deer

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Thats the MO of a gut shot deer. I wasn't there, didn't see it, don't know your buddy - but I'd bet he went behind the boiler. Seen it many times over. Even from my own poor shot unfortunately.

A 168 SMK "in the boiler room" is a dead deer even if the bullet does a variety of unsavory things:

- Pencils through. You get a lung or 2, you'll still get a dead deer.
- Hits a rib and goes to pieces. You'll get bullet shrapnel everywhere and vitals go to mush.
- Deforms without full expansion. See Barnes TSX/TTSX. Premium bullets (and match bullets) on thin skinned game (like deer) don't always get a chance to open. Still enough to make a dead deer given shot placement.

Just my take from seeing a variety of bullets perform on hundreds of dead deer.

PFG said:

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My buddy shot the best buck of his life with a 168 gr SMK Gold Medal Match ammo. Hit him right in the boiler room

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Quote:

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Small blood trail and they found the deer bedded down a few hundred yards away but still very much alive. Deer popped up, buddy and his dad watched it run off into the brush. They kept trailing for another couple hours but the deer kept moving.

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Quote:

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No luck with recovering the deer

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Thats the MO of a gut shot deer. I wasn't there, didn't see it, don't know your buddy - but I'd bet he went behind the boiler. Seen it many times over. Even from my own poor shot unfortunately.

A 168 SMK "in the boiler room" is a dead deer even if the bullet does a variety of unsavory things:

- Pencils through. You get a lung or 2, you'll still get a dead deer.
- Hits a rib and goes to pieces. You'll get bullet shrapnel everywhere and vitals go to mush.
- Deforms without full expansion. See Barnes TSX/TTSX. Premium bullets (and match bullets) on thin skinned game (like deer) don't always get a chance to open. Still enough to make a dead deer given shot placement.

Just my take from seeing a variety of bullets perform on hundreds of dead deer.

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This. You guys do realize that every bad guy shot by military snipers is hit with an SMK, right?

The nose of the bullet breaks off and terminal performance depends on several variables. Almost any hunting bullet is a better choice, but they do work with good shot placement. Poor shot placement and you will never see the animal again.

U could hit the heart or major vessels with a pellet rifle, and
the deer dies quick. No matter what.
But, i have seen double lunged deer live and run for a long long time. Thats why a high quality hunting bullet and not a target bullet makes a difference.
I want my double lunged deer to have lung hanging out of the exit hole. A target load wont do that reliably. An eld-x or nosler partition will blow chit out the other side every time.
Its worth it.