Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting 308 bullet?

How many animals have you killed with the SMK, AMax, and Berger in forming that opinion? And which Berger?

In my experience the Sierra product is to erratic, sometimes it fails to expand, sometimes it tumbles and sometimes is turns into a Vmax. This was based on shooting a wide range of targets at various ranges, both inanimate such as windshield glass into gelatin as well as a couple pick up loads of pigs. I have seen tons of highly detailed LE and military reports with various Sierra products, mostly 168 matchkings, and consistent terminal performance is not what it is known for. With a FMJ or a varmint bullet I know almost exactly what type of performance to expect and can plan accordingly. My experience is limited to products up to 2006 but I dont know what changes have been made since then.

The Berger has been much more consistent on game and barriers, some pentration and then explosive expansion/fragmentation.

I ended up with Win Brass, Varget, Win Primers, and 175 SMK's for paper and varmint. Guess I will find a Scenar or Berger for hunting loads.

The 175 SMK out of a 308 works well on deer out to 450 yards in my experience with shot placement being important, as it is with any bullet choice. The SMK penetrates well, and tends to tumble causing substantial damage, much more than the Barnes I tried once in a 30-06 with comparable shot placement.

175 Sierra Match Kings out of a 308

375 yards



And here is another just shy of 400 yards



Here is a 180 gr Barnes at under 100 yards with the same shot placement from a 30-06 for comparison:



175 SMK out of a 308 at 100 yards with comparable placement:


Entry forward of shoulder on opposite side, through chest cavity at a diagonal:



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Which is why Sierra does not recommend their MatchKing bullets for big game.
Years ago, they published a letter from a satisfied customer who used their famous 168 gr. MK's on an elk hunt. He and his friends were very happy with the results, etc. But later experience and testing found it to be erratic.
That and Sierra bullets are very accurate in the standard hunting designs. Their 180 gr. GameKing, for instance, has as good a BC as their 175 gr. MatchKing at anything under 600-700 yds. and works consistantly on game. E

I doubt that the 175 SMK's tumble since they expand and/or fragment. They are excellent long range bullets on game and IME are overly fragile for really close shots being extremely violent. IME even the 338, 300 SMK fragments violently under 300 yards does not exit and leaves only bullet fragments but also does tremendous internal damage

That brainshot picture disturbed me somewhat. I will repeat this again. I don't know what type or Speers it was, but a 150 grain might not have a high BC, but i've shot two deer with them this year, they both looked like they got whacked by a .338 Lapua Mag with a 250 grain. To be honest though, i've found that the majority of bullets expand well enough for game, whether they are meant for paper or not, although there are alot of bullets that don't expand well at all. As long as you place the shot well, expansion isn't a huge deal. A good heart, neck, or brain shot will drop most game right there. Just shoot what your rifle agrees with and see how it works out.

Removed it for you Bag-A-Buck.

Do not wish to disturb you, or anyone else.

Just trying to provide direct first hand experience from more than a few animals with the 308.