Last winter I had to shoot a wounded caribou with my .243 with 70 gr SMK bullets (i was varmint hunting at the time). There was no exit wound, but it put the animal down with 1 200 yard shot. Made a mess of the heart. But the bullet fragmented going through the near wall of the chest cavity. Even so, I don't think they were designed to contact with bone, even in .30 cal. I'm sure you can hunt with them, but obviously you will have better performance with another bullet. They would be more reliable at a lower velocity (2100-2800). Why not just switch to a PH or GK bullet in the same weight? For a box of 100 it will be $14 bucks well spent!

looks like another "gunstore sniper" on the boards boys. One them reads too much and shoots too little types. Labels are for idiots, one must learn to think for themselves and then test their theory. If I want to listen to someone else tell me what to think,..I'll go to catholic school

Get a copy of "point blank" from Boyd Heaton over at wildcatshooting.com and then tell us the SMK isn't a devastating hunting bullet. let me know the next time your X bullet makes an instantaneous kill at 1000yds like ALL of the SMK's do in that video. There is no refuting proof!!

Lets see now,..you don't think the SMK's or the NBT's are hunting bullets but the barnes x (chunk of barrel fouling copper) is the greatest thing since the wheel. You'll want to stick with close up shots since you are the unethical one if you try to push that x junk to any real distance.

Incidently,..how many resume's have you mailed to Barnes in the past?

Terry,..Tailgunner and I run in parellel universes. His explanation is spot on. Here on the east coast (specifically THE EASTERN SHORE or MD) not the other side of the chesapeake bay,..we have quite a bit of agriculture on flat lands on and near the water with woods surrounding the fields and connecting properties,..the deer can flourish. The whitetail in this area, during colnial times, had a 2+ mile trip for food and water. Now,.with the advances in farming,..they have it easy. There population continues to grow very easily.

The farmer whom I shoot for (hired gun is the nick name) has 5 farms. He is automaticaly issued 40 permits (daytime) right off the bat. If we return the permit stubs from that 40,.we have 40 more. The soybean fields can have multiple acres nipped off at ground level before they even get started growing. Deer will walk through miles of corn to get to a bean field.

as to the match bullet issue,..this will always be a ford/chevy argument. Those who can't use a SMK to drop a deer,..probably are "shoulder shooters". I shoot behind the shoulder where even on the largest deer is extremely penetrable. I have seen BOTH ENDS os the spectrum with SMK's. From my 30" Pacnor 300RUM with a 200gr SMK,..I have had pencil through wounds (still found the dead animal) and I have dressed some with hands full of rib fragments simply rolling out with the gut bag. I use my competition rifles to shoot the crop permits quite often,..and am not one to waste barrel life working another load with a bullet that only sees a small percentage of range time as the match loads do. If I can group at 1000yds with a SMK,..then it is plenty good enough to shoot a deer with. JMHO

Sorry junior...but your argument still doesnt hold water. Even the manufacturer states they are not hunting bullets. I have used the barnes xlc for several years....and I promise you they are accurate. And they aint CHEAP hunting bullets. My hunting loads for the xlc shoot less than .5MOA all day long. Groups in the .3s for 5 shots is the norm. Yes the rifle is a custom. But the fact still remains that regardless of how easy something is to kill...people that hunt with target bullets are UNETHICAL PHUCKING IDIOTS....NUFF SAID.

What is unethical about using any bullet you like if you still get clean 1 shot quick kills?

Millions upon millions of animals get harvested each year (including humans) with FMJ's yet you decide its unethical to use a bullet that works because the manufacturer and his packet tell you so? And you decide to push your ethics decisions upon everyone else??

Grow up . If you cant answer the question, stay shut up!
If you cant improve on silence, dont talk.

FWIW, I harvested near 6500 goats off a property in Queensland at ranges up to 350 meters with 6.5 ex mil FMJ's.I found that lining up 3 or 4 of them where I could usually dropped all of them with the front one going only a couple of meters.I dont think I would do it any differently if I had to do it again.If I had target bullets of any sort that were accurate, I'd use them rather than waste money and time working up other loads.