6.5 142 smk = ? hunting bullet

[GUN DOG]

I have a 260 remington savage with a varmint contour barrel & it shoots 142 smk's great. I would like to try & find a hunting bullet that has very simillar bearing surface without having to buy 3 or 4 different bullets to try. I got it on paper with some factory remington 140's & IT WAS A PATTERN. 6+ in group
any sugestions or anyone want to split some 6.5 booolits so you can work up loads etc as, or trade booolits, I have a number of different calibers
thinking of trying sierra game kings or berger hunting booolits

Thoughts ideas? trades?

 

[Oklahomabassin]

Sierra Game Kings are the hunting bullet brother of the Sierra Match King.

 

[JamesP82]

I'd probably give the 140gr gameking a try. Their are lots of people that use SMK's for hunting though.

 

[swampratt]

Almost agree the game king would be close
140gr the boat tail is not as long but the bearing surface should be close
only 1 way to find out...
I really like the Hornady Amax in my .308 devastating on deer...
this may work well..I know not recommended as a hunting bullet..But ask a few dead deer what they thought about that.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/45...m-264-diameter-140-grain-boat-tail-box-of-100

 

[fluxed]

The Bergers are nice! The whole concept is just awesome. That begin said my buddy shot a deer at 1018 yards this past season with a 30-8mm using the SMK. It was dead right there.

 

[ASP785]

The SMK's will upset and fragment. I would personally give them a try on Oklahoma sized deer With that being said though, they are not recommended for hunting, mainly due to the reduced penetration depth they exhibit. I haven't tried the 140 Amax, but as stated above, the 155 A-max in 308 will destroy a deer.

As a side note, the 260 can be a finicky cartridge to load for.

 

[okietom]

I have killed deer with .22-250 with .55 grain Sierra Gamekings. Your 142 grain SMKs would do better on a deer. Don't take a real long shot or try to shoot thru any bigger bones and I think it would do fine. It isn't the same thing but I have killed a few prairie dogs with .52 grain SMKs from a .22-250. They blew up the pdogs as well as my buddies v-max and TNT bullets. The SMKs have thinner jackets I have read. Shot placement is more important than bullet construction.

 

[Huckelberry75]

Try here for factory ammo.

http://store.thirdgenerationshootingsupply.com/browse.cfm/2,3790.html

 

[MoBoost]

140 SST should be the closest hunting bullet to SMK. With that said - I'd just shoot SMKs in the boiler or neck (NOT shoulder).

I've taken deer with 123 Amax (6.5 Lapua) at 360 yards - in the boiler worked flawless. With SST I'd put it through the bone (the one I shot in the neck basically got decapitated).

 

[bigcountryok]

I had a lot of issues with the Game Kings fragmenting on deer in my 6.5x55.