I have also taken MANY game with a 190 SMK out of a 300 WM when I shot that bullet. It worked fine. But, the main issue I see with a SMK is the unknown you will have in bullet expansion. I have seen some ice pick through (not expand), and I've seen some have dramatic expansion and cause crazy large wound channels destroying lots of meat.

Mostly, I'd say shot placement is key! If you shoot a 175 SMK the most and can make a perfect shot on game, then use it. Would I rather shoot a dedicated hunting bullet, yes. Will a SMK work, yes! I also would agree that I'd rather have an A-max for dual purpose use for targeting and hunting.

Also, you need to understand WHY Sierra wold not promote their SMK as a hunting bullet. The 175 SMK was developed in compliance with NATO regs on bullets used for the military. These bullets can NOT be hunting bullets. So, by default, Sierra can not promote these bullets as hunting bullets, and use in the military rounds, even though they should work fine as a hunting bullet.

It's the same ol conversation year after year about using SMK as a hunting bullet. I say run what you shoot well in your rifle, and work on good shot placement.

I guess it boils down to what a guy looks for and wants to accept in bullet performance. To me, this is a disqualifier.

YMMV!

I'm with RiverRider. Hunt with a hunting bullet that was designed to be a hunting bullet. How complicated is that concept?

I hunt with boat tail hollow points in my 243 and 22-250, hunting bullets as per the box label.
In my 308 I use Winchester 168gr Match Grade, also boat tail hollow points, no difference.
I have quickly killed sika, oryx, gemsbok, whitetail, axis, red stag, etc. And not just one or two, I hunt year round. And I have dropped all of them as quickly as I have ever seen an animal killed by any other caliber or projectile.

I know some people have also posted good success with Lapua Scenars. I'm in the use a hunting bullet camp but I rarely buy target bullets and use hunting bullets to punch paper most of the time as well.

I've had fantastic results with both Sierra Pro Hunters and Game Kings. For my purposes they work just as they should. Hornady cup and core bullets have worked very well too.

I'm cheap. Match rounds are considerably more $$ per round.

Me too.

I have found no better performer on game than a partition. They are boringly consistent. They are more than accurate enough for my purposes and they cover all my hunting bases. They expand readily on soft tissue and hold together on heavy bone. As far as I am concerned they are the be all end all at this point.

They do look similar, but The HPBT GameKing appears to have a little thicker jacket. It also has a larger HP with skives (SP?) to enhance expansion. Plus... the picture, of course, doesn't show the alloy of the jacket or the core.

According the Sierra literature that I have read, the HPBTGKs were developed by Sierra as a hunting bullet because folks were using the MKs for hunting, So Sierra decided to produce a bullet providing MK accuracy with good terminal performance.

Not tryng to pic a fight. Just making an observation.

I've always been a proponent of using hunting bullets for game, but this year my 308 will be loaded with 168 Amax's. Why? Because they are stupid accurate out of my rifle. For my other rifles, I'll stick to conventional hunting ammo.

Before going to bed last night ( was bored ), I had decided on 165 Nosler Ballistic Tips for deer season so I warmed up the scales and prepped 12 pieces of Lapua brass with Fed 210 and filled with three round charges of 42.7, 43.1, 43.5 and 43.9 grains of Varget. Seated .020 off the lands to fit the magazine of the Crusader. This morning I hit the range and wind was pretty calm. Sucks when I prepped the Oehler to check SD/ ES and the stupid battery went dead. So the first 3 three round groups varied from .6 to .4 and last charge of 43.9 printed a nice group. When shooting the last round, it drifted a little to the right when a little 10 -12 mph draft hit from the west. Book and box closed.

http://imgur.com/a/q5wp3

Soon I will be doing a load development with 168 Bergers and 175 Sierra Matchkings for paper punching, pretty sure the loads are easy to find with Varget and IMR-4064. Cheers

I've been using match bullets for a good while and never had an issue with them. Then again I take high probability shots. I have no reservations using a match bullet on wt.