First buck with 200 SMK subsonic

[P1ZombieKiller]

I am new to this forum, so let me first say thank you to the creators, and the moderators for what they do.

I built a subsonic bolt gun a year or so ago, and just had the opportunity to hunt with it in Texas this past deer season.
I choose to use the 200 SMK as it is readily available, and somewhat ballistically efficient even at 1050 fps. While this gun is primarily used for playing around, I knew that I wanted it for a subsonic pig gun (and eventually a deer gun when Texas decides to make it legal for hunting deer with a can). Knowing the SMK is not a hunting bullet, I knew I would have some challenges using this round to efficiently harvest deer. I wanted to test the effect of these bullets in real life scenarios. After this year’s experiences, I will be looking for a different bullet to actually harvest pigs (or deer) with.

My set up is Remington 700 (trued) with 16.5" Douglas barrel 1:8 twist
Jewel trigger
Falcon FPP scope

My first opportunity was at a doe at 75 yards. She gave me the perfect broad side shot. The bullet passed right through and she ran approx 75 yards and laid down and expired. Both the entrance and exit holes were very small.
My second opportunity was much better. A buck came in heading right at me. I got in position, and when he reached about 35 yards, I gave him a slight whistle. He froze looking straight at me. I placed the shot right at the base of his neck hoping to lodge the bullet in the spine. It glanced slightly off center, and ended up going through the shoulder, and lodging just ununder the leather above the front shoulder. I was able to recover the 200SMK, and the point was only slightly bent. This is when I knew I needed a whole new approach on my hunting rounds.

[Grendel65]

Pretty sure that's the slug they found on JFK.....and that scope is right out of Sniper School, very nice and nice buck too Zombiekiller

[P1ZombieKiller]

and WOW.. just got the skull back today.

[FarmerTed1971]

Hey man, nice shot!

[KingTiger]

Nice mount & good shooting.

The horns didn't look to have that much curvature in your first photo.

Now go get some pigs.

[goshinkaibushi]

Have you looked into Lehigh Defense? They have some interesting, expanding and fracturing (at subsonic velocities) bullets.

[P1ZombieKiller]

Have you looked into Lehigh Defense? They have some interesting, expanding and fracturing (at subsonic velocities) bullets.

Already ordered a box, and they should be here Monday.
Have you shot them? How is the POI versus a 200 SMK traveling at the same subsonic speed?
Have you shot them through a can?

[P1ZombieKiller]

Have you looked into Lehigh Defense? They have some interesting, expanding and fracturing (at subsonic velocities) bullets.

I did buy a box of them, and so far I am very impressed. I have only shot a dozen of them since they are so expensive. I normally shoot 200 SMK's and 210 VLD's pushed by 8.5 grains of Lil' Gun. This give me a velocity of 1050 fps. I took the same powder charge and loaded up the Lehigh's. While I have not shot them over the chrony, I did do some paper testing with them. At 35 yards they shot virtually the same spot the others did (2" high). I then shot at 100 yards. While the VLD's were 2" low, the Lehigh's were once again 2" high (4" difference). I have not tested them at other distances since the range has always had people present, and I could not customize my distances.

I was able to place a 5 gal bucket full of sand at the 35 yard berm, and shoot 1 Lehigh into the bucket. I have to say, that this bullet is EXACTLY what I am looking for in a short rane deer rifle. Below is the bullet taken from that bucket of sand. The lehighs are 200 grain bullets (I show 199.9 on my scales) and the expanded bullet weight was 199.6 after expanding. I thought that was incredible too.

[0scarM!ke]

well that certainly looks interesting! Hmmmm

[P1ZombieKiller]

As another year passes, I was finally able to get to use the gun the way it was designed for. I took my 9 yr old son out for his first deer hunt, and it could not have turned out any better. My son has been practicing for weeks. We set the gun up on a Caldwell field pod, and we practiced (with a unloaded chamber which was checked twice) moving the weapon to the target, and squeezing the trigger. Moving it to the next target and squeezing the trigger. He has it down pat.

On day 3 at 6:15 in the morning, two does appear in the right spot. They move into the area, and he instictively knows what to do. He moved the field pod in the direction of the does, and when the first one turns broadside, he places the cross hairs right in the bread basket, and squeezes the trigger. The does was hit at 30 yards, and she dropped straight down. The 200 grain Lehigh Defense bullet never exited. It was a perfect shot placement, and the bullet did the job.