A bullet built to punch paper is not the same as one designed to penetrate tough muscle and bone.
Possibly WHY sierra states in their loading manual that the SMK is NOT a big game bullet?
Sierra is in the business of making and selling as many bullets as they can, which they do well. A cunning ploy to sell more bullets could easily be argued with guys like you on one side with books and catalogs saying SMK's can only punch paper, and guys like Psinclair, EHG, and myself on the other side with piles of dead animals killed with hundreds of "match bullets" fired one at a time and dropping deer, elk, and antelope year after year.
Why not use a HUNTING bullet versus a target bullet?
I guess I'll explain it again, like every other thread where this question is squeezed out, and dropped tapered end up onto a thread.
Many if not most of us here shoot "serious tactical rifles" which generally speaking shoot high BC match bullets. The typical question like the one of the OP is about finding a bullet/load that shoots comparatively to the match loads he/she typically shoots when not hunting. One of the many reasons so many of us shoot match bullets at game is they shoot so well (imagine that) so instead of wasting time and money finding a different load with hunting bullets, we just shoot what we already have, and are used to. The familiarity and confidence of ones standard go to load makes for a good shot. Match bullets perforate organs, organs are key to animals survival, therefore; bullet+organs=meat in the pot. Regardless of the caliber, headstamp, or bullet weight/type, the animal typically goes down, and happy hunters move to the kitchen.
If there is any doubt in anyones mind if this theory is true, may I direct you to the
http://www.snipershide.com/shooting/snipers-hide-hunting-fishing/106997-post-your-smk-kills.html thread, where you can see for yourself the performance of these bullets.
And before a real pissing match starts, remember, EVERY bullet can fail. Some more often than others, but Im sure that for every story some guy you know told you about something not working, there are twenty stories of the same thing working perfectly for someone else.
Here is a perfect example of a properly damaged organ, by a Sierra 175 Match King:
I'm curious....could you tell or show me how a "hunting" bullet could have done any better than this?
