I usually shoot 168 grain thru my Savage bolt, at paper. Does great! Question is- is that overkill for target shooting out to 300-400 yds? Could/ should I drop back to 150 gr HPBT? I'm not trying to knock anything down, just shoot for fun , for now.
The 168 SMK was designed specifically for 300 meter shooting. It's just about perfect for this combination. You'll need to go to a heavier or better designed bullet if you want to step out to some long range shooting, but for this application, that's right where you want to be.