From personal experience, the 52 gr #1410 SMK will expand reliably on p-dogs out past 500 yards with my 223 at 3,300 fps. I was talking to one of the Sierra "bulletsmiths" on an unrelated matter and he told me that is the same bullet he uses for varmints also.

They are not as explosive as a 50 gr v-max up close but after 200 - 300 yards they act very, very similar. In fact I get less crawl-offs with the SMK than the v-max past this distance.

I have no experience using a SMK on a game animal and never intend to.

Keith