.458 SOCOM anyone?

Ian

Notorious member
Success.

Spent the weekend hunting wild pigs with a friend on his farm on the middle-coast plains, got one Saturday night with a 300 Blackout and the Lee 230-grain bullet and one yesterday evening with the Socom. I didn't have time to get really comfortable with groupings, POI, or trajectory with the hollow points so I just used solids, which believe me is plenty good enough. While walking some Elm and Pecan bottom by a muddy creek I found a little wet sow rooting in a clearing about 65 yards off and knocked her right over with a quartering away shot high and just behind the ribs. Suppressors are SOOOOO great for this, you can hear the "THWOP!" of the bullet impact and other pigs going through the brush right after the shot, which in this sort of situation is priceless. The bullet kept on going and I didn't recover it, but it just plowed a big hole, easily golf ball sized on the entry side and maybe nickel sized on the exit, bang-flop and about a minute of kicking and it was over. There is no comparison with the clean little holes poked by the Blackout, none at all. I'm sold on the Socom for subsonic, suppressed work on piggies.
 

waco

Springfield, Oregon
Ian. Are these pigs good for eating? I'm not really anywhere near pig country. Sounds like lots of fun though!
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I'm more interested in finding out if he needs help with the hunting!
 

Ian

Notorious member
Be glad you are far from pig country, they are true environmental terrorists. You wouldn't believe how badly they tear up the earth, destroy crops, trees, fences, roads, render creeks to sewage canals, kill calves, and decimate bird and small game populations. A wild pig infestation is a nightmare for some people.

Aside from older boars they are almost all pretty much all good to eat, and can be most excellent if young. A good eater is usually in the 100-150lb range and the meat is lean, tender pork, more of a red meat than white like domestic pork.

We weren't on a hunting expedition, this was purely varmint killing on a working cattle ranch/hay farm, though if my host's freezers hadn't already been all full of pork and venison/pork sausage we probably would have butchered these instead of donating them to the local Turkey Vulture Preservation Society's food bank.

This just in via email:

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Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
One glove? Are you a Micheal Jackson wannabe?:(

A 500 gr bullet at 1000 fps will penetrate a heap of pig. Nice gun for the quarry. That size would be decent eating if cleaned quickly in your heat.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Heat and disease are a problem if you don't handle them properly. Main thing is don't get any pig blood in your eyes, nose, mouth, or in a cut. I took off one rubber glove for the picture so as not to get pig stink on my rifle, then you see how well I followed through with the thought :rolleyes:

Rock salt and a big ice chest half full of cubed ice is the trick for salvaging the meat in warm weather. Get them skinned, quartered, and on ice FAST. Dump a pound of rock salt onto about 20-30lbs of ice to super-cool it and get that meat chilled pronto.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Feral hogs are one of the most destructive pests in the US. Smart, wary, and quick bredders they eat everything.
Shoot all you can, they will keep making more.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Shoot all you can, they will keep making more.

You got that right. Fortunately, they also keep making rednecks and AR-15s, so eventually an equilibrium will be reached. If Starline ever quits making .458 Socom brass I'm gonna be PISSED.
 

L1A1Rocker

Active Member
Be glad you are far from pig country, they are true environmental terrorists. You wouldn't believe how badly they tear up the earth, destroy crops, trees, fences, roads, render creeks to sewage canals, kill calves, and decimate bird and small game populations. A wild pig infestation is a nightmare for some people.

Not only that, but they are close the reproduction cycle of a Tribble (Star Trek reference) being virtually born pregnant. The reproduce faster than rabbits.

I don't see a night vision scope. Y'all were night hunting correct?
 

Ian

Notorious member
Just BUIS on the Socom, I chose it to take with me for a woods stroll about two hours before sunset. Usually the pigs are nocturnal, but if you find them during the day it will be in close, heavy brush where you need a big club with fast sights that handles well. A 20" pump shotgun or a levergun would also be good choice because you might carry it for miles over hill and dale and then need to get it on target in milliseconds if you flush a group of napping pigs, but it's nice to have the firepower of a semi-auto and better range/accuracy than a shotgun when you're up-close and personal with a bunch of wild porkers in the woods. I may add a See All sight or maybe a Holosun red dot at some point.

At night the pigs are on the move and you can sit and wait for them to come to you, so longer-range capability is better and you have more time to dink with the night vision settings and small field of view. That's when I use the Blackout.
 

Ian

Notorious member
That's got to hit like a sledge hammer. Nice job!

I was sure impressed, usually pigs take off and run a long way when hit with slow-moving bullets unless it's a CNS hit. Even with open sights at 65 yards I could see the bullet strike and big pink hole open up. We figured that little pig weighed around 120 lbs and the bullet literally knocked her over, so I couldn't be happier with the way this project turned out.
 
F

freebullet

Guest
Spectacular! Keep going, some of us are doing nothing fun & working like dogs. We need something to keep a positive light.

Between your oinker & my buddies 10 yr old getting his first turkey I can bare to work another day, thanks.
 

Ian

Notorious member
That's why I share this stuff. It's a boost reading about the things others are doing even when I can't. Love Glen's articles and the projects going on with the members here.

Not that it makes you feel any better, but we've been trying to make it back to this place for nearly four years and life keeps having other plans. The trip sure was good though, wish I had some video to share. Last time we had plans my FIL fell on his deathbed in Colorado the very weekend we were invited to bird/pig hunt here. My friend has raised two dogs and a baby boy to Kindergarten age since we last visited. Even this trip got re-scheduled three times since March and was supposed to be this coming weekend, but Easter was a better time for all and Mom's surgery went better than expected and she was home a week early so instead of going to visit her in the hospital two hours away we saw her at home on the way back through on Monday, so Saturday my wife and I boarded the cats, loaded the rifles, and hauled ass 250 miles to relax with friends and kill vermin. Carpe Diem, they fly by in a blur. I can't wait to do it again, but have to finish some work on the house, make a last hail-Mary trip to our Colorado house for a week, and we have a baby of our own on the way soon, life's going to get even more busy and most of the time I'm just happy to be able to keep participating in it, even if it's mostly work.
 

waco

Springfield, Oregon
we have a baby of our own on the way soon, life's going to get even more busy and most of the time
YIKES! Congrats! But I'm glad mine are grown and out of the house. It's my time to play around. I missed out on that in my 20's and 30's.
 

Ian

Notorious member
First one and I just turned 42. Wife is much younger and we would have had kids a long time ago except for this little flaw in her genetics that took many years and thousands upon thousands of dollars to sort out. Better late than never, and it looked like never for a long time there. Now I finally know what I'm going to do with the rest of my life...raise a little girl. Probably try for another in about two years if this first one goes ok, she isn't on the ground yet but hopefully by August.
 

Hawk

North Central Texas
I've got a daughter that is 37 now. Wanted a boy, but got a girl.
Wouldn't change a thing. She is the joy of my life!

I talked to her every day while she was in the womb.
At birth, she came out crying. I touched her, spoke her name and she stopped crying and smiled at me.
There are some moments in life that no words can describe.

She'll have you wrapped around her little finger before they place the blanket around her.

Congratulations, the best times are just beginning!
 

Full.lead.taco

Active Member
458 socom is a fun round. I've been playing with a pointy(ish) bullet in the 458 socom doing some fun lobbing lead at steel. I want to try to take it out to 500 yards or so and see how it does.


And congrats, Ian with the future kid--I have four kids with a set of identical twins in the mix. It can can get crazy at times, but it's lots of fun too. I love it when we go as a family camping or shooting or whatever. Mine are all old enough now that I can take them shooting with me if they want to go. My oldest daughter is a great shot too.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Very well-made video and nice rig. Now I feel dumb for asking if you had a .45 can in the other thread :oops:

That looks like a pistol-length gas system, if it is I would most highly recommend trying Hodgdon Longshot behind those heavy slugs, it is quiet and very clean except for the usual soot on the brass. Cheaper than the others, too, and Quickload predicts a complete burn just before the 4" gas port. SD was ONE fps with my system . Herco is a bit fast for anything heavier than 405s and HS-6 is a little bit louder than Longshot with the 500-grainers I used and it left a little bit of "black pepper" in the can. My idea was to run 75-85% pressure loads with the subs, just enough to obturate the brass/chamber but not enough to stress the brass.
 
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