Are you certain he is dead ?????????????

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Leverguns can be back on target by the time you recover from the recoil if
you practice it a bit and stay in the sights. Good shooting, Brad. Running
game is not easy.

Bill
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
The 24" barrel Marlin Cowboy with a straight grip and shotgun butt swings like a nice shotgun. Get the right lead and let em rip. I expected low light shots for that hunt so I had a red dot mounted on the gun. Man was that a fast shooting gun.

Now it wears a Lyman receiver sight and it is an awesome shooter. 4-5K rounds has smoothed the action nicely too.
 

oscarflytyer

Well-Known Member
Just Day UM! I saw the healed over wound just like that in Germany. Lazy open S that started just above the knee and stopped just short of the nad sack. scar was ~1/2"-1" wide. Guy said ONLY reason he wasn't a Eunich is that the boar's snout was deep b/n his legs and stopped just short... Other one I saw was was an apple sized chunk out of a guy's calf, by a sow.

I got caught on the ground in the dark by a large herd (~150) one night. 30 yrs ago. To this DAY I NEVER go in the woods w/o a big bore hog leg on, and extra ammo! On when my feet hit the ground out of the truck. Buddies laugh. Guess I need to share these pics with them! They also make fun of me carrying 45-70/35 Rem/44/45 for hogs. Hopefully they will never learn why...
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Those are the lever guns I would choose from for hogs. I loaded up some ammo for
a friend, and did the scope mount (8mm Mauser) and posted some pix of the mount
to the original rear sight base here. I loaded a 170 RN Hornady Interlock to about 2700 fps.
He shot two of them, said it slammed them down, NOW. Both DRT after maybe 10 yds. He
was pleased with Mauser 98, scope, mount and the results with a big RN at good solid velocity.

Not an animal to be undergunned with. Big holes, all the way thru.

Oscar is right about the choices, I would lean towards .44 Mag, have two leverguns in
that caliber, W94 and B92. Love the 92 action, but it doesn't like the Keith 429421,
and the Win94 gobbles them up. A Marlin 336 in .35 Rem with 200 RN is another
real contender from my safe. I kinda think the Guide Gun .45-70 hunting load, 405 Rem or
RCBS cast at 1750, would be a bit of overkill for meat sized feral hogs. OTOH, some of the
real crazy big ones out there, some in the multiple hundreds of pounds, the .45-70
might be a really good fit.

My friend's Texas hogs ran about 120-150 and the 8mm load was fine. From what he
tells me, they recommend not shooting the bigger ones, meat is not worth bothering
with. No idea from personal experience, just what he tells me.

Bill
 

oscarflytyer

Well-Known Member
Bill - guess I should have clarified... 45-70/(soon to have) 38-55/35 Rem are my Lever choices. 348/356/358/405 Win IF I had those! The 44 (SPC and WCF) and 45 Colt are my SA handgun choices! And ALL with heavy cast bullets. But you get my drift!!!

I hunt hogs for meat, but even a medium one can hurt you! I will destroy a lot of meat to walk out unscathed!
 

Ian

Notorious member
I shot a good sized boar many years ago with a .30-30 and a softnose lead bullet (Reminton Core-Lokt IIRC), hit it square in the chest as it was trotting my direction. It went right to the dirt, then got up and charged, you guessed it, straight at me. I had foolishly dismounted the Marlin right after I saw it go down to watch the effect, didn't have time to get my bearings again so I side-stepped behind a concrete water trough. He piled up at the other side of it and I got on top for a finishing head shot. The bullet was mushroomed about the size of a quarter and stopped in the hide of his butt cheek, having essentially made mush of the entire body cavity. I'm not sure how far he went after the first shot, but it was somewhere around 20-30 yards. I won't use a .30-30 again for pigs unless I have no other choice. I also have my reservations about .308 unless it's far and there is opportunity for good shot placement, seen too many pigs run for a very long way after being hit in the vitals. Ideally, I like to put the bullet just in front of the shoulder because if it hits +/- 2" from the center of the neck it will break the spine. Pigs have their heads down most of the time and if that shot is pulled to the rear, it gets the lungs/liver. If pulled forward, it gets the base of the skull or in the brain. It's the aim point with best margin for error IMO.
 

Kevin Stenberg

Well-Known Member
I've never seen a piggy. But are the front shoulder blades that tough that the normal shoulder shot even with a hit with an 06 or 308 type firearm is not good enough for a DRT.
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
Not that tough. On my last pig hunt in Oregon one in our party used a 308 rifle, bang, flop, dead right there. One shoulder shot and it never even wiggled.
 

Eutectic

Active Member
Plenty of gun and a stout bullet. Ian's example with the 'soft' .30-30 load is a good tutor for us to ponder. Cast bullet examples have been good ones in this thread.
I heard rumbles that the .45 300gr Hornady XTP was 'softened' up shortly after introduction. "Made for .454 Casull so they said" I bought some right after they came out and must have got the tough ones! This is the one we took out of the spinal cord.

PeteIMG_0572.JPGBoarHorror.jpg
 
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RBHarter

West Central AR
Personal first hand .
A 264 WM with a 140 Win power point at 2950 will run right through from the short ribs out through mid snout/cheek it also leaves a 4" exit through the ribs at 50-80 yd . Both victims were 160-5# .

300 WSM 165 factory 50 yd . 1 did the compass legs , 1 staggered long enough to hesitate on a second shot , 1 lost with 2 solid head/chest/shoulder hits . All calm but moving hogs . The loss was picked up by another shooter 1/4 mile away behaving normally .

35 Remington 35 yd 250 cast RNFP 1800 fps mid snout , into the sinuses , into the brain pan , out through the spinal column , recovered in a back strap 26" from impact .

30-30 factory Win 150 silver point . Entry left rear of shoulder , exit right front of shoulder , CNS damage 30 min bleed out traveled 30-40 yd .

257 Roberts . 100 gr Game King , 2700 fps , high neck head on head down . Compass legs CNS blood shot into "armpits" , no clue on the bullet path but the head came off easy with missing vertibra .

45 Colts 454424 1425 from M92 16" . 1 in through the soft edge of the scapula out just above the elbow point .5" hole in the exit shield , 50 yd turn and collapse . 1 at powder burn in the front right shoulder out the left ham . Sit and flop . 1 @20 yd full run juiced up entry high left side just behind the shoulder exit right front shoulder/chest . This one continued to run 250 yd before collapsing in a pool of lung blood . A quartering behind the shoulder finish shot from a 4" 44 mag failed to enter the chest cavity passing between the ribs and scapula .

Bullet construction , shot placement , circumstances , excitement levels on both ends .
All of the above were 120-170# hoof weight pigs , about half of the total party take over 4 yr and 40+ hogs were farm pigs at some point having deliberate ear notches . Ear notching is how pigs are branded/tagged . The 170# boar was fouled , black meat and stunk so bad the Mexican vultures passed it over the first day .
That sums up 4 yr of hogs , necropsies and butchering . The 45 Colts carbines seem to be the Kings of the 517 acre ranch hunts where 50 yd and less are the rule with 30-30 and 35 Rem pulling in a close second for terminal effect with minimal meat loss . 243,257R and 264 do nice work with hard jacket if just dead is the end goal . I've seen video of multiple kills by exterminators with the 6.8 and 120 SSTs @ 2400 fps but nothing first hand . I didn't get to try out mine nor the 358 Win with cast .
 

pokute

Active Member
I think I'll limit my hog hunting to the grocery store. Thanks for scaring the bejeezus out of me.
 

oscarflytyer

Well-Known Member
the one I killed in Germany was probably 80 lbs. 80 yds. 6.5x55 Swede w/ Speer 120 grn HotCor @ est 2600 fps. I hit him slightly quartering away at top of shoulders. Basically spined him and took out 4" of spine. Dropped and spun 180 degrees and quickly done. I was in a stand. This was the time I got caught on the ground and back up in the stand - they tried to root it up and take it down! Scarred snout outta me!

Other one I shot at was in CA. geusstimate maybe 450+ lbs, full run, 300 WinMag at about 30 yds. Never staggered no blood no clue if I hit him. Again, scarred me - I had walked within 15-20 yds of his bed 5 times in about 20 min! Last pack I ran into was thick woods in AL. On the ground, solo and 300 WinMag. They were snapping and hissing and pissed. I let them pass.
 

Eutectic

Active Member
Okay another Texas hog story.....

My buddy in Billings has a nice Remington Model 788 that was a .30-30..... He had JES rebore it to .38-55! I mentioned it in a thread here a while back. I've shot it and it shoots! So he took it to deep south Texas where he hunts Whitetails every year. He shot two deer, a coyote, and a big pig with it.......

We had talked bullets for it before he went. (my Bud has done everything else but cast bullets) So I have a box of .375 Hornady 270gr Interlock. I shortened the nose until the cannulure was right for crimp an oal. I put a cup point in them. It weighed 232grs. Now I won't modify bullets other than some I give him to field test for me. I tested them first in wet paper and they setup fast and stopped like disc brakes when they reached the lock ring. A real different looking mushroom.... A picture is attached. I also gave him about 12? original factory .38-55 component bullets. I had hollow pointed them years ago for some reason...... Hollow pointed them A LOT! I still remember my words..... "Don't shoot anything big with these! They're a varmint bullet! Maybe a coyote just to see...." Well...... those were all he used!!!!!
He just about blew a young Texas coyote in half; killing it instantly. The bullet didn't go through!!! He says they went about 4" deep into the deer with about a 6"diameter cup-like surface wound. Both ran but rapidly bled out. Same with the big pig! He said the thing screeched like crazy and then run like crazy. Him and his buddy found it dead later about a half mile away. He hit it too far back he said. "Why didn't you use the Modified Hornady's? I tested those for big game." He liked how the HP'd Remington bullets did the big 'crater"!

So why am I telling you all this??? Cause I'm excited! I think we've worked out a trade and that 788 .38-55 will be MINE!!!.375 232gr TT1.jpg
 

popper

Well-Known Member
Kevin - no the 'shield'/shoulder isn't that tough, just that pigs are. Buddy shot one 40Sw 180gr jacketed, put it down but still kicking like mad. Put one in the head, I put 2 in the head (165gr cast). finally stopped. No exit from the head shots. Then I put a soft 30/30 185 gr into the shoulder. Broke the shoulder and (I think) exited under the throat. Put another one in the paunch, 30 in 45 out. I shot the other one with 185gr cast in the BO pistol, 5 shots and never found it. I know 3 hits, plenty of blood.
 

gman

Well-Known Member
Makes me glad I never made contact with a hog I shot with my 35 Remington contender. Solid shoulder shot dropped him instantly. Then he got up and ran in the thickest stuff around. Young and dumb I went in crawling with my 44 Redhawk ready. Could hear him gurgling blood and snapping teeth. Never found him. Could have been bad.
 

smokeywolf

Well-Known Member
Very much enjoying the hog hunting stories. Couple there make the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Judging by these stories, I think the only 2 rifles I have, that I'd risk a close encounter with one of these four legged chainsaws, would be, like I said earlier, the Model 71 or a Model '86 carbine in 45-70.