Enough for hogs

Ian

Notorious member
That's pretty much what Michael had in mind when he designed the bullet.

If you don't know, shot placement on piggies is a little different than deer. Pigs tend to keep their heads down and are constantly moving back and forth about a half step as they root and sniff, and a lot can happen between the trigger squeeze and bullet arriving at the pig. A good broadside or slight quartering presentation gives a kill zone from just below the ear back to a line vertical at the elbow. Best aim point is neck midline just at the front edge of the shoulder blade so if the pig steps forward or back you have about 6" to a foot of kill zone remaining. If you hit behind the liver (center of mass or behind) they'll run for a mile or more.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Yeah, never try that when their head is up. Whether ducking muzzle flash or not, they are constantly up and down with their heads.
 

BudHyett

Active Member
The observation from Ian is correct. They are easy to kill, but shot placement is critical. They are hard to finally kill if wounded.

Their head is constantly down with poor eyesight and they have excellent hearing contrary to some published reports. They do not look that far up, you can sit above them in a stand if they have a regular pattern of hitting a field.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
the ear or neck just behind the ear will put them in instant and full lockup.
if behind the shoulder keep it tight to the leg bone [about 2-3"s in front of the muscle line you see] the heart/lungs ain't back like a deer.

i think your probably going a bit fast for that much meplat and alloy, and will sacrifice penetration for expansion.
 

richhodg66

Well-Known Member
I have used that Ranchdog bullet on exactly one big game animal so take this for what it's worth. The shot was maybe 60 yards away at a slightly quartering away decent sized white tail buck. Bullet hit between the last couple of ribs on the near side and exited low forward of the shoulder on the far side (I was in a tree stand so downward angle) how it missed heart, I don't know, but it did. The deer died pretty quick, but both entry and exit wounds were small and didn't leave any blood on the ground. The bullet was cast of 50/50 COWW to pure with 2% tin added, sized to .311, lubed with LLA and pushed from a .308 with 28 grains of IMR4895 and a tuft of dacron on top, never checked, but guessing 1800 FPS.

So that bullet, cast softer than you plan to and moving slower had zero penetration issues going through almost three feet of deer (granted, no real bones hit) but did show signs of expansion problems. I'm told hogs are tougher than deer, but if it were me, I'd soften the alloy and slow it down if need be.
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
As long as you're not trying to break shoulders a standard 45 Colts 250-265 pick a bullet inside 50 yd will pass through and effectively dispatch hogs up to at least up to 180# hoof . The exception would be that 1 of 5 that was all juiced up stretched out like a d BBaygreyhound . He was 165# high just behind the shoulder , exit about the elbow in front of the shoulder , he went about 200-215 yd and piled up in a pool of frothy mouth/nose blood .

An ancient 150 Silver Tip Win in 30-30 was as effective with a straight through midline back edge the shoulder . It went about 30' and collapsed wheezing .

It should be noted that neither those 2 nor any of the other 5 bled enough to really track through chest/shoulder wounds . Ms and I were the only ones shooting cast .