I need a bigger hammer

[Hawk]

I load the Hornady 100 gr. spire point in 6MM for my brother for deer and hogs. Loaded to near max velocity.
The trouble is, his shots may be 25 to 350 yards. Mostly 225 to 275 yards.
It's hard to make this bullet work at both ranges. At close range, works pretty well. At longer ranges, it won't open up correctly and cuts a crooked, small wound channel with a small diameter exit hole.
I've tried to get him to change to a premium bullet.
I keep telling him, the bullet is the least expensive item of hunting, even at a dollar a pop, but he won't have it.
I realize most of us on this forum hunt with cast, including me, but there are limits with what you can do with certain calibers in certain situations.
You make up for that with diameter, weight, speed and nose configuration, not necessarily in that order.
A bigger than .308 caliber in a semi-auto platform, capable of quick kills on 300 lb. hogs, good 250 yard trajectory and cast compatible.
I would think that will have to be something that thumps the shoulder with some authority.

 

[Ian]

Good point, FB. I tend to take that for granted, which may be why some aren't as familiar with the degree of the problem I'm having. A .308 is really not as much as I want or need, but then again I have to watch the recoil. A high velocity .375 or better with a good, dangerous-game bullet would be ideal, but then come the trade-offs.

The people who eradicate feral pigs from helicopters often use .223, but the ranges are close and they are shooting at the pigs from above where the spine is much more exposed. Still, it often takes several good hits to stop them. Adrenaline is not to be discounted.

 

[popper]

JW- that is Turkey, doubt the eat them.

 

[todd]

ar-15 in 7.62x39 feed it with .313" 135gr fn gc. it will be good out to 200 yards.

 

[JWFilips]

Would a 50 BMG work?

 

[Ian]

Yes, as long as I have a gunship to tote it and the ammo around for me.

 

[JWFilips]

Think that round may also start the cooking process!

 

[Josh]

I'm a lot disappointed right now with my 300 Blackouts for killing pigs. This afternoon the guy that owns the property behind whwere I work called for someone to come shoot a pig that broke through his fence if they wanted the meat. I said sure, no problem, lemme grab my AR and I'll be there in two minutes. Well, turns out there were two of them, maybe 130-150 lbs, trotting along the back fence at about 120 yards, so I found the front one's nose in the crosshairs and opened up. Not enough lead, hit the back one twice broadside, about 4-5' back from poa. So I pulled ahead some more and kept spraying. They changed directions and I repeated, to no effect. I could here a miss ricochet off a rock once in a while amid the loud impacts. Finally they got back through the fence and away into the hills. I picked up fourteen pieces of brass and the landowner said he counted 11 hits, which is about what I had figured. We found a few little spats of blood but not much. Never even got a squeal! He thought the whole episode was hilarious and kidded me that he meant bring a rifle, not my airsoft rig, but I was not a little perturbed because I got a few solid neck/shoulder in each of them and they barely even noticed. Might as well have been airsoft.

So that led me to some furious internet browsing this evening and a lot of re-visiting my pig gun philosophy. I built a suppressed, short .458 Socom for just this scenario (it was at home this afternoon, of course) and it is magnificent at destroying wild pigs....if they are hit. A trotting pig can require several feet of lead at 100 yards when using sub-sonic loads, and piggies have a tendency to stop and start and change directions constantly, so even if you have the drop estimated correctly the pig can simply walk away from the bullet before it gets there. I never really thought that part through very well before, but now I'm facepalming.

So I need a new piggie hammer for longer ranges, like up to 250 yards. I don't want to have to break out the range finder to make a three-foot elevation correction if its 225 yards and not 190. I want a semi-auto.

Considerations are .375 Socom or 6.8 SPC for the AR-15, or .45 or .375 Raptor and build an LR-308.

One more option, and the one I just about have myself talked into at the moment would be to build the LR-308 as .358 Winchester. I dont have one and a bunch of you rave about how good they can be with cast bullets on the top end. I already have moulds and gas checks for the .35 Remington, and buckets of good LC brass. Besides, if I don't like it I can build another upper in .45 Raptor easily enough.

I also have a scoped, suppressable M1A that shoots pretty well with cast bullets and has killed pigs for me, but the .308 isn't any great shakes at putting pork on the ground real quick unless shot placement is near perfect.

What would you consider for a flat-shooting, medium-range pig hammer?

Ian,

This just got released for 2019 shotshow, someone at Winchester has their head screwed on straight today. It's the 350 Legend, or in other words the 357 Max rimless. It not only comes with 180 gr loadings but a subsonic 265 gr load too, so my guess is it will have a 1-10 twist or 1-12 possibly. I do believe it's exactly the medicine you are looking for.

https://woodburyoutfitters.com/the-...uces-worlds-fastest-straightwalled-cartridge/

 

[fiver]

1-10 or maybe a titch faster for the sub sonic.
I didn't see this on the other site I was looking through with all the announcements,
and they didn't give up a lot of info in this news blurb, so they are keeping it pretty hush hush.
I wonder what platform they are gonna put it in, the SXR maybe?

 

[Rushcreek]

Pigs, even big ones, drop readily to a high velocity jacketed bullet in the shoulder, neck, or head. You need shocking power that velocity provides. My 25-06 with 100 gr NBT jerks the rug out from under them. So does the .243 with 80 gr bullets. My cousin uses the 110gr V-max 6.8 SPC with no problems. I like cast bullets too but even the big ones sail thru and the pig runs a bit. YMMV, but this is my pig experience. A local pig hunter(421 pigs in three months) uses 6.5 Grendel mostly but also .223 due to ricochet concerns(cattle country) at night.

 

[Rally]

How about a BAR in .30-06 or .338. You could load it according to your needs.

 

[Ian]

Too late........

 

[freebullet]

Your guna have fun with that no matter what...my prediction.

 

[fiver]

you getting that upper we discussed then?

 

[Will]

What brand lower is that Ian?

 

[Josh]

1-10 or maybe a titch faster for the sub sonic.
I didn't see this on the other site I was looking through with all the announcements,
and they didn't give up a lot of info in this news blurb, so they are keeping it pretty hush hush.
I wonder what platform they are gonna put it in, the SXR maybe?

It will run in the AR-15 with just a barrel swap, and they're bringing out a bolt action for it as well. It was hush hush apparently and it just broke like wildfire.

Heck, starline already sells 223 basic brass, just trim it from 1.750 to 1.710

 

[Ian]

It will run in the AR-15 with just a barrel swap, and they're bringing out a bolt action for it as well. It was hush hush apparently and it just broke like wildfire.

Heck, starline already sells 223 basic brass, just trim it from 1.750 to 1.710

We talked a lot about the wildcat versions of this, seems everyone had feeding problems. I wonder how they straightened that out?

Your guna have fun with that no matter what...my prediction.

I hope so!

you getting that upper we discussed then?

Yes, I'm very curious to see how it fits the lower. PSA didn't have an answer for that.

What brand lower is that Ian?

Paperweight by Polymer 80. Finished into a firearm receiver by me.

 

[Josh]

Ian,

My guess is wider feed ramps, like they do with the 7.62x39 and some 300 Blk

 

[Ian]

Upper fits pretty well, pin holes line up perfectly, slight gap on the "curve" at the back of the receiver, only problem is the top of the "eye" is too high to clear the charging handle so I'm filing on that currently. Hopefully the buffer tube lines up with the upper receiver bore.

 

[Hawk]

Looks like your building the rifle.

Have you decided on a cartridge yet or still keeping your options open?

The 35 Legend sounds interesting, but doesn't seem to offer anything that isn't already accomplished by a wildcat, except factory loaded ammo and maybe a new line of .357-.358 bullets designed specifically for these velocities. While very important to non-reloaders, most people on this forum have the tools and the skills, that factory loaded ammo, while convenient, is not as big a priority as performance and having exactly what you want.

I get a lot of satisfaction from building my own custom loads and guns and knowing everything I do (after fine tuning) is better than the mass produced products.