Ranchman,
What ammo do you use in your .44 mag? I just bought a S&W 629 with the 8 3/8" barrel. I am mounting a Bushnell Holosight on it and plan to use Cor-Bon 260gr Bonded-Core Hollowpoints. This load seems to have the best ballistics of all that I have seen. I only hope they are accurate in my 629 as I know every gun seems to have a "favorite" load. I am mostly hunting deer with this - a hog would be good eatin' too!
Terry
I'm using Hornaday Custom 300gr XTP factory loads. I can't say how their terminal ballistics are on game yet as I've yet to shoot at a live target, but they seem to do OK at the range. I haven't shot the .44 much but @ 50 yrds with a scope on it I'm shooting about a 3" group which I'm happy with considering the conditions I was shooting under (wooden bench, muzzle loader fellow beside me shaking things about, etc.) I'll work up a load of my own at some point in the near future, just had to go with factory loads since I ran out of time before the season opened. I'll let you know how they work out if I bag a critter with them.
A 240 Gr sierra hollow point work well. 2400 is the classic 44mag powder. I found in the Desert Eagle I had, H110 worked really well, but had more fireball out the barrel.
Both worked well on 100 metre pig silhouttes. My buddy and I would line up on them, off hand, and knock down 8 out of 8 rounds from the clip, open sighted, unsupported.
From the bench, I could work 3" at 50 yards, again open sighted. I was shooting more back then, and that was before UPS stole my pistol while in shipment.
I put plent of the same rounds through my buddies 629 8-3/8. Similar results, but the Desert Eagle was smoother to shot, albeit a bit heavier.
Took the Eagle out hunting hogs, but never got in a position for a shot.
The pig I did get was with a Savage 99, 300 Savage calibre. Worked like acharm.
I have a friend who uses a pocket knife. He runs them with dogs and grabs them by the back leg. Honest. I have killed them with .22 (head shot) and a .270. Any rifle over .22 caliber (with .22-250 and .223with a well placed shot not included) will do fine as long as you hit a vital area will suffice. What rifles do you already own?
Mike
<font color="blue">I have a friend who uses a pocket knife. He runs them with dogs and grabs them by the back leg. Honest.</font color>
[img]/forums/images/icons/ooo.gif[/img] Uhhh, sorry, but I have to question your friend's sanity on that one. Sounds like your friend might be the type who smokes while pumping gas too or he's been spinning some "tall tales." You won't catch me going after a cornered animal with tusks that outweighs me (sometimes by a substantial margin) and has a well earned reputation for being aggressive in "stress" situations.
As far as caliber, I choose to exercise a bit more velocity & energy to give me some "breathing room." Mainly 7mm Mag for distance shots, and .308 semi for "up close and personal." (At least for hogs, that is.) Been toying with the idea for a long time of getting it re-chambered for 7mm STW (although I’ve also been thinking about getting a .300 WSM or even stepping up to a .300 UM as I’d like to have a .30 cal with some “reach.â€Â)
Don't get me wrong, I like to shoot small caliber stuff too (.223, 6mm PPC, etc.) but that old saying of "The most dangerous animal is one that is wounded and/or cornered" came about for a reason. Although I go for shot placement, the extra energy & penetration help give me some additional safety margin. Sure, if you miss completely all that energy and penetration does nothing for you, but if you do hit your target, it can help turn some marginal shots in to terminal ones.
‘Course I don't regularly tout a .308 with me when walking around my place (usually have a sidearm as it's not an incumbrance), so I suppose I'd use whatever I had with me if I ran in to a "situation" where retreat was not a viable option.
My friend is not blowing smoke I have seen pictures he brought with him holding a hogs hind leg (a small one 100 lbs. or so) and his knife in the other and 2 dogs holding the hog. For the big ones he goes back to the Mule for the .30-.30. My point about calibers was that a reasonable caliber for deer will do fine on a hog as long as you make a decent shot. I have a .40 SIG but I have been looking at a single shot (.243 or .270 I already have dies to reload both) to have around and not worry about my favorite deer rifle getting beat up riding around in the truck or the Mule. By the way he brings some of that hog to the fire station every now and then and smokes em. Boy are they good!!!!!!!!
Mike
Let me tell a true story. I'll try to keep it short.
When I was in HS the neighbors had a red/black hog that was in a pen behind our barn. The day came to kill it and they came and asked to borrow my step-dads 38 short 5 shot S&W.
Put a little feed in the trough when he came up BANG squeel and keep on eating BANG.... repeated for all 5 shots..pig still on his feet... butcher said give me the axe.. 2nd hit in the head.. pig down.. still trying to get back on his feet... butcher finally took his long knife and cut throat.. I guess the "poor" animal finally bleed to death.
Well that's the end of the story. If I was going pig hunting today I'd take my mini-mag 223 with soft nose and hope for a well placed shot. Happy Bar-B-Q to all of U [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
<font color="green">Plant a tree, help it grow; children need something to climb.</font>
Way back when I was young when we butchered Hogs one shot to the forehead with a .22 would do the job very nicely.
Egon
My friend that I was referring to said if you would like join him on hog hunt he will be more than happy to show you "What Texans are made of". I will post some pictures he has when I get to my computer the HP scanner here at work won't let me scan them. He said "see if you can find a bullet hole in any of em." [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img]
Well, appreciate the offer, but I got more than enough hogs runnin' round my place to take care of first. They're constantly tearing up stuff and running off native species, so my priorities are a little different than someone looking primarily to set the dinner table.
Going after a 200+ lb. hog (or in my case, multiple 200+ lb. hogs - as I often see them in a group of 4 or more) with a pocket knife - well, this born & raised Texan still believes that's a little left of crazy. I know folks who have wound up in the emergency room or have lost dogs (i.e. killed) because of a rambunctious hog they were hunting. Your buddy can certainly choose to take that risk if he wants, but for me - no thanks - I'll stick to the "best defense is a good (e.g. heavy caliber) offense."
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