brewer12345
Member
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2015
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- 2,752
So I have been hog hunting exactly once (they are populous a state south of me but have thankfully thus far only invaded a small corner of my state) and I found that dad's Marlin in .35 Rem was like the hammer of Thor for smallish pigs. One was DRT and the other made it maybe 25 feet. When in doubt, the .35 Rem lever would be the choice. That said, I am having fun fooling around with loading for my .357 Rossi and while this is mostly used for punching paper and bagging bunnies, it occurred to me that pigs inside 100 yards are probably well within the capabilities of .357 out of a 24 inch barrel (at least if we are not talking about Hogzilla).
I can read reloading manuals as well as anyone and will do so, but what is a good bullet choice for pigs? My inclination is a harder (BHN 18 or so) cast bullet to ensure good penetration. Is a 158 grain semi-wadcutter or RNFP enough bullet? I see cast in 170 and 180 grain flavors, are they a better choice? Is a gas check a necessity for a cast bullet with the sorts of loads I would be flinging at pigs? Is JSP of some sort a better choice?
I'd be very interested in a deer load as well, but 44 mag out of a rifle is barely legal for deer in my state and mulies can be pretty chunky and far away in the foothills, so I will continue chasing them with the 35 Rem or a 30-06.
I can read reloading manuals as well as anyone and will do so, but what is a good bullet choice for pigs? My inclination is a harder (BHN 18 or so) cast bullet to ensure good penetration. Is a 158 grain semi-wadcutter or RNFP enough bullet? I see cast in 170 and 180 grain flavors, are they a better choice? Is a gas check a necessity for a cast bullet with the sorts of loads I would be flinging at pigs? Is JSP of some sort a better choice?
I'd be very interested in a deer load as well, but 44 mag out of a rifle is barely legal for deer in my state and mulies can be pretty chunky and far away in the foothills, so I will continue chasing them with the 35 Rem or a 30-06.