Bring Enough Gun!

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I've heard way too many stories about pigs shrugging off headshots to attempt it. I aint hunted a pig before, but I have bumped into one while Coyote hunting and will attest that they're more than able to close distance with surprising speed.

Pigs do not take kindly to being shot, or even looked at cross. Lets remember, boar have a well established history of doing maiming/killing dogs and hunters. When it comes to my health I dont believe its wise to test theories. Take one through the chest, prop the head on a post afterward and then do your tests. Testing headshots on a live pig is liable to get you hurt as bad as the pig!
 
Good read. Big piggie. I'm glad it was your experience. Not mine. I'm seldom under gunned. And surely don't consider an assault rifle of any sort something I'm going huntin with.

Personally, I'd have prefered a 300gn Seirra SP from one of my .44magnums to his forehead. That would have saved a lot of meat. And if you're paying to hunt based on success, then in my eyes, you should have taken all the meat.

Sorry, that just my opinion -And what I teach my boys. 'You shoot it, You or someone eats it'. Don't let any of it go to waste.

-Steve
 
And surely don't consider an assault rifle of any sort something I'm going huntin with.
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That attitude is actually why I originally built this rifle; there is no reason that 7.62x39 cannot cleanly take thin-skinned game up to 200lb-300lbs when used in an accurate rifle. In general, 7.62x39 causes less meat damage on smaller deer than my 'traditional' hunting chamberings, and kills 'em just as dead. Look at the recovered bullet, and tell me that the chambering failed me in some way....

Having us hunters divide our ranks based upon the type of rifle used makes us no better than the anti's who want to ban certain rifles because they're black or fed from detachable box magazines.... :(

And if you're paying to hunt based on success, then in my eyes, you should have taken all the meat.
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I don't disagree with this in general, but circumstances were such that the backstraps and hams were all I could get. It was a bit wasteful and it bothered me some, but I figure that at least the rest of the hogs on the property ate well for the next several days..... :)
 
there is no reason that 7.62x39 cannot cleanly take thin-skinned game up to 200lb-300lbs
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I think that many people don't classify hogs as "thin-skinned" game.
 
Having dropped bunches of 100lb-200lb hogs (and now a 500lb hog) there is a world of difference in construction between a 200lb hog and a 500lb hog.

I would classify a 200lb hog in much the same category as I would a large deer, and in the past have used the same round on both without issue. A sub-200lb hog doesn't have the cladding around the ribs that the big 'uns evidently get, and the ribs themselves are not significantly thicker than that of a large deer. The shoulder seems no more impervious than that of a deer, and while the upper limbs themselves are stouter I'm not generally aiming for 'em. The neck is structured differently, but I've never been a neck shot kinda guy so that's never been something that I had to manage.

So yes - while I agree in general with your statement, I would suggest that a 200lb hog is not significantly 'thicker' than a 200lb deer and both can probably be handled similarly from a chambering perspective. But hogs certainly do not scale linearly..... :)
 
use enough gun

The gristle shield around a big hogs chest is very tough, sometimes causing zero pass through shots. Though this might not be critical, I'd rather be lett'n some blood out:what:
 
I would have gone with a 150 Corbon load for the 7.62x39. 123 is too light for hog, no matter what you're shooting. The bullets won't exit reliably, which means the animal is going to take more time to go into shock. So much for the "energy dump" theory of ballistics.
 
BRING ENOUGH GUN

just read post i have one question any gun is better than no gun if whatever is squaring up to you can run faster than you:eek:
 
The bullets won't exit reliably, which means the animal is going to take more time to go into shock.
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Would you expect an animal to be more rapidly incapacitated by having its lungs fill with blood, or by it's bleeding externally until it goes into shock?
 
I would have gone with a 150 Corbon load for the 7.62x39.
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If I'd have known that I was going to meet up with this dude, I'd have brought the 35 Remington with 200gr Sierras and left the AR in the van instead of the other way around. Of course, that'd mean that there's have been no drama to post about, but I'd gladly trade that off.

123 is too light for hog, no matter what you're shooting.
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Blanket statements are always wrong. :)

Look - tell that opinion to all the hogs in my freezer that've been killed quite dead with a single shot using a Sierra 125gr (none of which have ever been recovered until this last hog because they all exited). Sierra rates the operational velocity of their .311 125gr bullet at 2000fps-3000fps; it's actually designed for use in the 303R and 7.7 Japanese chamberings. That's why I use it for hogs - it's significantly tougher than the Hornady or Speer 123gr offerings (which are all designed to be used from 1800fps-2400fps and as a result are more frangible than the Sierra offering).

It's ironic - I've actually got a VERY accurate 7.62x39 load for this rifle that uses the (much sturdier) Hornady 150gr bullet and 24gr of H4198 but I didn't bring it because I wasn't planning on needing that much oomph.

I'll not recommend to everyone that they immediately rush out and hunt the biggest hogs that they can find with a SKS stocked with commercial 123gr SPs. But I also cannot understand how anyone can look at the results that I got from the chambering and load and not be somewhat impressed with its capabilities.

So much for the "energy dump" theory of ballistics.
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I'm not sure that I understand this comment. Despite the lack of a single exit wound, each shot dropped the hog, as best I can tell, and (althought there is no doubt that this hog wasn't really committed to rushing me) the hog never got within arm's reach of me despite starting out at less than ten yards away. Other than my having demonstrated more faith in the chambering, I'm not sure what else I could ask for out of this scenario.

Would you expect an animal to be more rapidly incapacitated by having its lungs fill with blood, or by it's bleeding externally until it goes into shock?
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Dunno what Cosmo's answer is going to be, but all other things being equal I'll take both, thankyouverymuch. Certainly a non-lung shot that exits doesn't do much good at all in the short term while a lung shot that stops just under the off hide will cause more rapid death of the animal. If I can get a lung shot that also exits, life is good.
 
I shot a boar with a .35 Whelen at fifty yards that neither bullet exited. The first shot was behind the right shoulder. He ran around a pine tree trying to go back the way he came. I shot him behind the left shoulder when he cleared the limbs of the pine tree.

250 grain CoreLokt. Each bullet was lodged in the far gristle plate.
 
Good lesson learned.

I was planing to do the same thing last year. Now Im almost glad i didn't.
Thanks for the awsome story.
 
Very interesting story, but for us 7.62x39 guys who do not reload, have you ever tried any factory loads like silver bear 123 gr SP on hogs? Is there any factory load that you'd recommend for hogs?
 
I'm new around here, but I just thought I'd add a little comment about the optics discussion from early on. My dad only went to Africa once, but he has several friends who went once or twice a year for a long time, and I still have the gun he bought based on their advice. It is a .375H&H Winchester Model 70, and it has a 1.5-4X scope. My understanding is that something around the 1.5-4X range is preferred for "safari" style hunting, i.e. on foot, possibly at very close range, against dangerous game. It lets you take good shots at 10-25yds but also lets you do alright well out past that - I shot a young Nilgai (a strange kind of Antelope that has been brought to the US as an exotic) at about 225 yards across a small lake with the scope dialed up to 4. It dropped like a rock :).

The 1.5-4X scope is very, very handy - I really like it. It lets you work close up and at a reasonable distance.

I don't know that I'd trust one shot of 7.62x39 against a hog that big, he's a monster! On the other hand, I've shot 150lb pigs with a .40SW pistol and seen hogs up to 300 shot with a .45LC revolver, and both were pretty effective. Maybe a heavy powder load and a heavy, penetrating bullet, something like a Swift A-Frame?

Incidentally, there's a pretty good book by Robert Ruark called "Use Enough Gun."
 
No, hogs are not thin skinned, not big ones....

I've heard way too many stories about pigs shrugging off headshots to attempt it
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Well, I've seen HUGE farm pigs put down by one shot to the brain with a .22 short stun gun. If you blow their brains out, they ain't goin' far! :D At the range this story is talkin' about, my first instinct would be to shoot him square in the head, done it before under stress and with a revolver no less. Just as with self defense, a hit to the CNS is instant death, stops the fight right then and there.
 
Have you got him processed yet? How does the 500 pounder taste compared to the 200 pounders. I've always heard the bigger the pig, the worse the meat, but I never tasted one that big.
 
The scrap meat off of the hams (what we've eaten so far) tastes just like it came from a 200lb pig. It's definitely been a bit chewier than normal and needs to be slow cooked to avoid getting overly tough, but otherwise I couldn't tell you the difference. The backstrap looks FINE - I can't wait to grill some. (My kids love pork filets grilled in sesame oil and sprinkled with garlic and ginger.... Yum.)

One reason that the shoulders were left behind was because the ranch I was hunting advised me strongly to do so, based upon their assertation that the meat would be awful. I've regretted letting them talk me into that from almost the moment I agreed.
 
the troops in iraq were having a simlar problem with needed a "distance" scope and a cqc scope. they started mounting a variable scope in normal position and a reddot on the side rail i am told it is quite effective with a little practice
 
I put a Sightron SII 1.5-6x on the rifle two weeks ago. We'll see how that works.
 
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