MachIVshooter
Member
Just got back from Texas, two hogs (and one rattlesnake) heavier than when we left. It was a great short trip, and it also yeilded something I've never got in all my years of hunting; A recovered slug to analyze. Most of my shots have been through-and-through the ribcage heart/lung shots, but the angle the pig was at made that pretty much impossible. Angled away from me facing downhill, and still moving, I kept the ATN's crosshairs on her and squeezed one off when she was about 30 yards away. the 140 pound sow fell where she stood, never twitched. What surprised me was a lack of exit wound by this rather heavy bullet fired from a pretty powerful rifle.
Upon gutting, I realized why she fell and why no exit: The 200 gr. Core-Lokt leaving the muzzle of my 673 .350 Rem Mag at 2,645 FPS had entered at the rear of her ribcage at just the right angle to severe her spine above the shoulders. But before getting to the spinal column and obliterating 4 vertebrae, it had destroyed 7 ribs. I found the bullet just under the skin in front of the shoulder on the other side:
The reason I felt this was worth posting is all the talk we always hear about crushing the shoulders of elk and the like with .300 mags, .338's and similar. This was only a 140 pound animal hit with a disproportionately powerful round. The bullet performed perfectly and retained 75% of it's weight, yet still did not exit the animal. Granted, 7 ribs and 4 vertebrae add up to quite a bit of bone, but fact remains that an elk's shoulder is a large, heavy bone. I just don't think one can count on a typical hunting round to get through it and still do what it's supposed to on the other side. I'll continue aiming behind the shoulder on big game animals.
Just some food for thought.
Upon gutting, I realized why she fell and why no exit: The 200 gr. Core-Lokt leaving the muzzle of my 673 .350 Rem Mag at 2,645 FPS had entered at the rear of her ribcage at just the right angle to severe her spine above the shoulders. But before getting to the spinal column and obliterating 4 vertebrae, it had destroyed 7 ribs. I found the bullet just under the skin in front of the shoulder on the other side:
The reason I felt this was worth posting is all the talk we always hear about crushing the shoulders of elk and the like with .300 mags, .338's and similar. This was only a 140 pound animal hit with a disproportionately powerful round. The bullet performed perfectly and retained 75% of it's weight, yet still did not exit the animal. Granted, 7 ribs and 4 vertebrae add up to quite a bit of bone, but fact remains that an elk's shoulder is a large, heavy bone. I just don't think one can count on a typical hunting round to get through it and still do what it's supposed to on the other side. I'll continue aiming behind the shoulder on big game animals.
Just some food for thought.