Reports pretty tame but Unique has some flash. I’ve tried it night outdoors and it’s not blinding. Haven’t tried it indoors pitch black.
Never said 5.0gr with a 125gr was +P. Never said 6.0gr with a 125gr was either. Said 4.2gr under a 200gr LWFN was close to +P. And it is. But it’s also controllable with minimal flash and report. Way under supersonic.
Well, the OP did specify he was looking for something low flash and minimal report so, I figured recommending a "stun grenade" load wasn't productive. Took no offense, meant none back. I just wanted it clear I wasn't recommending a +P load with the 125gr. XTP-JHP. BUT the load I was recommending, a 200gr. Cast Performance LWFN, over 4.2gr. of Unique is most definitely +P - CCI No.500 or Winchester SPS/M primers highly recommended - but still isn't difficult to manage recoil-wise, isn't terribly flashy, and it doesn't have a nasty report, in my experience.
10 feet - now that's up close and personal. Can you get that close because they're stupid, oblivious, blind or what? Or are you just the ultimate stalker? I've never hunted hogs, so I don't have any sense for whether that's normal range or not.Well, the OP did specify he was looking for something low flash and minimal report so, I figured recommending a "stun grenade" load wasn't productive. Took no offense, meant none back. I just wanted it clear I wasn't recommending a +P load with the 125gr. XTP-JHP. BUT the load I was recommending, a 200gr. Cast Performance LWFN, over 4.2gr. of Unique is most definitely +P - CCI No.500 or Winchester SPS/M primers highly recommended - but still isn't difficult to manage recoil-wise, isn't terribly flashy, and it doesn't have a nasty report, in my experience.
The books say lots of things, and gel tests are really cool on UTube, but actually loading up and hitting a living critter with a load says some things very differently. I do load 125gr. XTP-JHP's over 5.0gr. of Unique and do shoot them out of a Rossi M68 3" .38Spl as my walkin'round on-the-hip gun sometimes - and I have used that load, in that gun, on nasty critters. It's not a flashy or blasty load - at least not outdoors at dusk when the critters are moving around looking for water and an easy meal - and it does some real damage for sure but, it didn't get deep like I thought it would and it didn't snap the pig's neck - despite a solid hit at 10' from a standing position - like a big-n-slow 200gr. CP-LWFN does, which the OP also mentioned as his preference. That's a real bone-crusher, even in a .38Spl 3". So, if the OP is looking for big damage with low flash and minimal report, a 5.0gr. load of Unique with the 125gr. XTP-JHP is good but maybe not as good as a near +P load with a 200gr. CP-LWFN - hitting hard, heavy-n-slow, punching through cartilage and bone, is right down that alley - but he needs to be aware a shot to the torso is called for because a miss will keep going and a limb/shoulder hit will pass-through. The XTP at around 850fps expanded to a little less than dime-size in less than 4" and spattered on the neck bone but the critter took off and ran off into the kudzu another 10 yards before dropping. If it hadn't lost the carotid and bled out it might have gone off too deep into the vines to follow a blood trail. What'll it do to a biped? Don't know. But I do keep that load in the speed-loaders in my desk in case the first five shots with the 200gr. loads aren't enough.
Just talking from personal experience with that load in a short-barreled .38Spl. for close-up work on semi-dangerous game. Good thing is, pigs can't read books so they don't know it's an underpowered load.
Well, I don't know about "normal" but it's not unusual. If they're full on feral, they don't know to be scared of humans, generally. We're just another predator and if we're up-wind, being real still, they can look right at you and not know you're there. Pigs are real near-sighted but their noses and ears and sharp. Real sharp.
I've had nursing females try to run me off - and I've had some succeed. I've had males protecting a tribe run me off, too, when I walked up on their mid-day siesta. Dusk and dawn are when they're moving, mostly. Full on day and late night, they're eating, sleeping, breeding or looking for food and a wallow. So, if you want to hunt pig, do it at night on a bright moon, during the day in a shady, secluded area, or at dusk/dawn along a route from their wallow to a source of food and water. They eat grubs, mostly but are omnivorous so, keep that in mind. If you smell like food to them, and they're desperate enough for a meal, they'll hunt you.
No, definitely not. I'm so bad at stalking I have to cheat and put peanut butter in the cleats of my boots to attract them and cover my scent. I like blinds and trees. Won't hunt with dogs, though. Not my thing. Every once in a while you just walk up on one minding its own business rooting up the pasture and they're vermin so the farmers are grateful if we take them out. They're incredibly destructive creatures.
Always been a 45ACP guy when it comes to home defense on onaconda big & slow is the way to go, won't blind me in the dark or blow out my eardrums.
Mostly out of curiosity I'm wondering at what velocity a Hornady 357 125gr. XTP will start to expand?
I have heard that they tear stuff up terribly. We had a scare up here in NY 5 or 10 years ago because some had escaped from a game farm. From a forestry standpoint we were really worried they were going to destroy the regeneration. At first, hunters were encouraged to shoot them. The feds were even going to shoot them from helicopters in the winter. The furor died down quickly though, and I haven't heard anything about them in a while. Now you're not allowed to hunt them because supposedly it disperses them (and thus expands the damaged area) more.
Well, that's why it's a good idea to walk around cattle land and farming areas with a good pistol at your side. Better yet, a good rifle but, that gets kinda heavy in the heat. The XTP's are good bullets for pigs and panthers - but you may need a good lawyer if you shoot a panther or a black bear. I've had bucks in rut walk right up on me, same for pigs, but bears are way too smart and panthers don't get hungry enough to eat us. Evidently, we don't smell good to them. I did see one - many, many years ago - just sitting in a oak tree watching me. Made me real nervous cause I didn't think a 140gr. Speer was enough for this bad boy, but it just watched and sat there. I called the land owner later and told him about it and he cursed, said he'd have to call F-n-G and they'd be all over his land, shut down his roads, maybe even fence off parts of it as natural habitat, but it had to be done. F-n-G came out, brought some fancy electronics gear, looked around, flew over with helos a few times, then said, "False sighting" and left. Never heard more about it.
I told my wife a few weeks back I was looking forward to emptying the freezer so I could out hunting this summer. She scowled and asked if I really wanted to get throat punched. Took me all of a few seconds to figure put what she meant.
Always been a 45ACP guy when it comes to home defense on onaconda big & slow is the way to go, won't blind me in the dark or blow out my eardrums.
Mostly out of curiosity I'm wondering at what velocity a Hornady 357 125gr. XTP will start to expand?
