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Post by bigbrowndog on Dec 10, 2019 14:49:36 GMT -5
I was given an opportunity the other day to take a pig with a Barrett 50bmg, ammunition used was Hornady 750gr. Amax. Now ordinarily I would not use a target bullet to hunt with, but given the weight, velocity and ft. lbs. available, as well as the ability to choose my direction of entry into the pig. I decided to go with the Amax, BTW 18000ftlbs seemed like enough for the job. It was strange because all the other guys that were along for the trip were talking about how dramatic the shot and effect would probably be. I was actually thinking it would be a bit underwhelming, in fact it was a bit underwhelming but having that much energy on target did produce an interesting affect. The entry actually looked more like an exit. I took the pig, which was about as big as you can find on this ranch, scale showed 287#, as it was severely quartering away. I was hoping for a full Texas heart shot, but the severe rake was the best I could get. Entry was just in front of right rear leg, exit was opposite side in the neck. im assuming the soft entrails allowed for extreme hydrostatic expansion and then once everything returned to fill in the void, entrails were forced out the tear created by the bullets entry. The pig never took a step forward, but did rotate about 90* and expire. Distance was short, 108m, while I would ordinarily not be interested in shooting an animal with a 50bmg. The landowner who owns the rifle was unable to join us for the hunt and asked if anyone would want to do it. I gave everyone else there (6 others) ample opportunity to speak up but no takers. The actual shooting felt just like any other shooting of a pig, the addition of the BMG made it feel very “stunt” like. Even though the results were not dramatic as others thought, and it did expire quickly and with one clean shot, it still feels like a “stunt”. I will decline any other offers to take game with a 50bmg,....been there done that. hopefully the link for the pic works, it is a big pig. It was as long as the Barrett. Trapr still not able to figure out this photo hosting and transferring pics thing yet,.......stand by. |
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Post by whitworth on Dec 10, 2019 15:05:48 GMT -5
That is awesome, Trapr! Can't wait to see the photos!
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cmillard
.375 Atomic
MOLON LABE
Posts: 1,941
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Post by cmillard on Dec 10, 2019 17:00:07 GMT -5
Photo of hog with .50 BMG, this sure looked like fun though!  |
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Post by Burnston on Dec 11, 2019 0:50:39 GMT -5
I understand your hesitation, and reluctance to repeat the experience. On the other hand, I also understand never turning down a chance to shoot something I've never shot before. I believe you are being too hard on yourself. Great shooting, and really cool experience. He never knew what hit him.
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Post by Big Bore on Dec 11, 2019 5:22:40 GMT -5
Very cool Trapr. I'd love to pull the trigger on a 50 BMG at least once.
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Post by whitworth on Dec 11, 2019 6:33:10 GMT -5
That hog is a hoss! In the wild that is about as good as it gets!
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Post by magnumwheelman on Dec 11, 2019 7:17:09 GMT -5
I get the chance to shoot the big 50 every year, at the shooters round up, at a semi local gun shop & range... I've never had the chance to shoot an animal, but the 50 is not that brutal to shoot ( IMO ) with as heavy as the gun is, & the compensators that usually adorn the end of the barrel... they are loud though... I'd like to see a specialized hunting round for that cartridge... a big flat nose or hollow point... would guess that would result in a hollywood style carcass explosion  |
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Post by contender on Dec 11, 2019 9:59:18 GMT -5
Kudos on being the one to step up & try something you'd never experienced before. NICE hog there! And,, your admission to not do it again says to me,, that you are a real hunter.
The 50 BMG is overkill on most game animals on this continent. But it is used on some game. And the effects,, as noted,, are quite interesting. Many hollyweird myths are dispelled when someone actually fires one & sees the effects.
Shooting a Barrett,, (I've shot a few) is a good experience,, and NOT a horrible thing. Our military folks who use one truly appreciate it's usefulness in combat.
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Post by whitworth on Dec 11, 2019 10:10:53 GMT -5
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eskimo36
.375 Atomic
Oklahoma
Posts: 2,048
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Post by eskimo36 on Dec 11, 2019 10:21:32 GMT -5
That's awesome Trapr. I wouldn't pass up that opportunity either.
Curtis
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Post by bigbrowndog on Dec 11, 2019 11:11:55 GMT -5
I’ve shot 50’s before, I used to teach the M2 in the military. And I’ve shot Barrett’s as prop guns for matches. I’ve just never shot an animal with one, the recoil is really not bad. About like a 12ga. With 3” turkey loads, with ear protection it’s the concussive blast that you feel that’s more attention getting than anything.
We boiled the teeth out, and I’ll try and get a picture posted (with help) in the next day or two.
Two of us tried to lift it 18-24” to put it on a truck receiver rack to haul it out,.......one attempt was all it took to tell us we were dreaming. I put a rope around it’s front leg/shoulder and drug it out so we could weigh it.
Trapr
there is a video of the shot, that was a stipulation of the landowner. He wanted to see the shot.
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Post by x101airborne on Jan 14, 2020 20:08:05 GMT -5
I have used 50 BMG (Accuracy International), 416 Barrett (Barrett M82), 338 Lapua (another Barrett, forget the model) for shooting hogs.
Hogs are a nuisance and a pest control situation. I don't care if your game is 50 BMG or 22 long rifle, dead is dead. Do you feel bad for shooting a coyote or groundhog with a 30-06? I don't. Also if I don't have a dead right there experience I don't get miffed either. I always do my best but unexpected things happen with live animals. I have lost one deer in my life. It happens. At least deer have a significant value to me; hogs do not. Last year I killed 238 hogs by myself. I guided for family for many more. I even drowned a hog once (that is another entire story). If 30mm Vulcans were legal, I would use one on hogs. If you have a chance to use a heavy rifle on hogs and you like the idea, go for it. You did real well and should be congratulated. Would I ever use the 50 BMG on hogs again?.... Do I have another round?
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Post by bigbrowndog on Jan 14, 2020 20:31:42 GMT -5
Airborne, I do feral hog abatement so I do know the destruction they do. I too have used pretty much everything to take pigs, and am a firm believer in using enough gun.
This particular shooting, just had way too much air of stunt associated with it to make me comfortable. I know of lots of folks that have no problem with shooting pigs and don’t care where they hit them. Me personally, every animal deserves as swift and humane a death as we can provide. I also agree that there are no degrees of dead, there is no deader than dead. Heck I shot a trapped raccoon one time at point blank range with a 257 Weatherby, because it’s what I had at the time, and he didn’t care what he was killed with. I disagree with your statement that hogs do not pose a significant value to you, it’s a living animal and it deserves to be killed humanely, regardless of what value it has to you personally. It’s value is considerable if you would care to look into donating the carcass to needy sources, at least 95% of all the pigs we take are donated to people that want and can use the meat.
Now if I read your statement incorrectly let me apologize now.
Trapr
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Post by x101airborne on Jan 15, 2020 8:49:54 GMT -5
bigbrowndog,
You read it correctly and I respect your opinion.
We can disagree slightly and still get along. I am not out to change your mind.
All good on my end.
Down here, what I was told is...
1. The hogs must be butchered by a certified butcher (not me) and be disease tested before being donated to a charity house.
2. The State no longer provides butchering for donated meat of any kind. (I got to pay for it.)
Well, for me, that blows donating to charity out of the water.
I do have a list of people who want hogs. They want them neatly slaughtered, cut into steaks and delivered in a fresh ice chest to their door. I have had more than one ice chest not make it home. Know how long it takes to clean and sterilize a Butcher Boy bandsaw? Hog depredation is not my job. I am a rancher. Between the land and the animals and all the chores I have to do I cannot stop my day to slaughter a hog and let cows go hungry. If hog depredation was my job, there would be more time for butchering.
I think you and I just have different things we HAVE to get done; and that is ok. I still butcher what I can, I just cant get them all and I don't worry about it.
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Post by bigbrowndog on Jan 15, 2020 9:57:34 GMT -5
I have no problem with agreeing to disagree, and also agree with it would suck if I had to butcher every hog I donated. Luckily that is not the case. I am very thankful that the meat does not simply go to waste. In my early years of doing this prior to the Internet, holes were dug with back hoes and a weeks worth of pigs placed in them and burned and buried. Thena new hole would be dug and another week began, many ranchers would simply say let them lay, and if I had to drag it out of south Texas thorn more than 50 yards that is exactly where they would stay. Back then, larger calibers were like typical African calibers or stuff more suitable for Alaska, but time spent looking for pigs meant less time spent shooting them.
Trapr
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