Latest hog with the 475L/385 HP

[zeus]

The Green ones I did at home in the tumbler. The tumbler took a lot longer but I had too much powder in the tub at first. When I figured out that I was a moron, I fixed the issue and they started working much better. I'm not real keen on the bright red so I had to do something different. When the color got to the OD green, I liked the look so I left it and quit mixing. I left them in the tumbler for a long time but the black is not the easiest color to get to adhere from what I understand. Hoover probably can help us out on which colors work the best in the tumbler. But, once I started mixing a little yellow in with the black and got them in much less powder to get the movement I needed in the tub, they started working pretty good.

[sheriff]

Nice hog! Glad you're getting the young'un involved.

[sixshot]

These big HP's are about a 10-11 BHN, although I'm guessing they probably pick up a point or so with the baked finish, I haven't really hardness tested one, the proof is in the bacon & bison. The biggest problem is some people try to overdrive a bullet, thats when it can fail. If you insist on driving them faster (no need) then have them made harder. I've always said accuracy trumps velocity, just ask a few hogs, bison, bears, deer & moose. If you absolutely have to kill something more dead then bump up the hardness!
Those slugs Glenn used weren't powdered coated but I like them better, I don't believe he's shot any coated ones yet in his 475. Tyrone, I've also used the tumbler method with great success in an extra Hornady tub that I have, no air soft pellets, just a couple tbl spoons of HF red paint, about 300 bullets depending on caliber & 20 minutes cycle time, then dump them out. I'm dumping them into a brass sorter (plastic) so the paint sifts through onto some newspaper, then I give it a good, hard 10 second shake to remove any excess paint & then just dump them onto the non stick foil, don't mess with standing them up, just make sure they aren't more than one bullet deep. Give them 10 minutes at 400 in the toaster oven, let them cool & size them & they are ready to load. I've only used HF red paint.

Dick

[zeus]

Being an OCD weirdo, of course I handled each and every one bumping excess powder from it and the hp of the 45s and then stood them one by one up on the base on the pan. Hoover told me I was crazy for taking that much time but it would have driven me crazy otherwise

No, I've not shot any of the PC bullets in the 475. I have some from Jeff that are purple, I nicknamed them the purple punishers but I haven't shot them at anything. I have them loaded and may take them with me at the end of the month as well. Dick is right, at 1100 fps, these bullets are opening fast. The entry wounds we are seeing are pretty impressive but of the deer shot with them this year, no bullets have been recovered. Damage is extensive to the shoulders to say the least. The bison, I had it loaded a little faster at 1167, it did exit but lost a bit of the nose in the offside shoulder when it did. That was to be expected. I didn't intend for it to be that fast but it was shooting really well and I didn't have time to load more at the time before the hunt to try it slower. It did exactly what we wanted though. When the bullet was drawn up, 2/3s of the bullet is unaffected by the hp as far as length of the bullet. Even if the entire nose sheared off, you will still have 2/3s of that long bullet to keep penetrating. After the bison hunt, we dropped the powder charges to find the even 1100 fps load and it has performed just as Dick has explained. No need to go faster and the gun is SUPER pleasant to shoot. You can put it exactly where you want it and it does the rest for you.

Either the OD green "TactiCasull" bullet or the "Purple Punisher" will knock another pig down for the freezer later this month. Which one will be determined on how well the FA likes the PC bullet how I have it loaded. This last pig is some of the best sausage I've ever eaten! Need more

[Markbo]

Great write up. Im gonna contact dick to see about buying some bullets to try. I have not had great success with the few I have tried. I have a couple questions on that sight...have you used any others to compare it to? Dokter Optic, Ultradot LT or even the bigger ones like Bushnell trs 25, ultradot, etc? What is the dot size? What is the mount. ..FA is not listed as one of their "standard" mounts. I am to the point I need one if I am going to hunt with my BFR.

[zeus]

This one has the 3 or 3.5 minute dot. I've used the ultradot and its nice but this Leupold weighs virtually nothing. The mount is from Freedom Arms. Fits in the recess and bolts directly to the sight. There are no other mounts used from the sight other than the two screws. No crossbolts etc. I think it is auto dimming etc but is still bright at dark. If I were to buy a new one today, I'd look at this Leupold or the Trijicon model. A buddy has about 5 of those and he has tried every red dot type sight made and it is the one he settled on so that says a lot to me knowing this individual and how he hunts. The Trijicon will be my next one. But, having said that, I REALLY like this Leupold version as I said. The groups its shot have been pretty amazing for a red dot style.

[KRal]

Congrats on the piggy and great report as well! I hope to test that slug on a whitetail before season closes. It's proved to be very accurate from my gun.

[zac0419]

What's the battery life been like with the deltapoint?

[zeus]

I have changed the battery and it had the same one from when James used it. So, I couldn't say for sure but it's a long time. I keep an extra in my bag and the Allen head but haven't needed them. After this year, ill probably just replace annually at beginning of season when I get it out to check zero. Don't know that it's necessary but I'm still Leary of it retaining zero during change though leupold says it will. Until I know for certain, that's my plan for the battery.

[bagdadjoe]

Zeus, where was this hapless bacon bearer when you took it? Any idea what it weighed? Nice...

[bradshaw]

zeus.... fine shooting backed up by fine reports. A good M.O: shoot first, write second. (Unless, of course, you're building a gun from the ground up ala father & son Martin, for which the build is critical.) Rather extensive experience with red dot sights dating to first generation Aimpoint with very reliable external adjustments. Guts eventually gave out in those days. A couple thousand rounds on a Heckler & Koch 91 or Ruger Redhawk Immediately discovered that, contrary to conventional crosshair----which distracts the eye along the wires----the electrical red dot sucks one's focus to center, on the reticle where it must be. Second generation Aimpoint had less trustworthy internal adjustments. In woods hunting there's no such thing as turning on a light when you want it. The reticle stays on all day. Scope covers are deadly slow in the woods, pure junk specially designed to get ripped off by brush.

The Bushnell Holosight came along; more compact, good adjustments. Had a reticle projected on the lens, useless when snow pours from the trees. All these sights require batteries. Keep an extra handy, warm under clothing. Strange, never had a battery fail on the trail in the North Country. Had one die on a Remington M6 pump while sighting a beautiful buck in shirtsleeve weather in Texas.

Leupold set the weatherproof standard for scopes the world round. Carried that specification to its spotting scopes. Trust same waterproofing applies to Leupold reflex-type sight. My movements would have killed a mere water-resistant sight this past season.
David Bradshaw

[zeus]

Jan 13, 2015 10:08:38 GMT -5 bagdadjoe said:

Zeus, where was this hapless bacon bearer when you took it? Any idea what it weighed? Nice...

This was at High Adventure down in MO. Nice place to get away. Not a "hunt" per se as there are always going to be a pig to shoot if that's all you want to do but if you are after a certain size/sex pig and get down in the ravines with them to find them hiding or traveling from a bedding area to another piece of the property, it makes it more challenging and more fun. High Adventure has a few thousand acres of land but these are on abut 300 acres, they are so destructive, they don't want them anywhere else on the property. As with most high fence operations, they are what you make of it. I've killed a lot of pigs back home and in OK that were on private non fenced properties and I have more fun most days going to High Adventure just because its more laid back and you can slip along looking for a shot rather than hunkering down in a blind and just waiting, I get bored easily as I get older As far as the size, pigs are deceiving on weight sometimes. I had a tree laid on the ground behind this one for the pic to keep her from falling over so we are actually about 1 foot behind her which makes the size look a little larger but she was a good hog. Probably in the 240-260lb. She looks bigger in pic but I would feel comfortable that I wouldn't lie to you with that range. We shot a couple in MS a month ago that went 206 and 213 on the scales and she was noticeably larger than those. The big boars are even worst to fool you on weight just because of the build, heavy front and light in the rear, the look really big but don't typically weigh what you think

[bagdadjoe]

I was guessing about 250 just from looking. I used to raise pigs...but they were lean and red.... www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/swine/tamworth/ and they just put their noses to a fence and pushed....Houdini's of the hog world.

[schunter]

Nice write-up Glenn!

Thanks for turning me onto the .475 HP's - they accounted for two Carolina whitetails this season with impressive terminal effect. I see some swine testing coming in the swamps before too long.

And I knew you'd like the Leupold DeltaPoint - mine has served me well, and I see more joining the stable before 2015 draws to a close.

[hoover]

Glad to see you have something to feed your smoker this spring! Another great job all around!