Big Boar down with the .357

[hunter01]

Went to check cows this afternoon and per usual, spotted some pigs rooting around. They were in a particularly good spot for a sneak so I set out after them. I did something I hardly ever do, I picked out the biggest of the bunch and intentionally busted it in the center of the shoulder plate with a “sub” caliber gun. The .357 is a 7.5” BFR loaded with the MP 200gr rcbs clone and large HP pins installed. Plain base Powder coated and air cooled over about 15gr of wc820. The shot was at 60yds. The boar made it about 50yds and skidded to a stop of his face. He was DEAD by the time I walked to him which is fairly rare. I rolled him over and could see I had no exit wound which didn’t surprise me but did concern me a tiny bit UNTIL I hung him up and started the investigation. The shot broke the shoulder going in and coming out and the bullet was lodged under the hide on the off side. I’m not going to blow smoke up your A$$ and tell you this was a 400# pig but he was very mature and average for a “large” boar here at 175-200#. His gristle plate was a full 1” thick and as hard a rawhide. It initiated expansion on contact as was evidence by the hole going into the lead shoulder. The recovered bullet looks very good in my opinion. Bullet measures .575 on the base and .615 on the nose with a retained weight of 156gr. I feel like it would have taken a lot more gun to punch on through but this would have made it through both shoulders of the biggest buck and kept on sailing. I wish I was smart enough to post pics. imgur.com/a/u2XQzC1

[bigbrowndog]

Nicely done, a 175-200# pig is great study material for bullet performance. Without an exit, having it fall in sight is awesome. Most of the expanding bullets I’ve used on pigs that size from handguns fail to exit. Until you get to premium bullets and 454C performance, expanding bullets seem to remain in the carcass.

Trapr

[hunter01]

Looks like I figured out how to link to Imgur. What’s the trick to make the pics show up in a post without having to link? Here is a link to the bullet pics. You can see it peeled right down to the bottom of the HP cavity.

[hunter01]

Jan 17, 2024 19:04:09 GMT -5 bigbrowndog said:

Nicely done, a 175-200# pig is great study material for bullet performance. Without an exit, having it fall in sight is awesome. Most of the expanding bullets I’ve used on pigs that size from handguns fail to exit. Until you get to premium bullets and 454C performance, expanding bullets seem to remain in the carcass.

Trapr

A 454 with a bullet that behaved like this one would have taken that hog right off his feet I think. My wrist just won’t take that kind of punishment anymore! I’m anxious to try this load on a deer now that I know it is expanding. I’m MLD so I have a lot of tags and a lot of season left so maybe I’ll get it done. I’m just happy to know the 357 is going to work for me without high doller jacketed ammo. I’ll be building a 41 mag on a BFR soon and I can see that being my primary hunter if the recoil isn’t too bad.

[giblett]

Nice. We had some fried boar back strap and home fries for supper from one i took back in November.

[hunter01]

Jan 17, 2024 21:33:54 GMT -5 giblett said:

Nice. We had some fried boar back strap and home fries for supper from one i took back in November.

It’s definitely a staple here at the house. Most people discard these bigger boars but I cut his back straps out and they had a nice “sweet” aroma with no pungent smell at all. Will be fine eating. Chicken fried hog back strap is one of my FAVORITES!

[contender]

Kudos!

Maybe one day I'll get a chance to whack some porkers with a handgun! You did good!

[sixshot]

Very well done, congratulations! Hogs are shorter & more compact so its no surprise you didn't get an exit but you did get your hog with your 357 & your load, nice work. It will continue to work for you with good placement. Moving up to the 41 magnum will give you exits 99% of the time with correct bullets & those hits will shake the mud right off of them, it is a noticeable step up in horsepower "hog power". Good luck, you're headed in the right direction. All the Texans on the forum will steer you in the right direction!

Dick

[Big Bore]

Outstanding! Congrats on a great hog kill with a revolver. Pretty impressive. As a fellow Texan, I love chasing hogs as well and they are almost always my preferred target when on our ranch.

[hunter01]

Jan 18, 2024 9:16:11 GMT -5 Big Bore said:

Outstanding! Congrats on a great hog kill with a revolver. Pretty impressive. As a fellow Texan, I love chasing hogs as well and they are almost always my preferred target when on our ranch.

Thanks sir. Chasing hogs with a revolver just never gets old. I’ve killed truck loads of them in the past with the 357 and premium jacketed bullets but this is my first foray into an expanding cast bullet. I think the performance was just about perfect for a large buck but punching two holes in a bigger pig will either require a solid or more gun im afraid. Anyway, I’ve killed two pigs in the last 2 days with this load and they both taught me something about this new venture into the cast HP.

[zeus]

Jan 17, 2024 19:22:08 GMT -5 hunter01 said:

Looks like I figured out how to link to Imgur. What’s the trick to make the pics show up in a post without having to link? Here is a link to the bullet pics. You can see it peeled right down to the bottom of the HP cavity.
imgur.com/a/SRBB0Wk

I put the links in your post earlier. I was bored 😜. Go to that post and edit it and you can see what it takes. It’s quick and easy. Copy the link to each picture and paste it between the bracketed img and /img like I did in your earlier post.

Watch when you paste it though, sometimes it will want to put a space at the beginning and it will not work until you delete the space.

[hunter01]

Jan 18, 2024 10:58:52 GMT -5 zeus said:

Jan 17, 2024 19:22:08 GMT -5 hunter01 said:

Looks like I figured out how to link to Imgur. What’s the trick to make the pics show up in a post without having to link? Here is a link to the bullet pics. You can see it peeled right down to the bottom of the HP cavity.
imgur.com/a/SRBB0Wk

I put the links in your post earlier. I was bored 😜. Go to that post and edit it and you can see what it takes. It’s quick and easy. Copy the link to each picture and paste it between the bracketed img and /img like I did in your earlier post.

Watch when you paste it though, sometimes it will want to put a space at the beginning and it will not work until you delete the space.

Holy crap, I did it!😂

[zeus]

Jan 18, 2024 11:38:13 GMT -5 hunter01 said:

Jan 18, 2024 10:58:52 GMT -5 zeus said:

I put the links in your post earlier. I was bored 😜. Go to that post and edit it and you can see what it takes. It’s quick and easy. Copy the link to each picture and paste it between the bracketed img and /img like I did in your earlier post.

Watch when you paste it though, sometimes it will want to put a space at the beginning and it will not work until you delete the space.

Holy crap, I did it!😂

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[stubshaft]

Nice hog and great bullet performance.

[bigbore5]

Switch to the cup or small pins and try for 13-14bhn after pc. It'll still expand a bit, but it's more likely to give an exit on a hog. Stay with the large hp on deer. At least that's what works for me, but I use the 359-640 mold for much of my hunting now. Yours weighs a little more.