MCgunner
Member
I shot a near 200 lb boar Monday night and butchered him yesterday. Of course, when you butcher, you get to observe wounding where you can't see any other way. I shot him with my "pig gun", now has 5 pigs to its credit. The shot was about 30 yards. The gun is a 20" sporterized SKS shooting Wolf 154 soft points which are cheap, but have served me well. I just don't see the need to handload any more hunting ammo for this gun considering how effective the 154 grain imported stuff has been.
This pig had a thick gristle plate on him. Boy, that bullet DID open up on that plate, massive internal damage below the shoulder, less so at the exit than the entry. It did, however, fully penetrate and exit and I didn't recover any bullet. The bullet traveled just below the spine, didn't break the spine, but the pig dropped in his tracks. I'm thinkin' I might have clipped the aorta above the heart, but I didn't really look for that when I gutted him.
The more game I shoot with this 154 grain soft point stuff, the more impressed I am with it. I see no need to go on any sort of reloading development campaign with the rifle. To add to this, the rounds are more accurate than lighter bullets, giving me 2.5 MOA which is more'n enough considering night hunting ranges in thick woods. Longest pig shot I've made with it is 50 yards. I shot a deer with a handload 25 years ago with it at 80 yards and that load only shot about 3.5 MOA. It was a neck shot, too.
But, I don't need my sub-moa rifles for night hunting pigs and I do appreciate the chance for a second shot on multiple pigs should I be given the opportunity. The combination of lack of recoil and the semi-auto function of the gun gives me that.
This pig had a thick gristle plate on him. Boy, that bullet DID open up on that plate, massive internal damage below the shoulder, less so at the exit than the entry. It did, however, fully penetrate and exit and I didn't recover any bullet. The bullet traveled just below the spine, didn't break the spine, but the pig dropped in his tracks. I'm thinkin' I might have clipped the aorta above the heart, but I didn't really look for that when I gutted him.
The more game I shoot with this 154 grain soft point stuff, the more impressed I am with it. I see no need to go on any sort of reloading development campaign with the rifle. To add to this, the rounds are more accurate than lighter bullets, giving me 2.5 MOA which is more'n enough considering night hunting ranges in thick woods. Longest pig shot I've made with it is 50 yards. I shot a deer with a handload 25 years ago with it at 80 yards and that load only shot about 3.5 MOA. It was a neck shot, too.
But, I don't need my sub-moa rifles for night hunting pigs and I do appreciate the chance for a second shot on multiple pigs should I be given the opportunity. The combination of lack of recoil and the semi-auto function of the gun gives me that.
