Rethinking my 357 Mag as a hog rifle?
Posted: 27 Sep 2015 17:50
A week ago, I shot a feral hog with my R92 chambered in 357 Mag and lost the hog. The shot was taken at night but with some illumination from my yard lights. It was at 75-yards. The shot was less than perfect meaning I was shooting standing with the forend across a planter attached to the back of my tractor. The hog disappeared into the night without a trace. I did see the hog's direction of travel, about 10 yards worth, before it was swallowed up by the dark. It appeared to be moving straight across an open food plot. I could not find it with a light, nor any sign of any kind. A couple of days later, the buzzards found it and it appeared to had made a large u-turn into some dense brush to reverse its course of travel. The birds we're making too much of a mess to tell much. Now a week later and the hide is skinned by the birds and it looks like the shot placement was as good as it gets, across the top of the heart which does a good job of destroying the bottom of both lungs on a hog as well.
Last night, I shot another nice hog. I shot it while I was standing and resting the forearm on a block of wood I attached to the side of a pecan tree (I've killed literally several hundred hogs using this wood block in the last decade). I was very patient, observing two hogs apart from maybe a dozen others. Just watching them both through the Weaver Scout until one gave me a full broadside profile. Also a hog is not like a deer, it never stops moving even while eating something of great interest. You cannot halt them like you can a deer with a noise. Any noise outside the ordinary causes an immediate bolt from their present position. As one turned perfectly, I settled the crosshairs on the top of her heart and shot. As I felt the trigger release the hammer, I heard the "splat" of the 175-grain bullet and then the boom. The hog was immediately out of sight but I did see the others take a course toward a large pond. I heard a splash but heard a couple of blue herons take flight with their squawking at the same time.
Same as before, no sign of a hit and no blood to determine the course of travel. I went across the spillway and dam of the pond but nothing. I was pretty sure the sounder crossed it. I've had hogs die crossing the dam and they seem to favor the backside into the brush. Probably their last thought is to hit the closest brush. I could see nothing with a light so I turned my three legged cow dog out and she could not find anything either. I always make sure their is no growling or grunting before I use her as she is in a world of hurt if hogs get on her.
This morning I went out early while all the grass was still wet but nothing, no blood. I walked the dam checking the brush side on one pass and then the water on the other. I immediately saw the hog flat on the bottom about two feet under the surface. She was laying on the exit wound side, so I could only see the entry wound but it was about the one inch hole I expect to see. One thing hogs are famous for is both the entry and exit hole choking with cartilage and tissue. The entry hole was choked as described with about 2" worth of tissue material outside the wound. Looking back at the grass, I think the hog was running flat out, just like a heart shot critter does, and started a slow, uncontrolled descent down the bank of the steep dam straight into the water (the splash). Head low, a lot of forward energy, and out of air from a heart not pumping; straight to the bottom she went.
I've shot at least a dozen and a half hogs with this rifle, maybe more but the one thing, it has never done is knock a hog off its feet. The other R92 cartridges; the 44 Mag, 45 Colt, 454 Casull, and 480 Ruger does. They might get up and run but that expends a lot of their body's energy and they don't get far. It also allows that brief moment where you recover from the loss of the sight picture and are back on them. Typically, they are just off their feet, run in place a few seconds while they are on their side, and then are done. That last few seconds of motor reflex, the run, is where I have lost these two 357 Mag kills.
So all this has me thinking the 357 Mag is not making a good backdoor gun for my needs. I think if I was shooting in the daytime, I would at least see the direction of travel. I would have actually seen this hog go into the pond from where I shot and with the first hog, seen the u-turn in made into the brush and then known that it didn't cross a pole-line that leads to my house. Kind of a bummer as the recoil and noise is so mild with the rifle.
Here are the exterior ballistics for the load that I'm shooting.
This is an extremely accurate load and rifle producing that produces groups of less than 1.5 MOA. On the day of the first hog event, I actually had shot the rifle. I had two guys ask if they could use my range early in the day as they were leaving on a WY elk hunt and I asked them just to leave their target up as I wanted to check the R92. I walked out and looking at the 280 Rem and 30-06 Sprfld holes thought, good thing elk are big. I taped over everything thing and took three shots at 100 yards. There was a very stiff breeze from the right that I didn't compensate for and I didn't change a thing as it our nights are very still.
I think what I will do next is go back to my maxx load with my TLC359-190-RF bullet, a bullet that I designed for the 35 Rem but that has shot well from the R92. I use it with 38 Spl brass so that I can get a full length cartridge of the 357 Mag with a match of the crimp groove and case mouth.
When I worked the loads up for the three bullets, I also saved some comparison charts for evaluation.
Once I get it sighted in I will put it on some daylight hogs so I can observer better. Maybe that silly 15-grains of bullet weight will help knock them over.
I'm sorry about the blog rather than a post but I know several members are getting ready for some 357 Mag hunting. I have killed several deer with this rifle and it does knock them off their hooves. They do have a lot higher center of mass and usually turn from the trouble which does get them started over. Hogs are a bit different.
In the meantime, the 480 Ruger is moving up. I need a sure thing the next time the hammer drops!
Last night, I shot another nice hog. I shot it while I was standing and resting the forearm on a block of wood I attached to the side of a pecan tree (I've killed literally several hundred hogs using this wood block in the last decade). I was very patient, observing two hogs apart from maybe a dozen others. Just watching them both through the Weaver Scout until one gave me a full broadside profile. Also a hog is not like a deer, it never stops moving even while eating something of great interest. You cannot halt them like you can a deer with a noise. Any noise outside the ordinary causes an immediate bolt from their present position. As one turned perfectly, I settled the crosshairs on the top of her heart and shot. As I felt the trigger release the hammer, I heard the "splat" of the 175-grain bullet and then the boom. The hog was immediately out of sight but I did see the others take a course toward a large pond. I heard a splash but heard a couple of blue herons take flight with their squawking at the same time.
Same as before, no sign of a hit and no blood to determine the course of travel. I went across the spillway and dam of the pond but nothing. I was pretty sure the sounder crossed it. I've had hogs die crossing the dam and they seem to favor the backside into the brush. Probably their last thought is to hit the closest brush. I could see nothing with a light so I turned my three legged cow dog out and she could not find anything either. I always make sure their is no growling or grunting before I use her as she is in a world of hurt if hogs get on her.
This morning I went out early while all the grass was still wet but nothing, no blood. I walked the dam checking the brush side on one pass and then the water on the other. I immediately saw the hog flat on the bottom about two feet under the surface. She was laying on the exit wound side, so I could only see the entry wound but it was about the one inch hole I expect to see. One thing hogs are famous for is both the entry and exit hole choking with cartilage and tissue. The entry hole was choked as described with about 2" worth of tissue material outside the wound. Looking back at the grass, I think the hog was running flat out, just like a heart shot critter does, and started a slow, uncontrolled descent down the bank of the steep dam straight into the water (the splash). Head low, a lot of forward energy, and out of air from a heart not pumping; straight to the bottom she went.
I've shot at least a dozen and a half hogs with this rifle, maybe more but the one thing, it has never done is knock a hog off its feet. The other R92 cartridges; the 44 Mag, 45 Colt, 454 Casull, and 480 Ruger does. They might get up and run but that expends a lot of their body's energy and they don't get far. It also allows that brief moment where you recover from the loss of the sight picture and are back on them. Typically, they are just off their feet, run in place a few seconds while they are on their side, and then are done. That last few seconds of motor reflex, the run, is where I have lost these two 357 Mag kills.
So all this has me thinking the 357 Mag is not making a good backdoor gun for my needs. I think if I was shooting in the daytime, I would at least see the direction of travel. I would have actually seen this hog go into the pond from where I shot and with the first hog, seen the u-turn in made into the brush and then known that it didn't cross a pole-line that leads to my house. Kind of a bummer as the recoil and noise is so mild with the rifle.
Here are the exterior ballistics for the load that I'm shooting.
This is an extremely accurate load and rifle producing that produces groups of less than 1.5 MOA. On the day of the first hog event, I actually had shot the rifle. I had two guys ask if they could use my range early in the day as they were leaving on a WY elk hunt and I asked them just to leave their target up as I wanted to check the R92. I walked out and looking at the 280 Rem and 30-06 Sprfld holes thought, good thing elk are big. I taped over everything thing and took three shots at 100 yards. There was a very stiff breeze from the right that I didn't compensate for and I didn't change a thing as it our nights are very still.
I think what I will do next is go back to my maxx load with my TLC359-190-RF bullet, a bullet that I designed for the 35 Rem but that has shot well from the R92. I use it with 38 Spl brass so that I can get a full length cartridge of the 357 Mag with a match of the crimp groove and case mouth.
When I worked the loads up for the three bullets, I also saved some comparison charts for evaluation.
Once I get it sighted in I will put it on some daylight hogs so I can observer better. Maybe that silly 15-grains of bullet weight will help knock them over.
I'm sorry about the blog rather than a post but I know several members are getting ready for some 357 Mag hunting. I have killed several deer with this rifle and it does knock them off their hooves. They do have a lot higher center of mass and usually turn from the trouble which does get them started over. Hogs are a bit different.
In the meantime, the 480 Ruger is moving up. I need a sure thing the next time the hammer drops!