150 grain ballistic did not do him in

I had been stalking this tusker for several months, but he always stood outside the green lights of the feeder. Finally had a shot at him and took it with my Weatherby .308, using 150 grain ballistic. It was only about a 50 yard shot and I knew I hit him in the left shoulder, which usually brings them down for me. But I found nothing, no blood trail at all. Searched for over an hour in the dark, which was a bit nerve wracking. Anyway, my buddy shot him two nights later as he came limping in to the feeder. Sure enough, there was a wound in his left shoulder (not shown here). Man, our Texas hogs are tough. Guess it just didn't penetrate the shield?? Or the bullet fragmented. Not sure. Upon further investigation, I have read that it is probably best to use 165 gr or maybe 180 gr. Any thoughts?

I dunno.

I use 150 and 180 grain bullets (Hornady Interlocks - nothing exotic). Which bullet depends upon what gun I'm using. I can't say I've ever felt undergunned with the 150's. In fact, I reload for a buddy's .30-06 and I'm planning to switch him from 180's to 150's because when supplies were tight, Hornady kept making the 150 grain SP bullets while they suspended the manufacture of the 180 BTSP's I'd been using. The 180's are again available, but who knows what the future will bring? Anyway, so far the 150's have worked fine for me.

Typically on a shoulder shot to a hog that weighs 150 Lbs or less a 150 grain SP bullet exits.

I'm shooting a .308 also.
--

Years ago I blasted a 400 pounder with my 270 and a first generation 130 gr Nosler BT. Dropped him. Bullet stuck in the shield/cartilage in the far side.

I've taken hogs with 130 grain in .270 win, 150 grain in 30.06, and 165 grain in .308 win. The bullet should have taken care of it.

At 50 yards it doesn't surprise me it didn't do its job. Most of the time it will but ballistic tips are not made for short range. At short ranges they will either open up too quick not allowing adequate penetration or not open up at all causing "in and out" needle wounds. I have seen both.

Geez, here we go again with the baloney about short range and Ballistic Tips. That big hog I shot was at 50 yards. I put the bullet right behind his shoulder at approx. 3000 fps, and note that I mentioned it was the first generation version of that bullet. I have shot hundreds of deer at varying ranges from 30 yards to 400ish yards (with that bullet) and I have never (to my knowledge) had one fail me if I placed it well.

I will admit that when I saw that monster hog, there I was with my 270 and that was the first time I ever wondered if I had brought enough gun. That hog was huge. But, ya dance with who brung ya, so I shot him and he went down hard.

Still, and I shouldn't have to say this, you have to match the bullet to the game. I won't shoot a deer with a 55 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip or any varmint type BT. The bullet I use now in my 260 is only 100 gr, but it's a Nosler BT. The 250 pound hog I shot some time back was plenty dead when I hit him with that at 75 yards, with a bullet speed of approx. 3100. Didn't blow up. Worked just fine.

It would be helpful to see where you actually hit. That close and fast may have shattered the bullet, deflected it, etc. Depending on where you hit, you may have hit very heavy bone.

Agree with DNS, it is hard to know what might have happened without being able to look at the wound site.

But for future opportunities...I would offer only this: (Circumstance Permitting) ALWAYS take a 'neck shot', stay off of the shoulder. I think you will be pleased with the results.

Nice hog, keep after them!

Flint.

The 150 ballistic in .308 should be more than enough for the job. I would guess that, in this case, it was more about placement. I'm more about head shots and neck is good too. Too much seems to go wrong more often on shoulder shots on hogs. Their vitals are lower and further forward than a deer. A shot "behind" the shoulder can miss all vitals.

ive shot the Winchester ballistic silvertip in my 25/06 for 15 plus years , deer , hogs, rams its my go to rifle . always caught slack from my hunting buddies and guides about it. heard the storys of deflection on impact , it finaly happened after 15 years of using it , shot a nice buck at about 65 yards aiming at the heart , he done the hi leg kick like a mule , thought he was done . nope tracked and trailed for a week even with a dog looking for him . pulled cameras after season and low and behold there he was with a nasty scar on his shoulder but least he lived , all I can figure is that at close range the bullit did not stabilize and deflected , least that's what ive been told.

I'm not trying to make a ballistic tip stink, but I have not had good luck with the ballistic tip bullets. I agree with JCB on the in and out needle wounds. One year I tried deer hunting with them using a 300 mag and shot a big buck twice in one sitting and lost him. The old man next door found one of his sheds that spring and it was the side with the 13" teardrop drop tine with a little bit of black velvet still stuck on the end of the drop tine. The buck had exceptionally long brow tines, too. Needless to say this was not a hard buck to recognize and so the buck lived to see another season. I hunted him the next season and killed him 100yds from where I had shot him the season before. You don't have to believe this if you don't want to. I never had a problem with good soft point bullets. I have killed a jillion hogs with a 55gr .223 soft point. Some of the 300+ lb. hogs took a double tap. If you can get them head on you can drop them in their tracks if you'll just shoot them between the eyes. I've got a picture on here that shows this. That's a 40yd shot with a .223 55gr soft point and that hog never moved at all after the hit.

I've never had good results on heavy tissue shots with ballistic tips. Get you some fusion or partition bullets.

yep still shoot my 25/06 but did change to soft points .

I would guess that, being a ballistic tip, the bullet entered, fragmented into pieces in the shoulder and didn't make it past the (probably shattered) scapula and into the vitals?? Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't ballistic tip, bthp match, and varmint bullets designed to fragment and not penetrate deep? I'd think the bullet just didnt make it past a thick hide, tough gristle, and dense shoulder bone.... Even though it is a .308.

Over 1000 hogs have died at my hands using ballistic tipped 120sst's most under 50 yards. While they will grenade sometimes up close its usually devastating. I think this was just one of those times when luck was on his side, kinda like these stories you hear of people surviving when the parachute does not open. But this bit about ballistic tips not working is pardon the pun hog wash.

I think where everyone gets this ballistic tip is bad is from v-max or similar fragmenting bullets. You do realize ballistic tip is just to improve the ballistics of the bullet during flight, not to make it an exploding bullet right??? Look at the ballistic tipped barnes bullets they are not fragmenting bullets. So yes fragmenting bullets like the v-max are not ideal on hogs, SST's, Barnes tipped, ect are just fine.

Well I've used Vmax and they are designed for thin skinned, lighter boned animals. But I've also done a bit of reloading over the years and used Nosler Ballistic tips for a while on Missouri deer and a few hogs. They suck. I'm not saying you can't kill them but when the fragment on impact you may get 8 holes through the lungs. You may get a nasty muscle wound on the shoulder.

Again those are fragmenting bullets that has noting to do with the tip.

But he asked about the "ballistic tip" and that is what my responses are based on. Not a solid copper bullet with a plastic tip or a bonded style bullet with a plastic tip.

A plastic tip is a ballistic tip.

They consist of a fairly normal hollow-point bullet with the frontal cavity filled in by hard plastic, which is molded into a streamlined shape mimicking the shape of a spitzer bullet. Upon impact, the plastic drives into the hollow point, or fragments into small pieces and the bullet performs like a regular hollow-point, expanding ("mushrooming") to a larger diameter or fragmenting. The end result is a bullet with the streamlined characteristics of the spitzer bullet and the increased terminal mushrooming of Jacketed Hollow-Points (JHPs). These bullets possess the aerodynamics for longer, more accurate flights, and the in-target performance to ensure high lethality.

"Ballistic Tip" is a registered trademark of Nosler, but numerous other companies produce similar projectiles, including Hornady[1] and Sierra.

Again there can be fragmenting plastic/ballistic tipped bullets and mushrooming plastic tipped/ballistic bullets the tip does not decide the fragmenting part. So the response should be fragmenting bullets should not be used on thick skinned /boned game. Not to beat a dead horse but it is a irk of mine when people label something wrong. Many people will miss out on bullets that actually out perform older bullet types because they hear a plastic tip is bad!

T/L makes an important distinction above. I would concur with all of it.

Not all ballistic tip rounds are created equal....or more accurately maybe, the same. I still doubt the round was the issue.

The high ballistic coefficient ballistic tip bullet was designed to travel with the least resistance as possible. With the help of its aerodynamic polymer tip it does gain some BC, but it does minus out the solid front portion of the bullet. Thus creating a rapid expanding hollow portion of the bullet that just so happens to be in the front of the bullet. This being the initial impact point it is similar to a hollow point. If it has a bonded thicker core it will end up in some form of mushroom, but not the form of mushroom I want to hunt with. It does shed a lot weight retention. I studied these bullets ten years ago with hopes of good things. Ive used the Swift scirrico, ballistic silver tip, and the SST, but not the SST inner bond. That plastic tip does initiate the expansion, but bonded or not the weight retention is just not there for me. I will gladly give up some BC for some good old fashion lead knock down. I had a .308 that would shoot lead spritzers in the same hole at 100 yrds, so this gave me the confidence that I needed to not change over to the tip. When I did try the SST on white tails there were big entrances with shallow travel. And for the ballistic silver tip??? I think its so thin jacketed that it just sheds its jacket and zips right through them. Ive heard countless horror stories about it. The bonded scirrico was very accurate for me compared to the others, but the kill shots were not great for me. Ive learned that second guessing my better judgement usually ends up in failure.

I keep shooting deer and pigs and looking to see if I get any sort of odd or unacceptable expansion or lack thereof. Always I shoot Nosler Ballistic Tips, and I shoot the critters behind the shoulder, and I get nice little entrance holes and quarter sized exits. Same old same old, for a couple hundred deer and half that many hogs. The only precaution I take is to try not to shoot through any leg bones.

Decades of using that bullet and no problems. I can't reconcile that with what the complainers are seeing, other than to assume that they are having problems with bullet placement. That's all that I can guess because it seems that we are using the same bullet, if it's the Nosler, which is the heavier jacketed version of the first generation of that bullet. And, my bullet placement isn't always that great, but the deer seem to still die. I'm thinking that most of the bullet 'failure' problems aren't due to the bullet itself.

Shot placement is still king!

+1

+2

Started to not comment on this thread...felt like I needed to dispell some bad history info but FWIW here goes JMHO & YMMV.

1st Gen Nosler BT's were notoriously thin skinned grenades when fired at anything wearing fur at approching +25-2700 fps IMPACTS. BTDT and TMI of my personal experience, that is hanging on the wall above me right now, for here right now. I did not shoot anymore NBT's for 10= years after that...until I had a heart to heart with someone from a sister company to Nosler.

The Delrin polycarbonite Tip's sole initial purpose was to protect the bullet from deformation from hard recoil INSIDE the magazine of the rifle. The NBT is the same basic design as the old "Red Box" Flat Base SP's, that were famous for getting beat up inside the magazine. I bought a bunch of 270 130gr FBSP's on the last production run 5-6 years ago from the Nosler Pro Shop (& still have the same problem I always did with bullet tip deformation) as my T3 270 puts them all in the same hole...wish't I'd bought a K of 'em, but who knew...Oh Well.

The 2nd Gen bullets beginning with 308 diameters had a redesign to a more sturdy jacket in "bullets designated for game & not VT's" , to respond to constant consumer reports of "blowups & or failure to penetrate" at High Velocity Impacts. This was 20+ years ago (** 7-08 120gr'ers & supposedly 6.5 120'gers at the request of the handgun 600 yard steel target guys that use 60-80+ of the production got Nosler to use the thicker 140gr jackets about 5 years ago but still have a recc'd Impact V Range of 1800 - 2900fps) and was to extend eventually down the caliber line as far as 264 & 257 diameters - I'll find out on the 264's after I burn up the last 100ct box of Sierra 120gr SGK's I have that have always given me virtual No Mo Step's DRT's....and why you don't see any light for caliber Accubonds, that use the same heavier jackets + a bonding agent as the NBT's are s'possed to have. So if you see a NBT-NBST & a NAB in the same bullet weight, then both s'possed to have the same heavier 2nd Gen jacket no matter the caliber.

Combined Technology Corp owns the trademark for NBST's and they usually have a MV enhancement coating is the only difference I'm told...and has been my experience in buying Blems from the Pro Shop.

In the past I have had issues with soft bullets at times, from very up close & personal distances on hogs, but the worst was needing 4 Rbt's 100gr WW factory soft aluminum silver tips to finish off a little 125-130 lb'er boar, after wrecking his shoulder at 50 yards on a miss placed headshot, punching both lungs, one at a time at closer and closer distances, and finally venting his skull cap with a 3rd eye at 30 feet when he charged me as I was trying to get untangled from a Briar thicket with finger thick canes ... so I am not surprised, or disappointed with the 30 cal 150 gr NBT in the OP's experience.

Sounds like he got the bullet into BOTH the Shield & the shoulder joint socket...BTDT too...but usually with a max fast Speer Hot Core or Grand Slam out of a 270 in 150gr'ers. I don't like shootn'em at 30 feet when I can't get loose to climb a tree.

My last up close up hog kill came when he ate a Factory 165gr Remmy CorLokt, that travelled 2-3 feet across him from clipping the outside of his left hip, breaking his last 3 ribs on the front-left side, stirring his HVAC system to soup & breaking his right front shoulder joint, but with no exit, out of 30'06 at +/- 27-2800??fps...but he waa running away from me at 40-50 feet instead of coming after me ...and I still had to put a 2nd round in him to get a final DRT.
Ron

Wileycoyote, I have a partial box of the good old 130 grain Nosler Solid Base Boattail bullets for the 270. If that's the bullet you truly like the best, I'll be happy to send them to you. All my pet loads for the 270 are now with the NBT, so I won't go back to the old bullet. Just PM me with your address and I'll send em on to you.

As for the 120 grainers for the 260, I have a sack of em and they have done a real good job on anything I've used it on. Interesting to know that they have a slightly heavier jacket. Right now I'm using the 100 grainers, and they do fine also, but don't seem quite as effective as the 120's. The deer run 50 yards instead of 15 yards before hitting the ground.

And just to say it, so that all will understand that the Nosler Ballistic Tip isn't something that I'm completely focused on, SST's are loaded for the 308 and I use Sierra GK's some too. All fine bullets. I do think that the NBT's might be just a tiny bit more accurate than most others, but I can't prove it. And nothing I've shot with the NBT's would have been any more or less dead if I'd used any of 10 other good bullets. And a while back I loaded up some Sierra 140 gr HPBT bullets for my late Dad's old Ruger 270 and they were extremely accurate. I was really surprised and pleased. I'd use that bullet without a moment's hesitation, if I didn't have a big sack of Noslers.

Hogs are just tough animals.. I had a 280lb hog take a 230gr 35.rem to the shoulder at 75yrds and made it another 100yrds before he tipped...

really cool pig btw id do a rug mount with that one

603...I'll be happy to use those leftovers...but I'd think you could almost substitute them interchangably with the same weight NBT's and not see a 1/4" difference in group size if they were mixed together at under 200 yards.

270 130gr Red Box FBSP's have a .404 BC, according to my Nosler #2 Manual, and the 130gr NBT's BC is .435 in the Nosler #7 book...or about the difference 'tween a FB & a BTail. Check it out and I'll get back to you when I start loading for the 270 in a couple weeks after the weather breaks.
Ron

This is a fact.

The part that always bothered me about the ballistic silver tip was the bullet box itself. On the back it said these shells are recommended for thin skinned game and showed a picture of a white tail. Wow thin skinned game. Are we trying to kill the skin or the animal? This told me that these shells may have issues with penetration. After all what are we hunting with them. The white tail or mule deer on the box. Those are some thin skinned animals for sure, but whats on the inside. That's what Im worried about. Bone, meat, cartilage, internal organs. If I want to hunt rhino Ill buy some solids, that's not confusing. I found myself wanting to put the shells back on the shelf. I want to hear something like, for deer and similar sized game for deep penetration and a good mushroomed bullet picture on the box. I can kill big or small game with any kind of bullet made, but I don't want anything coming out of my bore that leaves me with a insecure feeling. Thin skinned game says to me WARNING READ THIS. so we can cover our rears. Hey they look cool though. I honestly dont know what they do to the deer and Im not ever going to shoot them again. I cut one long ways to dissect the bullet. It was thin skinned with a hard core. This I do know. Thin skinned bullet for a thin skinned animal? no thanks

There are some sizable African Antelope up to 2000lbs that are ranked in the General "thin skinned game" category....along with Elk, Moose, etc. Lots of Elk are killed every year using heavy BT's & BST's in 30'06's.

The name is an Industry standard description that conotates " NOT For Use on Critters That Bite Back" aka DG or Dangerous Game.

In the pile of 9.3x62 stuff along with the CZ 9.3 American I just sold a neighbor was a couple box's of old 250gr Green Tipped Ballistic Tips I'd planned on using on Elk or Black Bear. The 9.3 BT's got discontinued 'cause some DA's were using them on Cape Buffalo and whining about no One Shot Kills, and almost getting stomped and gored into fajita meat in the process...so Nosler dropped the green tipped stuff and turned them into AccuBonds at twice the price.

Dawaba will tell us that 9.3 is marginal small for Daga Boys anyway, but an old friend has run a similar soft point 9.3 bullet plumb thru a Thin Skinned 2000lb'er front to back and side to side on another one.
Ron

Wiley, the bullets I have are not the flat based ones. These are the boat tails that were replaced by the Ballistic Tip. They probably would shoot to about the same POI, but I'd have to shoot some of them to be sure of it, which is too much trouble. If you still do want them, just tell me where to send them. Otherwise they'll be taking up space in my overloaded bullet crate forever.

They are pricey too. The thin skinned thang is educational. thanks.

Use 150gr soft points in .308 and normally they drop and dance. Not many exits either, which I like.

603, I appreciate the offer, but for the moment I'll pass and work on the 900+ 270's I got on the shelf & the same kinda space problems you do apparently. Sold off the 9.3x62 and might get rid of the 300WSM too to concentrate on just 2 or 3 at most calibers. 2/3 calibers is plenty to keep up with no more than I get to shoot or hunt anymore...just need to decide which 2 to keep running. A 260 and a 270 are too close together in usefullness at least on paper. So I'm not PLANNING on buying ANYMORE bullets right now 'til I figger this out.
Ron

WC, I'm pretty sure I never said that. I've never owned a 9.3, nor have I shot any game with one. From what I hear, the 9.3 will do anything the .375 Holland will, providing both use similar bullets. It is apparently very popular among Continental sportsmen as a favorite African caliber. Gun writer John Barsness actually prefers it to the .375 H&H. I shot both of my cape buffalo with the 300 gr Nosler Partition with the old Holland, and both were killed quite dead to my satisfaction.

I have used the Ballistic Tips on quite a few whitetails in 120 and 140 gr .284 caliber, as well as 100 gr out of the .25-06. I cannot recall whether any hogs have fallen to BTs out of my guns, but I wouldn't have any qualms about taking on even a big boar with one (just so long as the bullet isn't labeled "varmint").

The largest animals I have taken with Ballistic Tips were both shot with the 140 gr bullet out of my ULA .284 Winchester. They were a west Texas aoudad and a Wyoming Bighorn ram, both animals about twice as large a big Texas buck. The BTs did their job, as would any standard cup and core bullet. For bigger, tougher animals, I've always been a Partition fan, and I'm too old to change now, although I'm growing fonder of the Barnes TTSX each time I use it.

I love Nosler Ballistic Tips in 270 and 7mag. Remember it's the angle of the dangle that matters. Place the shot correctly and the dead animal dosen't know what you shot him with...

Whatever happened to the OP?

Dawaba, My apologies if I have misquoted you. My memory is not well focused these days with the other family medical issues taking the bulk of my time and interests.

Yes I am aware of Mule Deer's interests and thoughts concerning a 9.3x62.

I'm sure the OP has gone on to better subjects.
Ron

Ive tried several types of ammo with my 308 and setteled on Hornady Interlocks. I prefer an exit wound and ballistic tips are not going to give you much of an exit wound.

And to think I have killed em with a 17hmr???

Ive run them down with a 22 ruger pistol and killed them, but it aint easy. Ear shots on a hog that is running now that's a challenge. Have even spine shot a few with the 22 while grazing.

No worries! I think it would be fun to pick up a 9.3x62 and work up some loads. It would be a blast to try it out on a coastal grizzly this Labor Day. But I'll likely take a .338 WM or maybe my .300 WM, stoked with Nosler Partitions of course.

One of my 2 pigs one shot kills came from 150gr Nosler BT.

I used them almost exclusively until I started casting. Most of my boolits are now lead but still use BT in my 300 wm. Never had a problem.

I shoot a 308 and use 150, 165, 180 grains, eberything from ballistic tip,fmj, core lock. My focus is to make sure I am sighted in with the ammo. BUT ALWAYS TAKE A FOLLOW UP SHOT, OR KEEP MY GUN ON THE PIG READY TO FIRE UNTIL I AM SURE IT IS DONE.

These wont fragment.

Those are the copper alloys. You like those? Never used them. I was always scared they were too hard even though they had a hollow front. Ive used the nosler partition and the front would shed, then the base would tumble erratically through the body. Usually the exit would be nowhere near inline with the entrance. I shot a buck with a 130 grain .270 NP in the shoulder broad side and the base came out at the back of the gut on the opposite side. It also had a huge exit hole in the front of the chest. Kind of freaked me out. Don't want to blow the horns off. Im sure the GMX is a more UNIFORMING bullet. That's not a word cause it aint in the dictionary.

Dawaba, find my old friend and mentor, the TuffPak guy from Bedford, and ask him about his adventures with the 9.3x62. Mention my name and location. Please say hello for me to his wife Karen, too. He's been using one for a long time and made more than few trips across the pond with one, and other of his extensive bag of toys. That's what mine was bought for, and it or I never got to go.
Ron

But, but, but... They're ballistic tips! They're gonna splode on impact! /sarcasm

I wanna find a black box of ammo with the words "tactical" and "ballistic tip" on them... Oh and it would have a green ballistic tip too. That way it would armor piercing and explode on impact with extra tactical deadliness...

Jk but fwiw any box of ammo hat I've seen marketed as "ballistic tip" has either been a varmint round or a rapidly expanding round meant for thin skinned game. That's how I came to the (wrong) inference way back on page 2. I thought that when it was marketed as "ballistic" on the box I thought It was the cool way to say that it's a fragmenting round.

Don't feel bad about him getting away. I had the same thing happen to me a week ago. I shot a broad side (quarterly slightly to me) 150-200 lbs hog at 170 yards with my 30-06 using 165 gr Rem Core-lokts and he got away. I shot right behind the ear, he dropped, about 5 seconds later he started flopping and was able to make it to his feet. He trotted off and stumbling. I tracked him in the snow for 500-600 yards with a good blood trail and never found him. I finally had to stop tracking because it led to Corps land. I couldn't believe it. This has never happened to me in my entire deer, hog, varmint hunting career. I have used the same gun and same ammo with great results.

Hogs are tuff animals. A lot of people always say shot placement shot placement, but we do not have control of the bullet after it leaves the bore and impacts the animal. People like to assume that we making bad shots and it always is a possibility, but it is not an exact science. When a bullet hits bone it can glance off in all kinds of directions. Sometimes not ending up where you expected it to. And some animals may be a little more juiced up on adrenalin or rutted up not realizing theyre even hit. Also a pushed animal can run a long way on just fumes. I shot a 400 pounder one time and it took 5 shots to the side to kill him. He just kept getting back up.

sure wont fragment, but ive had several that wouldn't expand either.

On the real, good info. I studied all the ballistic tip bullets when they took off and was left with a lot of questions with all the options I had to choose from. I looked at the GMX and TSX and saw that barnes had some unopened bullets that were recovered from testing. This led me to think that the copper alloys were a pretty hard mixture. Double lung a deer with no rib hit with one of those and you will need a miracle to find him. Not my preferred shot but Ive seen people that aim behind the shoulder. I aim high on the shoulder for the knock down and if they move around I give them another. I haven't had to track one in a long time. That copper alloy may be a good one for a shoulder shot on a hog. Ive never used them.

It sure would be helpful if you included caliber, load data, and shot distance with that claim, don'tcha think?

Don't know who the message was intended for, but the article I read about the copper alloys was in a guns and ammo magazine. This was back when we didn't just ask the computer how something works. I only remember them testing the copper alloys in a 150 grain 7mm and .308 diameters in standard loaded cases. The specs on powder cases didn't matter to me because they were just a standard load. And the distance was at a practical range that didn't alarm me. The pictures of the retrieved projectiles said it all for me, and that was that the copper alloys didn't always mushroom out, so I wasn't concerned about buying them or even loading some up. This was about ten years ago. The pictures did make an impact on my brain. All the rest was thrown in the gutter after I saw what I wanted to see. I've never used them, but out of the ballistic tip type of bullets that I have used and felt like I had some confidence with was the Swift Scirrico. I shot the safari load rem 150 gr. in the 7 mag. I did shoot a buck with one of these rounds at a solid 300 yrds. and he dropped down and got up then ran about 40 yards. It was a leg to heart shot just under the shoulder. Those rounds would give me 2 in groups at 300 yards with a sporter weight Winchester model 70 with trigger work, floated barrel, and a 6x18x50 bushnell scope. That's fantastic in my world. I quit shooting the belted magnums not long after this because ammo prices got out of control. Its been a while.

Barnes TSX and TTSX are proven hunting monolithic rounds (TTSX is basically a TSX with a ballistic tip) that expand reliably and consistently as long as you don't exceed the performance parameters (e.g. too low fps).

I don't really see why, the answer lies in the fact that if you don't hit something hard with them they will not reliably expand.

165 grain Hornady GMX
300 WBY
Max charge of H4831
Hog probably around 150-175 lbs.

Assumed double lung never recovered. Found small specks of blood for about 200 yards till a fence line. 100 Yard shot with good rest under a feeder.

Same load and similar shot as above but found that one. Very small entry/exit and a long sparse blood trail.

Shot a spike buck with it and hit the neck bone dead center and his head nearly fell off. Shot another hog straitgh through both shoulders and he was dead on the spot with a lot of internal damage and a decent exit. If you don't hit something hard/big bones, there is not telling if it will function right or not.

Well, I was planning to take this advice, but the hog didn't cooperate. I spotted a sounder Wednesday evening crossing a pasture. They were headed for a wooded area and I had to hustle to get into shooting position. I reached a suitable spot just before they went into the woods. Several hogs milled around a little before wandering into the trees, and I decided this sow offered the best possibilities. She was quartering away, and I was lining up for a shot to the neck which would have exited somewhere in her head when she suddenly turned to face me. She put her head down to root and I figured I'd better take the shot before she decided to disappear. She was about five yards away from the tree line, and roughly 120 yards away from me.

I aimed for the center of her forehead, missing that by an inch or two. The bullet impacted her right eye and the hydrostatic shock fractured the skull above the eye socket, sending fragments above the eye outward. The bullet exited her neck and then passed through her right foreleg. She went straight down and didn't move again.

The bullet was a 150 grain Hornady Interlock SP — a basic cup and core bullet.

One less hog in Lee County today!

The heart girth measured 32 inches, indicating a weight of about 120 pounds.
--

Nice piggie, nice shot. Congrats.

i dont understand why more people dont shoot em in the head/ear. i know it might be a smaller target, but with the "shield" and all the other side effects of shooting them elsewhere, this seems to work best for me whether its a ballistic tip, core lock or whatever runnig down the ear canal at 3000f/ps seems to have a definite effect on them just my o2

Confidence...thats why...small target that moves alot

Exactly Right! I took the head shot a couple of posts up because that's what was available. Normally I go for whatever I think has the best chance of a sure kill. In the past that's often been shoulder shots because, with a .308, it'll knock their socks off. I'll probably take Flintknapper's advice and aim for the neck when the opportunity presents itself, but I don't want to take a chance on missing if I can help it.

I consider myself an average shot at best. I am NOT a super marksman, and I need every advantage I can muster.

Not to try and prove anyone wrong about bullets or such....but, I have killed 3 big boars over/at 300lbs in my life. All three had bullets in their shoulders from previous shots and all seem to be 30 caliber bullets. One of them was a barnes mono bullet. I don't know the distances that the hogs were shot from. The one that I got mounted had 3 or 4 bullets in it's shoulders that did absolutely zero damage to it. After shooting a couple big boars and not recovering them, I have resorted to only shooting them in the neck. Since I have done this, I have killed the last 3 I shot.

Now with this said, I have bought a case of .308 in the Winchester razorback XT load (Mono bullet). Next opportunity, I am going to shoot the big boar in the shoulder and see if the bullet does what they claim.

Disclaimer: I shoot Winchester BST in my 30-06 and Hormady SST in my .243, but these are for deer and antelope only. When I hog hunt with these calibers, I use cup/core bullets like Hornady Interlock and Remington Core Lokt and do head shots on big sows and neck shots on big boars (save the skull for mount). Any hog under 150ish, gets shot in the slates usually.

Gentlemen, Wow! I posted this weeks ago and forgot to check back. It is truly amazing how many of you have replied, and how many different opinions there are out there. I love this forum for exactly those two reasons. Appreciate all your replies.

I've only killed one hog with a rifle everything else bow.

30-30 150 grain in the shoulder and she dropped in her tracks.

125lb sow I'm sure boars are tougher.

Unless you are shooting a .22 or buck shot at long range, the shield really isn't a significant issue, certainly not to a centerfire bullet at 3000 fps.

The "ear" is a smaller target, often on a moving head as noted, located at the rear of the skull where the skull is thickest (and the only part where it may be actually thick), and so shots are fear to miss or glance. And that is another facet. Like the shield, people believe that hogs have "really thick skulls" and think that rounds will glance off of them because they are thick. The skulls are not really thick except for the occiput at the rear of the skull that can be thick, but it is on the back of the head, not the sides, front, top, or bottom. If a shot glances, it is because of the angle of incidence/impact, not because the skull is really thick.

And while it may be an issue of confidence, I have watched confident shooters miss.

Here is the shot of a confident shooter on a nearly stationary hog at less than 100 yards using a 3x scope on a .308. This hog ran and was picked up with subsequent body/chest shots.

Understand that a lot of your "experienced" hunters hunt with pie plate accuracy that they consider to be good enough for "the boiler room." Far too many don't bother to properly sight in their rifles or change ammo before a hunt and can't count of very good accuracy that would be needed for ear shots. Others don't know where to aim to compensate for drop in order to make such a shot. They sight in and practice at a given distance and then try shooting at some radically different distance, often with poor results.

I cringe every time sometime says they are sighted in with "minute of hog" or that their gun is "accurate enough to hit a hog at 100 yards." Heck, I had a keyholing rifle (worn barrel) that could hit a hog at 100 yards - could be the head, leg, butt, but you could hit a hog with it, not that you would know where.

I don't know if this one was supposed to be in the ear or behind. Either way, it missed the ear and failed to kill the hog. The round just went through soft tissue. Looks like a near perfect shot that perfectly failed. I killed this hog, apparently months after the first attempt had been made.




Sure, and sometimes they will run and some will run for quite some distance. A well placed shoulder shot that does not hit the spine can still result in a hog that runs 50-100 yards with a blown heart or lungs, potentially with little or no blood trail. I figure that 50-100 is about normal for this placement, if they run. Some will get farther.

I hadn't really given it much thought, but I rarely get as good a blood trail from hogs as I do from deer. Most likely that has to do with the bullet I use and where I place it. The shield on the off side of the pig is stopping the small bullet I use. The good news is that I don't generally have to do much tracking, so I haven't needed the blood trail.

And one other thing to mention is that over the years that I have hunted hogs (about 15 years, versus about 55 years for deer), I've used my 270 with 130 gr bullets, my 260 with 120 and 100 gr bullets, and my 220 Swift with 63 gr and 55 gr bullets. With the 270 I most always got a blood trail. With the 260, I got blood trails from the 120 grainers but not with the 100 grainers. Never got any blood trail with a 220 bullet, but did have success using that 63 gr Sierra to kill pigs. Soooo, generally speaking, the bigger the bullet the more effective they have been for me on hogs, at least when talking about blood trails. I shoot them behind the shoulder.

For the last several years, I've just gone with the 260 and the 100 gr bullet (Nosler BT) for all my hunting. Works fine on deer, pigs, and coyote here in central Texas. If I was hunting bigger deer and pigs, like we had back in Louisiana, I'd go back to the 120 gr Nosler BT probably.

I'm not saying that one caliber or bullet is better than another. I'm just passing along my observations on what I've used and how they worked for me.

I have better luck with ammo that creates more impact within the animal than pass through. No need in tracking them if their dead.

That doesn't always work.

It does for me unless it is a low shock bullet like a slow mover, but not too fast either. I have good luck with the 3000 fps neighborhood. Too powerful and Ill be crawling around like a tracking dog looking for specks of blood. Too slow with low shock and you've got low internal damage and no blood trail with no exit hole. I want the bullet to do its maximum potential in the animal that's where it really counts.

[quote=Double Naught Spy]
Understand that a lot of your "experienced" hunters hunt with pie plate accuracy that they consider to be good enough for "the boiler room." Far too many don't bother to properly sight in their rifles or change ammo before a hunt and can't count of very good accuracy that would be needed for ear shots. Others don't know where to aim to compensate for drop in order to make such a shot. They sight in and practice at a given distance and then try shooting at some radically different distance, often with poor results.

I cringe every time sometime says they are sighted in with "minute of hog" or that their gun is "accurate enough to hit a hog at 100 yards." Heck, I had a keyholing rifle (worn barrel) that could hit a hog at 100 yards - could be the head, leg, butt, but you could hit a hog with it, not that you would know where.

[quote]



Preach it!

Do people really hunt with pie plate accuracy? Ive heard of old men talk about it, but with todays modern technology it would be hard to shoot that bad, even if you had some low end equipment. Im sure there are people out there that don't have some good guidance and would accept pie plate accuracy, but I think that if you've got some decent gun knowledge, you would know better.

Years ago, I was shooting at the Garland Shooting Range, and the middle-aged fella next to me was checking his zero prior to deer season. With him was a teenager I took to be his son. He was shooting a .30-06 in an old battered bolt gun with an old battered scope.

With my spotting scope, I took a peek at his group. It was around 4" or so but was so far to the right as to be nearly off the paper at 100 yards. The boy asked his dad if he knew how to adjust the scope to move the grouping to the left. The dad responded, "Nah, I'll just allow 8" to the left when I aim at the deer."

So they started packing up their gear, so I offered to adjust the scope and see if it would adjust far enough to the left. The man declined the offer and said that he never touches a scope; he just memorizes where the gun is hitting and takes that into account when he's aiming.

True story.

The good thing is that you were nice enough to offer and have a good conscious. Some folks are a little hard headed. When I was a kid my friend had an iron sighted pump up Crossman pellet. He would always aim low and right. He hit every thing, but I knew this just wasn't right. His dad wouldn't even sight it in for him. We were young, so we didn't know how. Didn't take long to learn how though. I have hunted with people that had bad vision, but if they could get on target they shot real good. My eyes have weekend over the years but haven't failed me yet. Ive never had to wear glasses, but can tell that they are changing with age. Ive been fortunate. That same boy that used to hunt with that the low and right gun was an awesome shot with a deer rifle. I sat next to him on a rock mountain down in Llano and watched him shoot a buck a long ways away at the age of 12 with the gun resting on his knee. Ive seen grown men that couldn't pull that off. He died in 1999. RIP Roy.

I did some guiding back in the early 80's. I got to meet some very bad shots. I'd say that a very small percentage of hunters are very good shots. Most are mediocre shooters at best, with a rifle that might or might not be sighted in well. Don't assume that most folks are good shots. And to make matters worse, too many folks shoot 'at the deer' and not a spot on the deer. I think bad shooting is more the norm than the exception, which is the first thought I have when somebody posts that they hate this or that bullet because the deer or pig "ran off when I shot him".

^^Agree^^

Funny story, I used to know a man that would go down to the local gun range and do some shootin. He said that there was always this cop there shooting his sniper rifle at paper targets. He would always be shooting using the aid of sand bags and the concrete bench while shooting his high dollar super heavy bull barrel rifle. The old man asked the main city cop sniper of a town populated with about 100,000 people if he would shoot the old mans M1A iron sighted rifle free handed in the standing position at the 200 yard metal dong. He gave him the rifle and the cop didn't hit [censored] but the ground. The old man got the rifle, reloaded it and the old man shot the dong till he emptied the clip. So if the cop was considered a good shot what was the old man. A more experienced shooter? a more practical shooter? Is the bad guy always going to be like the paper target, like a stone? no he is not. I would want the old man on my six over that cop any day of the week, because when the hell comes down it aint going to be sitting still. Just like wild animals don't sit still.

What about the guy that can shoot on his belly, seated behind a backpack, off a fence, a tailgate, a truck window, kneeling, and offhand and can repeatedly hit more than lots of folks can from a bench?

I know some guys...

I rarely go to the range, but when I do its normally with a friend because Im not a member. I usually just check my zero and that's it. One time there was this dude that had some of those man shaped paper targets set up at the hundred yard mark. I asked him if he minded if I shot at one of them with my model 700 .223 and he said it was ok. I caught him looking after each shot I made with his spotting scope at my hits. I shot an eye hole and then another eye hole and then a nose hole and then I made a smile with about 5 shots. I made a smiley face on his target. I

It is hard when your ammo doesn't cooperate, but you can still git'r done...

My web service is weak Ill keep trying to download video