I am seeking silence AND power. I have done a lot of reading and keep looking at ruger american tranche rifle in 450. I’ll put on my hybrid 46 and thermal. My question. Is have any of y’all shot the 350-400 grain subs on pigs? How was performance. I know head neck is dead, but sometimes they are walking or partially spooked and you have to poke the shoulder. My current rig just makes a boar squeal and run... give me your thoughts gents

Subsonics are always a major compromise. Head and neck are NOT always dead. Subsonic 400 gr slug is going to have quite the ballistic arc.

What is your current rig that is failing you so bad?

And there it is.

You can't have both.

I shoot a 300blk sbr, hybrid 46, pulsar thermal. For me CNS shots have always been dead. I am referring to traditional heart/lung shots on bigger pigs. Even with super sonic 300blk requires CNS for recovery 90% of the time.

Speed plus bullet weight and bullet performance kills.

You stay sub-sonic, even with heavier bullets you are limited to range and killing ability... So CNS shots are more certain DRT shots.

Doesn't matter what you use, if you are sub-sonic, you have to hit hogs in a certain spot with a certain bullet weight to have a bang flop.

For awhile, I was shooting hogs with an air rifle. .357 caliber, shooting 145gr Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets at around 800fps. They would bang flop a boar really well out to 100 yards... With a CNS shot.



Same rifle would put one of those NBT clear through the boiler room of a boar, but you were gonna track it.

BTW< that rifle was about the noise level of a 22lr because it was integrally suppressed. Powerful and quiet. But still needed a CNS.

Most of my hunting now, I use a .308 165gr SP. I don't like chasing shot hogs.

Will your thermal sight handle the recoil of a 450 Bushmaster?

You're defeating the purpose of the 450 Bushy by going subsonic.

As for shot placement....shoot every hog (offering the shot) high in the shoulder or in the center of the neck just in front of the shoulder when using heavy bullets. You won't have any problems dropping them.

Currently I shoot only one load Sub or Trans-Sonic from my .458 SOCOM and that is a hard-cast 540 gr.

Everything else (250 grain and up) I shoot pretty much maximum pressure. My staple round is a 405 gr. Jacketed Soft point, but I shoot a variety of 300 gr. bullets.

I use the 540 grain hard-cast at feeders where I know I will have several hogs 'lined up'.

The advantage of shooting a Big Bore cartridge (at reasonable distances) is the shot 'angle' almost doesn't matter. You will get adequate penetration on all but the biggest hogs and 'stem to stern' penetration using hard-cast on ANYTHING.

IMO going subsonic, suppressed, heavy bullets....would be fine if you were clearing buildings in Afghanistan. But if you want to kill hogs use the cartridge as designed.

You can still put your suppressor on it....but I'm sure you already know....large bores are more difficult to attenuate.

Cool gun and nice pig

I am fully aware that subs lose energy because of lost velocity. I completely understand direct correlation. But some areas I am allowed to hunt it is a must!!! I was interested if anyone had tried black butterfly, Lehigh, or any of the other expensive options

You don't need expansion with the big bores. If you absolutely have/need to go subsonic, then go hard-cast with a gas check, keep your shots under 125 yds (100 and in preferable) and shoot for the center of the neck or a high shoulder shot. They'll drop right there. I've killed many, many hundreds of hogs with just such a shot and bullet.

I'm guessing you'll be hand-loading your own?

You may have to experiment a little to see what your barrel will stabilize for best accuracy, but I'd think you could probably shoot up to 300 gr bullets (maybe better). Use something with a wide Meplat.

https://beartoothbullets.com/bulletselect/index.htm

I'm shooting 458 SOCOM....but not a lot of difference.

Thanks for the input. Part of our deal is we get up to under 75 yards typically. I looked at bear tooth’s site and only see .451 bullets. I didn’t see any that would work in the 450bm, did I miss something

Yes, look under 45 LC/454 Casull and you'll find the .452 bullets in weights you'll want. I'd look at 300-325 gr. bullets but you might be able to go heavier. Just see what your barrel twist rate will stabilize.

Presumably you have a Chronograph you can shoot them across. I shoot the a 540 gr. Piledriver right at trans/subsonic. I can load it faster but there really isn't any return for the generous increase in recoil. It will shoot through as many hogs as you can get lined up the way I load it now. My dedicated hog stands are 100 yds from the feeders but I sometimes get closer shots.

That sounds like just the ticket! Thanks flint

Da Nada.

Knock 'em dead!