Tx hog with shot guns, Buck shot a looser.

H

H&Hhunter

New member
Just returned from Tx where I got to do some extensive testing of shot guns on hogs. We killed 16 hogs in two days. Slugs work fairly well though not as well as a hot 45-70. Just about every one needed a finishing shot even the ones hit good in the shoulder.

Buck shot was a complete LOOSER. Out side of about 10 yards 3 inch 000buck is a completeley unreliable killer on hogs. We shot 3 hogs two 150 lbers and one 250 or so all of them ran off with almost no reaction all of these shots were at 30 yards and closer one much closer. Two were backed up and killed with slugs.

To clarify on the slugs we were using 2 3/4 inch one ouncers. In all but 2 or 3 cases (head shots) the hogs took one or more back up shots to put them down. I think a 3 inch mag load would do better.

As a matter of fact I had one of my closest piggy encounters of the scariest kind with a little 200 lb boar in the open. After recvieving a heart shot at about 15 or 20 feet (the last round in my gun)the piggy squealed spun once and came right at me. I was empty and in the process of reloading at the time as we had just jumped a herd of about 40 hogs in a swamp. I just had time to throw a slug in the open chamber and shoot porkey in the spine at real close range. I guess Sept was my month for charges.
 
"Buck shot was a complete LOOSER."

I'll bet that Vang Comp user has something to say about that. ;)

Out of curiosity, what chokes were you using, what loads (brand, shot size, plated, shell length), and how were the patterns with gthe loads and chokes at certain distances? Don't tell me you just went "buck blasting". ;)
 
I concur with ya H&H. I have hunted hog in Florida for over 40 years, and have always found buck shot to be lacking. I have had some success with slugs, but vastly prefer a good 30/06, or 8MM rifle for hogs.
 
Quad,
I know this is shocking for you however, please read the post.

1.As the post says
3" 000 buck
All shots with buck were at less than 30 yards.
one of which was at about 15 yards.

The post did not mention the following,
the shot gun was a full choked 12 GA double.

My thoughts on buck are,
Why limit yourself to buck when slugs are so much more effective.

If it takes the ammount of customizing that you've been describing to get buck to work then it isn't worth my or most peoples time. It's a solution looking for an answer.

Slugs are far more effective on hogs, period. Rifles of adequate power are more effective yet.

Why use buck when there are so many other good projectiles out there?
 
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Kcustom,

3" 000 buck winchester super -X

Full choked stevens double gun

Full choked Benelli super 90

The Stevens was actually patterning tighter than the benelli at 25 yards.
 
As a side note after seeing the poor performance of Buck shot use out of standard guns using commmercial ammo. I wouldn't use Buck shot for bear defense under any circumstances. EVER!!

Unless you've got a highly customized rig shooting highly customized ammo your looking to become the next subject of the bear taste testers buffet.
 
H&H,

Buck Shot for bear??? Hmmm, never thought of that. Can you direct me to any threads about this topic? I'd be interested to see what everyone thinks about this.;)

Shodan
 
Just a few points one full choke is a very poor choice for big shot like 000 since when the big shot is squeezed through such a tight choke it deforms the shot. Espessily unplated soft lead shot, which the Super X brand is. One needs plated shot for deeper penetration and tighter patterns. Also, 3" buckshot loads are really a poor choice, even the plated ones, 2 3/4" loads are actually more powerful for hunting. Let me give you an example,

3" 000 (10 pellet): 700 grains @ 1,100 fps -- 1,880 ft/lbs (188 per pellet)
2 3/4" 00 (12 pellet): 648 grains @ 1,240 fps -- 2,212 ft/lbs 184 per pellet)

These were chronied out of my gun, average velocities. 3" shells just don't have the room for powder since they want to shove so much more shot in there. They would do better just to up the powder and velocity.

Anyway, it really isn't that expensive to set up a proper buckshot gun. All you have to do is buy a Mossberg 835 for around $200-250, and then send the barrel and around $190 to this company, http://www.nitrocompany.com/ , they will custom test your gun with chokes and different buck loads and get you a load and choke that will give you a 10" pattern at 40 yards. They will then ship you the barrel back with the choke and the 10 loads that pattern best in your gun. http://www.nitrocompany.com/pattern.htm
So you can get a custom buckshot gun for only around $400 total. (you could also just buy the choke without patterning, which would only be around $300 total).

This company HAS admitted and recommends their buckshot chokes and loads for hunting kodiak bear or moose (within 45 yards of course). Feel free to e-mail him or give him a call.
 
H&H

I'm sorry I don't think I made myself clear. I am curious as to the types of SLUGS you were using and if you were using a fully rifled barrel, rifled choke tube, or smoothbore. Sorry for the confusion.
 
Kcustom,
Sorry I miss read your post,

We were using two types of slugs and three shot guns all 12 GA.

The slugs I used were 2&3/4" remington 1 ouncers out of a stock 870 20 inch smooth bore slug barrell.I was making good back up shots as far as 80 or so yards out this gun has always been a very accurate slug thrower.

Gun two was a Benelli super 90 with a custom rifled barrell and AO express sights. It gives about 3 inch accuracy at 100 yards and this guy was using a hand loaded slug it was a one ouncer with a bit more omf than the remingtons. I don't have exact numbers for you.

The third gun was another Benelli S-90 with a smooth bore and full choke.

We also had a Stevens double but it was shooting Buck.

Here are some photos.
The first are 4 of eight we shoot the first morning with the Rifled Benelli and my 870.
 

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My buddy with a Benelli super 90 with the rifled barrell and one of the 5 hogs he killed with it.
 

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This is a picture of the sucker that tried to have his way with me. The shot was at about 10yards on a dead run just behind the shoulder and it had angeled down into his heart. I know this because I distinctly remeber a fountain of blood pumping out of the hole as he came at me. The last shot was at RFC range and was almost straight down into the spine just in back of the head. That did it.

The thing that bothered me is that niether one of these slugs exited. I'm told that a good slug would have.

My .45/70 would have sorted him on the spot. No question about it. My .375 would have turned him inside out.
 

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Quad,

"This company HAS admitted and recomends their shot for use on Kodiak Bears and Moose"

Weatherby used to recomend the .257WM for use on Big bears too. I don't think that a company endorsment carries much weight do you?? After all they are trying to sell you something are they not?

Here's what it boils down to. With the right equipment and the right gun and the right ammo it is possible to force buck shot into service if all other factors are perfect. But it really doesn't make any sense to do so. Unless you just really want to.

There are so many superior vehicle for delivering a projectile to a big critter that make buckshot use unneccesary.

Once again if you really really want to use B.S. (Buck Shot) than go ahead. Nobody is stopping you. But please spare us the theoreitcal reteric. Paper balistics are no match for real life experience.

A Volkswagon bug is a Volkswagon bug wether or not it has a Baja kit on it. ;)
 
The thing that bothered me is that niether one of these slugs exited. I'm told that a good slug would have.
Click to expand...
I've killed a couple dozen deer with Brenekke slugs. I have never had one let me down. I grew up hunting in MA and the only things you can use are slugs and buckshot. QuadOught is in MA that is why he is so hot on buckshot. Hunting with centerfire rifles is extremely limited there, if not outlawed all together.:( :mad:
 
Hello again, H&H. I'd like to second the recommendation for Brenneke slugs. They are made very hard indeed - much harder than the typical US Foster-type slug - on the theory that they don't need to expand, since a .729" hole is plenty wide enough already! This means that their penetration is greatly increased. As I've commented on another thread some time ago, I've seen slugs used against buffalo in Africa. The Brenneke's did a pretty good job, and would penetrate all the way through a buff on a side shot, but the Foster-type slugs simply weren't up to the job, and performed very poorly. Also, in Alaska, I know several guys who carry 870's stoked with Brenneke's as bear medicine, and they confirm that the Brenneke's performance on bear is far superior to the Foster-type slug, giving much deeper penetration. If you haven't tried Brenneke's on your hogs, how about laying in a few boxes for your next hunt? (A side benefit: in smoothbore barrels, they seem to be generally a bit more accurate than Foster-type slugs, perhaps due to the rifling engraved into the slug's driving band.)

Thanks for an interesting and informative series of posts. Wish I'd been there to share the fun! When I get that new .45-70 of mine sorted out, perhaps I can invite you and your buddies to try out our Louisiana bush hawgs...

Speaking of which: this reminds me of one of the funnier hunting tales I've heard. A couple of years ago, an elderly gentleman was hunting in one of our local forests. He took careful aim at a deer about 80 yards away, and clean-missed it, hitting instead a large hog that was rooting in a bush to one side of it. The hog didn't appreciate this inhospitable treatment, and took off running through the brush, with said gentleman in hot (well, lukewarm...) pursuit. After a few score yards, the hog broke into a clearing in which stood a Forest Service pickup, complete with ranger standing next to it. The hog dashed past him, goring or biting him in the calf as it went, and disappeared into the brush on the other side of the clearing. Cursing as he fell to the ground, the ranger drew his .357 Magnum revolver and emptied it after the hog (to no avail). Unfortunately, he'd forgotten that on the other side of the brush was a regional road, and travelling along it at the time was a local lawman, in his official car, which collected a .357 Magnum bullet through the rear window. Braking to a halt, this worthy officer called for backup, assuming that drug-dealers (who grow their weed in the woods around here) were after him. Help arrived swiftly, and half-a-dozen officers broke through the brush into the clearing, to find the ranger sitting on the ground, trying to stop the bleeding from the hog's attack. While they were all standing around trying to figure out what had happened, along came our earlier protagonist, the inaccurate elderly gentleman, asking them all plaintively "Has anyone seen mah hawg???" The local sheriff, who told me the story, couldn't stop laughing...
 
Preacherman,
I am aware of the superiority of the Breneke. We just didn't happen to have any with us. I've used them in AK as well I've just never killed anything with them. I have however seen a hog killed with breneke's at close range. And guess what?

Yep that's right no exit wounds. That was on a small 100 lb class boar. The shot was from a stand at something less than 20 yards raking from rear to to front.

The hog did depart this world most expiditiously however. I am very dubious as to the penetration quality of any slugs. I guess I should have been from Missouri because I believe in the show me concept.

I am not doubting your word.
 
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