Could I expect a quick kill/good blood trail?

[Swampcrawler]

Hi guys. I'm asking particularly about lead bullets out of my 357 maximum. I really want to order some cast bullets from a vendor or member here, but here's my concern.

I know a hard cast will penitrate like crazy. I know a gas checked hard cast can handle the 15-1800 fps of the max. And I know I can put it where it counts.

My concerns are as follows. I hunt public land, thick, swampy, full of hogs. It's easy to get lost in there. And I hunt alone most of the time, and early season is HOT.

If I make a shot in the evening and the pig doesn't expire in sight, il wait till the next morning to track it. I'm not following a wounded pig through a notoriously dificult to navigate swamp, alone, with a single shot firearm. But odds are the animal will be spoiled after an 80 degree over night stay.

I'm just worried that I won't get a quick kill and large blood trail with lead. Can anyone ease my concerns and suggest a bullet for me? I know i seem a bit paranoid but my sense of ethics and self preservation and afraid of new things lol!

[country gent]

A wide meplat on the bullet transfers alot of shock / energy to the game animal. A sharp front driving band tends to cut a cleaner hole also. Think the old kieth style Semi wadcutter. A bullet that completely penetrates makes 2 holes to leak twice as fast. I would chose a wide nosed bullet on the medium hard side ( might allow for some expansion) at a strong accurate velocity. A well placed shot is better than a "magical" bullet any day. Study the hogs anatomy so you know what is where at any angle it presents itself to you. Talk to the vendor no one knows his bullets better than he does. Tell him what you want to do and ask his opinion recomendation. I would also consider heavy for caliber maybe 180 grn in the 357 max to insure the bullet passes thru from any angle.

[Swampcrawler]

Thanks gent. Il contact some vendors and have a chat.

My concern is that those two leaks are only .358 in diameter lol. That isn't exactly a gyser.
Plus I can honestly say that all but 2 of the 15 whitetail and all 3 hog iv killed were bang flop. I guess iv been a little spoiled.

If it were a 44 mag, 44 colt or 45-70 I'd be all for cast I'm just concerned about the small diameter.

[Lead Fred]

With 45/70 EVERYTHING is bang flop

[Swampcrawler]

Ha. I know!! I used a 45-70 contender carbine last year and both hogs and the 150 pound whitetaili got with it were DRT. And two of those shots weren't even marvelous shots lol!!

[jmort]

I would go with something like this from Beartooth Bullets

http://beartoothbullets.com/bulletse...ails.php?id=37

This will smoke anything.

[aspangler]

I would go with something like this from Beartooth Bullets

http://beartoothbullets.com/bulletse...ails.php?id=37

This will smoke anything.

Whoa! That's one NICE hunting boolit!

[40-82]

I know of no bullet or caliber that will guarantee dead right there performance. If you are very close and you know that you can hit the spine or the brain pan, yes, but those are small targets. Your only solution is to stop hunting long enough before last light to give yourself adequate tracking time. I know this is something everyone is not willing to do because you can see to place your shot much later in the day than you will have time for a decent follow up. The 45-70, as mentioned above, is an excellent cartridge which creates a high percentage of instant drops, but not always. I remember one time in particular watching a small doe run after I had made a broad side lung shot at thirty-five yards with a 45-70 using a 420 grain cast boolit. The doe ran downhill 500 yards through an open pasture/hay field, stood for a few seconds, and died. If I had taken the shot too late in the day, and the doe had run toward the woods, I would have lost it. Your hogs are much tougher than this small doe, and this kind of performance is common on even small deer.

[waksupi]

Thanks gent. Il contact some vendors and have a chat.

My concern is that those two leaks are only .358 in diameter lol. That isn't exactly a gyser.
Plus I can honestly say that all but 2 of the 15 whitetail and all 3 hog iv killed were bang flop. I guess iv been a little spoiled.

If it were a 44 mag, 44 colt or 45-70 I'd be all for cast I'm just concerned about the small diameter.

In my experience, a well designed .35 boolit leaves a wound channel of around 1 1/2".

[1Shirt]

Lots of good advice here. BUT shot placement with the right blt will always be the key to a bang flop kill. Suggest you only try standing profile shots on hogs with placement below the ear might produce the best results.
1Shirt!

[DougGuy]

I would go with something like this from Beartooth Bullets

http://beartoothbullets.com/bulletse...ails.php?id=37

This will smoke anything.

+1 on this boolit from Beartooth, these are hard also, around BHN 22. Extend the vertical centerline of the pig's front leg up into the body and shoot him just a few inches above the junctutre of the front leg and the torso. Pay no mind to the bone in this anatomical drawing, it runs at an angle. Just use the center of the pig's front leg as a reference line.

[Defcon-One]

I've got to agree, "45-70"!

The Lead bullet will perform, but the gun needs to match the game. I wouldn't hunt deer with a .22 and I wouldn't hunt hogs with a .357 magnum or maximum, either. If you really feel that you have to, use a top quality Jacketed Soft Point at just below full power loads. I mean, how many are you gonna need?

Even 50 rounds a year will probably drop a lot of pigs!

Personally, I use a Remington 700 rifle in .260 Rem for wild pigs. Why, because it works. It always works!

My neighbor uses a .308 Win for wild cows. Drops them in their tracks.

Match the gun to the game. Especially if you are alone out there with them and they have a willingness to fight back!

[DougGuy]

Uhh JSP would be a much worse choice than the hardcast WFN. OP said he wanted to kill the hog not pi$$ it off.

[Lefty SRH]

I would go with something like this from Beartooth Bullets

http://beartoothbullets.com/bulletse...ails.php?id=37

This will smoke anything.

My NOE mold looks a lot like that boolit. Mine is a PB and weighs 188gr.

[300savage]

Doug guy has the right answer, its shot placement that makes short tracking jobs.
The ONLY thing I would say differently is that I do not shoot for the heart.
I shoot a few inches higher. Right about midline which is closer to the shoulder blade, lungs, spine juncture.
A heart shot hog can still run a ways before he bleeds out, and he will probably die on the worst place "murphys law"
But take out their front running gear and their lungs and he ain't going far at all in my experience.

[Bigslug]

With a .357 Max, case capacity and ability to throw heavy stuff is NOT EVEN an issue. I'd go straight to a 200 grain gas-checked boolit with wider noses, such as the LBT WFN or Accurate 36-200P and 36-205B. Those should deliver all the meat-crushing shock and awe you could hope for.