Your opinion on 300 fireball for hogs

[worksalot]

I am going on a hog hunt in Feb to Alabama. The guys I am going with are recommending no less than a 308 rifle for hunting them. I would like to take my 300 fireball as this was the reason for building it(and I wanted one). I will not be hunting suppressed and will be using it supersonic. I have several loads worked up. 150 spitzer @ 2000, 125gr spitzer @ 2300, 130gr barnes ttxs @2300, 110 nosler bt @2400. What opinions do you have as far as 300 fireball(supersonic loads) for hogs. I am using 16inch m1a upper Ar. Of course anyone can chime in but I would like some real world experience answer from folks that have done it. Thanks. I will be taking my 308 along also but rather use my 300.

[LouBoyd]

Are you going after 100 pound hogs or 1000 pound hogs? Annoying a hog instead of killing it is a bad idea.

[worksalot]

The biggest hog these guys have seen and harvested to my knowledge has been a 300lb hog. I would rather not annoy one either. So I figure 300lb or less...I don't know this will be my first time. I read about guys using the 300whisper with subsonics o hogs I figured the super sonics should work??

[tdale4]

I am going on a hog hunt in Feb to Alabama. The guys I am going with are recommending no less than a 308 rifle for hunting them. I would like to take my 300 fireball as this was the reason for building it(and I wanted one). I will not be hunting suppressed and will be using it supersonic. I have several loads worked up. 150 spitzer @ 2000, 125gr spitzer @ 2300, 130gr barnes ttxs @2300, 110 nosler bt @2400. What opinions do you have as far as 300 fireball(supersonic loads) for hogs. I am using 16inch m1a upper Ar. Of course anyone can chime in but I would like some real world experience answer from folks that have done it. Thanks. I will be taking my 308 along also but rather use my 300.

Shot placement is the key. what ranges do you expect to shoot? If under 200 yards I think your fine with the .300 Fireball

I have taken large hogs (300#) with 5.56 so I'm sure supersonic .300 fireball, which is essentially equivalent to 7.62x39, will work just fine

Last year I took a decent sized hog with my .45ACP Carbine at 50-75 yards, it was a DRT shot. I built my .300 whisper to do the same job, but do it quietly:grin:

http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww41/tdale/1.jpg

[TexAgBQ81]

I have harvested hundreds of hogs of various weights from 10# to 440# with everything from 22lr to 7mag the most critical is shot placement. Most were harvested with a 223 loaded with a 40grain nosler balistic tip (prior to my 300 whisper). I would have no problem with the whisper with good placement. i would suggest shoulder shot quartering away or in the ear.---- but i would not like to upset my host in case i wanted to be invited back.
good hunting and take pictures.

[Rikky Lee]

125 BT need good bullet placement and can fail on shoulder shots - the Barnes X 130 grain is worth the money for supersonic shooting.

[worksalot]

Hey guys thanks for the input and it is all well received. Tdale4 nice pic and very cool 45 rig, btw i have been told it will be nearly impossible to get a shot over 125yrds that puts my slowest load at about 17xx fps and 9xx ftlbs of energy with the 150 sst...the 130 barnes look abit better but all are close. Texagbq81 point well taken, I don't want to upset the apple cart, these guys are nice enough to let me tag along. I am going to ask if it would be a problem, if so no problem I will take the 454 rifle and my savage 308...But I would really like to be able to see and show some terminal ballistics with my 300. Rikkylee, I have the 130 barnes and they shot fine, I have about 30 left should be plenty to take with me, I also have the hornaday 150 sst that push 2000 fps 10ft from my muzzle I thought that might be a possiblity also. I had read on a hog hunting sight that the recommended shot placement was an area from the top of the front shoulder into the center on the neck up to about the back of the head, I believe it was to take out the spin, does that sound like a good shot placement for the 300 fireball? I shoot alot of paper and red coat targets and have laid waste to a couple hundred prairie poodles but am really looking forward to this hunt with my 300. Thanks for all of your input ...keep it coming

[snipecatcher]

Pigs aren't as tough as people make them out to be. I see no problem with using super or sub-sonic 300W loads for them. I've seen poorly placed "spray and pray" type shots from an SKS drop 4 large pigs out of a herd (10 shots total). This was with wolf FMJ. A well placed shot to the head, neck, or just behind the shoulder will kill a pig, even with no expansion. It's not ideal, but it will work.
-Dan

[worksalot]

Thanks for the input Dan. I have thrown the question out on a couple other forums also. I have done some load data work-up, and chronyed my load at 100 yrds to see the actual velocity(did make me abit nervous about flinching with my chrony sitting out right at my target). i am getting 2000fps from the 130gr barnes ttsx @100yrds so that should put the energy at 1000ft/lbs+-. The game/ballistics charts show max animal size around 215lbs...And here is a pic of the jewell fresh from my redneck camoflage closet.http://i930.photobucket.com/albums/ad143/worksalot2010/300fireball.jpg

[Fritzcat]

That is a nice job on the camo. Your ballistics match up to the 762x39 that I use on hogs, Wolf Military 124gr HP. That round will do a number on them. You can look over a AR15.com, outdoors, hog hunting, and look at the 762x39 hogs and see what this round did to one shot square in the shoulder. It never moved.

[worksalot]

Well I had sometime today to build my redneck terminal ballistic indicator....see picture attached. You might notice most things i do are (redneck)
http://i930.photobucket.com/albums/ad143/worksalot2010/redneckballistics.jpg

This is its condition after completing the testing but you get the idea. the wood is 1inch rough cut pallet lumber from Mexico(I have no idea but it is harder than pine). 6 boards are spaced about 1 inch apart, next is a steel belted radial. The shots were from left to right at 100 yrds. here are the results.
45 long colt 240gr xtp 1600fps penetrates all wood but was lodged in the tire tread upon entry--no expansion
454casull 250gr xpt 2100fps penetrates all wood and both tire treads lodged in dirt- expansion after it hit dirt.
300 fireball 130gr 2250fps ttsx barnes penetrates all wood, both tire treads left 1 petal behind so I assume it was expanding.
300 fireball 125gr spitzer 2200fps-penetrates all wood 1st tire tread and jacket gets lodged in inner tire underside of second tread.
300fireball 150gr sst 1950fps penetrates all wood 1 tire tread and was lodged exiting 2nd tire tread showed good expansion and retaines most of weight.
300fireball 208amax 1000fps subsonic penetrates all wood and 1st tire tread bounced off scond tread inside of tire and was laying inside tire. All tests were done at 25 degrees F. So what do you think:nanabang:??

[Fritzcat]

The tire will require too many plugs to put back on your car, it will be easier to get another for $15 at Bubba's, he is cheaper because he operates out of his ga rawge, duh!!! Good info. I have not loaded any super-sonics for my 300W.

[Fritzcat]

Is that a Nikon Scope on your AR 300W with a BDC reticle? What range does the marks match-up with sub-sonic?

[Titleiiredneck]

I have shot a few hogs behind the house with the whisper and worked well. I was using a 175 amax at a estimated 1350 fps "chrony went under during katrina"

most were neck shots at around 150 yds but i did shoot one in the head with a 220 smk and it did penetrate well through her neck. You sound like you are on the right track but instead of the tire i suggest using a metal paint can filled with gelatin " aka jello" that will give you more of a simulated hog. You would be suprised how whimpy they are once you penetrate the hide and any bone

example

try 3 boards and then a gallon can of jello.

I hunt ms and pa only so i also suggest you find out a few more things.

1 can i use over a 5 round mag?
2 can i use a metallic cartridge during muzzle loading/ primitive weapon season for hog only?


hope you have fun!, there are a buttload of hogs around here and you should bring alot of ammo:o

[worksalot]

First oh all let me start by saying thanks again for looking at this thread. I am very excited about my up coming hog hunt and working with my whisper/fireball. Yes the scope is a nikon with bdc. It is the muzzle loading version with 5inches of eye of relief. I have it sighted in for the 125gr/130gr bullets at 100yrds. The subsonic 208 amax bullets point of impact at 100yrds on the 9x setting is at the top of the post(what would be the wide part of the vertical crosshair) under the bdc circles, if you have looked through them you probably know what i mean. I don't have a can yet so I set it up for hot loads that may change in the future. Titleiiredneck...I would love to try the jello thing but I don't think the kids would understand why I wanted to use their jello to shot at...I won't even attempt to relay what my girlfriend might say. She thinks I am half nuts anyway, she tells me from time to time she wishes she got as much attention as my guns and reloading....I wanted to tell her I wish she were threaded for a silencer....but thought better of it.:grin:

[martineta]

I own a hunting lodge in Paraguay. My Paraguayan target shooting buddies had me bringing 300 whisper barrels from Thompson for contenders and encores for ten years. I bought a 300 barrel for my encore and use it in Paraguay and Arhentina to shoot Feral Hogs. I use 150 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips. My buddy loads them to shoot at 2400 fps using H110 powder. I have not had a crip yet. One hog shot high in the shoulder ran 200 yds. The rest were head shots or heart shots. Head shots kill instantly and heart shots within 20 yards.