Load Development for Hog

[Edlebrock454]

Due to modern advances in medicine my mother has recently gone from about a third of her vision to almost 20/20 and she has expressed an interest in hunting again as she used to do it a lot before she went almost completely blind, and she wants to go for a black powder hog this fall in Florida, so she bought herself a TC Arms Hawken and wants me to make a load that is stout enough on the business end of the muzzle yet light enough on her end. I was thinking a mid to heavy conical weight with about 60 grains of FFg, any in put on if this is enough would be much appreciated or a better loading. Whenever I hunt with black powder I start out at 80% max loading and work my way up til an accuracy level is achieved that I find good enough for my hunts most likely scenario and stick with that, but someone of her frame prob wont appreciate the recoil on a load like that. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks.

 

[BrownBear]

You don't mention the caliber of your TC or how big your mom is, so I'm just taking a shot in the dark.

It's been a lot of years since I pig hunted, but back in those days I did about 99% with a 41 or 44 mag revolver. No probs on pigs to around 250 lbs, but careful shooting always. Based on that, I'm not even sure you need conicals.

My wife is 5'6" and about 130, trim but strong. Her pick of all the muzzleloaders in my racks is a Lyman Deerstalker in 54 caliber. It's short and light at a little less than 7 pounds, so prone to boot her some when she corks off heavy loads. Her hunting load is 80 grains of 3f under a patched round ball. Even 60 grains under a conical leaves her unhappy. I don't think it recoils much at all, but she really doesn't like the recoil of the heavier conical, while she can shoot the RB on a larger charge all day long.

I'd sure mess with RBs and charges of around 80-90 grains of 3f in you TC, whether its a 50 or a 54. All my rifles in both calibers seem to like loads in that range, and they certainly whack the snot out of any game we've popped with them. Based on my pig poking, I'm just not convinced you need that conical at all. If your mom isn't bothered by them, carry on. But if she is, there's no penalty in switching to an RB over a stouter powder charge than the conical. RBs really do recoil less while delivering the goods.

 

[lonehunter]

In my t/c hawkens recoil is a lot lighter with a prb compaired to conicles. I see no reason a roundball will not work. That is what im hunting them with this year. :v

 

[paulvallandigham]

Unless she is good enough to take brain shots, I recommend using Conicals for shooting all hogs, regardless of caliber. The shots are invariably close, so you don't need to be sighting a gun to shoot small groups out at 100 yds. What you want is a bullet with a flat nose that will Shock the boar on impact, and will drive through the Shoulder blade, if that is the shot presented, into the heart and lungs. A conical has enough weight and Ballistic's Coefficient to break bone cleanly when it has to do so.

I have killed two hogs, both over 200 lbs., and both inside 10 yds. On the first hunt, 3 of use used RB loads in .50, .54, and .75 caliber guns. All of us, with good first shot hits, had to use a second shot to put the hogs down.

After examining the wounds to each hog, and talking together about the distance for each first shot, we concluded that the pure lead ball just does not deliver enough shock on a torso hit on wild boar.

Oh, the animals would have died from bleeding to death, eventually, but they were a danger while wounded and still alive.

BTW, None of us tried for a brain shot on the boars. I have no doubt that had any of us done so, the boars would have dropped in their tracks.

 

[lonehunter]

Shoot them in the ear and there is no tracking. They fall over like a silhouette target.We use .22 rimfire and put it right in the ear-hole, dont matter how big, they are dead.You have to pick your shots, with all due respect to other post i would not try to shoulder shoot a hog unless i had to. The hide on a boars shoulder can be quite thick and tough to penetrate. I like a quartering away shot, hit the boiler room from a rear angle, or in the ear-hole. just my two pennies worth. :v

 

[roundball]

A .40 / .45cal PRB in the ear will get it done and with little recoil.

If she'll be hunting from a blind or stand I assume they'll be fairly close...and the good news about hogs compared to deer is that hogs are not constantly jerking their heards around from side to side at every little sound.

Get a 33" GM drop-in .40 or .45cal barrel for the Hawken and she'll be in "hog heaven"
:thumbsup:

 

[jmforge]

Here in the Sunshine State, the chance of you running across a 100 pound "meat" sow is much greater than seeing the second coming of Hogzilla. Unless your mom is looking for a trophy, I would leave any bigger boar that still has his goobers intact to someone else. The meat is the consistency of shoe leather and taste about as good. I have only taken them with a spear so far (dog hunt) but my brother uses them to test new handloads for 30-06 and 300 WSM. He goes for head shots so he doesn't blast all of the edible meat all over the cane fields. :shocked2:

 

[gmww]

Maxi-ball for deep penetration might be the ticket. I missed out on the caliber.

 

[John Wasmuth]

Not sure what caliber you'll be using, if it is a .50, I have killed dozens of them with a .490 hornady round ball, a wonder lube .010 patch, and 80 grains of FFg goex. As was said, thump them in the side of the head between the ear and the eye and be done with it. I've killed them with everything from .32's to .58's, all with PRB and none of them went very far at all. No tracking, as was said, when you hit'em in the head.

 

[Hoyt]

I like to use a good stout load of No. 5's on um.....not really, but that's what I killed this little sow with. I was duck hunting that morning with my .62cal. smoothbore... didn't see any come in, so decided to ease around and try to find a squirrel or two when I walked up on some fresh hog root'n. It was in a dried up cypress head with high grass and the sign was so fresh I could smell the hogs. I was about waist high in the grass and looked down in front of me and saw this hog with it's head down in the grass root'n and the hog wasn't more than one long step ahead so I knew I could kill it if I shot it behind the ear...that's what I did and it never flinched.
I use bout anything on hogs...and always shoot them in the head. If I shoot one it's going to be a meat hog...no boar hogs for me...and they got to be easy to get out. I shot a big sow in the side of the head a couple yrs. ago with my .58cal., using 110grs. FF and 570" patched ball. Knocked flat...and it got up and ran into the palmettos about 100ys. and died. They are tough.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

size of the hog and the shot presented are 2 primary considerations. my .50 with 72gr 3F and Lee mold REAL slug has 'sharp' recoil so may take getting used to.
as said before a large older male isn't going to be very good eating.
they are tough. I shot one moveing and hit a little too far back but still drilled both lung tips with a conical out of an ROA - it hauled bacon over 1/4 mile before we found it still blowing blood and administered the coup.

 

[John Wasmuth]

:thumbsup: Smokin The Bacon!