If you will be hogging in Ga, you might want something bigger........

http://sonofhogzilla.net/photos.html

This is a real hog shot about 25 miles south of Atlanta

Before you invest in a bullet mould for your 625, you might want to make sure you can chamber the loaded round with the bullet of choice. Some of the newer 625's will not chamber the 452424 loaded at normal length (and you do NOT want to deep seat that bullet in the small AR case). John Taffin ran into this:

http://www.sixguns.com/range/sw6252.htm

I have two 625's (625-6 5" and a 625-8 JM Special 4"). I have yet to try one of the heavier bullets. However, I cast my own and will be trying Lyman's Cowboy Bullet (250 gr RF #452664) to see if I will have the problem with either of my revolvers.

I normally use my 625's for target shooting, only, and use the H&G #130 200gr SWC for that purpose.

I have no doubt, that if a 250 will chamber in my revolver, that it will do a proper job on hogs at reasonable range. All of my "big game" have been taken with the .44 magnum, so I have no personal experience with the Auto Rim on big game (it works just fine on Wabbits, tho' ).

Dale53

The loads I posted will work in a M625-6 or a M625-4. I don't know about the newer stuff, but I don't see why they wouldn't fit them as well at the OAL I posted.

Here's my 625-6 with some 270 gr for it.

Paul5388, using the ACP brass & the 625, what hunting load is most accurate in your gun? What components?
B.

Beruisis,
I have tried Pauls load in the 45 super case using the fullmoonclip and i like it,My personal load in my 25-2 and 625 is the 255 grain Keith Style SWC on top of 14.5 grains of 2400 in Remington AR cases with a heavy roll crimp and a Federal standard large pistol primer,these print under 1 inch groups at 25 yards,I have used them on deer and hogs with complete penetration and full caliber wound channel throughout,my bullet is cast in a Lyman #454424 mould,it has a large meplat and delivers bone crushing power and shock to the central nervous system.
here are my chronographed velocities with the 255 keith from the 25-2 6-1/2"barrel vel.1137fps avg.ext.sprd 11
625-2 5" barrel vel.1083fps avg,ext.sprd 11
I think this load pretty much duplicates the original Keith load in the 45 colt using the above bullet and 20 grains of 2400.Either case the ACP,45Super or the autorim will safely handle this load and it is still in the +p 45 pressure limits of 23,000psi,which S&W makes strong 45 acp/autorim revolvers.Hope this helps and paul thanks for the 45 super suggestion.I like it and it works well.
Equalizer

A lot of the velocity numbers are going to heavily depend on the OAL that has to be used for a particular bullet. The Oregon Trails 255 gr LSWC needs to be seated pretty deep (1.23" OAL) to get the front driving band to fit the chamber. OTOH, this 270 gr NEI/Ohaus bullet



can be seated at 1.363" OAL and with 13.0 gr of 2400 will produce 960 fps.

The RCBS .45-255 SWC looks like this at 1.263" OAL.


It has a shorter nose than the NEI bullet, even though both weigh 270 gr in my alloy. Elmer was a pretty big proponent of bullets that were longer in the nose, with more weight forward, for longer range shooting.

Equalizer has given a good report that's probably more indicative of the potentials than my old eyes are capable of. There are a lot of bullets that will shoot pretty good at 25 yards, but at longer ranges, their accuracy falls off.

Another factor is pressure. The short squatty bullet will of necessity take up more case space, which in turn raises pressure. As an example, the OT 255 gr bullet mentioned above clocks at 1045 fps with the same 13.0 gr of 2400. A lighter Lee 240 gr Tumble Lube (TL) clocks 910 fps with the same load at 1.27" OAL and an even lighter 195 gr Lee TL only clocked 905 fps with the same load.

So, when you ask about components, it definitely makes a difference, in more ways than one, whether you're using a true Keith type or a plain ordinary SWC.

Paul & Equalizer, Thanks for that information & pictures. That is exactly what I needed. One area I frequent is around Mineola, just north of Tyler & have popped many little porkers with whatever I had in my 1911. There are larger ones out there that I want to hold out for, along with deer. So once I do some casting, reloading & testing....I'll be ready for them with the 25-2 once fall gets here.
Many thanks!

Just as a FYI, the RCBS bullet, seated at 1.263", is too long to fit in a 1911 magazine.

I just went out in the front yard and functioned checked the RCBS with 5.0 gr of Bullseye and 6.0 gr of Unique. Both shot pretty good, so it doesn't have to be a warhorse load to use this bullet.

Use enough gun is always good advice.

I talked to a friend who hog-hunted a while back with a .45 acp load doing better than 950 fps.

He recounted how a hog was hit in the snout -- and the bullet did nothing but run underneath the skin of the snout and exit out the top of the hog's head...

He was pissed off before -- and you can guess what this "scalping" did for the situation...gasoline on the fire...

My friend is convinced that .45 short case loads won't have the velocity or mass to reliably make a killing shot on a hog...

If you insist on hunting with this load -- and you're on the ground -- you might really get yourself, a friend -- or a dog badly hurt if using them...

It's very ill-advised!

If he had shot that hog at the base of the neck it would have been a dead hog. A person has to know a little bit about the anatomy of the animal being hunted before success can be achieved.

Here's a dissected hog that shows the proper kill area, which doesn't include a nose shot.

http://www.texasboars.com/anatomy.html

Meant respectfully, and at the risk of sounding like a scaredy-cat, I've had my share of run-ins with hogs at night, on the ground. Shots aren't always perfect, and that holds true even in daylight. Thick brush deflects bullets, hogs often don't stand and offer picture-perfect shots. Even a rifle shot to the vitals may not drop a hog quickly enough to keep someone or some dog from being injured. Spend a midnight tracking session with a flashlight in one hand and a big pistol in the other following a fan-shaped trail of nice, bright, bubbly lung blood for 200 yards in the yaupons, and your idea of what is enough gun for a given circumstance may change...

While the base of the neck shot is a little low, it's still a killing shot, as can be seen in the picture.

quote:

It is widely understood or rather miss understood that a wild boar is some sort of super armored beast that is almost impossible to kill. Amazing campfire stories are told and repeated of how well placed shots on the beast fail to bring them down. It's not that the animals are so tough, rather, the kill zone is so small!
YEAH YEAH YATTA YATTA,, I know about the ARMOR PLATE,, GET OVER IT,, it ain't bullet proof! The so-called ARMOR SHIELD is tough and it can be thick, but despite the ol-wives-tails it is easily penetrated by both bullet and proper broad-head. A .22 Rimfire will consistently penetrate through a 2 inch thick shield of a wild boar. I tested it OVER AND OVER AND OVER,, SO,, all those stories of bullets bouncing off a hog is just bunk. I have killed many large boar with small .224 caliber through the shoulder area,, although I DO NOT recommend the average hunter try it!!

After last year I've come to the decision that the 45,either ACP or Auto-rim is no sure hog-killer. I shot a 250 pound Russian Boar at 40 yards, downhill moving. I was using a 10.5 inch Super Blackhawk(44Magnum) with heavy handloads consisting of a hardast 240 SWC, 22.5 grains of lilgun. I goofed and didn't aim low enough to account for the downhill shot. as it was, the bullet clipped the tops of both lungs, shattered the spine and exited. It still took one behind the ear to finish him.

You can see it. goto;www.premierhuntingoutfitters.com , click on Gallery. I'm the one with the Blaze-orange Tee-Shirt and Browning hat.

To quote Forrest, "Hogs are like a box of chocolates...You never know what you're going to get..."

Use enough gun -- for whatever angle you have to shoot from...

Or you might be burying a good dog -- or buying a plastic leg at your local Prosthesis Mart...

Hogs don't shock -- from what I hear. You need both velocity -- and mass -- in your loads...

Anything else is foolhardy...

And yes, a .22 will kill a hog -- if you can sweet talk him into posing for you while you put it in his ear...

(But the funny thing is, you can't always count on his enthusiastic cooperation with your plans... )

Use enough gun -- and the right gun. The .45 rim isn't either...

Can you kill a hog with a .45 rim?

Probably...(And do your little "I told you so" dance"...)

Should you? No, not responsibly...

You owe the hog -- and all of your hunting party -- a clean, quick, as-certain-as-possible kill...

You have no idea what size hog you're going to run into...

Hog hunting can get furious and furry -- fast...

Go ready for whatever...