Finally shot a couple of 200#+ boar hogs back in April at my place. Using my 357 mag 20" Henry rifle. Both shot at night at 100 yards while holding a large LED light. Was using 16.7 grains of H110 powder behind 158 grain Hornady FMJ hollow points. The book velocity should have been around 1700 fps. Got 4 shots into the first one but had to finish him off the next morning with my 686 +P revolver. The second was shot once in the neck but he quickly disappeared into the woods. Buzzards found him 3 days later.

My conclusion is that this rifle and load does not have near the knockdown power as my 30-06 pushing 165 grain FMJ at 2800 fps. But DUH, I knew this going in! If you recall, I got the Henry cause the 06 was stomping me to death! (I'm 75 years old). But, the Henry is so much dang fun to shoot! I'll continue using the Henry cause most hogs I encounter are not big boars.

Mike

This is a load someone has developed for taking feral hogs from a .357 rifle. He's had good success taking them with one shot kills. I can point you in his direction if you have questions.



Sorry for repeating myself. Just remembered I mentioned this to you before.

Hog bullet, 357 mag rifle

Mike, Rim Rock bullets makes a gas checked bullet you might want to look at for popping hogs. The one most likely to work is their 180 grain LBT- WFN, which is gas checked and they say has a hardness of BHN 22 and should knock a piggy on his butt I would think. They are the people who supply Buffalo Bore with their lead gas checked bullets.

Yeah, but 100 yards?

Consider the bullet is designed for lower handgun vel, you might want to look at 180gr if going jhp or maybe 158gr softs. As you know, even 200# hogs can be tough if not hit well.

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I used a cast 200gr commercial cast RN in 357 carbine years ago, now days I would use a 300 gr LRN 45-70 loaded to 1300fps in the 18" guide gun. This is pretty mild on the shoulder. (I have shot 44mag out of a lever gun that felt worse!)

Remember: E=M times C squared, you need more M (mass)!

Ivan

True, that is known as the mass-energy equivalence but it generally applies to radiation and nuclear energy. Since this is a firearms forum and most of us don't own an atomic cannon, we usually look at kinetic energy

E = 1/2 mass times velocity squared.

My neighbor has this personal vendetta against feral hogs. Listening to one of his rants on eradicating them he said penetration is a must. Your hollow point probably came apart before it hit vital organs. A bullet like bigwheelzip suggested would do the trick. My neighbors favorite hog gun is a Marlin in 44 mag. I own one too and know how hard they can hammer your shoulder.

So envious that you can shoot hogs!
Also a believer in solid bullets.
Just the other day, was looking at some maximum load 357s , 180 grain solid bullets, labeled 'Bear Load.'
I hope this thread don't Turn into a bear thread!
This is a hog wild thread!
Didn't buy them.
But if I had, would only shoot then in my 686 and 27.
I expect if I shot some in my 649, they might hurt me and the gun.
Do you have a smaller caliber rifle?
I see guys on TV using lighter rifles, like the 223 with apparent success.
I encourage you to try other guns and keep shooting hogs.
I wish I could shoot some!

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Add a mercury "Pill" to the back stock of your 30-06 rifle along with a better recoil pad.
You can add another recoil unit in front of the stock on the barrel to reduce even more of the recoil.

Your 158gr bullet has only 683 ft/lbs energy at 100 yards.... the 165 has 2439 ft/lbs.
You can down load a 30-06 180gr to Krag specs of only 2430fps for a 100 yard energy of 2047 ft/lbs that will be easier on your shoulder.

Even though they are a no good Hog.........
They don't deserve to suffer for one to two days to die.

Im experimenting with 110gr bullets in .308 for the purpose of greatly limiting recoil. IT WORKS! , might be worth while to explore that option in .30 06.
Jim

+1 on a cast 180 either WFN or LFN design . I'd try to get closer than a 100yds . Ranch Dog designed bullets work very well in lever guns of pistol calibers . I always try to take out their shoulders & follow up with a neck shot if needed . Hogs is tough.........

I have some 180 grain RNFP I got from MBC that are loaded max to 1350 fps.

I wish I had a 180 grain mold in RNFP. When I cold quinch and powder coat I get a BNH around 20.

Quite a story on the first hog. After the first shot the flashlight went off. I could hear the hog running and crashing into things. By the time I got the light on I could not find him. Then I heard a noise to my right and there he was about 10' away. By the time I got the gun up he was 3' on the other side of the deck railing. I fired from the hip and got him in the side. Next I next saw him he was 30 yards away standing broadside with just his back showing over a small ridge. Put another round in his back. He disappeared and next showed up standing broadside about 50 yards away. Put another shot behind his right shoulder. I threw another shot at his butt as he disappeared into the woods but missed that one. I spent an hour looking after that but couldn't find him. The next morning i found him 150 yards away and finished him off with my pistol. That was one tough hombre! After hunting most of my life plus being in the army stuff like this doesn't make me nervous but it sure was exciting!

Thank you. I saved that image. What I don't understand is why he used a 38 Spl case?? My Henry has plenty of space for 1.60" COL.

Mike, I imagine he was using 38 Special cases because of exceeding max OAL when using 357 Mag cases. That's a long bullet and when loaded to the crimp groove in a 357 case it was probably too long to fit in a cylinder on a revolver. And even if it will cycle through your Henry's tubular mag, it still might be hitting the lands in the barrel when chambered when loaded in a 357 case. That would lead to a very significant pressure spike if they chamber at all.

BTW, those Rim Rock 180 grain bullets look to me like they would have a better profile for a hog round than the RNFP bullets from MBC. Bigger and blunter meplat that should do more damage. It's shape looks more like the 180 grain Pugnose that MBC sells. Rim Rock also has a 230 grain RNFP .358 bullet they sell, but it is meant for .35 rifle caliber usage. I don't think you could load that monster to any significant velocity when loaded into a 357 or 38 cartridge case.

Here's a link to those Rim Rock 180 grain bullets for you to look at: <<<Link>>>

Yes, muddocktor is right.

There is a good thread on another forum where Ranch Dog documents the use of this load against hogs on his Texas ranch.
PM if you want a link to check it out.

I would switch to Hornady 158 XTP-FP in your .357 Henry. The flat point XTP is designed for rifle velocities. Or the 300 Blackout is a soft shooting rifle cartridge and used by a lot of hog shooters.

30-06 too much???

Use reduced loads in the 30-06. IMR 4895 can be reduced by 30 per cent from max and I can get 2200-2400 fps depending on bullet and they are VERY pleasant to shoot.

If you want even less, use SR 4759 (discontinued but I still see it) to get about 1700-1900 fps.

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I load a 158 grain Hornady XTP with 14.8 grains of H110 and this load clocks 1610 fps from my 20 inch Winchester 92. BTW, it's a 1904 vintage receiver that was rebarreled in 357 Magnum by Winchester for a previous owner some years ago and it will shoot at a bit less than 1 MOA with this load.

Concerning the XTP line of bullets Hornady offers the 357 bullets in either Flat Point or Hollow Point variations. For a Hog I suspect that you may want to see if you can find some of the Flat Point version, they are more resistant to coming apart and should, in theory, produce a bit more penetration. As for the Hollow Point version, they are a limited expansion design per Hornady and do work well on White Tail Deer but even better is the difficult to find 180 grain XTP in 357. BTW, just checked and Midway has the 180 grain XTP's in stock.

Don't use hollow points .
Not a thing wrong with the gun or the caliber , just a bullet that is designed to expand and not penetrate.
Go with a heavy hard cast , something in the 170 - 180 grain weight, that should do the trick .
Gary