I have posted recently about soft versus hard alloy in .30-30 hollow point cast bullets for pigs. My preference is for the hard alloy version, which I am using again after a period of testing softer bullets.
For both hard and soft the object is to limit penetration to what is useful, whilst also creating lateral damage. A softer bullet (3.5% non-lead) with a drilled 6 gn hollow achieved a similar result to a hard bullet (11% non-lead) with a 10 gn hollow. In neither instance was there any evidence of bases “shattering”, an outcome that was predicted for the hard bullets.
I have been of the mindset that the hard bullets were better at knocking the pigs down, but the most recent experience was an exception to the knockdown expectation. It did however provide an example of the penetration of these hard HP bullets.
The situation was a mob of pigs coming to a carcase at night. The carcase itself was finished, but the pigs were digging up the site for insects.
This is most of the mob.
The bullets (hard alloy):
Velocity for the hard bullets is 2200 fps, and bullet weight 176 gns.
With NV equipment it is possible to make a very precise shot at an undisturbed pig, but seldom more than one shot. At the shot the view is immediately obscured by IR reflection off the smoke, and the field of view is restricted. If I want more than one pig I have to look for a “double”.
My shooting position was about 40 meters from the bait.
After some waiting, an opportunity presented for a double. It could have been a triple but the bullet was not going to go that far. This is the last frame from the video before the whiteout of the shot.
At the shot there was the usual pandemonium. Pigs ran in every direction and put up a lot of dust. To my disappointment there was nothing on the ground. Whether one or two kills, they had lost themselves in the dark in the scrub. Reviewing the video however confirmed that the aim was good.
On looking more closely I can see that in favoring the double I aimed a couple of inches further back. Further forward would have got the shoulder joint and certainly put the pig down, but then it might have compromised the double.
This was shooting for pest control, so finding the bodies could wait for daylight. Yesterday I got back out and found both pigs. One had gone 33 meters, and the other an extra 40 meters. After a few days in the sun they were no longer fit for photography or for close examination.
