The attached image is of a boar I shot yesterday with .30-30 cast HP. Overall length is 58" and weight estimate by the tape measure method 212 pounds.
It was not a good shot, which makes me all the more pleased with the result. The pig was in rapid retreat, well obscured, but through an opening I managed to get one into him. Entry is around the diaphragm about 1/4 way down the body, obscured in the image by the rifle. I considered that a pretty sloppy effort and expected him to go a long way. In fact I found him dead at about the 50 metre mark. The bullet had gone forward and lost itself in the far shoulder. For a shot that I would regard as altogether too far back, I count that a pretty good outcome.
Bullet was 176 gn #U321297HP sized down from .322" to .3125". Velocity with LeveRevolution is 2200 fps. Alloy is a little harder than #2.
These angling shots with the cast HP seem to be far more effective than the same shots with jacketed bullets.
From the JimmyDee post on HP design back in May, I note Larry Gibson's preference for a much softer alloy and less hollow, and Ed Harris' suggestion that with enough velocity and a soft alloy the hollow is unnecessary anyway. I am on my way to testing those ideas. Cast of a much softer alloy and without the hollow, my bullet with gas check becomes 192 gns. With LVR powder and 2100 fps the group appears no different to what I have been using, which is to say under 3" at 100m, and still under 3" including the clean barrel fouler. I think the LVR does better with the softer bullets than other powders. Now I just have to find another big hog to continue the research.
