I finally was able to give the Barnes .30 caliber 120 grain Tac-Tx bullet a test on something larger and more tenacious than a coyote.

Right before dark, I took my 23" Contender 30-30 and put it on a shooting rest on the back of my covered truck bed. I had a good feeling about hogs, even though I hadn't seen any here for nearly 2 months. I only saw deer early on and then had to get back in the house for a couple hours. But around 9:30, I went back outside. After giving my eyes a few minutes to adjust to the soft moonlight, I flipped open the Butler Creek covers on the Schmidt & Bender Stratos 2.5-13x56 and scanned the field. I didn't see anything the first go-round, but about a minute later, I took another look and noticed a large, dark form emerging from the shadows of the huisache brush.

In no time, I could tell it was a hog -- and from what I could decipher, it was a good one at that. He was moving slowly and methodically, but hogs can change temperament and demeanor in a split second, so as soon as he turned broadside, I put the illuminated dot of the FD7 reticle on what I believed to be the shoulder and touched off a round.

From 160 yards, I heard the unmistakable "whap" of bullet breaking bone, but through the scope -- set at my customary preference of 10x -- all I could see was empty space. I had no idea if he dropped or ran -- and if so, I could only guess at the direction he may have taken. So I walked back inside, traded the rifle for a sidearm and cranked up the tractor. There was no need for tracking, though, as the hog fell in his tracks, his presence hidden from my view by a shallow depression and just enough grass to prevent me from seeing his unmoving form after the shot.

I was thrilled to have an instant kill and no retrieval issues (he was near some very thick cover). But more than anything, I was curious about bullet performance. He was caked in mud, and there wasn't a drop of blood to be found anywhere. I couldn't even tell where the bullet impacted.

In skinning him out, we found that this brute featured some of the thickest cartilage I've encountered, and over the shoulder, it measured over 1.25" thick. It's the consistency of very hard rubber and can test the mettle of an inappropriate bullet in a hurry.

But there was no need to worry. The 120 grain Barnes, intended for the speeds of the .300 Blackout, centered the onside shoulder, plowed through the boiler room, through the opposite shoulder and came within 1/4th inch of exiting the heavy shield on the opposite side.

It measured .801 at its widest (.660 not counting the wide petal) and retained 117 of the original 120 grains, the same as those I have taken from test medium. The MV of the load is 2630 fps, so the bullet was moving around 2260 at impact, where it retained over 1,350 ft./lbs. of energy.

For the record, the hog weighed 223 pounds.

It's too bad Barnes won't apply this same technology to the 120 grainers in 6.5 and 7mm. I'd be first in line to buy some!

Bobby,
Nice hog, glad to see getting some trigger time.
Bryan

Good for you, Bobby! You must have a mighty full freezer. That bullet's performance is really impressive.

I'm curious now. Though I can't and won't complain about the performance of 125 grain Noslder Ballistic Tips in my 13" .30-30 Ackley, I might have to give these Barnes bullets a try too.

Am much as I like the 125 and 150 grain BTs, this particular bullet will expand more significantly and to quite a bit lower velocity levels. At a bit over 1800 fps, it still opens fully and consistently expands to around .58".

Barnes designed this one for a starting MV of around 2100 fps, so the additional speed of the 30-30 makes it even better in my opinion.

I've used the 110 grain in a 300 Blackout on a few hogs with good results. I have not recovered any to see what they looked like. Have you shot any of the 110's?

No, I haven't tried them. I took notice when they introduced the 120, read about excellent performance in the Blackout and decided to give it a whirl in a 30-30 barrel. And it looks to be a keeper...

I'm certain the 110s would do nicely, but since the 120s consistently punch tiny groups in my targets, I doubt I'll try the lighter offering.

Nimrod, I use the 110 gr. Barnes in my .300 Blk (2520 fps) with good results. I shot a small (35 lb) hog in a trap recently at fairly close range and the bullet penetrated the skull, neck, and torso - and was poking through the hide behind the rib cage. I cut it out and it looked about like the picture in Bobby's post at the top.

For a more realistic test, I used it recently on a boar that I later weighed at 315 lbs. I would like to say it dropped in it's tracks, but even with a good hit behind the shoulder, it continued on for 50 yards and 2 more shots before giving it up. I have shot about 35 hogs with that round this year - about 30 with brain shots - and am not confident in body shots. The bullets don't usually penetrate completely because they open up so well, so they don't usually leave good blood trails.

I have lost a few (the buzzards found them for me the next day) that travelled a long way before succumbing to the shot. Most were shot well (I don't autopsy them since for me it's just pest control - and the fleas are terrible this year!) - but in my experience, with the rapidly expanding petals, there just isn't enough momentum for complete penetration to create a second hole to bleed out.

Maybe I'm just spoiled by the results from my .375 H&H!

quote:

Originally posted by Acer:
I have shot about 35 hogs with that round this year - about 30 with brain shots - and am not confident in body shots. I have lost a few (the buzzards found them for me the next day) that travelled a long way before succumbing to the shot. Most were shot well (I don't autopsy them since for me it's just pest control - and the fleas are terrible this year!) - but in my experience, with the rapidly expanding petals, there just isn't enough momentum for complete penetration to create a second hole to bleed out.

---

How many of those 5 body-shot hogs did you lose? And how far did they go after the shot? I know you said you didn't check wound channels, but you had flip them to check entry and exits. I was hoping you'd tell us more about the specifics of those if you don't mind to help understand what may have happened.

While an exit is nice to have, it doesn't guarantee a blood trail on a hog and certainly doesn't make them die any quicker.

Sometimes things happen for no good reason. About 10 years ago, I shot a large sow with a 28"-barreled .308 WCF Encore. The area was quite open with a couple deep ravines. At the shot, she bolted and headed down into one of the ravines. I fully anticipated she'd be down in 30-40 yards. As I slung the rifle over my shoulder, I saw her heading up the opposite side of the ravine, so I got the rifle back into action and got her in the scope.

I could see blood gushing out of her chest with every stride she made. She now was headed towards a field where cattle often graze, and though I didn't immediately see any, I held off on another shot for reasons of safety. That sow made it well over 200 yards before giving up the ghost. Just for grins, i walked the trail she took, and there was blood all over the place -- except for the last 40 yards, that is. Had this been brushy terrain, finding her may have proven difficult.

In butchering her, I found that the bullet entered slightly low on the onside shoulder -- just where i wanted -- and pulverized the heart before continuing tight behind the opposite shoulder and leaving an inch-wide exit in its wake. There was also damage to the lungs. Yet she made an improbable run without blood or oxygen, like nothing I have seen with any other hog.

But for the most part -- with or without exit -- they don't seem to go far as long as you lace them through the vitals with an appropriate projectile. They do, however, seem to have a knack for winding up in the most god-awful and impenetrable brush there is.

I have not tried the 110s you are using and won't venture a guess, but the performance of the 120 for me the other night was all I could have hoped for. Of course, one sample doesn't mean a thing, and I'll be more convinced after another 8-10 hit the ground. But after the large boar, a coyote at 235 yards and dozens removed from test medium, I've got no gripes so far.

Since we're talking .30 cal / 120gr, what are your thoughts on a 300 WSM load for a 125gr bullet. I suspect the MV will be around 3500fps. Probably a Nosler bullet (AccuBond or Ballistic Tip). Any concerns as a hog load?

I might have a half box of factory 150gr left and a box of 180s. After I use them up I thought I might load 125s for hogs.

That's asking a lot of a 125 grain bullet, especially if the ranges are inside of 150-175 yards. Of the two you mention, though, the AB would be the best choice and will likely give some spectacular impact reactions and results. You'll just need to be careful with any angled shots on larger hogs as penetration will obviously be limited.

If you are going to a lighter bullet, I'd have to say the monometals would be your best bet...something like the 130 grain TTSX. Even with it, you are likely to lose a few petals at shorter ranges or hard impact.

I'd actually stay with 150s and run the Accubond in whatever recipe your rifle shoots best -- and watch them drop at the shot.

Good read.

Ken, I would sure want an all-copper bullet if 120-125 grains out of a .300 WSM. Bobby, your results with that 120-grain TAC-TX convinced me to buy a .30-30 barrel for my Contender pistol. I had been thinking of selling the thing, but these new bullets offer such intriguing performance possibilities.

Bobby, Sorry for the delayed response - that having to work thing sure gets in the way sometimes!

Of the hogs shot in the body, I have lost 2 that I found the next day or day after. One was a boar of about 70 lbs that was in a sounder with 7 or 8 others. I got to within 50 yards of where he stood beneath a lone hackberry tree, and shooting from a supported position, I hit him behind the shoulder on a slightly quartering away shot. He squealed and momentarily went down - and I turned my attention to the others, hoping to bag another. I realized the shot hog had regained his feet and I saw him stagger off behind several others. I missed him with a second shot and watched him enter thick cover at a canyon head near a large rock. I knew where he stood at the shot and knew where he entered the canyon head, but after searching the area in between for about an hour, I never found a drop of blood. Much of the area is flat, bare, light colored limestone rock with intermittent patches of King Ranch bluestem grass - good blood trailing environment if there ever was. The buzzards found him and led me to his remains in a cedar brake 2 days later about 200 yards away.

Another body shot hog was a sow at about 40 yards. She was quartering to me and I put the bullet in front of the shoulder. She took off through the live oak duff and crossed an opening with uniform KR bluestem about a foot tall. It was getting towards evening and I only had about 45 minutes to look, but I couldn't find a blood trail. I returned the next day and the buzzards had already found her about 70 yards away. Coyotes had dragged the carcass into a motte of young live oak trees. I tried to backtrack the blood trail from the carcass to the place where I shot, and couldn't find any blood. I could follow her tracks, but no blood.

I have shot a couple of others in big muscles (in the hams or high shoulder) that left impressive blood trails for the very short distance they ran. One young boar was hit in the hip joint after the bullet went through an unseen sumac shrub, and the huge gaping wound looked like he had been hit with an axe. He died quickly even though he was wounded only in the butt.

I think what happens when the bullet enters the chest of an animal without striking a rib and encountering little initial resistance, is it pokes a .30 caliber hole through the skin (and shield) and expands dramatically inside the chest cavity. If it encounters only lung tissue and doesn't compromise the heart or major blood vessels, it takes a bit longer to result in death - and the blood that is liberated pools inside the chest. Some is probably blown out in a fine mist through the nose and mouth, but if the hog is running, it may not be dense enough to attract attention.

On the big boar I mentioned in my previous post above, the entrance holes (3 of them - 2 in the chest and one beside his gargantuan testicles) were almost undetectable - no blood at the entrance wound at all. I turned him over so the hole was on the ground, and after several minutes there was a small puddle of blood.

In my limited experience, I wouldn't hesitate to use body shots if a brain shot is not offered, but I do so with a niggling doubt about being able to follow a blood trail.

As an aside, "brain" shots aren't infallible either. I hit a boar hard one evening quartering hard away at about 70 yards. He fell like a ton of bricks, then began "paddling" his feet like a sleeping Labrador. I was congratulating myself on such an excellent shot - and then he got up and took 3 steps into the cedar brush. Never saw him again. Must have hit one of the vertebral processes behind the brain pan and knocked him out...

I looked at some Barnes reloading data for their 130-grain TTSX BT. I think that will be my load, at round 3300fps.

Thanks