Instances of odd terminal performance are a reality, and if you put enough bullets downrange, you're apt to witness it at some point. While it has been a rare thing for me, it did happen again tonight just before the onset of full darkness.

A sounder of about 10 shoats showed up, and while they were skittish for several minutes, they eventually settled down. I was hoping for a possible double, and two finally cooperated for me.

The small, light-colored boar in the front was perfectly broadside. Behind him was a darker shoat; it faced me head-on and was mere inches from the other hog. It was easy to see that if I put the bullet through the center of the chest, it would/should exit and plow directly into the chest of the second target -- or so it seemed.

I knew penetration for a double was not a problem as I was shooting the 55 grain Barnes TTSX at 3294 fps. It has dropped several hogs in their tracks for me and put a nice doe on the ground last season, and penetration was complete in each instance.

My preferred placement is always through the heart, but to accomplish the double, I needed to raise my preferred point of aim. So I placed the red dot of the Zeiss Classic Diatal 7x50 where it needed to go, made sure the second target was still aligned (and had its head up to clear the chest area) and tripped the trigger. Dust rose as the sounder headed back into the creek bottom. Feeling confident about the situation, I went back inside for a flashlight and thermal monocular and rode down there. I didn't even take a sidearm with me. To my surprise, only the light-colored hog was on the ground. I figured the other ran a bit, so I activated the thermal and took a good look around. Nothing. Puzzled, I repeated my efforts as a small hog can be shielded by grass or brush and not show clearly in the thermal. But again, I saw nothing. So I returned to the area of dead hog to look for blood and saw none. I noticed the impact on the first hog was exactly where I wanted. But when I flipped him over, I was stunned to see the exit was a couple inches in front of the hip.

So I bought the little boar home and opened him up. The bullet began to expand almost immediately and was on a path to catch the spine where it dips to its lowest point (about mid-shoulder on a hog this size). But upon initial impact of vertebrae, it veered hard to the right, chewed through the far edge of the liver, nicked the ribs and then exited in front of the hip. The exit was a couple of inches long due to the angle, but where the bullet squirted through the hide, you could detect the classic Barnes cookie-cutter shape of a fully-expanded projectile.

With that trajectory, all it impacted after the first hog was Texas dirt. That second hog should buy itself a lottery ticket tonight as it seems to have quite the string of luck going.

I'll also add that most of the the bone fragments from the vertebrae took the path I expected the bullet to take. They ended up peppering the ribcage, and two larger pieces even made it between ribs and into the meaty area of the opposite shoulder.

Usually when I would try a twofer, I would get in a hurry and end up with neither! Most of mine have been accidental, even with the big bores I shoot. Nice pig and good shooting!

Bobby:

What bullet did you shoot?

I had one make about the same track thru an antelope at 100yards.

I hit just right behind the shoulder. Hit a rib, got the near lung, liver and out the far 2nd short rib.

.223, 55gr C/L about 2950fps. re: 24" 25gr4895.

George

quote:

Originally posted by georgeld:
Bobby:

What bullet did you shoot?

George-I was using the Barnes 55 grain TTSX, which has given nothing but stellar performance before. This just seemed to be one of those one-in-a-million anomalies.

This is why gelatin tests fall far short of the realities in the filed. Nice shot Bobby. Do you think a heavier Barnes -- say the 120-grain .308 Tac TX out of your .30-30 barrel -- would have held the straight course?

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
This is why gelatin tests fall far short of the realities in the filed. Nice shot Bobby. Do you think a heavier Barnes -- say the 120-grain .308 Tac TX out of your .30-30 barrel -- would have held the straight course?

Bill-

I believe this very same bullet -- given this exact scenario another 100 times over -- would maintain a straight-line course in each of those instances. I feel this was just one of those rare oddities that pop up every once in a while.

Whether or not a heavier projectile would have performed differently in this situation is impossible to know.

quote:

Usually when I would try a twofer, I would get in a hurry and end up with neither!

Same here!! Sometimes greed doesn’t pay!

quote:

This is why gelatin tests fall far short of the realities in the filed

Gelatin is the best we have. It is a good indicator.

But it cannot duplicate a live animal.

To many variables to consider.