Earlier this year my wife gave me a Pedersoli double rifle in 9.3X74R for Valentine's Day. I finally got around to shooting it on the range and although my accuracy was not astonishing it appeared to be at least minute of hog if I kept my range at 50 yards or less with the express sights.



Last Saturday I headed to the deer lease for the first time this year as work and other factors caused me to miss the first month or so of the season. My wife had requested a hog as I am famous for never shooting any deer � I'm always waiting for one just a little better, older, bigger. I took the double along as I hoped to christen it with a hog on the trip.

The four hundred mile drive went quickly and Saturday evening I was hunting again at last. The primary goal of course was Muy Grande Venado Cola Blanca � the big whitetail buck. I saw a lot of pigs but the right opportunity did not come until Monday evening. A group of hogs I had seen in the morning appeared in a different part of the ranch that night. I had passed them earlier, thinking that the largest was too small to be worth the effort. The coincidence of their showing up again at the end of the day, after the realistic chance of a good deer that evening had passed, along with my twin desires to get pork for my wife and shoot the new rifle, was all it took to decide the issue. I waited patiently for the largest boar in the group to come close and present a good broadside shot. When he did the 285 grain Norma Oryx in the factory loading did the trick, penetrating completely. He fell at the shot and never rose again. Some of his less respectful compadres came back to feed around him, blissfully unaware of the danger they would have been in if they were larger than a Dachshund.



The boar turned out to be a bit bigger than I had expected once I tried to load him in the truck. At that point I decided he was 100-125 pounds by the unscientific method of how hard it was to load him up. The quartered meat with backstraps, tenderloins, etc. weighed 58 pounds at the processor so I do not think I overestimated him.



We have a lot of feral hogs on the ranch, so the added challenge of getting a close enough shot for me to use a double rifle with express sights made the hunt more interesting and enjoyable. Seeing a few old bucks didn't hurt either.

Nice pig. I have weighed a lot of pigs and from the look of yours I would say you have the weight right on. The 9,3x74R is a great calibre, I have hunted with a Chapuis quite a bit. If you do not reload contact www.superiorammo.com and order some of their 286 gr Woodleigh Softs and some 286 Nosler Partitions. They shot great in my Chapuis. I have killed quite a bit of game with those 2 bullets in handloads but must admit their factory loads shoot the best in my rifle.

Charles,
I am speechless.....what a wife!
Tom

Great Story, Great shooting, excellent shot placement, and a wife nearly as good as mine!!!!

I too would estimate you are right on the money for the weight... 115-125, imho

jeffe

Thanks for the comments. I would have to agree that my wife is a gem.



I have dealt with Superior Ammo in the past (just received four boxes of ammo from them last week) and will definitely consider going that direction. I did buy a press and the gun came with dies so I may try to get my feet wet loading for it as well -- if I just had some room to set up and wasn't so lazy.



A funny thing about this hunt is that on a 5000 acre pasture I ended up shooting this pig in almost the same place as I shot one just a little bigger last year. I was hunting with my two older girls. My hunting truck was in the shop and we set up some folding chairs lightly camouflaged with brush. Despite a late start and my setting off the alarm in my Expedition we managed to "sneak" into our spot. My middle child who is never quiet sat still as a stone. They did not believe me when I smelled the hog coming, but he stepped out and I rested my rifle over an old, bent-up kitchen chair I had dragged out there and shot him. The kids were excited as it was the first game I had taken while hunting with them.



This is that pig from last year:

That's a great picture! You're a lucky man and your daughters look like they're having a great time. My daughters will shoot targets with me and one will varmint hunt for ground squirrels but none will hunt big game.

Charles - who imports these now?

the only Pedersoli I've been able to find online is "Davide Pedersoli"... who appears to make black powder replicas only... is it the same company?

Yes, that is the same company. The model I have (the Kodiak Mark IV) is a replica of an old Colt hammer double rifle from the 1800s. Most of the blackpowder places do not carry the cartridge rifles. Mine came from an auction site in almost-new condition. They come up for sale from time to time, but mostly in the 45-70 chambering. Cherry's Fine Guns was willing to order one for me but they wanted cash in full up front and the lead time was pretty long. With the slide of the dollar against the Euro the prices have gotten pretty high and that makes the used ones in good condition more attractive. When the Pedersoli's new are close to the price of a nice used Merkel or Chapuis it is harder to justify them.

The Pedersoli website lists U.S. distributors other than Cherry's as "full line" distributors, so one of them might also be able to order one.