Bought me a 416 and started shooting feral pigs with it. First bullets I bought are 400 gr. Nosler Partitions. The Noslers are way too tough for feral pigs. Shot two both ran. Sierra does not make a 416 and I think Hornady stopped making the 416 Interlock. The mono metals dont open up quick enough on pork for a "thump" either. Going to try some 350 gr Speer hot core. Am I missing a soft bullet for more "thump" at Rigby speeds? Think, skin and gut a raccoon under a lighted feeder at night!

350 grain CEB NONCON's. it will do exactly what you want it to do.

I take the Speer 350 and size them down to 411 for my 400PDK. Works great on hogs. Will work fine left at 416 and normal cheap to boot.

Live Oak:

Lets take a closer look.

You may be being mislead by all of the mumbo jumbo of the slick salesmen in the bullet industry who run their spiel on the unsuspecting shooter.

In reality you can dispatch feral pigs with ANY bullet, lead, home cast, copper jacket, all copper.

If your pigs ran it was due to poor shot placement. Bullet types will not compensate for that.

I have dropped domestic pigs on the farm for butchering with a .22 short between the eyes and shot wild boars with a 12 gauge shotgun rifled slug.

I think that if you shoot a feral pig in the chest cavity with virtually ANY bullet of your pleasing it will pass through and keep on going.

Actually I am NOT a proponent of energy dump in the animal. I'm an extremist who tailors my calibers, energy, bullets, velocity to pass through and keep on.

Of course many will disagree but that's my bottom line scenario. It works for me every time.

When I spend several thousands of dollar on a hunt I will camp on the side of tilting the odds heavily in my favor.

Partitions too tough !
I have been a NP proponent for decades. Killed a lot of animals from rabbits to elk w/ more pigs than I can count. Many Nilgai on the upper end. I have found NPs to be excellent hog killers from 22 to 41 cal.
Not doubting your story. Keep it up and aim a/b 2 inches below the ear. They hate that !

For chest shots I like expansion; look at Hawk; they make old school copper and lead bullets in various jacket thicknesses that will open up on smaller animals.

i, however, quite AM a proponent of "energy dump" - which means huge temporary wound cavity -- and if you hit a piggie a little back with an NP, they may ran off,,, and died, btw, but they did run a bit -

the hornady interbond 416 is a GREAT pig bullet... its soft soft and defeats bullet construction quickly

the speer 350 is VERY VERY soft - and fairly weak -- I have had these show signs of "energy" dump when shoot raccoons , much less piggies....

of course, lead bullets at 2100 fps will do the trick, as well

jeffe

Besides the Speer 350 gr bullet, you might consider Woodleigh bullets. They make...

340gr PP SN,
410gr RN SN
450gr RN SN
400gr RN SN

The hogs, deer and bear I shot with the 350gr Speer mag tips out of my 416 Taylor at 2450fps all have die nicely.

I had over 40 inches of penetration on the 500lb black bear I killed .

quote:

Originally posted by Live Oak:
Bought me a 416 and started shooting feral pigs with it. First bullets I bought are 400 gr. Nosler Partitions. The Noslers are way too tough for feral pigs. Shot two both ran. Sierra does not make a 416 and I think Hornady stopped making the 416 Interlock. The mono metals dont open up quick enough on pork for a "thump" either. Going to try some 350 gr Speer hot core. Am I missing a soft bullet for more "thump" at Rigby speeds? Think, skin and gut a raccoon under a lighted feeder at night!

Can you please explain what you mean by "shot two both ran"??

I have used various 416 rifles - Weatherby magnum and Rigby - using Trophy Bonded Bear Claw bullets - which are tougher than Noslers.

Shot all sorts of animals, from impala, warthogs to buffalo.

All died without any hassle.

What he is inadvertently *( Confessing ) saying is that he either gut shot or leg shot a pig. Totally inadequate shot placement.

The disillusion that some bullet types will perform magic, as espoused by the BS artists selling bullets, is hokey pokey diatribe.

Until the bullet manufactures produce explosive bullets that blow up on impact we will just have to remain content with the necessity of placing the bullet in a "vital" area.

I hunt a feeder at night under lights. The landowners rotates cattle like you should so the feed is surrounded by high grass and weeds. If you do not knock the pig down in the feeder pen they are hard to recover. Looking for some thing at night in tall grass that will bite you is no fun! Shot placement under lights can be dicey. A black pig under green lights does not reflect much light! A 458 caliber 500gr Hornady Interlock does a great knock down. If you hit bone it is down. A 375 250gr Barnes Triple shock does not. A 375 250gr Sierra Game King does a great knock down. I am sure the 400 gr NP are great for some things, just do not appear great for pigs. Buzzards showed me both pigs between 50 and 75 yards away. Not how I like to find them! When a raccoon shows up at the feeder it will get shot. How much damage the bullet does on a similar shot shows "thump"! The Barnes and the Nosler Partition were caliber hole in and out. The Hornady and Sierra were ground meat.

What you are saying is in complete conformity with my experience with wild boars in Africa.

I have shot them through the chest and they continued to run 75 meters before dropping over. Absolutely amazing.

Frequently I have spined some big animals and that drops them like a rock. But luck shots truly.

quote:

Originally posted by wetibbe:
What you are saying is in complete conformity with my experience with wild boars in Africa.

I have shot them through the chest and they continued to run 75 meters before dropping over. Absolutely amazing.

Frequently I have spined some big animals and that drops them like a rock. But luck shots truly.

WOW!!
What an about face on calling someone a poor shot.

quote:

Until the bullet manufactures produce explosive bullets that blow up on impact we will just have to remain content with the necessity of placing the bullet in a "vital" area

Having made some exploding bullets they are they expand rapidly and require better shot place then standard bullets.

They have been around from the 1800's

A standard rifle bullet isn't big enough to hold enough explosive to matter.

Lung shot animals can run 75 yards no matter what you shoot them with.

If you are hunting at night on a feeder, could I assume that the range is relatively short??

If that is the case, why not shoot then in the head, neck or spine??

They ran? how far? Big Game will run 10 to 100 yards with a lung shot with about any caliber on some occasions, its not that unusual, so one should use a caliber that leaves a good blood trail and you have done that and recovered both pigs..

Your apparently looking for instant kills everytime..When and if you get that done, you will definitely prosper. But if you use a 22-250 or 220 Swift with 60 gr. Hornadays or something on that order and place your shots behind the shoulder, you will come close to instant kills every time on Feral pigs. Pigs are not hard to kill.

quote:

Originally posted by 416RigbyHunter:

quote:

Originally posted by wetibbe:
What you are saying is in complete conformity with my experience with wild boars in Africa.

I have shot them through the chest and they continued to run 75 meters before dropping over. Absolutely amazing.
__________________________________________

416:

I have lots of faces, razzle dazzle, bamboozle, disturb their complacency, confuse, trick, confound.

But seriously *( Like hell )

In my entire career I have NEVER lost an animal
Frequently I have spined some big animals and that drops them like a rock. But luck shots truly.

WOW!!
What an about face on calling someone a poor shot.

Sometimes it has been extreme. Once I shot a whitetail at dusk with 3 feet of snow on the ground. It ran. I was so fagged out that I almost couldn't get home. I was ready to knock on any door to put me up for the night. Next morning my brother and I went back out and tracked the buck. He had holed up for the night is heavy brush. My brother shot him.

Looking back about 75% of all of my shots have been on running game. Some ran out of view but I spent inordinate amounts of time and effort tracing blood trails or tracking and I have never failed to recover anything I shot.

I won't shoot over 300 yards. Majority of shots are in the 200 yard category, running broadside, standing shooting offhand. I zero at 200 yards. The judgment of distance, wind direction, wind speed, by nature make shots random and luck of the draw.

It took me a few years to master offhand shooting at running game but I finally mastered it and I will tell you that it isn't squeezing the trigger slowly. It is snap shooting when the cross hairs are where you want them.

I installed double set triggers on some rifles and then eventually learned to shoot with a single trigger. Double sets are really my favorites. Just a slight flick of the finger and it goes BOOM. Show over when the cross hairs are on the chest.
___________________________________________

How did suggestions for a "softer" 416 bullet get here?
I got some 350 gr Speers loaded. I'll finish the 400 gr NPs then try the .035 wall Hawk.
Thanks for the original help!!

A good soft lead cast bullet with gas check should do well also for maximum energy dump.

I have never had a pig (warthog) drop to the shot and stay down, and I have been using .375 H&H class and up guns with premium ammo.

Most have been recovered within 50 yards or so, but not drop to shot.

With a sufficiently powerful rifle the high shoulder shot should do it (really a thoracic spine shot) otherwise all you have is a CNS shot that will drop on the spot reliably.

Factory offerings I think have been well covered.

My experience is in commercial bullets that the speer light bullets were really soft, then came their conventional cup and cores, the the hornady cup and cores as well as the big 3's standard offerings, then you had rapid opening with the Partition but retention of a back core.

After that, swift A frames, Northfork softs, and Trophy Bonded bearclaws were all about the same. The monometal expanding bullets were the toughest, excluding solids.

There is so much rubbish written about not using well constructed expanding bullets - like the Barnes X etc - on soft skin game.

Whoever tells you they are not suitable, has either no experience with them, or a bad shot.

For over 30 years, I have been using these type of bullets to hunt hundreds of game animals.

They include all the plains game one find in different countries in Africa, and I have never found that I needed a fast expanding bullet.

As I have reiterated my comments are NOT for the experienced veterans.

Thus the above comments that come from a pre-eminent veteran should be gospel for the young Guys. Do not argue with experience/success !!!

Woodleigh 340 Gr PP.

CEB make the lighter 325 gr Raptor & even a 300 gr Safari raptor I think.

I found my 416 Rigby easier to shoot with standard loads. The more modern loads were hard on the shoulder and not easy to control.

Very happy with the Barnes TSX.

I haven't seen any failures on pigs or smaller game with the 375 or the 416 Rem, even had wonderful luck with solids, yes the run a ways but a lot of blood comes out of a 375 or 416 holes, best not to use solids in populated areas, but it was interesting to watch them skip along the dirt after going thru a big pig at our W. Texas ranch. Not sure but maybe a few of them reached Boquillas, Mexico, but didn't hear anyone yelp!