I need to kill hogs weighing up to about 200 lbs without a lot of noise. Range is between 25 and 50 yards. I'm thinking of a 22" NEF Handi Rifle in 44 Magnum firing a 250-300 gr. hardcast LBT bullet at about 900 fps. The load would be a small charge of Unique, Bullseye or 231. My questions are a) would this load do the trick on a shoulder shot? and B) How loud will the report be? Less than a 12-gauge?

Thanks in advance, Okie John.

I used a Contender in .44 mag, with 8.5 grs of Reddot, and a 240gr cast bullet, did about 1100fps in my 10" barrel

I'd use a 223 light load and shoot them between the eyes or between the eye and ear. capt david

Given the nature of hogs (they don't like being shot, and sometimes try to impress their disapproval on the shooter), I would rather opt for a repeater.

Something like a 7600 in Whelen with heavy cast bullets over red dot, or maybe a BLR in 358 with heavy for caliber bullets using light loads of fast powder. JMO, Dutch.

Are you permitted to use a semi auto rifle to hunt in your state?

okie john,

I shoot sub-sonic .38 Specials in my 22" Handi and it's amazing how much noise isn't there! In fact, they sound a little weird when you have ear muffs on.

Not being concerned with noise when shooting hogs, I have some .357 Mag, 250 gr Beartooth LFNGC, loaded with 7.5 gr 800X that I plan to use. They're grouping under an inch at 50 yards.

http://www.metrogun.com/





It took me a few years, but I have figured out what makes some pellet guns so quiet. This metro gun guy is on the right track.



He has no coweling around the vent holes in the barrel, and the BATF has not catagorized the barrel as a suppressor!



If you handload, and understand the principals of keeping the muzzle gas pressure below 2 atmospheres [low powder charge compressed for maximum peak pressure], one can get a pellet gun sound from a fire arm. The larger the caliber and the longer the barrel, the more power is possible.

Thanks to everyone for the answers.

cpt david, a 223 would be a great choice, but it is illegal where I'll be.

Dutch, I've got the 35 Whelen, and I'd buy Beartooth bullets. Can you recommend a load that would work with hardcast? The data I find for quiet loads says to use a soft bullet, but those loads are nearly silent. All I really need is a reduced signature, and the greater availability of hardcast bullets is a real draw, as it would be very difficult for me to cast in my current situation.

Mike elmer, yes -- what are you thinking?

Paul 5388, I think we're on the same sheet of music. Tell me more. How loud is that load?

Thanks in advance, Okie John.

okie john,

That .357 Mag load only works in a Handi rifle with its long throat. In fact, the throat is so long I can shoot .360 DWs in it. It isn't sub-sonic, I think it's around 1150 fps, so the noise is still real noticable.

Since you have a Whelen, I think I would try whatever bullet you want with about 21.0 gr of Blue Dot (that's about 40% of case capacity in a .30-06, so it will be a little less in the Whelen). If that's too loud, you can go down on the load some or use a pistol bullet, like the 180 gr XTP, with less powder. 5 grains of Bullseye or 700X is real quiet, but it is only accurate to a little over 25 yards and you HAVE to use well lubed lead bullets. The Blue Dot loads will group in 1 1/2" or less at 100 yards. Recoil and muzzle blast are greatly reduced even though it will still be super sonic.

John, I'll defer to Paul's data on a "midrange" load. All I've ever done is subsonic Red Dot(even though I use Clays) loads. Great fun, however. Dutch.

Paul, actually, I was thinking of a Handi Rifle. I'd like a quiet load, but it doesn't have to be silent -- anything that's much less than a 12-gauge would work.

Does the Whelen Blue Dot load work with jacketed bullets? If I use the Bullseye load, can I use hard cast or do I need a bullet that's nearly pure lead? Is there a published source for this kind of data do I don't have to bombard you with these questions?

I really appreciate the help. Thanks, Okie John.

I have to check my notes, but as I recall, 8 grs of unique over a 180 gr cast bullet in my 35 whelen ackley would do 800 fps, and report was much quieter than a 22 lr. Accuracy was about 1" at 25 yds, which is surely sufficient for your use. I did not use fillers in those loads, and velocities did very by about +/- 50 fps. I'd expect a slightly smaller dose of red dot or bullseye would do the same thing, and be quieter as well.

The one project gun I've always wanted to build is a 45 acp rifle to experiment with low report heavy cast bullet loads. I figure with the expansion ratio of the acp case, a 300 gr bullet @ 700 fps could be very quiet.

If you want quiet at 25 yards, use a bow. Let that big ol' porker enjoy a Muzzy Moment!

okie john,

Here is a site that has quite a bit on reduced and/or cat sneeze loads. web page

The Whelen Blue Dot loads will take whatever you want to load, but the velocity will be high enough to where you might consider gas checks.

The "cat sneeze", "gallery", "quiet", "silent" loads need a pretty soft bullet and lots of lube to keep them from sticking in the barrel. I can almost assure you a jacketed bullet will stick using these low loads, been there, done that. Swaged pistol bullets are a "dime a dozen". I buy 148 gr Hornady LHBWC for about $10/250 from Midway, but a swaged LSWC should be around the same price. Swaged should be soft enough and the skirt of the hollow base should provide a good gas seal.

NEF doesn't make a .357 Mag anymore, even for the barrel accessory program. Rossi/Braztech still has them and I have heard Sports South still has a stock of them. I don't know how good they shoot, but they are considerably cheaper than NEF. My .357 Handi shot 1 1/2" at 50 yards today using 15.0 gr 2400 and 158 XTP/HP's in .357 brass. Call CDNN at 800-588-9500 and ask about the Rossi .357 Mag.

When Norm revised the faq on lite load, I couldn't get him to include anything about expansion ratio [efficiency] or barrel length [ expansion volume], the 45/70 button bullets are again available.

http://www.recguns.com/Sources/VIIE7.html