I got to try the Norma Alaska bullets on Wild Hog this weekend. I spotted a group of about 8 hogs or so [most times you never see all of them at once. I saw one that looked bigger than the rest and decided to try for him. I stalked them for about 45 minutes, they were feeding right next to the river. I was above them, a steep drop off between me and them. One pig was in the complete clear several times [about a 125 to 130 pounder], but oh no... I had to have a go at the big boy. Finally I spotted the big boy, or at least his ears, I was about 20 or so yards from him and above him. Suddenly I heard a pig splash water off to my right, in a few seconds I could see him swimming the river over to the other side. I could still see big boys ears and 2 or 3 other pigs were feeding right next to him. I could only see partial parts of the other pigs. I knew if big boy moved I might not have another shot at him. I assumed a kneeling position, placed the crosshairs on big boys ears and waited. I was shooting between some pretty big limbs of a tree that was between me and big boy. After a couple of minutes I could see the neck area behind big boys head. Or so I thought. I fired the right bbl hoping to break his neck and kill him on the spot. At the shot he squeels and turns to the left and disappears from view. Pigs erupt, and scatter like a covey of quail. I hear a splash of water and run about 30 or so feet to my left and see big boy doing a Johnny Wisemuller [early Tarzan actor] across the river. I have not had time to reload the right bbl, so I take aim and wait until big boy starts to hit solid ground, when he does I fire the left bbl. This shot knockes him down, but not out. I reload both bbls from the buttstock ammo carrier. Big boy is up and has turned to the right, I aim at his head, [do not want to mess up any more meat], he is about 50 yds or so away. I fire the right bbl, just as I shoot he lunges up with his head and the bullet misses him and hits under his chin, I re-aim and fire the left bbl, hitting him in the head, which finishes him. It is only now that I realize that he really is a BIG BOY. More about that later.
Postmortum: Shot number one: Because he is such a pig boy shot number one did not hit the neck behind the head. Due to the steep angle he was standing in and the fact he had a huge shoulder hump, the bullet barely nicked the top edge of the spine and traveled down the right back strap for a distance of @ 25 inches. It did not touch any other bones, causing no real life ending damage. The bullet shows a perfect mushroom .650"x.590", is .607" long, with plenty of shank left. It weighs 200.5gr., there were 18.7gr. of lead fragments found in the final few inches of travel.
Shot number 2 struck the pig about in the middle of the back to the left of the spine, broke 3 ribs, knocking a hole almost as big as my fist into the ribcage, fragments of bullet and bone went through the right lung tearing a 2" by 3" hole. Bullet fragments continued through the chest wall to be stopped by the @ 2" gristle plate.
Shot 3 [the miss] knocked a 3"deep by 7" circular "hole" in the wet sandy and rocky soil at the rivers edge. Jacket and some lead fragments were in plain view at the bottom of the hole.
Shot 4 hit behind the right ear and entered the brain area, but did not pass completly through the skull. Internal damage was massive, the bullet had totally fragmented, only small pieces were found.

Based on the above results I do not think this bullet is suitable for Big, big game. I have recovered Speer 270gr, and Hawk 285 .035jkt, and 286 WoodleighSP, from Hogs that have hit bone and all have performed much better. A similar shot to the head of another hog a week ago with a 286 Nosler Partition resulted in a through and through. I have yet to to recover a 9.3 Partition. I am going to try and shoot a Whitetail doe next week and we will se how the 286 Alaska does on her.... But I think I will keep a 286 Nosler Partition in the left barrel just in case I meet up with big boys daddy.
By the way Big Boy weighed @ 325 lbs. He bottomed out my 300lb meat scale. He had more fat on him than any other animal I have ever seen, except for a big Black Bear my wife shot a few years ago. Many people claim a wild Boar Hog that big will taste terrible and stink. I assure you that I "stank" much worse than big boy did by the time I got him back accross the river and to camp. As soon as I got him gutted I took out the tender loins and my wife cooked them up on the grill, and he is one of the best tasting pigs I have ever killed. He only had tusks about 1 1/2 inch past the lip, I guess because the ground around here can be pretty hard. Maybe later I will tell the whole recovery story, I am too tired to think about it now.

Mats You are correct. For the USA shooters of 9.3 we will have to stick to reloads, or Superior Ammo Company to get quality bullets. It is very hard to find any factory loaded 9.3 ammo here.

Congrats on your "Big Boy"! Great story and report! The least you could have done was to cook dinner for Peggy!

Rusty
We band of brothers!

N E 450... have you tried the wdly's yet?
I am getting anxious and want my 9.3X74R back.
smallfry

HI Rusty. Me and Peg have a plan. While the "meat" hangs in the tree I do the skinning and quarting, She step and fetches. When we get the meat home, she bones, wraps and seals it for the freezer, I step and fetch. In fact tonight I am going to cook Wild Hog, Wild Rice, and New Potatoes. [the old ones spoiled ]

Thanks for the report

smallfry Yes I have killed 3 deer and several pigs with the 286 Woodleigh SP. It preformed real well, not as much expansion as the Hawk, and not as much penetration as the Nosler Partition. I was very happy with its performance, and in fact only tried the other bullets in the interest of science and so I would have additional sources of bullets in case the suppliers ran out of Woodleighs and they were out of stock for a while. All the Deer and as far as I can remember all the Pigs hit with the Woodleighs went right down. I'll have to go back through my notes but I can only remember 4 pigs that ran after being hit. Two with the NP hit behind the shoulder, the one hit with the Norma Alaska, and the one hit with the Sellier and Belliot, which is to be expected considering where the bullets struck.

[ 11-27-2002, 09:38: Message edited by: N E 450 No2 ]