Bullet question for Krag loads

[kragluver]

Any .30-30 bullet should work fine in the Krag application. My personal hog hunting Krag load is the 180 gr Hornady roundnose.

Pigs are not armor plated but they can be hard to kill if you don't hit them right. Neck shots are good. Center body shots with a .223 works well on small to medium size hogs. I don't bother gutting them. I simply filet the backstraps off and take the hams. That's the best meat anyway.

The smallest round I've used was a .17 HMR but I wouldn't recommend it. Any center fire rifle will suffice.

[CHW2021]

I had not thought of a 30-30 round, that is the velocity range I am shooting; great suggestions. I am not familiar with the A-max bullet either, I will also look that one up.
I asked in order to save myself from "reinventing the wheel". Sometimes asking saves a lot of money and time. Thanks to all.

BTW, I am hoping for head/neck shots, but it is up to the pig to provide me the option.

[kragluver]

I don't recommend head shots on a hog unless you are very close. The brain is relatively far back in the skull and very well protected by the skull plate. A direct shot will of course penetrate but if you have an angled shot, it very well may not. The neck is good. Its a fairly big target on a hog and in my experience drops them pretty quick (within 50-75 yards usually). My personal experience with head shots are when delivering coup de grace to a couple of wounded hogs. I had one large sow take three 230 gr hollow points behind the ear before she finally quit trying to rip my legs apart. I dance well for an old guy I've since learned a better head shot on a hog is to shoot them right between the eyes.

[madsenshooter]

The A-Max, like many target bullets, is thin jacketed. About any 30 caliber hunting bullet is going to perform ok at the range you're hoping to get a shot because the impact velocity will still be relatively high, in the neighborhood of the same bullet shot from an 06 or 308 at 2500fps impacting at 200-250yds. I have no personal experience with hogs, but hope to get some as their population is growing here in SE Ohio. Open season year round, a good excuse to be in the woods with a highpower rifle, which we are normally only allowed to use on varmints. The coyote population is going up too, and they take a toll on young deer.

[kragluver]

Come to Texas - we have all the coyotes and hogs you could want. The trouble is finding the time to break free and go hunt them!

[jon_norstog]

Well CH, there you have it. Bullet choice is kind of a matter of personal preference, just so long as you can put one where you want it and feed a follow-up shot. I will say that I spent a couple seasons between Krags hunting with an 8mm mauser. My brother gave me some 220 gr. Barnes X-bullets to try out so I loaded them up to the gills in front of 4895. The X-bullet is solid copper, apparently it is designed for use in the 8mm magnum. Anyway I shot a moose at 65 yards with it, one shot through the heart, just about front-on. The bullet was under the hide on the far side, intact and barely expanded. If the bullet had just traveled through the animal's lungs I would have had a long day's work trailing that moose.

Good luck!

jn

[BudT]

You might want to try the Hornady 160 grain flex tip out of your Krag, they shoot and feed good out of my Krag. jon those X bullets are a tough son of a gun I do shoot them and the newer triple shock and the tipped version out of several of my rifles. The old X bullet would copper foul the crap out of your barrel I suppose that's why Barns dropped them from the line. I'm doing a experiment with the old X bullet to see if the CFE powder will take care of the fouling problem, if it ever gets good weather here. They shoot good and don't blow up if you hit a bone and that's why I like them.

[CHW2021]

This was exactly the input I wanted, thanks to all. I do have the option of going with a 8mm Turk that was sportered (and still shoots great) with several different rounds, but the Krag just gives more "style" than any other rifle.
Pigs are tough, no doubt about that; deer are not likely to tear you up when tracking a wounded one. I do not want to track a wounded pig at night if I could possibly avoid it. A bullet that will expand quickly at (relatively ) low velocity and hold together seems to be more likely to drop or damage enough tissue to allow a quick second shot. Humane for the pig, safe for me. I will post results.

BTW, I will see what my friends have for 30-30 bullets, the A max is the second to be tried; I had not thought of feed issues with ballistic tips at all, the hornady is running as a 3rd option.

[Trap4570]

Spire points feed fine as far as I have tried them. Being more traditional - I stick with round points at 200 grains or there about. I don't bother much with high velocity or bullet design as much as I do felt recoil and shot placement. As far as bullets go - even the cast bullets perform very well at moderate range. It has been many years since I hunted a hog and technology has made decisions complicated. The old Krag rounds were used to take game as large as moose and it is from my experience hunting that it is not so much the gun or round that is important as it is the way the game presents itself. I think the art of the stalk and the patience to get a point of advantage is overlooked. Knowing the habits of the game and the habitat you are hunting in makes for a more exciting hunt to me. That's just my opinion.

[jon_norstog]

...... I think the art of the stalk and the patience to get a point of advantage is overlooked. Knowing the habits of the game and the habitat you are hunting in makes for a more exciting hunt to me. That's just my opinion.

That's a pretty good opinion, Trap.

jn