"Sus scrofa" or wild boar.... found almost everywhere on this planet of which a large specimen is always a challenge for a handgun hunter... I have used every caliber and bullet type in my battery and realized its been a very longtime since I used a .38 or .357 on any game... a real long time. With that said my interest in the well made Dan Wesson revolvers has peaked with the purchase, off Gun Broker, of their model 40 in 357 Maximum. It came in their top selling silhouette version with an eight inch barrel and weight reducing slotted shroud. She was topped with a Redfield 2-6X in Leupolds purpose made combination base and ring made for DW`s vent rib. I used three different make bullets for my 180gr JHP handloads, Partition, Swift and XTP. The bullets were crimped over 21.0 grains of H110 and sparked with a Remington 7 1/2 primer. I did not clock the velocity but would think the 180 was running in the 1600fps area. At the 100 yard range it was the XTP that gave the best accuracy so that was what I took to the field.
The guide and I were just kicking along in the woods talking about life when we spooked a herd or sounder with close to 30 good boar that circled around a pond into a large open area where they stopped and began to feed. We sat with backs against a log and glassed across the 200 or so yards to try and read their intentions. After 30 minutes, as luck would have it, they slowly started feeding in the direction they came from. More time passed as they reached the pond causing me to remove my short shooting sticks from my bag and setting them up with the Max barrel resting in the V and the edge of my hands on my knees. I have yet to find a more steady field rest. Closer and closer they came at an undisturbed walk in a long black line. Judging which one to shoot came down to the last four boar of the group. All were good size.. My crosshair stayed on the second from the last as he walked up an incline at a slight quarter toward angle. At 66 yards I squeezed the trigger sending the 180XTP to that sweet spot just in front of the shoulder. What happened next was amazing as I expected a flat out dash since I was using a .357 bullet only to see him go about ten feet and fall, flop a bit and expire. The real eye opener came when he was opened up to see the damage done. After the bullet entered it took out one lung, blew out the top half of the heart and punched a hole through the liver and exited. Shot placement and some added velocity turned a .35 caliber handgun bullet into a real killer.

Looks good, James!

Nice!!!
I wish we had wild boar in Alaska! Would love to have a chance to hunt them.

Good job!

Nice write up James, love seeing the terminal results. Congrats!
D?

Very nice! The 180 XTP works very, very well with the Max!

Thanks for the report James. I'm hunting with a 357 Max this year and your results really encourage me. By the way, I'm getting 1480 fps out of a 10 1/2" Ruger with the 180 XTP and 21 gr 296, CCI400.

Good shooting James.

Nice shooting, The max is a fine round with 180.s,

James, I have been very impressed with the 180xtp from my Max. I got good terminal performance out at 200 with it on a pronghorn. Like Seminole, I get 1400-1450fps from my 10.5? but very good accuracy. It is a great medium game caliber.

Trapr

Nice shooting James!

Nicely done James - congrats!

Velocity makes the difference!

Good job James! Congratulations!

Nice porker and nice shooting!

Well done, James!

CONGRATULATIONS!🎈🎉🎊🍾💯✅

CONGRATULATIONS!🎈🎉🎊🍾💯✅

Another one bites the dust.....good shooting

Another hog bites the dust ...

Grats!!

Well done!!

It?s an anomaly. The XTP can?t be relied upon to consistently kill animals. The most experienced here in the forum know that.

:ajoke:

Again, well done. Nice pig. Good shooting. Love the bullet. Nice handgun. The works.

👍🏻

Very well done James, you made a dandy shot on that hog. He looks like he's a big one, what do you think he weighed?

Dick

Enjoyed the story. Well done Sir.

Sixshot, You know Dick I asked the guide what he thought the gut pile weighed and about 40 pounds was the response so I`am thinking 270lbs.. These boar are hard to judge when it comes to weight. Maybe that coarse hair makes look heavier then they are..

I?m surprised they don?t have a scale.

Or maybe I?m not.

Any idea why they don?t?

Zee, They have a scale but the boar was field dressed where he fell and I never thought to ask his weight back at the slaughter house. This gives me a reason to return

....

I would think an operation like that would gut back at the ?barn? to prevent excess rumen in the field. Affording them the opportunity to acquire
live weight if the client so wished.

I`am sure if you asked they would oblige.. Don`t know what`s running around there at night or if its the boar but one thing I noticed over the years is a gut pile is usually gone buy the next day... I remember the first time seeing a boar with blood on its snout and thinking that I never associated blood with boar until that day. It was surprising

MANY YEARS AGO WE WERE DRIVING INTO THE ENCINO DIVISION OF THE KING RANCH TO GO DEER HUNTING AND SAW A PACK OF WILD HOGS DEVOURING A DEAD COW, I TRY NOT TO THINK ABOUT THAT WHEN I AM ABOUT TO BITE INTO SOME SUCCULENT WILD HOG MEAT. PIGS AND BEARS ARE A LOT ALIKE, THEY WILL EAT DAMN NEAR ANYTHING, EVEN SMELLY CARION.

Good write up and congrats on the pig!

I have killed 300-400 critters with XTPs an have yet to have one fail. I guess my time is coming.

Congrats, James - glad you finally got a boar

!

I think you know the answer to that...

They are omnivores, so pretty much anything that fits in their mouth. Many do not truly realize the destruction they can reek on a property, it?s not just habitat but the other occupants as well.

Trapr

Yeah, I admit.....my initial cynical (critical?) thought was.........if you don?t have a scale, you can tell or let your clients believe whatever they will/want to believe about how big their trophy pig was. Kinda like telling them to sit further back from their animal to make it look bigger in a picture. All those tricks of the trade to boost hunter ego or promote sales/hunts.

Yes. I?m sorry that I?ve been jaded by so many less than honest outfitter practices.

But, it seems I was incorrect as James said they actually do have a scale at the barn. So, I apologize for my unsubstantiated thought.

I do find it odd that they don?t weigh every animal taken for ranch records. Every ranch I have and do work with or for practices this. Just part of a management plan.

I also find the gutting in the proverbial field of a comparatively small high fence operation (are they high fenced?) to be an odd practice. Just from a tidiness/cleanliness/appearance basis. In case another hunter later that day walks by and sees a gut pile just laying around or whatever.

Again, none of the ranches I worked/work/have experience with/for want animals gutted in the field. They have facilities at the lodge or barn for taking care of rumen and by product.

The only places that often don?t care terribly are the farmers I cull pigs for. They tell me to shoot them all and leave them lay in plowed fields or drag them to the edge of planted fields and leave them. They either plow them under or burry them off with a tractor later. They just want me shooting every pig I see.

Now, I don?t typically like leaving them lay. I try to find homes for as many as I can so people can enjoy the meat. But, sometimes there are just too many or nobody wants them. So, I try to consolidate them in one pile in an unobtrusive location so the farmer can carry them off or burry them with a tractor.

I try to weigh any pig I butcher. Just for my knowledge and gaining experience as pigs tend to be on of the most exaggerated animals in regards to weight. They are hard or can be hard to judge and folks tend to err on the side of too heavy.

Anyway, carry on and good work again, James!

I've only killed a few feral hogs & 3 Warthogs so I don't have nearly the experience some of you have but is there any health issues from hogs that have been eating other hogs?

Dick

Not that I?m aware or have died from.

😁

I`ve seen more vultures then I can count that seemed to have made Tioga home... They just glide in a wide circle over the properity..

In the areas I've hunted feral pigs, the remaining pigs will completely consume any carcases, normally by next morning.

You are definitely the Pig Pounding Champion of this Forum. Congratulations.

Well done! Can you provide a bit more information on your rings? I have a DW in .357 Max I use for deer but I'm not all that happy with the B square mount I have on the gun now.

Thanks.