Jerry’s slugs
Hi all,
I got Jerry’s slugs last week and could not wait to try them. They made my 43’s look like babies. Today I shot the 6 ring slugs at a 1 and a half inch board at 24 yards, and it went through and hit the concrete block behind and mushroomed to 3/4 of an inch. I’m not sure about anyone else, but it seemed that my condor sounded a lot quieter. Maybe because of the size of the slug. The 43’s hit hard a make a huge impact when they hit. I have not used a chrony yet and I’m curious to see the velocity. They did shoot bullseye every shot at 24 yards. If anyone has any info on there chrony and experience please do tell.
All Replies
I think the new .308 gun is going to be released soon and Randy at R&L indicated they were done testing and ready so I don’t know if that means they still have to manufacture more parts or what. I searched his site this morning to see if it had been posted and figured it would be in the custom area. I know Randy is real particular about everything being perfect before he releases it. I know they are having very good results with the .308 and don’t know the latest on the 9mm other than Randy indicated he liked the results of the .308 a lot. Since he mentioned the kit I am pretty sure he will sell that too. Not sure on the 9mm date but if you want one he will build it.
I think it is a bit of the luck of the angle on head shots and I suspect the skulls thickens considerably as they age. Those Texas 50 lbers were head shots too I posted a while ago. I shot my last Russian boar through the lungs with a 30-06 180 gr SP at 2800 fps and he went well over 300 yards before he dropped at 275 lbs. He was much tougher than the black bear I shot in Canada which dropped like a rock about ten years ago who weighed about the same. Where I was hunting in TN for the boars they had some skulls and one was from a 250 lbers and the brain cavity was very small surrounded by a lot of thick bone. Any soft lead slug even from a 44 mag might have a tough time on that unless it hit the weaker areas directly. There a lot of stories in Alaska where folks used a lead bullets in pistols to shoot a bear in the head and the slug deformed and slid right under the skin over the skull. That said I still think the right angle would do the trick.
tbln30,
Do you have any idea when this .308 kit is going to be released and what kind of price tag it will have? Will the 9mm kit be released at the same time?
The reason I went for the brain shot is that there is a guy out here on Oahu, Nomadic Pirate, who has taken pigs with a .22 Evanix Rainstorm 50 fpe rifle and Eun Jin pellets. From the photos he posted, I estimate those pigs were about 40 to 50 pounders. I tried to duplicate his shot, aiming at the forehead when the pig’s head was down as it fed. I think Jerry’s slugs could easily do the job if I had a 24″ barrel instead of a 17″ barrel. I’m just underpowered right now for both head and body shots, and that’s why these kits sound interesting.
The slugs R&L tested with the brand new .308 gun are listed. They were all HPs. The Surefire 160’s sound great and if the .308s shoot as well as the .25s or close to it they sound like a hit and I like the Surefire design better from an accuracy standpoint from the reports I saw on the larger slugs like .45s.
I know they are seeing over a 50 fpe difference between the 68 gr and 136 grain which still has good velocity so the 160 might be perfect for hunting the smaller piggys but I would still go for the heart/lung. I know from hog hunting, though, that those vitals are forward of where they would be in a deer so careful shot placement is critical.
68
96
105
125
136
Jerry,
I haven’t chronographed my rig as I don’t have one, but there is a guy living nearby who has a Combro that he would lend me. I can’t for a while though ’cause my daughter is getting married and I’ll be busy for about the next ten days with relatives and wedding stuff. I easily dropped two smaller hogs with head shots and pellets, a Barracuda and a pointed EJ, but those were tiny pigs about 20 pounds. Yesterday’s guy was substantially sized though he did not have protruding tusks that I could see through the scope. If he had, I would have thought again about pulling the trigger. I guess once a boar gets up to around 100+ pounds, it’s a different ball game. Their skulls must thicken for fighting other male hogs.
I think he told me 115 and 160’s, or close to that #.
I don’t know if you saw my post on the Condor .308 coming out from R&L but the 200 fpe should do trick with a careful shot placement on smaller hogs.
How much are the .308 Surefire slugs weighing in at?
Thanks….
Interesting article. I guess a body shot low and forward would be a better percetage shot. Tofazfou did drop one with a head shot using one of our .45 Raptors though and that pig just dropped. 3 times the mass at about the same speed helps!
I have shot two Russian boars (30-06) and the skulls are thick as are their shoulder blades. I would be surprised if it penetrated unless it was a perfectly perpendicular shot on a weaker area.
This article tells a good story about soft slugs on hog heads.
http://hunting.about.com/od/deerbiggame/a/wheretoshoothog.htm
That said some guy in Texas just had a picture of two 50 lb hogs he said he got with a Marauder .25 which seems awfully light.
http://www.californiapredatorsclub.com/index.php?showtopic=23495
Norgeiron
Have you chronographed your set-up? I’m surprised you didn’t get penetration, do hogs have skulls that are thick in that spot? It does seem like a power issue.
With the soft lead a heart/lung shot is probably required. Any glancing hit it on a tough skull would just flatten and slide off. I think a hard core would help but be expensive.
OK, my report on 7 ring slugs vs wild hogs. From 30 yards this afternoon, I hit a young boar, estimated weight 125 pounds, directly above his brain. I was using the Extreme valve and shooting down as he was feeding. The result? The slug did not penetrate his skull. He ran into the swamp, stayed there a while, and then emerged, looked around, and ran off. Through the telescopic sight I could see the welt where the slug had hit. My conclusion: I just don’t have enough horsepower. I’ll wait until R & L comes out with their .308 or 9mm kits and try again.
Norgeiron
Thanks. I ordered up a few hundred 6-ring to start and a few 7-rings to test. My query is primarily opossums, raccons, ground hogs, and an occasional coyote so the 61 gr at near 100 fpe should be more than adequate. I am getting everthing now with the hi-flo valve and 26 gr Predators (except coyotes) w/o any problem out of Stubby’s 12″ barrel.
The Extreme valve with 62 grains should work them silly from my Condor.
tbln30,
Well, I haven’t tested long range, since all my jungle hunting is pretty close range, usually 30 yards or less. The seven ring slugs have about 15% more weight than the 6 ring, and my understanding is that that translates to more energy on target, even if the heavier slug is moving somewhat slower. Since my targets are potentially large, I went with the bigger slug. I haven’t yet tried the 9 ring——I bet it is a bear to load because it is so long, but man, 88 grains of lead is a lot of downrange whump. Norge
Do you think the 7 rings are better than the 6 ring for long range/trajectory?
Thanks.
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I haven’t chronographed my rig as I don’t have one, but there is a guy living nearby who has a Combro that he would lend me. I can’t for a while though ’cause my daughter is getting married and I’ll be busy for about the next ten days with relatives and wedding stuff. I easily dropped two smaller hogs with head shots and pellets, a Barracuda and a pointed EJ, but those were tiny pigs about 20 pounds. Yesterday’s guy was substantially sized though he did not have protruding tusks that I could see through the scope. If he had, I would have thought again about pulling the trigger. I guess once a boar gets up to around 100+ pounds, it’s a different ball game. Their skulls must thicken for fighting other male hogs.
I think it’s worthwhile to borrow the combry and see what your actual power output is. I don’t have avy problem believing hogs heads get thicker with age but I’ve seen posts here of the .25 slugs blowing through cast iron pans at 50 yards and aluminum at 100. It just seems to me that a solid shot would have done more than raise a welt! Maybe the pig moved a little and he just got a glancing blow?