Large Hog Falls to Cast Hammer

[TXGunNut]

35 Krag does indeed sound interesting, sounds like a good way to get a second life out of an old bolt gun. I'd like to hear the story of that Handi Rifle as well.

[taco650]

TXGunNut,

Is the same boolit you tried in your 35Whelen but couldn't get it to feed from the magazine?

[Markbo]

Well done. I try to tell people we have big pigs in Texas even where we have little deer. Texas Hill country has some of the densest white tail population in the country but they are dwarved by big hogs

[RPRNY]

It was a 30-30, ejector barrel. JES Rebore (Jesse Occumpaugh) bored it out to 358 and chambered it for the 35 Krag, which is just the 30-40 necked out. I specified a 1-12 twist. Lee did me a set of custom collet dies for $70. Brass is easily fire formed from 30-40.

I'm a 30-40 fan and have several rifles thus chambered. The 35 is a fantastic single shot and will perform to factory Whelen levels in the Handi. Thinking about a 35 Krag Improved in a Ruger #3.

Wasn't me trying to shoot that bullet in a Whelen repeater.

[TXGunNut]

TXGunNut,

Is the same boolit you tried in your 35Whelen but couldn't get it to feed from the magazine?

No, I'm using the NOE/RD 360-230 and have minimized the feeding issue but it's still an issue. I load it (3 rounds) so that the second round comes from the side that feeds well. I think the 358009 may actually feed in my rifle but I don't want to shoot that heavy a boolit. I also like the big meplat of the RD design, even if it doesn't feed well in my rifle. I seldom need a second shot but I often chamber a round after shooting game and don't want to be distracted by feeding issues while watching a critter go down.
I really like the 358009, it's a grand old boolit but it's simply more than I need here in TX. If I were going after moose or elk I would buy the mould in a minute. A certain enabler has been trying to get me to try the 358009 but so far I've resisted.
The problem with the 35 caliber is that there are so many excellent boolits but they all require significant amounts of powder and lead while dishing out recoil in no small packages. I don't think there's a better big game hunting caliber than the 35 but in must cases it pretty much sucks as a plinker. I'm not recoil-sensitive but it does wear me down after awhile.

[TXGunNut]

It was a 30-30, ejector barrel. JES Rebore (Jesse Occumpaugh) bored it out to 358 and chambered it for the 35 Krag, which is just the 30-40 necked out. I specified a 1-12 twist. Lee did me a set of custom collet dies for $70. Brass is easily fire formed from 30-40.

I'm a 30-40 fan and have several rifles thus chambered. The 35 is a fantastic single shot and will perform to factory Whelen levels in the Handi. Thinking about a 35 Krag Improved in a Ruger #3.

Wasn't me trying to shoot that bullet in a Whelen repeater.

Thanks, sounds like a well thought-out build. Longtime fan of the 30-06 and well aware of the 30-40's role in it's development. I've been a fan of the 35 Whelen (and JES) lately so was intrigued by your rifle. I can't help but think of all the 30-40 rifles out there with bores ruined by corrosive primers. I don't know if the old 30-40 Krag bolt-action rifles would handle a full-house 35 Whelen load but my hunting loads are well under max. No experience these rifles so don't know if feeding will be an issue.

[RPRNY]

TXGN, the Krag Jorgensen rifles will not handle 35 Whelen pressures. Krag metallurgy and single locking lug mean a CUP max of 40,000, or 42,000 psi.

The original load in the Krag was 220 grs at 2000 Fps, so take the bore out to 35 cal and drop velocity to 1600 -1700 and I would extrapolate that it would be under that max. But I'd want to run it through Quickload to make sure it's below a margin of error before going there ! I'd be very confident on deer and hogs out to 200 yards with this load.

[Victor N TN]

Bet spelling error Hampshire looks to me.

I thought it looked like the Hampshire hogs we used to raise.

[35 shooter]

No, I'm using the NOE/RD 360-230 and have minimized the feeding issue but it's still an issue. I load it (3 rounds) so that the second round comes from the side that feeds well. I think the 358009 may actually feed in my rifle but I don't want to shoot that heavy a boolit. I also like the big meplat of the RD design, even if it doesn't feed well in my rifle. I seldom need a second shot but I often chamber a round after shooting game and don't want to be distracted by feeding issues while watching a critter go down.
I really like the 358009, it's a grand old boolit but it's simply more than I need here in TX. If I were going after moose or elk I would buy the mould in a minute. A certain enabler has been trying to get me to try the 358009 but so far I've resisted.
The problem with the 35 caliber is that there are so many excellent boolits but they all require significant amounts of powder and lead while dishing out recoil in no small packages. I don't think there's a better big game hunting caliber than the 35 but in must cases it pretty much sucks as a plinker. I'm not recoil-sensitive but it does wear me down after awhile.

Lol TX, try 12 gr. of unique behind a 358009 in that whelen(no filler)for a
'plinker load". Prints 1.5" or less @ 100 yds. and if i remember right, still has 600 ft. lb. of energy left @ 200 yds.
I chronoed it at 1275 fps., so no pipsqueak load exactly, but no kick either.
Too much fun!!

Not that i am an enabler or anything lol.

[Markbo]

I thought it looked like the Hampshire hogs we used to raise.

Remember feral hogs come.from farm stock. I cannot begin to list all the different colors and patterns I have seen on feral hogs. As many as there are different hog breeds and then some.

[RPRNY]

They are all, Eurasian boar, feral hog, and barnyard piggie, the same species: Sus scrofa. Appearance and coloring differ and breeding for certain characteristics can deliver more or less homogeneous coloring, but genetically they are all one species and once out in the wild for any time, feral hog and wild boar are much of a muchness.

[rhino72]

Nice hog! And thanks for the info on the 35 Krag - sounds like a great boolit round. Now to find a 'donor' rifle....

Did that hog have ear notches? It looks like the ears of the hogs that our 4H kids show here at our county fair. Could he have been a farm escapee? Should be some great meat.

[rr2241tx]

Nice hog, looks like a Durock. Did he pass the sniff test?

Durocs are red. Hampshires are black with a white band over the forelegs. But, you are correct that his body conformation has the rounded back of a Duroc. Raised a lot of hogs back in the day.

[glockmeister]

That should be very tasty eating right there! Sure will help out on the grocery bill to say the least. Take care and enjoy the pork, John.

[TXGunNut]

Lol TX, try 12 gr. of unique behind a 358009 in that whelen(no filler)for a
'plinker load". Prints 1.5" or less @ 100 yds. and if i remember right, still has 600 ft. lb. of energy left @ 200 yds.
I chronoed it at 1275 fps., so no pipsqueak load exactly, but no kick either.
Too much fun!! -35 enabler

There you go again! Do I have to go count my 35 moulds again and explain to you (again) that I don't need another 35 mould? .....that plinker load kinda sounds like fun.
All kidding aside I've never seen a RD design that liked to go slow.

[TXGunNut]

Durocs are red. Hampshires are black with a white band over the forelegs. But, you are correct that his body conformation has the rounded back of a Duroc. Raised a lot of hogs back in the day.

My dad raised hogs as a kid and I learned just enough from him to get confused, lol. I shot a little red pig a few years ago, he certainly had the scrappy temperament of a redhead, lol.
My dad was also a biologist and I often suggested to him that it seemed to me many groups of wild hogs seemed closer to the Eurasian conformation due to more generations in the wild, he didn't think so. My other theory is that many of the Eurasian traits were dominant in some populations and after even 20-30 years in the wild they have heavy shoulders and other traits that make them look more like the fabled Russian boar than a barnyard escapee. I don't think I ever got him to agree with me on that one either. I know that at least one large TX ranch brought in some Eurasian stock to improve the quality of their feral hog herd.

[dead dog]

35 shooter do you use gas checks? What lube do you use? Do you drill your primer holes with that load?

[35 shooter]

35 shooter do you use gas checks? What lube do you use? Do you drill your primer holes with that load?

My 358009 mould has both gc and pb cavities.
The 12 gr. unique load is with the plain base version. I don't drill the pockets out as that load is almost 1300 fps. I've shot hundreds of them with that load and had no shoulder set back. I use Ben's Red lube and also the new BLL tumble lube.

That's my squirrel load in the whelen!!!
Ok lol, back to the hog hunting...sorry for the side tracking!

I really like the sounds of that 35 krag!

[TXGunNut]

TXGN, the Krag Jorgensen rifles will not handle 35 Whelen pressures. Krag metallurgy and single locking lug mean a CUP max of 40,000, or 42,000 psi.

The original load in the Krag was 220 grs at 2000 Fps, so take the bore out to 35 cal and drop velocity to 1600 -1700 and I would extrapolate that it would be under that max. But I'd want to run it through Quickload to make sure it's below a margin of error before going there ! I'd be very confident on deer and hogs out to 200 yards with this load.

Thanks, was wondering about that. Dropping the velocity to the levels you suggest would not be a problem, would just have to use different headstamp brass as I do with another cartridge, probably a different boolit as well.

[45coltnut]

Nice job!!

Where did you get that stock check pad / ammo carrier? I'd like to get one for my 1885 hi wall. Thanks.