A few pigs with the .44 Devastator and a Ruger 96/44

[Fenring]

Just got back from 10 days in southern Queensland on the pigs. The area has been drought affected for the last two years of so, so numbers are down. I still shot a few off the little Suzuki DR200 bike, with the Ruger 96/44 throwing Lyman Devastator HP's.


Our LZ.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/Fenring/Gpigs%202015/P1050173_zps6syihgvs.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Fenring/media/Gpigs%202015/P1050173_zps6syihgvs.jpg.html)


Little orange boar that was camped under a dead coolabah tree.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/Fenring/Gpigs%202015/P1050158_zpsuuppowri.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Fenring/media/Gpigs%202015/P1050158_zpsuuppowri.jpg.html)


Couple of little fellas that tried to lie doggo under a dead tree.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/Fenring/Gpigs%202015/P1050130_zpsnb9bpfwe.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Fenring/media/Gpigs%202015/P1050130_zpsnb9bpfwe.jpg.html)


We got some rain, resulting in mud and slush and this sort of situation. :D Bike has a buggered output shaft seal from mud ingress. :(


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/Fenring/Gpigs%202015/P1050132_zpssow9tdik.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Fenring/media/Gpigs%202015/P1050132_zpssow9tdik.jpg.html)


Breakfast for hungry swine hunters. :D


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/Fenring/Gpigs%202015/unnamed%201_zpsutgmvdvp.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Fenring/media/Gpigs%202015/unnamed%201_zpsutgmvdvp.jpg.html)

[Fenring]

Best one for the trip. Now sheep dog food.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/Fenring/Gpigs%202015/P1050146_zpsjzbzfppq.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Fenring/media/Gpigs%202015/P1050146_zpsjzbzfppq.jpg.html)


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/Fenring/Gpigs%202015/P1050144_zpslqlfv428.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Fenring/media/Gpigs%202015/P1050144_zpslqlfv428.jpg.html)


White coloured boar.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/Fenring/Gpigs%202015/P1050163_zpsbyhkvbgj.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Fenring/media/Gpigs%202015/P1050163_zpsbyhkvbgj.jpg.html)


Young black boar I shot one morning.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/Fenring/Gpigs%202015/P1050171_zpskhnhlcbf.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Fenring/media/Gpigs%202015/P1050171_zpskhnhlcbf.jpg.html)


No foxes taken as the area had been aerial poison baited prior to lambing. :(

[dougader]

Great hunt!

[Beagle333]

Wow, you were certainly stacking them up. Nice piggies!

[Larry Gibson]

Another excellent report on the performance of a HP'd cast bullet used in the 44 Magnum, especially the Devastator. Of course up here the same bullet blows up w/o sufficient penetration to kill anything like those pigs. Why some would have us believe they even bounce off of deer......especially if used out of a handgun........

Any recovered bullets?

Larry Gibson

[Fenring]

None recovered this time Larry, but have in the past.

Previously recovered Devastators beside a Lee 310. HP's have lost about 100gr of nose which has peeled back and rolled off.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/Fenring/Shooting/Goodooga%202010/P1050767.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Fenring/media/Shooting/Goodooga%202010/P1050767.jpg.html)

Another Lee 310gr and victim.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/Fenring/Gpigs%202013/P1020381_zps061569db.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Fenring/media/Gpigs%202013/P1020381_zps061569db.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/Fenring/Gpigs%202013/P1020380_zpsbdb2e26f.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Fenring/media/Gpigs%202013/P1020380_zpsbdb2e26f.jpg.html)

Boolits are air cooled COWW's, Dev's are doing 1650fps, Lee are @ 1500. Next batch of Dev's will be dropped back to about 1550, these ones are foot to the floor or near to it.

[Bad Water Bill]

Nice shooting sir.

Now post a picture of your chickens that lay them square eggs?[smilie=s:

[stubert]

Those eggs, We called egg in a hole when we were kids. Made some for my grandkids a couple weeks ago, They thought they were cool.

[white eagle]

eggs in a blanket and ham steak
makin me hungry
nice shootin there

[44man]

The square eggs threw me off too. Square shells???

[Bulldogger]

pop-eyes, we call 'em square lookin' eggs.

Nice piggies. Dirty, nasty and mean by the looks of them.

Bulldogger

[AggieEE]

The little ones look like they would make great BBQ. Looked like you had a good time.

[Larry Gibson]

Fenring

Excellent! What alloy and would you have chronographed the Devastators out of the rifle?

Larry Gibson

[Fenring]

We call those eggs bulls-eyes. :D

Devastaors are @1650fps. Lee are @1500.

[fastdadio]

Excellent hunt. Thanks for posting/sharing the pics. I'm also an avid off road rider and so was happy to see pics of the mighty little DR200 in action. My current mule is an 07 Honda CRF230. I noticed the kick stand on the right side? Never seen that before but then you folks 'down there' do everything opposite. Heck, I even heard your bog flushes backward...Ride hard, shoot straight and speak the truth.

[Fenring]

Cheers.

The DR200 here is outfitted as a farm bike and has some useful bits and pieces to that end - it has a stand on either side, with a large foot for soft ground. Front and rear racks, kick and electric start and a clutch lock lever. And a really solid bash plate and tubular bash guards ahead of the engine. All these things add up to making it a pretty good little hunting bike IMO. :)

[Gibbs44]

You have some of the coolest looking hunts. Thanks for sharing, I love seeing the little Rugers getting their exercise. We call the bread and egg combination a toad in the hole.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Always enjoy your pics! Looking to go to Melbourne in a few years to visit sis any the BIL. BIL says all the pig hunting is up north. What should I look to shoot down south?

[Fenring]

Thanks.

In Victoria we have a couple of species of deer, foxes, rabbits and there are pigs in some places also. There's a season for ducks also.

[Ramjet-SS]

Now that looks like a load of fun. I am true believer in the Lyman 44 Devestator for hunting the right velocity for the alloy and you will anchor game. Great pics and great story thanks for sharing. Bacon Bacon Bacon

[claude]

The stock on your 96, is it a synthetic?

[Fenring]

No - it kept getting scratched and so on, so I ended up stripping the finish and painting it that graphite grey colour which holds up pretty good and is easily repainted. Plain old Killrust metal paint, applied with a foam roller which gives a light pebbled texture finish.

[monge]

Great pixs looks like you guys had a lot of fun!

[jeepyj]

Looks like a lot of fun. Plus one could get a fill of bacon!

[claude]

Thanks, I roughed mine up to get rid of the shine, but I like your solution as well.

[Tom_in_AZ]

That looks like a heck of a trip. Sorry to hear about the mud ingress on your DR. Hope it gets fixed so you can take it on another hog hunting trip soon.

[Ramjet-SS]

Can you give us a comparison of the internal damage between the two different boolits?

[Fenring]

That looks like a heck of a trip. Sorry to hear about the mud ingress on your DR. Hope it gets fixed so you can take it on another hog hunting trip soon.

Thanks.

As it happened, I popped the seal out and took it to the local bearing supply joint. The seal has codes on it, just like a bearing - they had one in stock and apparently sell a lot of them to motorbike users. Cost me $7. :D

I can imagine a "genuine part" would be several times the price from a Suzuki dealer....


Tom - I don't have pics of internal damage, but have done some basic examinations.

In short, the Devastator expands much faster and more violently, so you get the same sort of bruised and bloodshot meat as you would from a jacketed 240gr HP running fast. Smaller pigs will be torn open.

The Lee cuts a cleaner path and will exit smaller pigs all the time but not blow out a flap of meat like the Devastator will. That said, it still impacts with an audible THUMP and if larger pigs, say 220lb and up were on the menu all the time it would be my chosen boolit for deeper penetration and hang-together.

[Ramjet-SS]

Thanks for the stock idea I have a Legacy arms 480 Ruger in Stainless and the stocks were really rough shape so I pulled them off. I then sanded them down and then taped the mating areas. I used the Black textured stock paint from Brownells in black they turned out fantastic and I am confident will hold up well. 3 coats total.

[TXGunNut]

Once again, nice pics of a great hunt. You ever keep a nice sweet-smelling one for yourself?