Forty, forty, forty, twenty-seven, one

[Shootist43]

BenKK, I was just curious about the performance of the 55 gr. bullet. Some of the ranches where I've hunted hogs didn't permit the use of a 5.56 /223 because of the propensity to wound but not kill a hog cleanly. Especially the larger ones. The lightest bullet I ever used was a 140 Gr. Nosler out of a 6.5 x 55.

 

[BenKK]

BenKK, I was just curious about the performance of the 55 gr. bullet. Some of the ranches where I've hunted hogs didn't permit the use of a 5.56 /223 because of the propensity to wound but not kill a hog cleanly. Especially the larger ones. The lightest bullet I ever used was a 140 Gr. Nosler out of a 6.5 x 55.

I bought these Ballistic Silvertips for a trip down memory lane and because I wanted to test a hunch I had, that they would be better on pigs than Barnes TSX (which are very good on buffalo).

When I was a kid we shot a lot of little pests in the wheat crops, and foxes too. The standard soft points were the best, causing massive devastation. We tried these fancy new Winchester Ballistic Silvertips and soon found that they didn’t devastate as much and punched through a little more on small pests. We kept them aside for the few deer and feral goat opportunities that began to arise (only one “big” rifle in our family in those days, couldn’t afford another, and TSXs weren’t invented). Eventually my Dad shot his first buffalo, a huge old bull, with one of these little Ballistic Silvertips, as well as a couple of terrific boars. He even got a few camels. The Silvertips aren’t ideal for big stuff but can work if you’re patient and clever. They’re still a varmint bullet but not quite as “explosive” as regular projectiles, but obviously more-so than TSXs. So all bullets have their place.

 

[bruce moulds]

ben,
your hunch is similar to mine.
that is that pigs are very susceptible to shock, and faster opening bullets are very effective on them.
that is not to say that any 22 centrefire is ideal for pigs, as the fighting pads on big ones are quite thick.
however well aimed shots will work.
velocity works well on pigs.
for some reason it is often taken for granted that pigs are always shot at close range hastily.
even in close country, often longer shots present.
if you are in country where a shotgun is igeal and will not limit shots, you are in pretty close country.
in there big mags are a hindrance because you only see a target fleetingly and fire few shots.
the old ruger 44 mag semiauto with a 4 shot mag was good here, and had the advantage over a shotgun of being good out to 100 yds, lighter, shorter, and less recoil.
before the 17 rem existed, I had a 17/222imp magnum.
it was only effective on pigs with a brain shot.
I suspect that the modern ballistic silvertip could be the same bullet as the nosler ballistic tip, but with a different colour tip.
they certainly started out that way.
totally unrelated to the old original tin coated silvertips of yore.
you might well fing that a std 55 gn soft point flat base sierra bullet would suit your 22/250 job very well.
also the 63 gn sierra soft point will be stable in a std twist 22/250. and handle game animals with a modicum of success.
bruce.

 

[BenKK]

I think you’re correct about the Nosler Ballistic Tip being the same.

Yep, situations with pigs vary a lot, from right under your feet to way out across the flat. It’s hard (impossible) to pick the perfect rifle all of the time.

 

[BenKK]

I’ve found that pigs had incredible propensity for keeping their feet after being hit by 55 grain TSXs from the .22-250, Woodleigh Hydros from .300H&H, 180 grain Barnes TSXs from the same, and Woodleigh solids from .458WM and .500NE.

They prefer soft points.

 

[bruce moulds]

too much bullet is not a good thing for pigs.
midweight for calibre std soft points are as good as it gets.
I did find 480 gn kynoch softs from a 450 nitro rather effective on them, but the gun was limiting in shots it could take, and it was certainly overkill.
2 calibres that have only ever had 1 shot kills for me were 308 with 150 gn riverbrand bullets, and 270 with 130 gn sierra.
have never shot them with 7mm, but it is between 270 and 308, so it would be good with 140 gn bullets.
we tend to forget that a good bolt gun will point better than just about anything else.
bruce.