Another Javalina

[The Crisco Kid]

I shot this medium sized javalina yesterday. After 4 days of looking my partner and I found a small herd of them. I took this one with my .45, "Miss Piggy", at 25 or 30 yards. The load was about 60 gr. 3F Goex under a bare .451 ball. I hate to admit the reason for this particular load but, I flat out missed one at a paced off 65 yards. Shot right over the sucker! I reloaded fast by pouring the charge into my measure, dumping most of it down the barrel and ramming home a bare ball to get off a quick second shot which I didn't get. I went looking for signs of a hit but didn't see a trace of anything. I knew I had missed the moment of the shot so I quit looking. My partner had dumped one out right after my shot and while we were tracking it up I saw this one standing broadside looking at me. It didn't go but about 30 yards at a dead run before it fell over from the shot through the lungs. Two pigs in a few minutes made for a good day. My usual load for this rifle is a .440 ball and a .020 patch. I carry a few .440 balls and a cap tin of greased patches in my left pocket and a few .451 balls in my right pocket. It's a combination that works for me at least.

 

[64Springer]

Mak'in Bacon.

 

[sb 54 cal.]

Glad to here the bare ball worked. Been testing .490 bare ball in my tradition's Kentucky and have gotten acceptable accuracy out to 40 yds. are so.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

Glad to here the bare ball worked. Been testing .490 bare ball in my tradition's Kentucky and have gotten acceptable accuracy out to 40 yds. are so.

Bare balls seem to work a lot better than you would think. At least within 50 yards or so. I think the old timers probably shot them a lot in touchy situations. I've also become a real fan of the coned muzzle.

 

[Notchy Bob]

Way to go, @The Crisco Kid !

I've been thinking about that .451" ball in the .45 caliber bore ever since reading your comments on another thread (Would it be safe to use a .451 ball in a .45 caliber Kentucky pistol? ). I was reminded of a section in John Dillin's book, The Kentucky Rifle, and finally got around to looking it up today. Captain Dillin described two balls which had been recovered from native graves in Tennessee. From the locations of the two balls, it was obvious that the two men had been shot. He stated that "A remarkable fact is that both bullets seem to have been shot without a patch, as the lands of the rifle barrel are well cut into each ball. This would not likely have happened had a patch been used in a regular way... Many of our early hunters had two moulds for their rifles: one for the ball that used a patch, this being smaller than the bore; another to cast a ball of groove-deep diameter. This latter ball was shot naked and only used when quick action was necessary, an emergency bullet in reality, for it could be seated on the powder in half the time required when the regular patch was used" (p.117).

Your .451" ball is not of "groove-deep diameter," as described by Captain Dillin, but it is large enough to engage the grooves and will likely "bump up" a bit more when the powder charge detonates, for even greater engagement.

In any event, your use of a slightly larger ball, loaded bare for a quick second shot, has historical precedent as well as practical value. Thanks for sharing that, and congratulations for getting that pig!

Notchy Bob

 

[Loja man]

Nice!! I would love to chase more game with my muzzleloaders! Hopefully next year! Would love to bring home some pigs!

 

[bushytail]

Congratulations on a nice javalina! They’re on my bucket list.

 

[JeffG]

Nice hunt! Thanks for sharing!