As a teenager,pighunting was a regular occurrence.I had a couple of sheep dogs who were absolute dynamite on feral pigs,and living on big farm it was always on the cards that mustering stock would fly out the window and I would end up catching pigs instead....stuff the sheep lets catch pig was often said lol
well that all changed when as a 17yr old I left home and came to south island leaving my dogs and old life behind.
Ive stayed deer stalking over the last 34 years but its only been in last 2 years that have gone out with mates to chase pork with dogs again.
had a couple of good hunts in last year and when mate asked if wanted to go out today...yip was automatic reply...my good wife said I was mad not to go so off I went.
bit of a slow start driving in but nice country to drive through,heaps of deer were seen in thermal device...off the menu today.
had cuppa at station hut then went for bit of wander..dogs soon had a bail up going and mate gave me the nod to go in and shoot pig... clean headshot presented itself in tight matagouri scrub and I had predetermined where all four dogs were so the wee trebly coughed and mr boris dropped...104lb the scales say.... while gutting it the main dog was off on another find so I left lads to deal with that pig and I dragged my sorry old arse off up hil to follow her.....got couple hundy yards away over a ridge and couldnt hear anything,mate had the tracking gear so I went old school and just kept walking in direction I thought dogs had gone...young foxy bitch came up to me then scooted off in direction so I followed 500yards behind!!! fast as could go....got to where she had gone out of sight and I could hear a bit of a bailup going on ahead so kept on going to get there as soon as possible..but when got over to gully they were in..silence..then saw main bitch below me..and she came back to me..then went back to mates below dragging out first pig....I headed down hill towards them..puzzled as to what had gone on..discussion was had..bit of head scratching,not like peewee to leave a pig,she really loves the hunt and keeps going....so we carried on back towards truck,the dogs kept heading back up hill,then all four of then were scenting and walking together along face into big patch of fern..we watched and waited for a good ten minutes,they were in and out of sight in tall fern and matagouri...then saw Roseys tail wagging flat out..mate said she knows a pig is there...waited some more then WHOOF.... then crashing and dogs were right up bum of big pig charging down hill towards us (pigs will outrun most animals downhill and in thick scrub will often out run dogs) it popped out 75ish yards away and kept coming,my mate said"give it a slow down shot" so I cocked rifle and swung onto boar as it turned and ran across infront of me all of fifty yards away..the humble trebly coughed again (got to love suppressors) mate said you missed as peewee flew after boar and grabbed its bum, boar turned and came back out of scrub towards us wit hall four dogs now giving it a tune up..then folks..it got all wobbly and fell over deader than a dead thing LOL.... The trebly had pulped its lungs..52grn hp speer
pig was duely stuck and praise heaped on dogs.
I got out of carrying that one too as it only needed to be dragged 25 yards to the truck track.the scales say 150lb .
awesome day and our Indian work mate who has never been hunting at all before had a ball of a time.... young fella wont forget that day in a hurry.
so 30 plus years since I last shot a bailed pig....wont leave it as long before I do it again.

try again

Well done mate…sound like the wee trebly has the grunters measure big time…and the dogs appear to be in their element.

Just had a funny mental pic…BIG hog barrelling through the scrub with a Foxy clamped on its butt, all four legs going flat out, not reaching the ground but refusing to let go.

when you get a wee dog who loves nothing better than a gob full of boar nuts...well you have very little problems with big boars..they are all found standing to the bail backed into a log or bank to protect thier bulgy bits....I learnt to hunt with one of Dads dogs who was a master at the art of ball biting.
mate went out and caught another smaller boar this morning.....but he had to grab it himself and stick it as had rifle malfunction.... came to me rather red in face this morning...can you give it a clean please???
so it has been stripped completely,washed in sink full of hot water(should have seen the dirt n blood that came off) dried out in sunlight,oiled,reassembled,lightly oiled again...barrel was first given copper brush half dozen times..then dry rag,the break free on rag about ten times and buggermesideways a pristine shiney bore with crisp rifling appeared...
rifle is a ruger 77/44 and seeing how that barrel came up..Im super impressed.
rifle now much cleaner and the firing pin drops as it should....think blood n crud in by trigger sear may have had it hanging up..should have tried before cleaning to see...rear cocking piece drops nicely into bolt body now when trigger is pulled so should be good.
amazing how neglected some pighunters rifles are..this isnt the worst one Ive seen by far. my darling wife was not impressed at all by the state of it...I do believe castration was mentioned if she saw one of mine in that state!!!!

got onto utube and found how to strip bolt down...so thats been done and put back together again too.... funky wee bolt unlike anything Ive seen before,the norinco 7.62x39mm was similar but was rear locking with revolving barrel..the 77/44 is MIDDLE locking with revolving front half..aparently the .22lr etc is the same. rather impressed with whole rifle to be honest...man its light to carry.

That is a very nice looking rifle mate. I’ve never been a huge fan of Ruger firearms, but I must admit I rather fancy the Ruger No 1, and very much like the look of this rifle. Also, it’s chambering in .44 Magnum, and coupled with a Scout Scope would make it a great pig rifle that still had distance capabilities.

now Im on edge of seat waiting to hear back from mate...got txt...rifle failed to fire again @A &E ....... the mind boggles,did he go in to grab pig n get bitten or is he pulling my leg???
made sure rifle went back together properly,did say to test fire it... ho hum will just have to wait n see.

just heard back.....will verify tomorrow but sounds like he very lucky man...all be it one with rips on hip n bum cheek...... the second round did what it supposed to but unfortunately he threw first one away so wont ever know if it was primer issue or gun issue AGAIN.....
on brighter note no dog got hurt
and the wee year old foxy cross bitch was right in among the action.
will head out and deal with dressing out pig for mate tomorrow...... and hopefully have more tale to add. thems the joys of tangling with tuskers...oh man I wish I was there.

That’s why many hunters like to carry a sidearm when hunting nasty critters mate. Short barrel, easy to swing and easy to poke in behind the ear and squeeze off a shot or three. Unfortunately, the powers that be, those that are hell bent on keeping us safe from ourselves, have said NO…TOO DANGEROUS!!!
I suppose, given the mentality of many in the community these days, that may be right, but even so, the vast majority, if not all, of us can be trusted to do the right thing.

At the risk of p1ssing off some, I believe a big part of the problem we are facing is different ethnic attitudes towards human life and more importantly, ideologies. Multi ethnic societies don’t really work unless the “newcomer” is prepared to put the old lifestyle behind them and adopt the new lifestyle 100%. Not easy, but it can and will work, building a strong society.

pig tipped scales at 155.6lb and a real jet black capt cooker,loong snout and hairy.....I did the knife work to get skin off and boned onto freezer top so mate could slice up into bulk bags for salamis...not fat but VERY heavily muscled pig.
mate got off lightly...pig piss bowled him when rifle failed to fire,grabbed him by hip,shook him like a fox terrier does a rat,let go lined him up and double ripped him then took off,two deep rips in arse/thigh .lots of stitches,but he walking around ok...couple of weeks off work and shite loads of antibiotics to ward off infection.

as for failure to fire...the only two things I can comeup with...I failed to seat primer down hard enough??? he had failure last week and double cocked and fired to no effect on one round..that was also possibly due to crapped up bolt...or its just two random dud primers....or they have somehow got wet/compromised in his belt bag over last few months....
fair gives me the shits to think I could have contributed to his injuries...oh well gives him something to give me stick about..silly hua had a lighter load in rifle ..I said just usethem on little piggies.....the hot loaded powder coated cast jobbie that did fire, dropped pig on spot,went in forward of shoulder and raked down ribs didnt go through chest but may have gone into it..would have been massive dump of energy into carcas either way.

Mate has found two failed to fire rounds....sounds like both have slightly proud primers...so definately my error at play here.

Elvis wrote:

Mate has found two failed to fire rounds....sounds like both have slightly proud primers...so definately my error at play here.

Do you clean the primers pockets before seating a primer mate? A primer pocket with grunge in it can result in a proud primer. Another option could well be the brass. If you are reloading once fired ex-military brass, chances are the original primers were crimped, meaning unless you remove that crimp (I use a crimp remover, or a small drill bit BY HAND for stubborn crimps) the new primer will either not seat fully or not go into the primer pocket at all. My money is on the primer pockets not being cleaned prior to trying to seat a new primer, or you need more Wheet Bix for brekky mate…not using enough pressure to fully seat the primer.

How do you seat the primers…with the system in the press or a LEE Priming Tool? I use the latter and have never had a problem…and it’s much easier and quicker.

Barring primer seating problems…have a look at firing pin protrusion…if it’s shallow it would be an indication of a carbon buildup in the firing pin channel, or a badly worn firing pin. I’d disassemble the bolt and give it a it a very thorough clean. I’d also check the firing pin spring for tension…it may be getting weak (I had this issue with my Krico rimfire…a new spring fixed the problem). If you can’t disassemble the bolt fully, I’d find a way to soak it and clean out the innards that way.

got back two remaining reloads he had..both primers are maybe .25mm at most proud....but its pretty much irrelevant now as he will never use a reloaded round again....and fair enough too...my error or not it could have been fatal.
I will pull projectiles and powder and set them off in .410 just for my own peace of mind.... 99% sure they will go off
and yes I had already completely stripped his rifle down the week before ,including the bolt but yes I guarantee bolt is stored in open position so spring under tension....saw that issue with the 223 years ago so now store my bolts in released position.

both went bang...

interstingly...mate back out on hill yesterday,put hand in pocket and HELLO whats this??? the round that failed to fire...primer was well struck ,and to my eyes only ever so slightly proud...like as in only just not flat..way flatter than the other two that went bang so who the heck knows.
talking to my older Brother,he said his BLR has always givin grief at random times with the same winchester large rifle primers so maybe they are just a bit tougher than others ,combined with older rifle ,slightly proud primer,and Murphy sticking his oar in too.