well didnt end up squeazing trigger on any of them...but they chamber fine in a begera even though are 4mm longer than supposed to be.....

18mths on..a lot of powder burnt and lead chucked around countryside and animals of all sizes dispatched...time for update and further ponderings
first up I believe Ive found the holy grail of ultimate stopping power load
a 220grn flat point cast of pure lead powder coated propelled by 21grns of lil gun and a magnum rifle primer..... mate has so far shot two pigs with them. first 120ish lb boar in between eye n ear,stopped under shield on opposite shoulder now weighing 180grns and 2cm flattened piece of perfection.
he shot 80lb pig wit hit too and aparently the skull was just smashed..so they are delivering the energy in spades....... but he wants a hollowpoint... I KNOW......I KNOW.....I shake my head but again I Know


gave up on the heavy cast jobbies as a right pain to reload,didnt realise how bad till tried a few 240grn berries copper plated cast,the slid into case just so much easier....
the 280grn flat point cast driven hard sure snot pigs over too..but over penertration could well be an issue.
have just ordered a heap of 180grn hp hornadies...xtp I believe stands for extreme teerminal preformance...so they SHOULD open up fast and stop penertrating.. .will play with velocity and see where they work best....
thinking a 6grn charge of the AP30 looks good..should be 1100ish fps from ruger bolt action rifle... think barrel is around the 16" length..its very light rifle and unsuppressed so hopefully can find a velocity/power level that kills well,without over penertrating and isnt too loud...... its there somewhere just have to keep tweaking till find it.
lil gun is loud and hot...but works
Ive also got trail boss on hand but it looks to sit between ap30/as30 and ap50/as50 on charts so wont really gain anything other than bulkier fill of case

funny the mate I was loading for above has used up over 100 reloads,mostly shooting furry possums bailed up trees,loves the subsonic ones for that job...yip a .22lr would be better/cheaper..but he is happy and my freezers stay topped up with pork so Im happy as is the good wife.


tried maybe 10 different combinations so far..nothing has been bad as such. at subsonic levels there is nothing between them...they go pop and a hole gets bored through whatever its aimed into... both fellas dont like them on pigs as both have had near miss on brain and pig doesnt drop..I told them this,but a shit shot is still a shit shot..got to hit brain using subs..no shock power to transpher energy....

Elvis wrote:

.. both fellas dont like them on pigs as both have had near miss on brain and pig doesnt drop..I told them this,but a shit shot is still a shit shot..got to hit brain using subs..no shock power to transpher energy....

So true! The only subs I found that worked on hogs/deer are copper bullets that fold open like a mechanical broadhead for rifles.

the leheigh machined brass ones are apparently next level for subbies..have not seen a single bad word said about them other than price...
but even then its got no shock power ,just like what you have used its got a bigger hole though...a broadhead versus a target point.

scored 160x hornady XTP 180grn for a good price..that should last a year or three LOL..... thinking to go something like 7grns of ap30 or 50 and see how they go..was using 6grns behind a 270grn cast so.....jacketed means more pressure but 180 VS 270 equals less mass to propell.... will dig around for hard data,but pretty scarce for that.
looks like the 2 ADI powders ap30 ap50 pretty much bracket trail boss...so have 3 good options....before have to buy something...