They are tearing me up!

[Ranch Dog]

As usual. Sunday night the feral hogs decided to tear up my sewer's sprinkler field. I have an aerobic unit that converts the waste back to clean, clear water and sprays it out on a field. Never had the hogs tear it up and tear it up they did. Came back every night this week working it over but I could not catch them when they were out there. Went out last night around nine and they were tearing it up. Shot this fellow 20 yards from the corner of my house with my R92 Scout chambered in 357 Mag! Closest yet I think.

hog_130115.jpg

There was at least a dozen of them. I wish I could mount a silencer on this rifle. With the wind last night and the close distance I bet I could have killed a full tube of them.

[runfiverun]

man, those things will mess up anything, i wonder if they do it in spite or something.
we don't have them anywhere near here.
they'd do a number on the potato farmers i'd bet.

[Barry in IN]

Interesting in several ways. I'd never heard of that kind of sprinkler system.

I bought a Ruger 77/44 a few years ago with the intention of sending it off to John's Guns ( http://fullysuppressed.com/ruger7744.html ) or SRT Arms ( http://srtarms.com/ ) for an integral suppressor. I never did do that, but still think about it. Your situation is one of many where that would be a handy dandy little tool.

[Ranch Dog]

Interesting in several ways. I'd never heard of that kind of sprinkler system.

I bought a Ruger 77/44 a few years ago with the intention of sending it off to John's Guns ( http://fullysuppressed.com/ruger7744.html ) or SRT Arms ( http://srtarms.com/ ) for an integral suppressor. I never did do that, but still think about it. Your situation is one of many where that would be a handy dandy little tool.

I've spent a lot of time pondering the 77/357!

[Barry in IN]

Some people wonder why get a Ruger instead of a lever, but the main plus I find to the 77/44 is weight. Mine weighs 5.25 lbs, which is the same as my Browning takedown .22 autos. My Marlin is 6.5 lbs, which is light, but still 1.25 lbs more than the 77/44.
To me, the feel of an 8-lb rifle and 9.25-lb rifle aren't all that different. A 5.25 lb rifle and 6.5 lb rifle feel a lot different to me.

The other thing is forgiveness in bullet shape and cartridge length. I've had to do some fiddling with ammo to get it to feed in levers, but anything that fits in the Ruger mag has worked. I've loaded shot loads, and all bullet shapes from wadcutters to round ball, and they all fed.

All is not perfect, of course. I have got every bullet to shoot OK, but it sometimes took some work to find what it liked. Nothing shoots really amazing, but plenty good enough. I didn't expect or need it to shoot dime-sized groups, either. I hear the .357s shoot better. It's tricky to shoot from the bench, as resting the forend two inches farther in or out on the bag can make a mess of the groups. The light weight poses it's own problems, as I have to reach up and grasp the forend tip and pull back hard or it will throw flyers from jumping around inconsistently.
Trigger work is pretty much mandatory.

But it's like carrying a 10/22 that shoots 300+ grain bullets, and is rugged as a brick.

BTW, it's all-time favorite bullet is a cast 265 flat nose tumble lube bullet designed by some guy in Texas.

[Ranch Dog]

BTW, it's all-time favorite bullet is a cast 265 flat nose tumble lube bullet designed by some guy in Texas.

Hey, that is good to hear!

[Dan 444]

BTW, it's all-time favorite bullet is a cast 265 flat nose tumble lube bullet designed by some guy in Texas.

Yep, that 265 is a terrific bullet in my 444, but the TLC432-300-RF is the king in the 444's........

Dan

[Ranch Dog]

Yep, that 265 is a terrific bullet in my 444, but the TLC432-300-RF is the king in the 444's........

One time I used the "300" to shoot through four hogs into a fifth with my 1894P (44 Mag). The sounder of 30+ hogs was about 65 yards out and they all took off. I was in a tower blind on a crossroad of senderos. A large hog hit one of the senderos running away from me a I hit it on the tail bone at 125-yards. It folded up too. Six hogs with two bullets! Not bad at all.