Sub Sonic Hunting Bullet

[Colly]

Does anyone know of a good sub sonic .308 hunting bullet that will both penetrate and expand in hogs.

My 1050 '/sec reloaded 208 gr Hornady Amax bullets punch right through the hog with no expansion at all. I have made head shots at 20 yards where the bullet just bent and went through the chest, ricocheting off the cranium without penetrating it and just bending the bullet!

I realize the AMAX is not really a "hunting bullet"' but this is not effective at all. It took 3 head shots each to kill 2 pigs at a range of 20 yards! Aspect was head on between the eyebrows both times.

Nothing I know of, has a cranium that tough!

I hunt in Florida at night on a couple of 10 acre farms that have horses and other domestic animals, using an IR sight on a surpresed 300 BLK AR. The noise reduction is really required to keep all the neighbors happy and not spook the horses.

Would a 110 gr supersonic bullet be better? Would the neighbors object to the crack of a supersonic bullet? I use an AAC 762 surpressor.

Thanks
Colly

[tallburnedmidget]

To answer your question there are a few subsonic bullets that will expand at subsonic velocities. Some will penetrate more than others.

Your problem is the head on shot you are taking. The 208 Amax would give you more penetration than any of the expanding subsonic bullets. So if you aren't penetrating with an Amax you won't penetrate with a different sub.

Lehigh Defense 190gr Maximum Expansion (ME) will expand like crazy but as it expands it will not penetrate a deer shoulder blade much less a hog skull. Being stopped by bones like a shoulder blade is a drawback of such crazy expansion, I know personally.

Lehigh Defense 174gr Controlled Fracture (CF) will penetrate about 4-6 inches and then half of the bullet will split into 3-4 shards and travel in about a 6-8 inch expanding radius while the shank will continue to penetrate like a regular bullet through the animal. In my opinion this is the bullet to go with so you get max trauma and penetration in a single bullet.

Outlaw State Bullet 220gr will act like a jacketed lead bullet that expands at sub speeds. You get both expansion and penetration but not the crazy expansion like the Lehigh ME.

Someone else makes a silmilar bullet to the Outlaw State Bullet but cant remember who.


I think the solution to your problem is to earhole shoot the hogs. If doing so I would put money that the 208Amax and/or any of the bullets I mention would do the trick. Especially the Lehigh 174gr CF.

Also posting in a different portion of the forum rather than the Primary Weapons vendor section would probably get you some more input/feedback

I hope all this info helps

[Whole Bunches]

I also night hunt hogs in Florida using a suppressed Blackout, but with supersonic ammo. I currently use Barnes 110gr Blacktip handloads and have shot some in the forehead with fine penetration. I hunt suppressed in order to keep the shooting noise reduced for the neighbors and have received no complaints in 2 years. It's been our perception that the supersonic crack sometimes seems to end when the hog is hit. I shot one hog in the forehead as it came in my direction. I shot when the hog was about 38yd away. My hunting partner was about 60yd from me in the opposite direction. He did not know I'd shot, if I remember correctly. On the other hand, he was once in another field about a half mile away and was aware I'd shot.

Since you can get so close to the hogs (20yd), I'd try a supersonic shot and see how it goes. Better yet, have someone else shoot supersonic suppressed into a backstop that will stop the bullet while you stand various distances and directions away and listen and then form your opinion.

[svh]

I too have had mixed results with hunting partners hearing suppressed supers. As Whole Bunches said, sometimes they hear em, sometimes not.

I have noticed a difference as well, at my ear, depending on terrain, direction shot, elevation angle of shot, distance to target, wind, Flora, foliage coverage .....

For example, a shot taken by me downhill, into a valley, was not heard just a hundred or so yards away, while another on flat rocky terrain with a ridge a couple hundred yards away in front, was heard at least 1/2 mile away.

No scientific explanations, just my observations.

[plant.one]

not to sidetrack, but can we get this moved to the reloading section where it belongs please modly people.


unless of course PWS has produced such a bullet anyway at which point please ignore me

[Rooter pig]

Between the eyes was probably a little low.

[tikkablk]

I've done a few between the eye shots on deer and plenty on goats with 208gr A-Max's, as for pigs with the blackout I've only used the Lehigh 194gr ME on head shots. I must be coming up the 50 deer and 80+ pigs using the Lehigh 194gr.

I can't say a anything about the other hunting subsonic projectiles as we only have Lehigh here in New Zealand.

[cwlongshot]

I pretty surprised the bullets bouncing off. Ill bet it was severe angles involved.. I have head shot them with 22 Magnum as well as 45 Colt and even shotgun slugs more then a few times. That 208 even at 1100 fps should have plenty of steam. As for the multiple shots needed, your missing the mark is all that is. Its a small target on a moving animal. Ear hole suggestions are good ones.

Here is two I shot with a shotgun, as they charged us...



CW

[Dr.Phil]

My personal pick is the Lehigh Defense CF product.

http://www.lehighdefense.com/collection ... 1073772120
It creates multiple wound tracks and the base acts as a wad cutter to create a drain hole.

The Lehigh Defense Max Expansion & the Outlaw State bullets are great, but their terminal effects are more like a broad head arrow...

[jcomar1]

While I don't encourage hunting with subsonics, my dad shot a pretty big 160lb 6pt buck last week with a subsonic 208g AMAX that I had loaded up. He shot it right through the shoulders at about 60yards. It managed to run about 40yds or so but it died very quickly. It was a complete pass through and the exit hole was rather large. I would have expected no expansion and a pencil hole but it appears that it expanded pretty well. Might be due to passing through the tough shoulders. It went through both shoulders and exited and we could not find the bullet. Lots of interior bleeding. Not sure if he just got lucky or what but it did as well or better as any supersonic hunting bullets I've used in a 308. I'm still skeptical but the results were impressive.