We have been testing ammo against hogs for almost two years. Most of this testing focused on finding an effective subsonic 300BLK round.

Why? Because being quiet is sometimes essential. For pigs, it can help prevent a sounder from getting away. It is less bothersome to cattle. And neighbors. It allows you to hunt in places where you otherwise might not be able to. It minimizes downrange risk past your target. It is an effective test for home defense.

The main issue is getting effective expansion without velocity. Large hollow points destroy ballistic coefficients, but for close ranges that is not critical. For a rifle round that has to feed in an AR it is. Not only is the bullet shape not conducive to a large hollow point like a handgun round would have, but if you were to try to create it your bullet would lose any advantage it had as a rifle round. Might as well just use a handgun.

So the solution to this problem was a little engineering. A bullet could be designed to maintain it's shape for proper feeding in the firearm while expanding effectively in the target. This is achieved by weakening the bullet in just the right places to promote textbook petal expansion. But in order to get penetration and weight retention, it has to be a solid copper projectile versus any sort of jacketed design.

So now we have a solid copper bullet with a number of cuts to ensure reliable and consistent expansion at subsonic velocities while retaining 100% of its weight and achieving penetration and energy transfer. These bullets are machined on CNC lathes spinning at 10000rpms which means they can not be out of center which in turn makes them fly truer. Like many other problems, this solution comes with a hefty price tag as a trade off. Worth their price definitely, but when you start shooting them in large quantities, those numbers add up quickly and can be prohibitive.

What would happen if you took that exact same technology and put it into a regular supersonic round? The exact same thing happens. You get a bullet that feeds reliably, flies true, and maximizes expansion and energy transfer with good penetration. Because of the engineering, these bullets expand exactly the same way every time.

These exotic bullets will work on anything, but they really are most effective on medium to large game. Over the years, we've found that for hogs, a solid copper bullet that retains 100% of its weight with maximum expansion has been the most effective round time and time again. But with $3-4/rd costs, it just isn't cost effective for the amount of shooting that we do. This can run from 30-100 or more rounds a night per person.

So what are the alternatives? Some of the large ammunition manufacturers are making dedicated hog hunting rounds. Barnes has made the solid copper TSX bullet which has been very effective, and now Remington has loaded it into their Hog Hammer round. At almost half of the price of the exotics, this has been a very real solution for many myself included. However, its performance when compared to the exotics leaves a lot to be desired.

Below is a sample of three rounds fired into water from 10yds away. On the left is a 200gr subsonic, in the middle a 125gr supersonic, and on the right a 130gr Hog Hammer TSX.



So what can be done about the cost of the exotics? We've decided to get them made and offer them for a reasonable price. We're calling this ammo REAPR which stands for Rapid Expanding Anaerectic Projectile, Rifle (Anaerectic means destructive).

So the two rounds above are:

1) Maker Bullet 200gr REX loaded into a new tactiblack coated brass case and Hodgdon Lil Gun Powder from St Marks.
2) Maker Bullet 125gr T-Rex (tipped) loaded into the same black electroless nickel coated brass case as above.

The difference is that we're offering these rounds at $1.50-$2/rd which is half of the others, and much closer to the non-exotics out there.

These will be packaged in TAC-PAC clear plastic ammunition containers that let you see exactly what you get, and can be used over and over again to carry your ammo.



We are currently finishing testing on this ammo, but it will also be available in .223 and .308 shortly as well as 300BLK so this is not meant as an advertisement, but a place to discuss.




In the field exit wounds:

If he's willing, then definitely.

Have to gather data off this batch. I'm shooting out of an 8" barrel.

It means destructive. Not sure of current charge on these, but I'll get it and chrono the rounds. The bullet is from Maker Bullets (Rex and T-Rex).


Same concept. Same exact bullet as G2 Research rounds.

This is a first run with this powder, and we're actually looking to replace it with http://www.stealthgunpowder.com. The first step was testing of available rounds, once we found the right bullets, we were set there. But finding no existing commercial load that made financial sense for the large round count hunter, we've had to come out with our own which is how we ended up where we are today.

Bottom line is that we can change whatever we need based on feedback from you guys, which is what this first session was for. Pigs couldn't wait for the Stealth Powder so we came out with an alternative for now which we've found to have negligible flash (out of suppressed guns anyway).


It will definitely hold together- the 125gr is the same design, loaded at full power. The 200gr subsonic you can see how long it is, there's no room in the case for more powder! But if you loaded it into a .308 for instance, it will definitely hold up. Our subsonic 200gr was not specifically loaded for the 8", so the key is to find the right load for most uses.

Yes. We'll have some available in the near future.


Certainly possible.

I have tried many bullets for hog hunting, and this is by FAR the most effective bullet I have come across. It comes with a higher price tag, but you don't need to shoot as many. In the end it costs about the same for me because these bullets produce very few runners.


Here is a video using the REAPR ammo with the Maker 125 super in 300BLK:


 

Absolutely!

 
Even with the best expansion results possible, a bullet like the Barnes TSX still expands much smaller than the REAPR. Expansion is the #1 characteristic I look for in a bullet. If it doesn't expand, I might as well be shooting FMJs.

There was some 300blk sub and supers last week. Waiting on feedback from those who ordered. May still be some super 125gr in the store...

Yes sir!
http://www.makerbullets.com

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*** WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES OF WILD HOG BELOW ***
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As we continue to test these rounds, we will keep posting results here.

This weekend we finally got into some good size pigs where the bullets did not exit, so we did our best to recover and document the damage done.

Here's one example in a ~180-200lb boar shot with a 125gr 300BLK supersonic round out of an 8" barrel.

Entry just behind the front right leg, into the vitals:


Bullet penetrated the ribs, and pic shows some of the damage done on it's way through. Though it's hard to tell, heart and lungs were a scrambled mess:


Heart was not perforated, but instead ripped in two:


Bullet recovered lodged in the ribs on the opposite side. It penetrated, then expanded exactly as designed wiping out the vitals, to end in a picture perfect 100% weight-retained-petaled-flower:

Yeah- this one didn't go more than a few steps, but hogs are definitely tough and I've seen them take a number of rounds (of lesser performance) and keep running, or fall and get up only to run away.

Typically we shoot for the central nervous system, where "anything" will do the job, so taking a vitals shot to test bullet performance is not the way we normally would shoot them. Then trying to find a 125gr bullet in a 200b hog is no picnic either. We use a metal detector to make the job easier, but it's still not simple to try to preserve and document the damage along the way.

I'd say documenting bullet performance through autopsy in the field at night by flashlight is definitely harder than taking a quality pic through night vision! Luckily we had a pathologist with us for this one...

Will work on documenting some 300BLK sub kills next time. The problem is no one else is using them (they're typically hunting with 5.56), so it's harder to determine who shot what pig without cross contamination. I need a clean kill that no one else shoots.

Hope this helps: