We had another meal of feral hog at the house over the weekend.  One piece of rib meat had bullet fragments in it and it was compared to other rounds of South African .223 that have been recovered.

Of four rounds recovered, 3 have been found intact with a flattened and curved profile.

The fourth round that was found was in several pieces but also was reconstructed to show that it had also 'bent and flattened' along its length prior to breaking apart.

No rounds have been shown to have both entered and exited the chest cavity then exited the hide.  No complete penetration of the hogs.  However, since there would only be a .223 entry wound and since the rounds are not expanding any exit wounds would be easily overlooked.

Most rounds are found lodged under the hide on the opposite side.

Since these are FMJ rounds, none expanded.

I do not have a pic of the rounds, but imagine you were holding the round between your thumb and forefinger.  Squeeze the round until it is half its original diameter.  This flattens the round as well.  The tip will no be slightly canted to the left, and the base will also be canted left to give the round a curved profile.  

I don't have a gram scale, but I believe, based on the reduced volume of the case after flattening and bending, that some weight of lead must have been lost.

I will try to be more dilligent in taking 'autopsy photos' of the kills.  Most of the kills have been later in the day and my cleaning station is not well lit.  

Overall, I am very pleased with the South African surplus as a pig load.  Good penetration and broken bones.  Lots of internal wounding.

Less than 50% of the rounds break apart.  Most seem to bend (travel sideways in the meat) break a few bones, penetrate into the chest damage internal organs, break bones on the opposite side of the cavity, and lodge in the hide.

Overall is seems to be very effective in its wounding potential.  One short coming is the lack of an exit wound.  Very little blood to trail.

Militarily this would seem to be the way to go.  I suspect on a man sized target you would get an exit wound.

TheRedGoat

I am surprised at your results, i would have expected pass thrus. i have only shot boars with a bow, but with my pse carrera at 65lbs. shooting rocket steelheads on alum. shafts i have achieved pass thrus on chest/heart shots.

Just for curiosity's sake, have you tried SS109 ammo?  How does it handle the job?

How do you think the solid copper Barnes X bullets would do on pigs?   I understand that
they're fantastic at holding together.

CJ

RG,

Sounds like you're getting the "classic" M193 profile.  Good to know, as I'm ordering a bunch of this stuff.

SS109 supposedly breaks into three pieces (due to the tungsten core?), but I've never seen actual recovered bullets from a shoot, either.

Thanks for getting the word out.

Rogerb, my original expectation was for pass thru.  FMJ, fast moving, etc.

Field results have proven my expectations false.

However, most rounds have hit major bone structures, and often breaks both front shoulders and the spine.  Three major structures, plus 12-14 inches of tissue damage.  That might be another reason they are not passing through.

cmjohnson.  I used ss109 once or twice a while back, but I don't recall killing a hog with it.  I only had a box or two and I think I wasted it on other experiments, woods, metal, etc.

AndyTN,

I liked the stuff.  I plan to save up a few more pennies and buy a whole tub of the ammo.  It is accurate, reliable and loader to mil-spec.

I have not had a single FTF/FTE with this round.  My gun likes it and it is bad medicine for the hogs.

My 'perfect' hog round would be as inexpensive as SA surplus, mil-spec, FMJ and able to penetrate completely so that I had a better chance of blood trailing.

South African is close to perfect.  I can carry it afield and use it for plinking turtles if I don't see any hogs without worrying about the cost of ammo.

FWIW, as for penetration, I purchased a small number of Match .270 rounds at a gun show.  From the feel against my shoulder, it was a hot load.

I shot a medium boar in the gut.  Even though the round was brass tipped, and did not hit anything except ribs, it failed completely penetrate the opposite side.  A small (tip of my thumb) hole was made, and bullet pieces surounded the exit wound.  

If a .270 handload, with a brass tip, would not just 'blow a hole' for an exit wound, then the .223 will probably never do so.

FWIW, we walked 4 hours on Sunday with some young dogs.  The wind was at our backs and it made for a difficult hunt.  We hit several trails and saw lots of fresh sign.   Carrying even a lightweight carbine around my neck for 4 hours in the brush, mud and thickets was a real pain.  I decided Sunday that the .223 was fine for hunting hogs, no need for ANY added weight!

I am also switching back to a standard 30 round magazine.  I had switched to the 40 rounder for more sustained firing at multiple hogs on a long hunt.  I kept bumping myself in the chin with my buttstock.  As I would bend over the 40 round magazine hit against my leg and this knocked the stock (the gun is carried cross chest slung) up into my chin. Sore jaw today.

Amazing what a difference a few inches makes in weapon/magazine combo.  10 extra rounds are not worth a sore jaw or a chipped tooth.

TheRedGoat