The Blackout & the Boar
Late afternoon on 4th of April 2015 found me riding a motorbike across a paddock in country NSW,
Australia. My relatively new .300
Blackout – a H&R Handi Rifle – was slung across my back. Nestled in the chamber was a handloaded 125gn
Hornady SST (which gives an average muzzle velocity of 2226fps) and nine more of
the wicked looking little rounds were tucked into the buttstock shellholder.
To the north of me lay around 20 acres of low, swampy country. Suddenly a reasonable sized boar pig appeared approximately 250 yards in distance to the north west. It was running away fast at an angle toward the north east and the safety of the nearby wooded hills. There was no way to follow on the bike so I left it parked at the first waterway and made my own mad dash in an attempt to cut him off. I didn’t think that I had much of a chance but ran in hope directly toward the hills; in my favour the boar had more distance to cover at the angle he was running as well as a creek to cross. I noticed the boar slowing in speed and it seemed to me that he thought the absence of motorbike noise meant he wasn’t pursued. Once the creek had been crossed he paused to look back – I immediately stopped and ducked low.
The boar continued on at a relaxed trot that was slower than before and I kept making as much ground as possible whilst keeping an eye on him. I could see that he would soon cross a gap in the trees before making it into the safety of steep and more thickly wooded country. When the time was right I stopped and readied myself. The distance appeared to be around 200 yards and I knew that I would have to hold on the top of his hairline at this range. He appeared in the gap – then – happily for me, paused to take another look. I was shooting offhand but felt steady. The crosshairs were right and I tugged at that H&R trigger……
The boom of the rifle was soon followed by a resounding thud. The boar immediately rolled over, gave two kicks and ceased to move.
To the north of me lay around 20 acres of low, swampy country. Suddenly a reasonable sized boar pig appeared approximately 250 yards in distance to the north west. It was running away fast at an angle toward the north east and the safety of the nearby wooded hills. There was no way to follow on the bike so I left it parked at the first waterway and made my own mad dash in an attempt to cut him off. I didn’t think that I had much of a chance but ran in hope directly toward the hills; in my favour the boar had more distance to cover at the angle he was running as well as a creek to cross. I noticed the boar slowing in speed and it seemed to me that he thought the absence of motorbike noise meant he wasn’t pursued. Once the creek had been crossed he paused to look back – I immediately stopped and ducked low.
The boar continued on at a relaxed trot that was slower than before and I kept making as much ground as possible whilst keeping an eye on him. I could see that he would soon cross a gap in the trees before making it into the safety of steep and more thickly wooded country. When the time was right I stopped and readied myself. The distance appeared to be around 200 yards and I knew that I would have to hold on the top of his hairline at this range. He appeared in the gap – then – happily for me, paused to take another look. I was shooting offhand but felt steady. The crosshairs were right and I tugged at that H&R trigger……
The boom of the rifle was soon followed by a resounding thud. The boar immediately rolled over, gave two kicks and ceased to move.
I was exhilarated to get my first decent game animal so emphatically with the little Blackout. It was also at what I would consider to be near the maximum effective range for the rifle. I pulled the rangefinder out of my pack and got a reading of 208 yards.
Upon inspection I noted that the bullet had not exited and for that matter I could not even find an entry hole!! Was it possible that the boar had died of fright when noting the mighty weapon that I wielded? It was dark now, too late to find out, so I would have to stay in the dark on that one.
The next morning I continued investigations. After a cool night, the 14 hours which had passed did not appear to have had much of an effect on the dead boar (thankfully). I set to work and peeled back the shoulder blade which allowed me to find the entry hole. The thick fighting shield, flexible skin and caked on mud had made it all but invisible from the outside, and no blood had been able to seep out of the wound.
The killing shot had entered behind and below the shoulder joint at a distance around 8 inches below the hairline of his back. It had punched through the shoulder blade, taken out a rib and passed below the spine encountering no further bones before embedding itself in the boar’s fighting shield (a thick layer of cartilage over the shoulders and tapering back over the ribs) approximately 0.4 inches (10mm) from exiting. The shield was about an inch thick here. The entrance to the body cavity (after penetrating the shoulder blade) was very large, approximately 1.5 inches in diameter, and flecks of bullet jacket were observed here. The exit from the body cavity (before reaching the shield on the other side) was smaller – approximately 0.75 inches in diameter. Overall the damage caused was extensive and blood clotting around the area of the wound indicated much secondary wounding. The core and jacket had separated, but appear to have done so at the very end of travel, as the jacket stopped soon after the commencement of the shield and the core was embedded a further 0.5 inches. Overall penetration was approximately 13.0 inches (330mm).
Upon inspection I noted that the bullet had not exited and for that matter I could not even find an entry hole!! Was it possible that the boar had died of fright when noting the mighty weapon that I wielded? It was dark now, too late to find out, so I would have to stay in the dark on that one.
The next morning I continued investigations. After a cool night, the 14 hours which had passed did not appear to have had much of an effect on the dead boar (thankfully). I set to work and peeled back the shoulder blade which allowed me to find the entry hole. The thick fighting shield, flexible skin and caked on mud had made it all but invisible from the outside, and no blood had been able to seep out of the wound.
The killing shot had entered behind and below the shoulder joint at a distance around 8 inches below the hairline of his back. It had punched through the shoulder blade, taken out a rib and passed below the spine encountering no further bones before embedding itself in the boar’s fighting shield (a thick layer of cartilage over the shoulders and tapering back over the ribs) approximately 0.4 inches (10mm) from exiting. The shield was about an inch thick here. The entrance to the body cavity (after penetrating the shoulder blade) was very large, approximately 1.5 inches in diameter, and flecks of bullet jacket were observed here. The exit from the body cavity (before reaching the shield on the other side) was smaller – approximately 0.75 inches in diameter. Overall the damage caused was extensive and blood clotting around the area of the wound indicated much secondary wounding. The core and jacket had separated, but appear to have done so at the very end of travel, as the jacket stopped soon after the commencement of the shield and the core was embedded a further 0.5 inches. Overall penetration was approximately 13.0 inches (330mm).
I was just about to walk away when the thought struck me – “hang on, what a great opportunity for further testing”.
So I stopped and proceeded to shoot the boar from above as it lay on its side at muzzle velocity (range less than 1 yard). This shot went through the shoulder blade (higher and closer to the shoulder joint than the killing shot) and then drove completely through the centre of the spine before coming to rest between the shield and the body cavity. The damage caused was extensive in this case also. The spine is quite substantial and was largely obliterated. A large exit hole from the body cavity, around 1 inch in diameter, was noted. Overall penetration was approximately 12.2 inches (310mm).
This seemed to be a very tough test having driven through so much bone, so I thought that I should try a bullet at muzzle velocity without so much resistance. I moved back along the ribs and fired downwards. When I rolled the pig over I couldn’t believe it – even though the bullet had not exited there was a definite crater in the ground formed by the bullet stretching the skin on the far side!! It had not encountered any bone, penetrated all the way to the skin on the other side and was embedded in the shield with its front end pushed against the skin (the shield is thinner here, around 0.5 inches in thickness). I did not examine this wound very closely due to lack of time however it appeared that the damage caused could only be described as for the others – extensive. A large exit hole from the body cavity around 1 inch in diameter was noted. The overall penetration was approximately 14.2 inches (360mm).
The three bullets are displayed on this website and I was excited to find a fairly close correlation in behaviour with my test bullets at similar velocities.
So I stopped and proceeded to shoot the boar from above as it lay on its side at muzzle velocity (range less than 1 yard). This shot went through the shoulder blade (higher and closer to the shoulder joint than the killing shot) and then drove completely through the centre of the spine before coming to rest between the shield and the body cavity. The damage caused was extensive in this case also. The spine is quite substantial and was largely obliterated. A large exit hole from the body cavity, around 1 inch in diameter, was noted. Overall penetration was approximately 12.2 inches (310mm).
This seemed to be a very tough test having driven through so much bone, so I thought that I should try a bullet at muzzle velocity without so much resistance. I moved back along the ribs and fired downwards. When I rolled the pig over I couldn’t believe it – even though the bullet had not exited there was a definite crater in the ground formed by the bullet stretching the skin on the far side!! It had not encountered any bone, penetrated all the way to the skin on the other side and was embedded in the shield with its front end pushed against the skin (the shield is thinner here, around 0.5 inches in thickness). I did not examine this wound very closely due to lack of time however it appeared that the damage caused could only be described as for the others – extensive. A large exit hole from the body cavity around 1 inch in diameter was noted. The overall penetration was approximately 14.2 inches (360mm).
The three bullets are displayed on this website and I was excited to find a fairly close correlation in behaviour with my test bullets at similar velocities.