Hog gun suggestions?

[Wheelchair Bandit]

Howdy,
I'm new to this form,but it looks like a lot of great people post here.

I plan on getting into hog hunting in a few months.I'm a gun nut,so of course I had to buy a specific hog gun (always need an excuse,you know).I picked up a beautiful little English made Martini Cadet in 380 Rook (38 Special necked up to .375),which I am going to have relined to 357 Maximum.I'm figuring that I can get a tad over 2000 FPS from it with Remington 200 grain RN Core-Locts.

How you ya'll think this will preform on little "eating" size hogs that weight around 30-80 pounds?If I ever go out for a big trophy sized hog,I'd just pack one of my 45/70s or my 45/120.

[jackrabbit]

Just had to tell you, I do like your little slogan at the bottom of your post there wbandit -- even though all of it probably describes my various predicaments during my lifetime. ###You sound like quite a character -- 'specially with your kool weapons. ###Welcome to the party here!

[Wheelchair Bandit]

Jackrabbit,
Why thank ya kindly.A crazy Native American friend of mine from down in Arroyo Grande thought it up for me.Maybe I should direct him over to this board.He'll scare you guys to death-his prefered hog medicine is either his 30/378 Weatherby or his lochaber.You don't even want to know what the last one is,but I will tell you it envolves a 4 foot blade and certain parts from a logging truck.And he wonders why he's only 30 and going gray. ;)

Thank you for the welcome.Looks like ya'll have a nice place here,and lack the trolls and the outright idiots of some other boards I frequent.

[Speckmisser]

Welcome aboard, Wheelchair Bandit. ###Glad to have ya, and your sense of humor as well.

That Martini cadet sounds like an interesting setup. ###However, I'd recommend going to something a bit heftier for hogs (see all the similar threads in this area). ###

Biggest thing to consider is that when you're hog hunting, you never know if it's gonna be an 80 lb "meat pig" or a 380 lb lowbrowed, hard-headed, wicked temper on hooves. ###

Nope, I'd pack the Cadet alongside the 45-70. ###Then you can decide when the time is right. ###You can always lay the 45-70 down. ###

Just a thought.

By the way, curious about the handle. ###Reminds me of character from a novel I read a while ago.

[Wheelchair Bandit]

Speckmisser,

Hmmmm,maybe I need to hire some gunbearers?If I do that,I'll have to build a 15 pound 45/70. :)

No matter what I'll be packing,I'll have a Ruger Super Blackhawk stoked with 250 grain Keiths on my hip.When in the dense timber,where I can't see very far,the rifle will be over my shoulder and the Ruger in my hand.

As for the handle-I was confined to a wheelchair for about a year due to some massive surgery.A friend of mine joked that to keep from getting bored,I was robbing liqour stores in my wheelchair.Claimed he saw my picture on a wanted poster at the post office and that the feds were calling me "The Wheelchair Bandit".The name stuck.

[Speckmisser]

When you hire those gunbearers, hire me a set too? ###That way I could carry my 30-30 and the -06 at the same time. ###Watch out, or I'll start having those Hemingway daydreams again.

I honestly think the Cadet would be too light for anything but close shots on small pigs. ###Since the field is way too unpredictable, I think you'd be better off with something a little more substantial.

The Wheelchair Bandit.... ###Kinda funny about the names we give ourselves, no? ###I thought, at first, that yours might be a reference to the "bad guy" in Carl Hiaasen's Strip Tease. ### But your story is even better.

[Wheelchair Bandit]

Speckmisser,
You bet.How many do you want?I think five would be a comfortable number-never know when you might run across squirrels,quail,or even waterfowl when hunting hogs. ;)

A Remington 200 grain RN Core-Loct at just over 2000 FPS duplicated a 35 Remington rifle,which is quite well recived by many for hogs,even when out of a handgun at lower velocitys.

Tell you what-I'll put in my will that if I get "et" by a hog while hunting with the Cadet,that the Cadet is yours.Fair enough? :)

[Speckmisser]

Fair enough! ###The Cadet looks like a fun rifle to shoot. ###I'll let you know when I find a good herd of maneaters... err, really mellow barnyard piggies. :toothless:

In a brief moment of seriousness, though, it's not a concern about getting "et", but more the concern to make a clean, quick kill. ###In case no one has noticed, I kinda have a real thing about lost and wounded game. ###Not that I've never done either, because I certainly have. ###We all have or will at some point. ###But I really believe we have a responsibility to minimize that likelihood. ### ###

:soapbox: ###I really gotta quit preaching here. ###

And anyway, if that thing really duplicates the ballistics of a .35 Rem, then I'd say it might work. ###If nothing else, you'll be carrying something that no one else has out there. ### ###

[Wheelchair Bandit]

Speckmisser,
Sounds good to me.Somehow I feel I should attach a bayonet before I go hunting with you. ;)

If a 200 grain round nose Core-Loct bullet at a tad over 2000 FPS won't cleanly kill small to medium sized hogs cleanly with well placed shots,I don't know what will.The 35 Remington is hailed as one of the greatest hog guns of all time,with the same exact bullet at the same exact speed.It's even hailed as great out of the T/C Contender with a 14 inch barrel,which is going even slower.Am I missing something here? :)

[jackrabbit]

Dang! WBandit, you are one awesome norman new guy. ###Look forward to seeing more of your posts. ###Where you plan on hunting (or should I say, "gettin' 'et", for hogs?

[Wheelchair Bandit]

Jackrabbit,
Wow,now I've got people calling me "awesome".Whatever you guys are smoking must be pretty darn good stuff. ;~)

I'm currently working on where to hunt hogs.It's a bit too complicated to explain what I'm planning on,but it's been around six years in the making and is now looking to finaly come around.

[THBailey]

The cadet would be fun. ###I think I would fix a bayonet in case they charge when wounded. ###Might not be able to draw the hog leg fast enough. ###And if you are still a little mobility challanged I recently hunted with a guide you might consider. ###I have only hunted with him the one time, I was the lucky benificiary of my brother-in-laws high bidding at a United Way fund raiser. ###This guide leases 4000 or so acres in San Benito County near Hollister. ###They spot and stalk out of his "urban assault vehicle," a full size jeep Grand Cherokee Limited with entire roof structure cut off. ###I would think he could get you within a couple hundred yards of the pigs. ###Shoot me an email if you would like more info. ### ### ### ###

[Wheelchair Bandit]

THBailey,

What do I need a bayonet for?I was planning on having you stand in front of me when I take the shot,so when the hog charges he'll come at you and not me. ;~)

I am still quite mobily challenged,but I get around good enough to hunt.I am very happy that that guy is providing that service though,as there are many disabled hunters that have no where to turn.

[Speckmisser]

TH, don't tell him to use the bayonet. ###If he gets "et", the Cadet is MINE!!! ###:muha: