My experience: HP vs FMJ

[ZapThyCat]

It's time to transport a couple pigs to the butcher. My friend and I are trying to load some very excited (and wary) swine into a tiny enclosed trailer. It's not working, after two hours, and we're exhausted and frustrated, my wife calls the butcher and confirms that it's no problem to bring them in dead. Lock n load.

My buddy pulls out his .40, I pull out my 9mm. Two pigs, two pistols, we pick our targets. 1, 2, 3, FIRE. My 300 lb beast drops instantly, screaming. His runs away. I'm thinking that he missed, which is weird because I'm the civvie and he's the former Marine. Then he puts another bullet in the head. And another. I go over to see where the pig is trotting around, and the beast is literally exhaling smoke from the burning bullets, but still walking around making sounds like it's vaguely annoyed.

I watch him unload at least 8-10 bullets into the head of this animal, from a distance of 3-8 feet. I finally walk up to the thing while it's standing there (pigs can't see behind them) and administer a coup de grace to the back of the head, and it immediately drops.

Turns out, I was using home-defense 9mm hollow points. He was using standard .40 caliber full metal jackets.

The effects were extremely apparent. I'm not sure how thick the skulls of these suckers are, but I would think that a FMJ would penetrate before a HP. But then again, I would also think that 8 shots of .40 caliber bullets would cause more discomfort than it did, or have more of an effect than a single shot of 9mm hollow point.

So in any case, load your home defense or CCW pistols with hollow points. Rounds used "for the range" shouldn't ever be used anywhere else, unless you're just trying to tick someone off.

[SkyHawk]

That must be why the regulations require hollow point bullets to be used from pistols when hunting hogs...

[Cokebottle]

Lincoln likely would have survived had his "doctors" not probed around in his head trying to recover the bullet.
He may have had some paralysis on the left side and speech may have been impacted, but the round missed most of his critical areas.

Low velocity ball rounds make a nice clean channel... his FMJ may have gone all the way through.

Yours likely shattered the skull, causing a much larger wound channel than had you hit it in an "unprotected" area.

[roostersgt]

Have dispatched half a dozen FFA raised pigs to 300 pounds with 22 shorts. Right between the eyes and they all were stone dead before they hit the ground. What the heck were you guys doing??

[iluvmycolt]

[P5Ret]

Have dispatched half a dozen FFA raised pigs to 300 pounds with 22 shorts. Right between the eyes and they all were stone dead before they hit the ground. What the heck were you guys doing??

Kind of what I was thinking.

[CH483]

what a charlie foxtrot...

[Nacho_Eater]

what a charlie foxtrot...

Seriously. It's a shame that these Einsteins had to make the pigs suffer.

[ZapThyCat]

Have dispatched half a dozen FFA raised pigs to 300 pounds with 22 shorts. Right between the eyes and they all were stone dead before they hit the ground. What the heck were you guys doing??

That's great if you have a stationary pig where you can place the muzzle of the rifle right onto the skin. When you have jittery and overexcited pigs that won't let you get within 5 feet of them, much less get the muzzle right between the eyes, much less face you or stand still, then getting a precision shot is a little more tough. We really didn't anticipate the beast running around with 6 bullets in its head.

Seriously. It's a shame that these Einsteins had to make the pigs suffer.

Since when did PETA DBs start coming on this site?

[RandyD]

When it came time to slaughter a cow, my grandfather used a .22LR pistol to dispatch his cattle, and he used the cheap lead round nosed bullets. He shot them in the head, once, and it worked everytime. My thought is the friend with the 40 did not have good shot placement. It would be interesting to view photos to see his shot placements.

[Cody805]

Keep in mind when butchers shoot a cow in the head it just knocks them out so they can cut its neck to bleed out.... Or at least that's what I always heard. My guess was the guy using the FMJ rounds was over penetrating

[1CavScout]

Growing up my friends dad raised pigs every year. He always used a .308 rifle to put them down. Similar scenario where the pigs would not let him get too close. Seemed to work well.

[hermosabeach]

We had a gut shot antelope one year... Down but no where near dead...

Time to test my Winchester .40 SXT round

I shot the antelope broadside in the chest.
The 180 passed through ribs on the way in and out...

The antelope bleated but was not impressed...

I repeated with the 165 grain that missed ribs on the way in, hit the heart and hit ribs on the way out.


From the exit wound, both expanded. The first went through lungs the second heart and lungs.




I am shocked that the .40 skipped off the hogs skull

[mif_slim]

Yup. 22lr can drop a full grown Bull. I see this at least once a year. Sometimes more. Between the eye goes right through to the brain, even on cows. We've split the head in half and the wound channel goes right to the brain.