Thread: subsonic 44 for hunting pigs, the realities?

Was thinking about a 44 mag or 44-40 lever action loaded down with cast bullets for pigs at 30-75 yards. Cant user supressors here in the Republic of Australia-stan, after something still a bit less blasty for self and also dogs. How well do flat nose cast kill though at 1050fps?. I hear a few opinions on this from 'okay' to 'terrible' but assume a lot would come down to perspective. My thoughts they wont fall right over.But as long as they arent running a quarter mile to the next farm after a lung shot I'd be happy. Thanks for any experiences!

Also how is accuracy with such light low pressure loads?

45-70 with 4-500 gr cast lead subs https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....ubsonic-35616/

270g cast with 8.5g trail boss was my deer load in my 77/44,killed well within 50m and accurate enough,3in group.

We run a .44 Rem Mag with cast 270gr flat nose & hollow points.

They kill very well, because piggy is shot in the head, in the bail.

Load them right, and use a crimp to control neck tension, they are accurate for 30-40m headshots. Have shot a few bunnies a bit past that. But really you’re looking at a proper close range tool.

For additional range and accuracy, I’d use .308 cast lead 151gr. Mine is MOA out to ~80m, again as far as I’ve tested it. Deadly on pigs, goats, head or neck shooting mostly. With subs, the trick is to nail the CNS, that’s my view.

Go with the 45 70 as above McNotty. A 44 mag is actually a 41 cal projectile. What ever is used go with soft lead. I have a 44 with subs, the 300 grn XTP will go through a pigs neck above the spine and not drop it - this happened twice.

Go with the .44 mag the 44/40 doesn't do well with bullets not designed for it, To keep the blast down use fast pistol/shot gun powder like AS30 Trail Boss is not happy
with heavy bullets AP70 is as slow as you should go in burning rate, Some of the guys on here use my cast bullets the mould I use is from http://www.mp-molds.com/index.php?pr=Molds
No 432-640 you get a FP and two HP pins my bullets are 280 270 260 grains Cast them as soft as possible and use a good lube not the Lee stuff, Check out Cast Bullet Engineering in Aussie
they make excellent moulds, go for the wide flat nose type and don't worry about gas checks not really needed under 1500fps.

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

Go with the 45 70 as above McNotty. A 44 mag is actually a 41 cal projectile. What ever is used go with soft lead. I have a 44 with subs, the 300 grn XTP will go through a pigs neck above the spine and not drop it - this happened twice.

Nope... .44 cal is 0.429”.

And no offence, but if .429” bullet is going straight through a pig’s neck and not dropping it, it’s all to do with the placement, not the bullet! A .45 cal won’t solve that particular problem...

Originally Posted by Flyblown

Nope... .44 cal is 0.429”.

And no offence, but if .429” bullet is going straight through a pig’s neck and not dropping it, it’s all to do with the placement, not the bullet! A .45 cal won’t solve that particular problem...

I can make them .431" for that extra hole size, No jacketed bullet can out perform a good cast bullet at subsonic velocity unless you are willing to pay $2.00 and up for each projectile

Originally Posted by Flyblown

Nope... .44 cal is 0.429”.

And no offence, but if .429” bullet is going straight through a pig’s neck and not dropping it, it’s all to do with the placement, not the bullet! A .45 cal won’t solve that particular problem...

Yes you are right 44 mag is .429 and a 4570 is .458, a big difference. A while back Rossi45 posted photos of game - mostly Billy Goats Gruff that had been shot with a 4570 and subs. The damage was dramatic. Bottom line a 44 with subs will not do anywhere near the same damage as a 4570. I shot a big dog tucker ewe on Saturday morning with the 44 and a 300 grn Nosler HP. Hit in the Atlas at 40 metres it was nicely dead but no bruising or much damage away from the bullet path.

Ended up with two posts instead of the text and photo together sorry.

44 is 0.429, yes, but .41 cal is another thing again (0.410)

Bullet is slower than a deer can run. Good bail gun but thats about it. Bullet doesnt normally go right throu. I would of taken possibly a 1000 or so pigs over the last 40 yrs looking at the old albums, still prefered the short shottie with a solid for a bail or buck shot whilst sitting on a crossing track.

what jumps out at me is what you said from begining....you CANT use suppressor but want less noise...so subsonic ISNT the b all and end all......a reduced load will give you less bang.....just how much reduced you go is entirely up to you.
a longer barrel is quieter than a short one......powder gets burnt in barrel completely...no muzzle flash = no explosion outside barrel = less noise.
heavy for calibre going slower than full noise (funny that expression fits well here doesnt it?) will kill your pigs at sub hundy without issues.
us KIWIs argueing about which sized hole in end of barrel is irrelevant ..WITHOUT suppressor whatever you use will still go BANG ....but with less powder wont go BOOOOM.

to put it another way...if you had 30/30 and 30/06 and 300 WM all shooting 150grn projectiles the noise would go up as amount of powder went up....
Ive shot 151grn cast out of a 7.62x39mm both at subsonic speed through suppressor and with bare barrel.....the bare barrel times was very pleasant....similar to a .22lr if I wanted to do it again I would not bother trying to go below speed of sound just poke same volume of Trail Boss in behind a soft projectile as other powder listed and see how it "fits with your needs"

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

what jumps out at me is what you said from begining....you CANT use suppressor but want less noise...so subsonic ISNT the b all and end all......a reduced load will give you less bang.....just how much reduced you go is entirely up to you.
a longer barrel is quieter than a short one......powder gets burnt in barrel completely...no muzzle flash = no explosion outside barrel = less noise.
heavy for calibre going slower than full noise (funny that expression fits well here doesnt it?) will kill your pigs at sub hundy without issues.
us KIWIs argueing about which sized hole in end of barrel is irrelevant ..WITHOUT suppressor whatever you use will still go BANG ....but with less powder wont go BOOOOM.

to put it another way...if you had 30/30 and 30/06 and 300 WM all shooting 150grn projectiles the noise would go up as amount of powder went up....
Ive shot 151grn cast out of a 7.62x39mm both at subsonic speed through suppressor and with bare barrel.....the bare barrel times was very pleasant....similar to a .22lr if I wanted to do it again I would not bother trying to go below speed of sound just poke same volume of Trail Boss in behind a soft projectile as other powder listed and see how it "fits with your needs"

Example: When I shoot 38sp out of my lever action, it's quieter to my ear than 22 subs out of my 22 rifle minus suppressor.