.22lr bullet recovered from pig head

[Pademelon]

First of all, this was a domestic pig shot from close range in the brain using a .22lr copper washed hollow point. It was interesting to see the results, the bullet penetrated about 2 cm of bone close to half of which was solid, went through 5.5 cm of brain then stopped about 1 cm into the bone on the other side of the brain cavity. There wasn't as much damage to the brain as I was expecting but there was a lot of blood in the brain cavity. I don't know if the bullet would have gotten to the brain or done enough damage to kill if the shot was taken at a greater distance but if there was any doubt, yes a .22lr hollow point will kill a pig at close range with precise shot placement. In this case the bullet entered right in the middle of the brain lengthwise, but slightly to the right and if it had been 1-1.5 cm further to the right it would have completed missed the brain.

Here's the bullet:

recovered bullet.jpg (1.33 MiB) Viewed 8432 times

The outside entry hole:

entry hole outside.jpg (1.79 MiB) Viewed 8432 times

The inside entry hole:

bullet entry hole inside.jpg (1.48 MiB) Viewed 8432 times

The point where the bullet came to rest:

bullet stopped.jpg (1.35 MiB) Viewed 8432 times

Just so you have an idea of what you're looking at (if you can pick out what's what):

entry and exit points.jpg (857.62 KiB) Viewed 8432 times

[bigfellascott]

I had to smack one 3 times in the head with a 308 the other day before it would finally stop livin, one tuff bugger that one was.

[PaddyT]

I had to smack one 3 times in the head with a 308 the other day before it would finally stop livin, one tuff bugger that one was.

arent you meant to use the 308 to fire a bullet instead of as a club?

[bigrich]

I had to smack one 3 times in the head with a 308 the other day before it would finally stop livin, one tuff bugger that one was.

ya supposed to put the cartridge in the rifle scott, not use it to hit the pig on the head

sorry mate, couldn't help myself

[Oldbloke]

I had to smack one 3 times in the head with a 308 the other day before it would finally stop livin, one tuff bugger that one was.

Must have missed the brain?

[Chappo]

I had to smack one 3 times in the head with a 308 the other day before it would finally stop livin, one tuff bugger that one was.

ya supposed to put the cartridge in the rifle scott, not use it to hit the pig on the head

sorry mate, couldn't help myself

Common practice here to use a 22lr for euthanasia and butchery.
Bang flop on pigs, cows, horses, etc 99 times out of 100.
I’ve never done the post mortum though..... interesting to see the damage done and the bullet distortion.

[Die Judicii]

Quite some years back I knew a taxidermist that was given the job of mounting a large boars head.
The boar was taken with dogs, and stuck.
The young fella that got him noticed that it only had one eye, and the injury had obviously happened a long time ago, and was fully healed.

When doing the job, the taxidermist was amazed to find a mangled .22 rf projectile still embedded in its head.

WOW,,,,,,,, they are tough. (anyone got an aspirin) ????

[GQshayne]

When I was a youngster, using a .22 for pig hunting with dad, I had one bounce off a big pigs head. It was charging me, and I shot it at about 5 metres or less. Pig went down, but got up again, and charged off like it had been stung by a bee!

[on_one_wheel]

It doesn't always work out that way with the good old .22lr

I'll never forget as a young lad, watching my boss casually walking into the pig pen with a bucket of feed to shoot the old bore.
The old pig had been having serious skin issues and was on his last legs...
He wanted to end that faithful old pigs days with dignity and without fear.
He poured the feed into the trough, drew his .22 revolver and shot that old bore right in the sweet spot.
That old pig let out a massive squeel and charged through the pen and made a dash for freedom into the scrub.... all the other pigs went batsiht.
The boss looked at me with surprise and said " I'd better go get the rifle and hunt that poor bugger down"

That old pig's head was tough as iron, and that .22 revolver just wasn't quite up to the task.

He found the old bore making the most if his short lived freedom, foraging in the sand by the creek as if nothing had happened..
The boss finished the job with the .243 finished the job and we spent the rest of the arvo dip-scalding, scraping, and preparing him.

[on_one_wheel]

I had to smack one 3 times in the head with a 308 the other day before it would finally stop livin, one tuff bugger that one was.

ya supposed to put the cartridge in the rifle scott, not use it to hit the pig on the head

sorry mate, couldn't help myself

Common practice here to use a 22lr for euthanasia and butchery.
Bang flop on pigs, cows, horses, etc 99 times out of 100.
I’ve never done the post mortum though..... interesting to see the damage done and the bullet distortion.

My missus has people come to the farm to take sick cows and bulls, some with broken legs or joints, others with cancer and other sicknesses for dog meat.
When they roll up with a .22 she asks them to leave and come back with something bigger.
She's seen too many not go down with the first shot... she respects her animals too much to allow that to happen any more.
Sometimes I do the job for them if they don't have a bigger gun.

I've seen it for myself with a cow in the race...
Old mate say "I always use the .22, never had a problem"
POP ! .... MOO
The clown only had one bullet on him to, heads to his car to get a few more ... POP ! MOO MOO
POP! POP!
"That's never happened before"

I leave the .22 for rabbits,

[Oldbloke]

"I leave the .22 for rabbits,"

Yeh, I would have thought it would be borderline. The 22mag would be a better choice i think.

[Sarco]

Agree with a 22Mag being a better choice for 100% effect. Locally, we use (with authority) 22Mag for euthanasia of injured wildlife (mostly skippy). Larger animals and/or longer distances is usually 223 or 308.

[Stix]

Ive never had anything not drop its head instantly like someone pulled the plug, from a subsonic 22lr into the middle of the brain...
I always do it from directly in front or directly behind & always aim (well point) the shot through middle of brain angled so as to get longest travel through the brain & not have an exit.

Rabbits, roos, sheep, & right up to cows...always instant.
Never done a pig though.

Im not a fan of using magnum rimfires for smaller stuff (foxes/roos etc) just because of the excessive power up close... (talking about put-downs here).

Oh...and i dont own one...

[bigfellascott]

I had to smack one 3 times in the head with a 308 the other day before it would finally stop livin, one tuff bugger that one was.

Must have missed the brain?

Nah this thing was dead first shot, just the rest of the body hadn't received the email I've seen it before with skippies too, the brains on the ground next to em yet the body still keeps flopping about.

First shot was behind the ear, the second was side on through the eye and a final shot straight between the eye and through to the heart/lungs going by the blood which was foamy as it poured out it's mouth.

The boar was around 150-180kg range going by what the owner said (
Was a good 2m long and stood a good 1m+ at the backline, head on it was around 2ftlong at least and had nuts on it like footballs

It was a shame to put it down but it had to go as it had gone a bit rogue going by what the owner said.

[Pademelon]

I had to smack one 3 times in the head with a 308 the other day before it would finally stop livin, one tuff bugger that one was.

What... using one of them plastic stocks? Was that the problem?

[Pademelon]

Yeah I keep the .22lr for head shooting rabbits and wallabies. This pig was one we had done by an abattoir. The farm gun I have with me most of the time is a cheap .22 mag since it can put down all animals on this property. I've started taking it spotlighting now because of the results it gives. I mostly head shoot but using the hornady 30gn vmax ammo it drops even the bennetts wallabies on the spot with a heart/lung shot. Walk over to them and their heart and lungs are hanging out the exit hole I don't find that with the .22lr
Even though .22 mag is an approved calibre for euthanizing cattle and it would work most of the time it wouldn't hurt to use something greater

[mickb]

22LR is obviously not ideal but I've shot quite a few pigs hunting with 22LR, the base of the ear does the trick. I don't attempt other shots in the wild. It will penetrate 1.5-2" of pine board after all which handles a lot of animal skulls, 'if' the angle is perfect. I did penetrate tests between 22LR and shotgun pellets in the 90's and an 00/SG pellet would usually beat 22 in wood, 22LR was similar to the smaller SSG pellets.

22WMR is a different level and depending on bullet you can get decent kills... or you can be following the pig. We used to shoot them at night coming in to feed on plantations. 22WMR was all that was allowed by the farmer with FMJ. Bodyshots would result in the pig running off naturally but 'usually' you would find them dead.

I will say there is no other animal like a pig to bring out examples of poor shooting. As soon as the thread kicks off, especially on an American forum you will have people saying "30-30 aint enough" then all the way up to one time their buddy shot a hog with 338 win mag twice in the head and it ran off . Never understand why people were so attracted to outline their sloppy shooting stories for this animal.

[Oldbloke]

I remember a mate yonks ago took 3 or. 4 shots from a 22lr to put down his dads xmas pig.

BFS, maybe sometimes its like chopping the head off a chook & letting it go for a run? Lol

[bigfellascott]

I remember a mate yonks ago took 3 or. 4 shots from a 22lr to put down his dads xmas pig.

BFS, maybe sometimes its like chopping the head off a chook & letting it go for a run? Lol

Pretty much how I saw it, It was dead just the rest of the body wasn't convinced after the first shot Some animals are like that, when one shot normally does the job some just need some extra lovin to realise it.

[bigrich]

a few weeks ago a mate put down a cow for a farmer we know , the only rifle we had at the time was a 300 win mag ! one shot to the centre of the head and would you believe it was still kicking for a few minutes after ! the shot was good , the nervous system in a beast can be a funny thing . i've seen sharks that have been gutted and in a esky for over a hour try to swim away when put in the water and held by the tail . there was a fella up here in qld a few years ago that was bit by a brown snake after the head had been removed for some time from the body

[Stix]

I believe nerves are often related to brain stem damage...
I find when an animal's nerves are twitching & muscles are behaving like its still alive,, its often due to the upper spine/close to base of brain/brain stem being touched/damaged.

Head shòot a bunny with a 22lr & watch its back legs go like the clappers...

Whereas vaporise a bunny's head down past brain stem to neck with an explosive high velocity bullet & nothing happens...

Feral cats...same same...but VERY spectacular acrobatics if you nick brain stem...

Had a Roo recently...same thing...damage close to brain stem even with bulk of brain removed = back legs think they're still hopping into next paddock...

Just my observations...

Mind you...this theory goes out the window with sheep...bloody stoopid things think they're dead when they're not...& still breathe when they're dead...never understand them...from same planet as women i rekon... ...

[Die Judicii]

...never understand them...from same planet as women i rekon... ...

At least guns function normally every day of the month.