.22 Mag Revolver on Hog.

[TX Hunter]

I have killed hogs at close range with a Head Shot from my Ruger Single Six .22 Mag in the past.
Yesterday, we Butchered a Russian Boar, that had been trapped, castrated, and fed out.
My Son Killed him with a Cheap RG 66 with a 4 inch barrel and federal .22 Magnum hollowpoints.
When skinning the hog, we found the bullet. It passed through the hogs head, and lodged in the skin on the exit side.
The bullet was prestene, not deformed at all.
I figured the hollow point would have expanded when it punched through the skull, but it didnt. It killed the hog, but at 6 feet, did not expand.
Why would this be?

 

[trooper3385]

You would think that hollowpoint or not, it would atleast be deformed from going through the skull. I'm just guessing that the cavity got clogged up with something and it made it perform like a fmj. Bullets do funny things sometimes.

 

[dwwright]

The latest batch of Federal HP's I bought recently were no where near the cavity that are in the CCI brand I have. Could be that it was just too shallow.

 

[458winshooter]

22 hp

I would have to agree it sounds like the hollow cavity got filled with hair/skin and acted like a FMJ.No other ideas except by some chance the round was not moving fast enuff to cause expansion and that seems very unlikely as it was a 22 mag and as you said it went almost all the way through.A thick jacket so it would need rifle velocity to expand?These don't make sence but it is all I can think of.

 

[Kreyzhorse]

I would have thought that once it hit skull, that HP or FMJ would have shown some type of deformation. I guess perhaps the muzzle velocity was too slow to cause it to expand? As mentioned above, perhaps shot from a rifle the results would have been different?

Just a thought anyway.

 

[bamaranger]

expansion

Hollow point expansion is often a dicey thing at moderate velocity's. I once recovered a .44 Sierra 180 JHP from a deer, that had entered at the fold in front of the shoulder, and traversed the cavity, and ended up in the opposite ham, and it had not expanded a wit. It was fired from a carbine at 50 yds range. It appeared that the entrance wound was very raking and the cavity had filled with hair.

If I were braining penned hogs on a regular basis w/ a .22 mag, I'd get a box of FMJ

 

[TX Hunter]

Thanks Bamaranger
We kill one ocasionally like that, a .22 Mag revolver works great if you hit them right. But I thought it odd, that this one penetrated so far, and was not deformed at all. It looked like a new bullet that had never been loaded.
I will get a Box of FMJ for that.
We usually use a .22 Rifle.