9 Hogs Down w 6.5 Grendel & Thermal

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Double Naught Spy

New member
I have a property I do hog and predator control on during most of the warmer months, never around deer season when the place is leased. This year, they called early. Ben and I have already hit this property several times and the hogs just keep coming. We carried in a couple camp chairs to place between an oats field and recently sprouted hay field, figuring we could sit and watch for any action that could be on either side, though so far, the hay field hasn't been very productive.

We never used the chairs. We had the first hog spotted before we dropped off the chairs. We stayed moving for 5 hours, Ben often spotting hogs as we were finishing up with a current hog. Overall, it was a very good evening.

Here is the video. FYI, there is some dissection that goes on to retrieve bullets. We also show the use of a little Garrett Pro-Pointer AT metal detector that I am finding VERY useful in finding bullets in hogs.

https://youtu.be/EZnDfR2MUPI
 
D

Double Naught Spy

New member
For the Grendel and killing hogs, Hornady SST 123 gr. factory ammo has been my bread and butter. It works very well.

The Speer TNT 90 gr. by Federal American Eagle also works really well. I have not been unimpressed with it at all. By that I mean that I cannot tell that I am any less effective with it than with the SST ammo at hunting distances inside 200 yards. Most of my hunting is within that distance.

So now, I feel like I have a good factory alternative round to the SST for hog hunting, something that I did not have previously.

I have about 250 more rounds of the TNT ammo and plan on using it.
 
D

Double Naught Spy

New member
I can understand why you would not think so. While it does not carry the energy over distance that the SST carries, it certainly has done well for my needs.

Here is a hunt at the same property. I killed 6 hogs with TNT, most were 200 lbs and on up. I found 3. The landowner found 3 the next day with the help of buzzards. None were far from where shot or dropped in place. I had to shoot 1 hog twice because the bullet went behind the ear, missing the spine and skull, and just blasted a large hole through the neck. The landowner reported that the 3 he found were in the "200 lb range."
https://youtu.be/xNkEupGBrKY

Here, I shot two smaller boars with TNT at Distance...
https://youtu.be/tQkAfKBbn2A

Another long shot...
https://youtu.be/huhWOJezxGE

Here are more TNT vids...
https://youtu.be/rYhTfMfdKeo - a little fun with this vid
https://youtu.be/X-PBcjCopfU
https://youtu.be/KcQI9nzt4wY

I have also been using it while on other hunts with Ben and Dave...
https://youtu.be/hz3DeQwsQKw (Dave using TNT handloads)
https://youtu.be/lZPr_ZYTgbE

So I have been using the Speer TNT for a while in my Grendel. As with other ammo and hogs, if the bullet does not do significant CNS damage, the hog will run. This happens with 123 gr. SST, Berger 130 gr. VLD-Hunting 129 gr. ABLR, Berger 130 gr. OTM, Cavity back 105 and 118gr., etc. However, when hit in the boiler room, even when the TNT round does not overpenetrate, the hogs seem to die fairly quickly after running a short distance, as would be expected from a shot in the same are with other hunting ammo.
 
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rodwhaincamo

New member
I figured being a varmint round it would just about disintegrate upon impact making a vitals shot not quite so effective, but where penetration isn’t necessary such as the neck/ear shots it would do rather well. But I’m not familiar with the TNT bullets.
 
D

Double Naught Spy

New member
I hear ya. Had one of my hunting partners not been handloading the Speer TNT bullets for the Grendel, I probably would not have tried the Federal American Eagle factory version. He was having good success with them, so, I thought I would give them a try.

As for how the bullet does, I have 3 outcomes.

1. Bullet inside, but I can't find it (this has mostly changed since I started using a metal detector
2. Bullet inside, all I can find are a button-like base (sort of flat and circular, bullet has expanded, petals curled back and lost, lead and jacket base present), maybe jacket fragments, and once was a mangled bullet, apparently after having hit bone at an angle.
3. Bullet outside, bullet passed through, often leaving a fairly large exit hole in the HIDE. Large exit holes in the hide are not real common for the SST bullets I shoot, so this is impressive to me.

I shot a 90 lb mulefoot sow last night, broadside, looked like double lung, and she ran about 40-50 yards. Exit hole was an oval appoximately 1' x 0.5" in side. The bullet passed through and injured another small sow that made it 100 yards or so. I shot her again, but she disappeared into brush. Maybe I will get a chance to find her today.
 
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