doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Rimmed cartridge for North America?'s & opinions

Steve Meyer, is your .32 Win Spl. double of French manufacture by any chance? (All the foreign rifles I've seen in that caliber were French).

Mike - That .32 Special was a 1927 T-series boxlock ejector by Westley Richards. I saw it again last year at the Vintagers for sale, I believe at Mal MacGregor's booth. A sweet little double, one of those you say afterwards "D'oh, why did I sell _that_ one??"

Westley Richards!!! Live and learn..... I guess they really were CUSTOM gunmakers!

An American stalking rifle for deer and hogs in the deep woods and mountains? In my mind, it's gotta be a 45-70. Nothing rimmed is more classic American, except maybe the 30-30, and that's just a little light, maybe. You can find ammo in gas stations and hardware stores all across the country or load it up to dangerous game(action dependant) or down to "pleasant plinker".

Not my picture, but an excellent example of how useful a capegun can be in North America. My Sauer capegun is 12ga X .43 Mauser like the one in the picture. I use it when turkey hunting in an area with wild hogs.

The .43 Mauser is an obsolete German military black powder round approximately the same as our 45/70 government. Smokeless equivalent ammo was last made commercially in North America by the Canadian CIL/Dominion company and the ammo appears regularly for sale on the usual internet sites.

That critter would look nice roasting over a hickory wood fire.

At this point I don't know what I want or the direction I am heading. I want a falling block and the Farquharson Double Rifle hits my longing for a double rifle also. I am probably going for a single shot falling block and I'll get a classic double or double combo rifle. There are too many choices I need to find a gun club and try them all out.
Thanks for all your help
Dan
That capegun is very nice. A gun that gets birds and boar wow!

lostdan,

I'm afraid many of these well meaning fellows that are proposing rounds for your project have never hunted big, mean hogs in thick cover. I have. A doctor friend of mine shot a hog with a "too small caliber" last year. The hog got him, cut his legs out from under him, and worked his arms over very badly as he tried to protect his face and head from the tusks. He nearly bled to death before getting himself to the hospital. He won't listen to talk of shooting hogs with little calibers anymore. You shouldn't either, IMO.

I am a big fan of the .45-70 Gov't. round, and have used it in a Ruger #3 and a Ruger #1 for many years. I want a big hunk of lead for big hogs, and handload 300 gr. flat nose hollow points in nearly all my rounds. I have also shot some Barnes Originals in them. You can load the round with up to 500 gr. bullets and muzzle energies approaching the .458, if used in the Ruger actions, within about 300 fps if memory serves. But, I find that a 300 gr. HP at about 2100 fps is entirely adequate for hogs and deer of all sizes. Recoil is very manageable. Stopping power is unquestionable. With a little practice you can reload a Ruger #1 very fast, by holding a round or two between the fingers of the forehand. A double rifle should be the same way. I'd definitely want ejectors on a serious hog gun. There may not be time to dig 'em out with your fingernails if you miss and a hog is barreling towards you.

When you're facing down a 500 lb. boar in a canebrake at 25 ft., and he's popping those tusks at you, those big stogie rounds in a .45-70 don't seem too big at all. And you won't ever even FEEL the recoil.

SRH

Stan is absolutely correct about big hogs in the south, and especially regarding wild swine in GA and AL. Every year someone in one of these states will bag a hog in the 750-1000 lb range; with GA currently having the heaviest wild hog actually recorded (1100 lbs. and more than 8 feet long from the snout to the base of the tail); but the truth is that most of these monsters are never weighed. But they don't have to be that large to reek fear and havoc. Several years ago my brother in law, who is an extremely powerful and naturally strong individual, shot a boar that stepped into an opening in the swamp trail to his deer stand. He shot the pig in the shoulder, broadside at less than 25 feet with the 30/06 bolt gun; the pig dropped like he had been pole-axed. At the shot, pigs exploded from the surrounding cane brake so out of concern for his safety, he hiked back to his truck and returned with a 12-bore double; making sure both barrels were plugged with OO buck. Back in the swamp, he found that the other pigs had moved on; and feeling safe, kicked his "dead" pig in the ribs to be sure. Getting no response, and convinced the pig was dead; he found a dry spot to rest his gun and grabbed the pig's hind leg only to have the beast instantly come to life! Afraid to let go for fear the pig would turn and rip him legs with its tusks, he hung on; but the pig was so strong he finally had to turn loose of the leg, and grabbed its tail. Fortunately, his shot had broken the pig's left front leg at the shoulder; rendering the pig unable to spin, so it instead made a bee-line for the river dragging my 235 lb BIL like a tin can. But my BIL, who had determined that he was not turning loose, was subsequently dragged thru the mud, canes, and briers. After about 75 yards, my BIL was able to kick the hog's hind leg, causing the pig to stumble and fall over. At that point my BIL, who is a huge wrestling fan, jumped on the pig's back and got the old boar in a combination scissors/choke hold. At that point he hung on for dear life till the hog got winded; then managed to find his pocket knife whereby he and carved an ear to ear grin across it's throat. This was an old boar that had a live weight estimated around 300lbs. He and I skinned the hog that night; and at the autopsy, learned that the 150 grain Core-lok bullet had penetrated the shoulder plate (1 1/4" thick at that point), shattered the shoulder joint, and subsequently flattened against the spine knocking the pig out cold for about 20 minutes. My BIL was foolish and lucky that he avoided injury; but my old man always said that the Good Lord had a soft spot for fools.

I have been reading this thread with interest. One point that several seem to have missed s that the original quest was for a cartridge for a double rifle.That will exclude the use of multiple weight bullets if what I have read in the past is correct and the rifle has to be regulated at the time of manufacture for the particular bullet and velocity. Given the dual game to be hunted, whitetail deer and hogs, my choice in a double would be the .30-40 in the original loading of 220 gr. bullets. It will give adequate energy and penetration, and still shoot flat enough to be useful to 200 yds or so for deer. I have several .45-70 guns, and have killed deer with that caliber and 350 gr hollow points, but I would want a heavier bullet for hogs, which would reduce the useful range. I have done all my big game hunting in the deep south, and am a firm believer in using a cartridge that will provide complete penetration and a good blood trail that is easy to follow in the thickets and cane breaks, especially with something as mean as a hog.