Been looking at Henry BB for a while now. Would be nice having a rifle that shoots one of my handgun loads.
Never been pig hunting but it is on my list! Just deer, antelope and elk for me know. I pick up my elk from the taxidermist today. Nice to finally get a wall-hanger.
I carry the 629 in an Alaska Guides chest rig. Only way to carry that much iron. On a belt would have me walking with a limp. I bought the .44 mag for a bear gun and thankfully haven’t had to use it on one yet. I keep Buffalo Bore 300 gr in it when in bear country. But I’m in fairly remote Montana so that is pretty much my backyard.
If you want to go pig hunting, take an AR-10, or other high capacity semi-auto with >.223 cal.
I went pig hunting with a Marlin 45-70 lever once. It put the pig that I hit down really well, but once I emptied the magazine, I found myself wondering what would have happened if the rest of the pigs (there were about 30) had decided to run at me instead of away.
Feral hogs are a funny thing. They tend not to bleed like a Quentin Tarantino movie. The one that I shot flipped over when it was hit, and that was about it. If it weren’t for the fact that it opted to run directly away, I probably would have missed it, because I wasn’t leading them enough. As it was, the round cored it from stern to stem and ... yeah.
On the other hand, my buddy hit one from the side with a .308. If he hadn’t hit its spine, it would probably still be running away somewhere. He had to finish it off up close with his 44 mag.
(Hmm, on second thought, maybe bigger bore is better :P)
Anyway, when we inspected it, there was a clean entry and exit hole from the .308 (soft point). Go figure.
Anyway, just a semi-amusing anecdote from down here in TX. Your mileage may vary.
I've enjoyed this Henry thus far outside of the annoying proprietary hole pattern on top of the receiver. Nothing a quick trip to the 'smith couldn't fix. I also had a minor issue with the bolt not clearing the hammer for breech cleaning. But that was very well handled by Henry.
I'm in agreement about the chest rigs. Outside of my "cowboy guns", that's the only way I'll haul a handgun in the woods. Gonna try one of the Kenai Chest Rigs from GunfightersINC for the Redhawk. Seems a little beefier for that size revolver.
We've got a pile of pigs at my hunt club (near Rockingham, NC) and hunting them is unlimited. But the biggest ya see is ~250#. No "hogzillas".
Thermal has added a new dimension to that gig. Porky& Petunia have a hard time hiding from that! Hehehe. d;^)