Jim Taylor
475 Linebaugh and A Hog
Wednesday, October 09, 2024, 06:58

(from Long Ago and Far Away in another Era)

I was on a hunt at Show-Me Safari's in Licking, Missouri. Owned by Mark Hampton, I had hunted there several times previously and killed a nice big red hog, a couple goats and a dog that had gotten onto the property and was harassing the animals.

There was a group of us who had gotten together for the hunt. I was using my .475 Linebaugh that John Linebaugh had built for me. My handloads were with the fairly new Speer 400 gr. Gold Dot jacketed soft point. I was not pushing them hard .. 1100 to 1200 fps.

At one point during the hunt I was going down a path through the trees and brush, not moving fast. I heard a shot off to my left behind a hill that was there. Over the hill and down toward me came this good-size hog running for all it was worth. Blood was squirting out of the left and right sides of it's chest like it was coming out of a large hose as it ran. It did not run far before it fell over, kicked a few times. The guy who shot it was not far behind. He had hit it with a .500 Linebaugh!

I moved on down and what seemed like a short time later a large hog busted out of the brush in front of me and ran directly away from me. I put the sights on its butt and at the shot I distictly remember three things: 1) there was a large dust cloud directly in front of the hog 2) I heard the bullet ricochett through the trees going whack!whack!whack! 3) the hog hit the ground and skidded to stop and lay there without kicking.

Checking it proved it was dead. I could not find an exit wound, though examination showed I had hit it about 1 inch to the right of the anus.

When I dropped the hog at the butchers I asked them to find out where the bullet had exited. Later they told me that it had come out the hog's mouth!
Full-length penetration and through some trees! That's not too shabby. The meat was donated to the local Salvation Army to feed those in need.

It was a great hunt!

I sent the photo to my friend Alan Jones who was the Editor of the Speer Reloading Manual. He included the photo in Manual #14.