Lee Loader

DaveInGA wrote:RD, that's a fine looking bullet. When you decide you want to go all in, please keep me in mind for a group buy if you're so inclined. And I don't even own a 7.62 X 39 upper. Yet.

Will do!

Here some pictures of my hunting rig & its success.







This last hog was killed at night, in the wee hours of the morning. I was just too tired for pictures.

The rifle is just a run of the mill Mini-30 Tactical in black, that first photo makes it look stainless but it was just the flash. I use a Mini Scout Mount III, Weaver K4 Classic Scout Scope, and Weaver Quick-Lock Rings. The mount has provisions for a side sling which I use with a Specter custom sling. I also accommodates a light mount on the other side and I use just a cheap pressure pad LED tactical light. Soft light does not bother a hog but a sharp, bright light will run them into the next county.

For ammo I'm using my TLC313-150-RF which I designed for NOE and is available through them.

Thank you for posting that. Shows me a very practical rig for this AR7.62X39. Some of the farms are having large herds of hogs tearing through, so I want to pick off as many as I can on follow up shots.

I truly wish we could shoot hogs from helicopters here in Georgia. Those small economical to fly helicopters they have out now are just the ticket and I spent 4 1/2 years in Army Aviation working on, flying in and crew chiefing helicopters. I'm as comfortable in one as I am in a pick up truck, if not more so.

That bullet should be perfect coated with an LLA/Johnson liquid paste wax mix aka Ben's Liquid Lube. Easy to throw on there and feeds well through bullet feeders I'm told.

I heard & read a lot of negative stuff about the Mini-30 before I bought mine but it has been nothing but extremely accurate with the right ammunition. The cheap 123-grain stuff never was good but I didn't shoot much of it. I did try the Tula 154-grain PSP and it shoots like it a laser. I don't shoot much of it as my interest is in cast bullets.

There are a couple of places that outfit helicopter hunts around here but it is extremely expensive. The local guy doing it actually flies & shoots. He doesn't want anyone with him because he has had the crap shot out of his machine as well as stuff on the ground. It really isn't a new thing in Texas, the outfitting part is, but commercial eradication of invasive species has been happening for about 25 years now on the large ranches of South Texas. The guy I'm familiar with has always used a firearm chambered in 7.62x39 with the heavy bullets. I'm not around him much anymore, just haven't crossed paths, but 12 years ago now we were talking and he told me he had just killed his 1800th nilgai from a helicopter. He has been at it twice as long so I bet the sum is staggering. He counts the hogs as well but didn't mention the number. I suspect the count would be 10 to 15 to each nilgai killed.

All of the critters are commercially processed on the spot. They go into a side door of a 18 wheeler van at the back and come out packaged at another side door at the front. They are frozen in another 18 wheeler van sitting next to the first. From there the meat is exported out of the country. They don't leave anything on the ground. Not one hog left behind.

The black hole theory comes into play though. This 90K acre ranch never runs out because all of this constantly creates a black hole of habitat that sucks new critters in. It is constantly in motion. It does make a lot of money for the ranch so they actually welcome all comers to cross the fence. It also creates an environment that is noticed and they do not have an illegal immigrant issue!

I have to wonder if nilgai are good to eat. Thinking they must be treated like hogs.

RD,

Your friend sounds like an Ex-Military service pilot. I'd bet he and I could get along fine, as I wouldn't lose control of myself and my surrounds, forget where I was and shoot my transportation back to the ground.

62chevy wrote:I have to wonder if nilgai are good to eat. Thinking they must be treated like hogs.

The term used with nilgai is "excellent"! They are really good eating.

DaveInGA wrote:RD,

Your friend sounds like an Ex-Military service pilot. I'd bet he and I could get along fine, as I wouldn't lose control of myself and my surrounds, forget where I was and shoot my transportation back to the ground.

Probably so. I remember that one of the guys on the ground wanted to shoot a really big hog with a 44 Mag revolver he had on him, these guys are on ATVs picking up the hogs. Out in a grassy plain the helicopter found a 400 lb hog in an arroyo and started slowly pushing it toward the shooter. At an appropriate range the guy shot it in the head. The bullet ricocheted off the hog's head, through the windshield, and up through the a rotor blade near the mast. Shut down things for a couple of days, no one was happy. Never recovered the hog either.