Thread: Educate me on bushpigs

A few things to note:

1. A suppressor will still not eliminate hearing damage. Depending on the cartridge etc a suppressed rifle will still be around 130-140db. Hearing damage starts at even 85db at prolonged exposure, 120 db is the start of threshold of pain for most people.


2. Your ears and your eyes do not repair themselves over time even like the rest of your body ...(excluding serious trauma like amputation of limbs etc haha) LOOK AFTER THEM. If you havnt noticed already most older hunters, musicians, motorcyclists, people who worked in noisy industry's etc are suffering from the effects of hearing loss. We are alot wiser to hearing damage now days, especially at work with Health and safety etc.


I avoid any gun shots without ear protection. I will let goats get away if i dont have my ear pro on. Probably would do the same with a deer, im 28 and occasionally i already get tinnitus (ringing / buzzing noises in my ears) especially when its really quiet. It could of just been ear wax build up but its not nice at all when it happens couple of times a year. I would hate to have that going on 24/7.
Its not hard at all, i have hear muffs that sit around my neck or on my head if stalking. Or ear plugs on long string that i wrap around my neck, including a few loose in my pockets if lose them. Takes a only a few moments to slip the muffs on, a bit longer for the plugs but they are more comfortable. Sometimes ill have one plug already in my ear and just have to slip the other one in.

Look after yours and your friends hearing. Some people laugh or dont care about how cautious i am but seriously ringing of the ears is a pain in the ass.

Okay now BUSHPIGS.... I have a sweet spot for short handy rifles.

Cons:
You will lose velocity when you remove barrel length, cant beat physics. Some people run hot loads to counter this but then decrease brass life.
Less velocity means less energy (hitting power), more drop and more wind drift over the same distance.

Shorter barrels will wear suppressor baffles out faster. - Said fireball coming out of the barrel someone mentioned earlier is un-burnt powder burning off outside the barrel. This will erode the first baffle over time. How bad this is on a 16" 308 i dont know as i have a Hardy that you cant dissemble for cleaning and check it out, i have had at least 1500 rounds down it from me + how ever many previous owner/owners fired and its still going strong so probably not to bad. Maybe someone else can comment on that or ask DPT how much of an issue it is. Its much more of an issue on semi autos. I know 2 people with Short barreled Ar 15s who have worn out standard DPT baffles and gone with Stainless first baffle. Heat accelerates that process and when you have a semi auto and doing mag dumps will put alot of heat into the suppressor.

Pros:
Short and handy
Quieter than a non suppressed rifle
Less recoil than a non suppressed rifle

How short you go depends on what you are wanting to achieve. (also remember you can always chop more off later, cant get more added on without getting a new barrel)

What distance are you shooting animals out to? <300m my preference is 16" just for the handiness
Someone else mentioned single shot, this means you can get the shortness of a bushpig but retain 20" barrel length. A very nice compromise but im often shooting mobs of goats 10+ so bolt action is nice.

I had someone in a shop ask why the heck would i do that i basically turned it into a 30/30 and its no good after 150m..they proceeded to tell me they shoot goats at 600m+ with their 22" hunting rifle.....go figure...
I love my 16" bush and think its about perfect out to 300m okay to 400m. 80% of my hunting is probably less than 50m with 95% inside 100m I have little need to take shots longer than that. Longest kill being 280m and it dropped on the spot, 150gr sst going 2550fps at the muzzle ~2000 ish at impact.
Had it on gongs out to 650m
If i build another in 308 i might go 12-14" as i hardly take a shot at animals over 150m when hunting doc land, If im going private land i can always take another rifle.

18" will make it slightly quieter and increase muzzle velocity while still retaining the short and handy feel. This tends to be middle ground most people settle on.

If you havnt sent your rifle away yet let me know you can have a shot with my 308. might be able to get my hands on a 18" 7mm08 you can could compare it to. Also have a 22" 280Ai thats supressed so you can see and feel what a standard barrel feels like with a suppressor on the end.