Thread: Rifle for bush hunting over indicating dog

Thanks Stocky,

Have been using timber clappers for the last 3 months while waiting on my FAL renewal (which I now have). You right, bloody loud banging two bits of 4x2 together...

She's been introduced to the .22 and went well after all the time with the timber clapper. Onto the soon to be suppressed 7mm-08 and then we should be right to go bush. 2 years old so pretty well ready.

Cheers FBD

Understand all the comments above about subs and margin for error etc. I’ve got some pretty good hands on experience with various subsonic rounds over the last couple of years (small, medium and big bore) shooting cull animals on the farm and plenty of goats and pigs and a few red and fallow deer.

Setup a short .308 properly and it can be very precise. I enjoy bunny shooting with mine - bunnies at 70-80m are no problem, and neither is goats and deer in the neck or head at short range, and that’s exactly where they should be shot with subsonics.

@Fat belly Dog, I also use a Ruger 77/44 with 280gr cast lead subs with an Aimpoint red dot. Despite the fact that the powder charge is the same as the .308, 7.8gr Trailboss, it is considerably louder, and that’s all in the size of the hole at the end of the suppressor. We measured the muzzle blast of several suppressed short range bush guns side-by-side, all with Trail Boss subs loads.

18” .308 Win (Tikka)
16” .357 Mag (Rossi)
14” .44 Rem Mag (Ruger)
18” .45-70 Govt (Marlin)

The .308 was the quietest by far, and also the most accurate. None of these rifles are used to shoot the target spaces anywhere other than the head or the upper neck, and none deliver any difference in the terminal outcome. So for me, hunting over a dog, I would want the most accurate and the quietest.

All that said, if you are not prepared to head or upper neck shoot deer in the bush, then you need a suppressed full power round and your dog needs to learn to cope with it. A good compromise is to use lighter big bore cast lead hollow point (~220gr) at reduced muzzle velocity, e.g. 1300-1400fps. The .44 Rem Mag is very good for this application. We’ve shot several big pigs and red deer through the upper shoulder with these rounds and they certainly do the business. They will expand nicely at close range, the muzzle blast is less than a full power .308 but not by a huge amount.

Something to remember is to do any test shooting in a similar environment to your hunting. The reflected muzzle blast in timbered hunting country is totally different to the muzzle blast in an open paddock.

Originally Posted by Fat belly Dog

I went and had a chat with local gunshop and will get my existing 7mm-08 fitted with either a DPT magnum or a Hardy Magnum suppressor. Will try that first with standard ammunition.

Thanks for all the feed back.

Any difference between the DPT vs Hardy suppressors

Cheers

I would go dpt so you can keep adding baffles until you get it to the right level of quiet

I was going to add,
If going subsonic you get no (very limited) expansion so the larger the hole you bore the better. (ie its an excuse to buy another gun, 35, 375, 44, 45 cal etc)

A good silencer is a must for you both, particularly with a short barrel. And just load/buy some reduced power/low recoil loads.
https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/r...custom-lite#!/

My dog generally will duck in behind me when the gun comes up but after a couple of shots he can't help himself and wants to go catch what I have shot.
(I know we need more training but we just don't get out often enough to suitable locations so I keep him on a lead if I'm concerned he may not hold until I need him to find the animal)
Z

Originally Posted by ZQLewis

I was going to add,
If going subsonic you get no (very limited) expansion so the larger the hole you bore the better. (ie its an excuse to buy another gun, 35, 375, 44, 45 cal etc)

That isn’t necessarily correct. Very much depends on the type of bullet.

A good soft cast lead hollowpoint will readily expand to 2x calibre given enough tissue to work with. This is a .308 calibre. There’s a video somewhere of a guy digging one of these out of a goat’s brisket, shot across the chest cavity, and it looked very similar. I’ve dug a couple out of already dead cull sheep that I’d just killed in the yards to see what they looked like. Shoulder shots. Bullet looks pretty much the same.

Over penetration can be a problem on thin goats, for sure. That’s were you’ve got to be smart with the point of aim. This one was shot in the base of the neck.

But there is a next level of course, that’s the heavy big bore hollowpoint and flat nose cast lead boolits. Even the flat nose boolits can create a surprising amount of damage through a tough pig, of course the penetration is unstoppable. A good top of heart shot opens up quite a wide wound channel through the heart and lungs you get huge fast bleeds out the exit, quite dramatic.

Bugger. I haven’t got the bullet photos on this device but if I remember I’ll post them tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

if you go down path of those AWESOME 151grn cast jobbies,you could do much worse than run them with case FULL of trailboss....so they still be reasonably quiet compared to full power load but would be SIMILAR to 30/30 terminally. work up load of course .

This is what I did,bush hunting only.

wont disagree Flyblown, my experience with subs has mostly been goats. Not a lot of bone or mussel in them. Not like a thick coated woolly or tougher pig.

DPT Suppressor has been fitted this week, will sight it in next week just shooting normal rounds. Anything to watch out for with Suppressor? 140g

I know with subs to get them shooting straight first then fit Suppressor, but won't be shooting subs for a while

Originally Posted by Fat belly Dog

DPT Suppressor has been fitted this week, will sight it in next week just shooting normal rounds. Anything to watch out for with Suppressor? 140g

I know with subs to get them shooting straight first then fit Suppressor, but won't be shooting subs for a while

Yep, be sure to fit the suppressor when finding zero as it does change it a little. Hardly noticeable over a dog but it does change poi. You probably know that.
Keep an update and go well.


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