12 gauge Boar balls, let's get to know them together ... This article will be a sort of journey into the world of 12-gauge shotgun cartridges, reserved for wild boar hunting.
Knowing the ballistic aspects of cartridges for this type of hunting will allow the reader to have a clearer idea of the ballistic performance at the time of the shot, with relative results. In this article we will try to clarify the use of single balls, in English slug. Some hunters fail to understand why these balls are so accurate in test targets, while missing the target on the field. One thing is certain: a bullet to be accurate must be stabilized. With rifles, stabilization is achieved by transmitting a fast rotational movement to the elongated bullet.
in shotguns with smooth bore, on the other hand, it is not possible to obtain the same result and for this reason it is necessary to resort to another system, that is by means of the fletching of the projectile by lightening the rear part with a cavity at the base of the same, or by means of the fixing of a wad at the base of the projectile, so that in both cases the center of gravity is transferred forward. Stabilizer fins can also be used, which involve a slight loss of precision, but allow the use of much longer projectiles (therefore with greater sectional density), which retain stability even in very curved trajectories.
Accuracy and effectiveness of shotgun shells are the pillars on which the latter rest. The most reliable bullets combine a lead bullet with a wad (in certain circumstances shaped to amplify the fletching effect), as in the Brenneke ball and in the ball Gualandi.
The innovation in the field of slugs is represented by the ball equipped with a fletching with fins, the latter invented in 1983 by the French ing. Sauvestre, which employs an under-calibrated bullet with a plastic sabot that separates a short distance from the muzzle of the weapon. The bullet, with a very elongated shape and a hollow point, has a diameter of 11,4 mm and is composed of a hard core wrapped in lead; the body of the bullet shows conspicuous annular grooves. The bullet reaches the initial velocity of about 500 ms (580 ms in the 12 magnum using the same 26 gram bullet) and at 100 meters it still retains a velocity of 375 ms (430 for the magnum) with an energy of 1850 J ( 2440 J for the magnum). At this distance, a crosswind of 10 ms moves a normal slug bullet by 75 cm, the Sauvestre bullet by 30 cm, and a rifle bullet by about ten centimeters. All these bullets, weighing between 24 and 39 grams at an initial speed of 450-580 ms, give shot patterns of less than 5 cm in diameter at 50 meters away. The reason why there is the impression of poor accuracy is twofold.
First of all, side by side are not suitable for this type of balls. The guns designed to shoot pellets are zeroed for a shot at 35 meters and the two barrels are matched in order to overlap the shot patterns at this distance. The reeds, called strabiche, converge on an ideal point at 35 meters. Shooting from fifty meters away, it happens that the ball fired with the right barrel hits the target several centimeters to the left of the aimed point, while the left one several centimeters to the right. This is why the grouping appears to be inaccurate. This inconsistency is not found in over-and-under shotguns and single-barreled shotguns, but generally the second defect appears, namely that of zeroing, which causes firing much higher or lower than the aimed point. Shotguns are zeroed for a distance of 35 meters in order to achieve that the center of the shot pattern is 10-15 cm above the target point. The firearm should be reset, using Brenneke or Gualandi bullets, at a distance of 70 meters and, using Sauvestre bullets, at a distance of 100 meters.
An over-and-under shotgun or semi-automatic shotgun, not zeroed, can fire slugs with adequate accuracy as long as the target is not more than 60 meters; this means that these weapons are suitable for driven hunts. The same happens even if you use magnum cartridges with a ball of about 40 g: you can gain initial energy, but the trajectory is more or less the same. There are also rifles cal. 12 with rifled barrel, specially designed for shooting slug balls. If the barrel is rifled, it means that it is able to stabilize a bullet in relation to the rotational movement impressed on it and for this reason an ogival-shaped bullet should be used, capable of giving better results from the aerodynamic profile. The problem is that an elongated 12 gauge lead bullet would have an excessive weight, inappropriate for pressure, slowness and recoil; if you try to solve the problem by lightening the bullet, you get an increase in the initial speed irreconcilable with the use of bare lead, which would not resist the stress of the rifling.
It would therefore become essential to develop an under-calibrated ball which could only be an elongated ball, with a sabot resistant to scratching. The advantage obtained would be satisfactory, since the weapon could be zeroed on 100 meters, and the optimal aerodynamic shape would allow it to have a decent energy even at such a distance.
Le balls for rifled rods on the market are the Brenneke Golden Slug bullet, considered only a makeshift because it is in bare lead, has a slightly aerodynamic front profile and therefore cannot exploit the advantages of the rifled barrel. The Remington Copper Solid bullet in copper alloy with sabot which however is not the most appropriate for shooting in smooth barrels and offers no aerodynamic advantage. Many hunters have many doubts as to whether the dry ball has sufficient stopping power or not. The shotgun for wild boar hunting is the most suitable for its maneuverability, since when you need to shoot in the woods or with quick reflexes, it allows you to shoot the game almost "on the fly". In this case, a certain amount of stopping power can also be waived. A dry ball, in fact, loses about a quarter of its speed in 50 meters of flight. At normal hunting distances, with designed projectiles that retain maximum energy transfer to the wild, the latter allow to fatally injure an animal weighing 50 kg.
It should be emphasized that, in terms of penetration and effectiveness, it is more appropriate to use the bullet with the greatest sectional density and the one that has the greatest speed on impact. Then the following conclusions can be drawn. If you shoot from your side at normal hunting distances, that is, within 50 meters, the various types of bullets are equal in energy and accuracy. For distances greater than 100 meters, the weapon must be appropriately zeroed or instinctively calculate the trajectory that will undergo a variation of about fifteen centimeters below. It should be remembered that if the slug balls they do not cause damage to a shotgun with choked barrels, they cause abnormal stresses to the barrels. We must therefore avoid firing these ammunition into old rifles whose resistance we are not sure of. The use of dry balls means that these are easily destabilized, are deflected by small twigs and bounce off the ground or trees, becoming dangerous up to almost a kilometer away.
Having made this necessary premise, let's now analyze the wild boar shooting. The boar it is a wild which it is advisable to shoot it down at the first shot, in order to avoid dangers for the hunter and his dogs. Being very resistant, it is necessary to use the most suitable caliber. The wild boar has a weight between 60 and 300 kg, even if large specimens are found only in Eastern Europe. In our country it will be possible to meet specimens under 100 kg, even if some testimonies report wild boars weighing 100/150 kg. The shooting distance must be within 50 meters, with a minimum energy of 2000 joules, which is it can be reached by a slug bullet or a rifled rifle bullet of at least 7mm. Basically you will need a ball capable of causing a big impact. The accuracy of the weapon is a secondary element, since in wild boar hunting a quick shot is more important that does not allow accurate and precise aim: the ideal, therefore, is a weapon to be held quickly, with a good line of sight. , for use with standard loads and bullets that give a bearable recoil.
The firm Brenneke has marketed the RubinSabot cartridge, with a plastic fletching ball weighing 28 gr. and able to reach the initial speed of 510 ms (J. 3641), dropping to 410 ms at 50 meters (J. 2285) and to 334 ms at 100 meters (J. 1562). The SuperSabot bullet is innovative, but it implies that it must be fired from rifled barrels to be stabilized, as it does not have fletching. This ball weighs 31,8 grams and reaches the speed and energy of 465 ms and 3438 J. at the mouth, 374 ms and 2220 j. at 50 m. and 317 ms and 1598 J. at 100 meters. It has a diameter of 16 mm. and it is composed on the outside of a brass alloy with a composite core, which deforms in the shape of a mushroom when it impacts. The 5-shot grouping at 100 meters was less than 7 cm in diameter.
There is also a 12 gauge ball for boar hunting built with "soft lead, or the common lead of water pipes" which has the power to penetrate and split into four parts after impact with the game, it behaves like a pellet, releases all the stopping power on impact, and the lead pieces follow different paths according to the consistency of the tissues and have the power to escape, has a power of mortality
exceptional, it is not dangerous it does not bounce, then the lead is reduced to "stagnol sheets" of this ball three specialized magazines in the sector have talked about, it is widely used in northern Sardinia and is giving great satisfaction to the inventor. It is called a ball with a predetermined fracture by Renzo Pianti tel 338 1464860
The ball that splits is fine if you hit the wild, but if you hit a branch it will dissect and can hit the dog that is nearby.In Sardinia, wild boars are small in size, they can even go to the limit. I tried similar balls on the wild (not the same or the same) on wild ones of around 35/40 kg and even if they were shot down lightly, the breaking up of the ball made me understand if it was a male of over 100 kg at the same distance would not have remained on the spot because the penetration would have been poor, and then in batting it is not that you choose the position of the game, you shoot as best as possible but how it comes. For this I stay with the traditional balls and personal reload.