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Savage Scout vs. Hog

Ranch Dog

Ranch Dog

.410
I was talking about my Savage 10FCM Scout in the MVP forum but didn't want to get off topic. We have some weather moving through tonight so I figured that the hogs might be moving pretty good right at dark. I told my wife I was going to wander out into the pasture and wander around in the dark for a couple of hours, she's use to it, but I didn't get very far. I could see a sounder of hogs working a pole line sendero that leads to our house so I grabbed the Scout and headed out.

About 150 yards from my house I slipped out into the grass, which is pretty high due to the rain, and crawled out into the middle of the sendero. I could not see them well enough prone (always hoping a diamondback will move for me), so I slowly raised up. It was very dark now and I was having a tough time ranging the sounder. I figured something slightly beyond 100-yards and put the horizontal crosshair on the back and the vertical across the heart. I took a breath and touched that outstanding Savage trigger system.

10FCM_hog.jpg


This 7.62x39 Scout is sighted in 1" high at 100 yards and the 165-grain cast bullet of my design severed it's spine and killed it on the spot. I knew I would not shoot over him but just could not figure the range out close enough. Based on point of impact hitting point of aim, he was at 127 yards.

My wife watched from the house with binoculars, she said it was an awesome show!

You have to love Texas! I heard a number of shots, all after dark, my fellow ranchers figuring the same with the hogs and weather. When my dad (87) and I were picking the hog up, we heard a fellow about 1/2 mile away open up, I'd say with an M1A. The rate of fire was awesome and we could count hits from almost every shot. Boom-Pop, Boom-Pop... must have had a sounder out in the open under lights or night vision. That fellow was definitely a shooter!
 
Excellent! I really hope to own the same rifle someday, or maybe the hoghunter model.
 
What did the hog weigh out at...?

Do you butcher or donate the meat RD...!?
 
excellent work, and very nice set up. i believe you may have mentioned before but whats the vintage of your savage? was this something you built yourself or factory?
 
SHOOTER13 said:
What did the hog weigh out at...?
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My guess was about 140# on the hoof.

SHOOTER13 said:
Do you butcher or donate the meat RD...!?
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Yeah, cut it up. I keep the freezer full but in some years there are so many that they are treated just like a coyote or bobcat. They are not allowed to be placed into a program like the "Hunter's For the The Hungry" as they are classified as a feral swine and not a game animal. A couple of years ago here in Texas, the population reached critical mass, that being that their count exceeds that of the whitetail deer. That is a real bad thing in that they eat more than a whitetail does and by the time she is a year old, a sow is dropping a load of piglets every four months. After loss, a sow will mother about 10 additional hogs every year of her life vs the single fawn a whitetail produces. Damage to rangeland and pasture is significant. I use to scoff at the stories I heard about the damage the invasive species caused in Australia but see it first hand here.

The feral hog has become quite a problem in my lifetime. They do give us something to shoot at most of the year. When you get them shot back, you kind of miss them. When they are here, you curse them.
 
dieselmudder said:
excellent work, and very nice set up. i believe you may have mentioned before but whats the vintage of your savage? was this something you built yourself or factory?
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It is a run of the mill 10FCM Scout that was discontinued in 2013 in favor of the soon to be released 11 Scout.

The 11 is based on survey's provided by owners and others as what improvements that Savage could consider. Both rifles, the 10 & 11 Scouts are part of the Police/Military series.

The largest limitation on the 10 is magazine capacity, it being three plus one. As a tactical rifle, that needed to improve but in filling my needs as a sporting rifle, it is perfect. Even with my Mini-30, almost all of the time I use the flush five round magazine. There was an outfit that was producing nine round magazines for the 10 but they were very expensive, I think $75, but I noticed that they had dropped the production with the dropped offering. The 10 Scout is a "center" feed action, the magazine stagger has the top round centered and the feed to the chamber is exceptional. The 11 Scout will us a M1A magazine.

My 10FCM Scout is the 7.62x39, they also offered the 308 Win. The 11 Scout will only be offered in 308 Win.

The only change that I made to my Scout is I replaced the Williams peep appeture with their Ghost Ring for the WGRS sight and added a front sight hood. The rear sight is more appropriate for my hunting and the hood protects the sight blade from all the thorn brush I hunt in.

WGRS_ghost_ring.jpg


I use Weaver Grand Slam Lever Loc rings and a Weaver K4 Classic Scout. I have this setup on seven rifles.

When I was finishing up the yard mowing yesterday, my wife came out and told me that she could see some hogs on the pole line tearing things up. This was about 7 pm. I had her hand me the Scout from the gun rack at the back door and off I went. I shot a 100# sow at 100 yards out of the thirty hogs that were working the ground, and she hit the brush. We have had "feet" of rain and the brush against the heat has become quite thick, with visibility no more than 2 to 5 feet once your in there. I released the scope and set it on my red kerchief on the edge of the sendero so I could find it later. I crawled on my hands and knees for about 40 yards up the sounders exit trail and then started to find a good blood trail. In a few feet it hit a rain wash that she had followed and about 10 yards down it she growled at me from about 6 yards. I had slowed down considerable by then as I could smell her, an inch at a time, and with the growl I could pick her out and had the ghost ring on her. I hesitated a bit and there was nothing else, that was it and I didn't need to shoot again.
 
I want a good 7.62x39 bolt pretty bad.... the CZ527 is a sweet little rifle but $600 and mags are expensive lol
 
Itsricmo said:
I want a good 7.62x39 bolt pretty bad.... the CZ527 is a sweet little rifle but $600 and mags are expensive lol
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For a sporter, I would l look at the Zastava Mini Mauser. I've been shooting & hunting with one for a number of years and it is a very nice rifle.
 
Ranch Dog said:
For a sporter, I would l look at the Zastava Mini Mauser. I've been shooting & hunting with one for a number of years and it is a very nice rifle.
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I had completely forgotten about those!! I just watched like 200 YouTube videos haha thanks for pointing those out, maybe I'll see if a local can get one in, I just got a safety bonus for work last week WOOT
 
Itsricmo said:
I had completely forgotten about those!! I just watched like 200 YouTube videos haha thanks for pointing those out, maybe I'll see if a local can get one in, I just got a safety bonus for work last week WOOT
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Well, let me be an enabler! I think this is about the best online price I've seen: JG Sales

hog_m85_02.jpg


The rifle is fitted very well, deep bluing, and a walnut stock. It is stained but not sealed. Most wipe it down and applied a couple of coats of Tru-Oil. With the bluing and the oil finish, it looks like an $800 rifle (and shoots like one).

I've never understood why the American manufacturers have not pursued this cartridge in their base rifle offerings. When it is available, like with Savage and Ruger, it is in their premium rifles which just doesn't make any sense. For instance, why would Mossberg offer a MVP in 300 Blackout over the 7.62x39? You can fuel a 7.62x39 for two and half years over what it cost to fuel a 300 Blk for a year (if you can get it).
 
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Thanks for the reply!!! That looks like a great piece of meat you got there! Oh, the gun is pretty nice too :) haha
I almost bought one a few weeks ago but passed, it was used and the guy couldn't remember if he shot anything corrosive out of it (without cleaning) and I didn't have my grandfathers bore scope sooo, it remained in the fine gentleman's possession lol The outside appearance was fantastic, especially for $300 but there was too much unanswered questions for me so I think I may wait until I can finagle a new one into a shop :p
 
Itsricmo said:
Thanks for the reply!!! That looks like a great piece of meat you got there! Oh, the gun is pretty nice too :) haha
I almost bought one a few weeks ago but passed, it was used and the guy couldn't remember if he shot anything corrosive out of it (without cleaning) and I didn't have my grandfathers bore scope sooo, it remained in the fine gentleman's possession lol The outside appearance was fantastic, especially for $300 but there was too much unanswered questions for me so I think I may wait until I can finagle a new one into a shop :p
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Holy smokes... at $300, I would have bought another!

I did buy another 10FCM Scout this week, but a 308 Win. I've wanted to add a new 308 Win and I wanted it to be a scout. I really like the Savage products but the soon to be released 11 is a bit too "tactical" for me as a hunter. I don't like the extended magazine, I do like the flush center feed magazine. Anyway, my choices came down to another 10FCM or a Ruger Frontier Scout. The Frontier becomes a bit pricey in that you must drop a replacement trigger in it as they all have the infamous Ruger-Lawyered-Up-Iron-Clad-Trigger and the resale price is generally a bit high. The upside to the Frontier is that is a super nice looking rifle.

So here are my two 10FCM Scouts...

10FCM_brothers.jpg


I needed the 308 Win for a new cast bullet I designed for NOE, a TLC310-180-RF, and I've been getting the rifle ready to start shooting it.

Reference all my notes about the Savage 10FCM, I was really on the fence as what to do with this .308" grooved 7.62x39. I had made arrangements to send it back to Savage to rebarrel to a 300 Savage as I needed a rifle to work another bullet I did for NOE, the TLC310-165-RF for the Savage cartridge. As I studied things I realized that bullet was a perfect fit for this Savage in 7.62X39 and the combination has really changed my thinking about this rifle. It is the most accurate rifle/bullet fit that I've shot.

The hogs hate it as it has costly for them over the last several weeks! This is my first kill with the TLC310-165-RF.

TLC310165RF_1st_kill.jpg


I also ran across a 1949 Rem 722 chambered in 300 Savage, a 99% rifle, that will allow me to work with the TLC310-165-RF in the cartridge that I designed it for.

Back to the 10FCM 308 Win. It is a second generation model so it has everything but the large bolt handle. That is enroute from Savage at this time. Like the other rifle, I changed out the William's peep aperture for their Ghost Ring. I paid $450 the rifle and it was the best price I've seen.
 
Man, you really go big or go home don't you?? Very impressive collection you're throwing together, lol.... I'm going to investigate this "new model 11" you speak of because I'm all for Tacti-cool so long it's functional as well!! Mags that aren't flush never bothered me one bit.

I actually prefer them on rifles sometimes because I can slam them in without having to rock them in the Maxwell like most detachable flush mags. And I absolutely hate blind mags.... no way!
 
I'd really like to find a model 10 precision carbine (reasonably priced) which savage said they stopped making because there wasn't enough interest in the .223. Which I find odd.
 
NICE HOG!
Living in Connecticut we dont have wild hogs YET.
Just wondering about the effectiveness of the 7.62x.39 killing them.
I would love to hunt them someday and would also like to use my "AK 47 Hunter"chambered in 7.62x.39.
 
I had read about rounds effective for hogs and the smallish .223 is considered to be very effective. I have no personal experience so take my comments for what they're worth.

I'll try and find the article, it contrasted a few different rounds. I found it when I had been looking for a rifle I could take on hog hunting trip. (I'm told we have them in eastern ohio but they haven't made their way here).
 
You're welcome!

I enjoyed the article but am grateful to have some excellent shooters and first hand experience right here! I like the posts and info and its changed my thinking on a couple things.
 
Ya I agree.
I always thought my first hog hunt would be with one of my 500's and a slug.
Now I am really rethinking that.
 
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