Hunting Trigger

[Josh A.]

As many of you know I have been waging a holy war against the feral hogs on our place. The roots of the fight go back a couple of years to the days of the famed "Swine Jihad." Well the winds of war have been full of lead lately. Four hogs in the last couple of weeks, three in the last two days. I'd guess around 35 or so since the beginning. All were martyred be a hand full of BPCR's, most by my favorite 40-70ss Shiloh.

Well last night, in the thick of battle (the Shiloh went full auto for a minute) I began to question the wisdom of having double set triggers on a pure hunting rifle.

I have a new #3 40-70ss ordered and have begun to wonder about a single trigger. Anybody out there hunt a Sharps hard that has some thoughts?

Thanks,

Josh

P.S.-Anybody know how long a firing pin will last when the lever is thrown open without going to half-cock? When the Sharps goes fast, I can't seem to get the hammer back to half before the lever gets blasted open for the next round.

J.

[Kelley O.Roos]

Josh A.,

Man I'd like to help kill those swine of your's. Went out last month to hunt pigs here in California, public land, and all I got was cold. It got down to 25 degree's for two nights I was out. The best place's to hunt pig's here is on private land and then you have to pay a fortune whether or not you kill one.

Kelley O.

[The Montanan]

Josh

I don't own a Shiloh yet, but have hunted with my copy Sharps, and yes the double set triggers get in the way as well as cocking to half cock. While hunting one becomes forgetful in the rush of the hunt.

Just my .02 cents

[Texas Shooter]

Josh:

Where can someone enlist to help you with your Jihad?

Very entertaining story..................

Ty O'Neal
aka Texas Shooter

[Josh A.]

Kelley:
You would be amazed at the number of offers I have for help. The problem is that the swine are both tough and smart. There are times that I will see 30 pigs in a group in one of the wheat fields. If you can get into a shooting position before they head out, you get one shot. Then I may not see them for two weeks. They are hunted so hard by everyone that they have this hit-and-run tactic of feeding for a few minutes and changing locations. There were some boys north of us that thought they were going to kill out the last few they had in their area, so they hired a helicopter to finish the job. They killed 80 or 81 in an afternoon and still left a group alive about a mile from where they started.

The reason I kill so many is that I will go out every evening for months on end. When they show back up I go after them. Since my house is in the middle of the ranch there are many times I can see them in the fields from my loading room. I can jump in the jeep and 3 minutes later have lead in the air.

If you think hunting on private land is expensive, try paying the taxes on some of it. It is absolutely insane. The only solution is armed insurrection.

J

[Kirk]

Hi Josh, I like a single trigger when I'm hunting, basically because of what happened to you happened to me on a pretty nice white tail one time. As far as the firing pin goes, don't worry about it, my competition gun has been jurked open since 1991, durring matches, with a time clock lookin at me and I have yet to break one. If you do decide to go with a single trigger, make sure my name is on your order so you don't get the standard 4 pound trigger. I have my 110 set up at around 1-3/4 to 2 pounds, works great. See Ya, Kirk

[Josh A.]

Dear Kirk:
I really appreciate the response, I'll ponder on it for a little while then decide. I need to ship you the English walnut for my rifle in the next week or two and if I decide for the single trigger I will include a letter in the box.

I need to send you some of the pictures with all these dead turkeys, deer and hogs I have shot this year. My 40-70ss Shiloh is QUITE prominently displayed in each. It is by far my favorite rifle of all time, I like it even better than my fancy 45 100 Hartford Shiloh.

Thanks,

Josh

[ironramrod]

Josh,

Sounds like the pigs are keeping you plenty busy, and it also sounds like you could use another technique to assist you. Have you ever considered snaring hogs. There are some really good snares on the market today; much better than 15-20 years ago.

I don't know if snares would kill your hogs; I've butchered enough pigs to understand their anatomy quite well. Nevertheless, I would think a 1/8" cable snare (break strength about 1500 lbs or so) with a really strong lock (break strength about 800 or more lbs.) would tie some of them up. You may not be able to keep a snare around their neck, but if the loop size was large enough for them to get 1 or both front legs through it before it tightened up, they should be held in that spot until the executioner arrived. The snares would need to be solid anchored to something substantial to work properly.

The downside of really strong snares is they are really tough on deer, too. I did a lot of snare research during my working days, and snare locks that break at about 300 lbs. are sufficient to let out 95% of the deer in this country, if the snares are not set before Dec. 1. The reason for that date is by then the fawns are large enough to break out, too. The problem with the lighter snares, of course, is that they may let all the hogs break out.

I may be wrong, but I suspect you could really play hardball with the hogs with a snare line if you don't have a bunch of deer around. The hogs certainly wouldn't be used to something grabbing them around the neck or chest as much as the sound of your vehicle coming.

Regards

[Josh A.]

Dear Iron: I have thought about snares, but I don't like the extraneous damage to the deer and varmints.

Anyway, bad form for a jihad to resort to such dirty tricks. I am going to plow ahead on the Sharps route.

Live by the Sharps, die by the Sharps.

Josh