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Smith and Wesson Mountain Lite Aluminum/Scandium crossbreed is a three and 1/8 inch barrel, 18.5 ounce L-frame. Very light, not much heavier than an Airweight J-frame. Conceals very well IWB with the stock Hogue Bantam grip.

I traded for this gun the other day to get what I believe may be the ideal host for the Speer 135 grain 357 MAG Gold Dot round, which Speer says should do about 1080 fps out of the three inch barrel. Never mind the fact they aren't for sale anywhere right now. I hope that situation with all ammo is resolving itself slowly.

Then I got to wondering about hogs in the woods and what would be a good handgun round in that application considering the lightness of the gun.

Suggestions will be much appreciated.

The main thing with hunting any large mammal is shot placement.

Having said that, the 357 mag round is perfectly fine for taking a hog if you can hit a vital spot that will drop the animal quickly. My main problem with a small pistol is that they are hard to shoot accurately because of the very small sight radius.

and that's my 2c.

Have you fired those 357 mag Gold dot rounds through that gun yet? It's pretty brutal.

If a hog is on top of you/attacking, then that gun will definitely get the job done if you get hits but I would not expect it to perform well past 10 yards under stress, especially AFTER the first shot.

My .02

No, I haven't fired any of the 135 grain MAG Gold Dots. And you can't find them now. Since they increase bullet speed by 130 fps, I suspect and as you say, they are pretty stout. I'm not hunting, strictly SD, and my main concern is rural methamphetamine users and labs in remote locations. Also marijuana growers with scattered plants. If the Gold Dots in question can be counted on to kill a hog at close range, that's all I need for woods carry and can skip the 170-180 grain stuff and stay confined to one type of ammo. The heavier hunting loads are probably a little much for this lightweight. But it is a joy to carry and the firepower to weight ratio is outstanding. Accuracy is excellent out to about 35 yards, I have not shot it beyond that. No need in it.

Buffalo Bore has what appears to be a new standard pressure round out, a 150 grain hardcast wad cutter bullet clocking 961 fps out of a three inch Ruger SP101 barrel. It goes without saying what that would do to a human. How would it work on a hog?
http://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l= ... tail&p=110" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I didn't find a 135 grain round listed on the Speer site, but know that they have a 125 grain round for sure.

http://www.ammunitiontogo.com/catalog1/ ... point-ammo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Not cheap, but in stock.

I killed a large hog several years ago with my 357 using Hydrashock SD ammo. First shot made her mad, she did not notice the second shot as it only penetrated about 1/2", finally the third shot was lucky enough to make thru to the heart so she finally dropped.

If I ever use my 357 for hogs again it will be loaded with heavy hard cast lead bullets.

Shot placement is correct.

With a .17 cal HMR I've killed two hogs. One a seventy/eighty pound sow and one two hundred fifty or so pound boar.

Both one shot head shots using FMJ's.

I wouldn't use a polymer tipped varmint round on these critters. Before the shortage, I sent off for FMJ's from Graff and Sons. I couldn't find FMJ rounds in .17 in the Houston/Galveston area.

The meat on the sow was excellent. Be sure to have the right skinning gear and knives as cleaning hogs is a bit of a chore if you don't have the right tools.