Caliber for piggies

[J E Custom]

I've got .223, 6.5 creedmoor, .260 rem, .308, 300 win mag, 9mm, .45 lc, and wonder what the preferred is for piggies at 1-300 yds.
All about the same level of confidence and I'd love to hear favorite cartridges for piggies in TX between Christmas and New Years.
Thanks,
Jon

I have killed hogs with everything from a 22 LR to a 45 cal and feel that a minimum caliber is 6.5 for the size of hogs we take. Less will kill them but sometimes you need to drop them where they stand or you will lose them.

We like to eat them and blend them with deer meat so we are very selective in what to take. with larger calibers the chances of losing them go away as long as you shot is true. Also If you encounter
a big boar that needs to be taken out of the Sounder you have the weapon for DRT.

With lighter/smaller cartridges you may have to track them and this can sometimes get dicey if they are still alive and not happy with you.

J E CUSTOM

 

[dougduey]

I live in South Texas and use an 6.5 Grendel on the AR15 platform with a thermal. I like to have the ability to take out multiple pigs if I come across a sounder, so I prefer an AR over a bolt action. The 450 Bushmaster is another good hog cartridge.
That being said, if I'm just sniping a big boar, I love to use my 7 STW at longer distances (when it's light outside).

 

[Joemac6324]

I'm glad you said it. I was wondering why no one had said the 450 bushmaster in the AR-15. Hardly any recoil for shooting them running. One round normally puts them down for good.

 

[J E Custom]

I'm glad you said it. I was wondering why no one had said the 450 bushmaster in the AR-15. Hardly any recoil for shooting them running. One round normally puts them down for good.

I built myself a 450 bushmaster in an AR when we first started trying to manage the amount of hogs we had and it worked great for that. We rarely get standing still shots, so the more powerful cartridges worked better for us. the only problems we ever had was with the 223's and smaller (Less powerful). I also like the 6.8 SPC in an AR for hogs.

You have to take a headshot with a small caliber cartridge But with the bigger caliber you can still take a headshot if you want to but you don't have to. Also with the bigger caliber, you can take more than one with one shot. This sometimes helps to reduce the numbers to a reasonable level.

J E CUSTOM

 

[DavidleeCole]

I have killed some hogs here in Arkansas and what I found out is the smaller ones less than 200lbs go down with about any caliber.

I have taken the most with my .22mag out to 120 yards. One was 350 pounder took 4 rounds to the lungs before he gave up.

But I have several with .223 and .243

This one was 610lbs I got with my concealed carry. Glock 22 in .40 cal
She took 2 to the head at less than 1 yard quickly followed by another 2, she turned and I dumped a few more in her chest.

I didn't know she was laying in the tall grass on the other side of the gate I was going through to get on a hog I could see in the woods.

 

[davidu]

^ That's an interesting and remarkable story. Guess that's a "feral" sow. That is by far the cleanest feral hog I've ever seen.

 

[jonseim]

You sure you didn't hit him with the scrench? That's a big pig!

 

[kfreeze]

The one thing I learned going down to Texas a couple times a winter for pigs was to shoot them in the head. The pigs head and neck are the same size as a deer's lungs. Don't be scared to miss it. I use a 300 BO simply for the fact that I shoot at a lot of running pigs and want to have more ammo in the mag for that. I adjusted my lead on them (4 feet at 100 yds) to hit the head and neck and started knocking down way more pigs. Even if you hit the neck they go down and you can put another round in them. I almost only hunt them at night with thermals, so an ar is almost a must. The pigs I hunt almost always seem to be in groups so anything not semi auto is out of the question imho. Even in daylight there always seems to be multiple animals to shoot at. The only time I bring a bolt action is if we plan on trying to go out in daylight and shoot them at lomg range. Good luck hope this helps.

 

[Zen Archery]

Don't over think it. Spent years using an arrow. Obviously bigger Bullets are nice but we've used .22 when that's all we were carrying.

 

[MZmoose]

I have killed hogs with everything from a 22 LR to a 45 cal and feel that a minimum caliber is 6.5 for the size of hogs we take. Less will kill them but sometimes you need to drop them where they stand or you will lose them.

We like to eat them and blend them with deer meat so we are very selective in what to take. with larger calibers the chances of losing them go away as long as you shot is true. Also If you encounter
a big boar that needs to be taken out of the Sounder you have the weapon for DRT.

With lighter/smaller cartridges you may have to track them and this can sometimes get dicey if they are still alive and not happy with you.

J E CUSTOM

We do the same. They make great sausage, snack stix, and bratwurst, when mixed with deer and elk. We like to drop as many as we can get so we can high grade the meat pile taking the best cuts. Bigger calibers work better for our purposes. One ranch we hunt they want the carcasses taken to thier bone yard and don't like wounded pigs dying all over thier ranch so the bigger calibers help with that too.

 

[n3rdv]

I've never gone pig hunting but would love to. Recently read about the 6mm ARC. On an AR platform I personally would try this. Maybe some day ....

 

[RYEWSKY25284]

I've got .223, 6.5 creedmoor, .260 rem, .308, 300 win mag, 9mm, .45 lc, and wonder what the preferred is for piggies at 1-300 yds.
All about the same level of confidence and I'd love to hear favorite cartridges for piggies in TX between Christmas and New Years.
Thanks,
Jon

I hunted hogs in California for years. Out of the cartridges you mentioned, 6.5CM or .260 Rem will handle them with ease.
Wanna kill them DRT... Choot'm between the earhole and the point of the shoulder. That's a "bang flop" sure kill shot.
I was kill'n em with a 7-08, 7-08AI & a 25-284
Just try and stay away from heart & lung shots. It's nearly a sure thing you'll wind up tracking them.

my .02 Cents

 

[Mrvmax]

Like has been stating, most every caliber can kill them with good shot placement. I've been hunting hogs for the last several years and you can body shoot them with a 308 and get two at a time when they are lined up right. I've killed them with 6.5 Creedmoor, .308, 300 WM, 458 SOCOM, 454 Casull and 375 H&H. The 300, 454, 458 and 375 dropped them in their tracks with a body shot. With the 6.5 I took head shots. I'm waiting to kill some with 6.5 PRC, 45/70, 20 gauge slugs and 7mm-08. Maybe this year I'll get a chance.

 

[MZmoose]

Pigs are way better than ballistics gel for bullet testing. We have tried to get the pass thru 2nd pig kill but haven't got it yet. We came close last year when a 458 SOCOM bullet passed thru a good boar and smacked another in the shoulder. The mushroomed bullet smacked the 2nd pig hard enough to stamp an imprint of his hair in the exposed lead. That 2nd pig took off squealing. We found the bullet just lying on the ground.