Best Pig Rifles and Ammunition

[tarbe]

did you pop a cracking whitetail ,aswell?

No...I believe I was scaring them to the other side of the county by shooting all the pigs!

My son did not shoot any pigs that day...but he did kill a whitetail. Correlation?

 

[enysse]

The best :
#1 : 9.3x62 Mauser + CZ 550 synthetic stock barrel 20"
#2 : 9.3x74R Double
#3 : .338WM Winch 70 barrel 22"
:m16:
#4 : .35Whelen REM 7600 barrel 20"
#5 : .300WM
But ... .375 H&H is efficient so ...:devil:

Sounds like an excellent choice of calibers!

 

[rnovi]

If you do this then caliber doesn't really matter...

This was a .257 Roberts (half a dozen). I've also shot them with 7mm Rem Mag. The RemMag was a very convincing kill. Chest shot had him instantly twitching his feet in place. The .257 behind the ear was instantaneous. But hit otherwise in the chest with the .257 I've had them run off.

Regardless, I love this little rifle!

 

[matt85]

while not the most sporting, id say some of the most common cartridges used to kill pigs in the USA are the .223 Rem (5.56x45) and the 7.62x39. many thousands of pigs have met their end to these two cartridges fired from AR-15s, AK variants, and bolt guns.

we don't have hogs where I live but if we did my choice guns out of my arsenal would be:

1. CZ 550 in .375 H&H (any range)
2. CZ 527 in 7.62x39 (under 150 yards)
3. Saiga AKS-74 in 5.45x39 (under 100 yards)

-matt

 

[siutis]

Browning model 1886 chambered in 45-70, loaded with high pressure 405 bonded soft points at 2,000 fps

 

[Sand Rat]

What @tarbe said, whatever's in your hands. By far the most I've killed over the years was with a 30-06 with cheap 150 gr Corloks because that's what I use to deer hunt with. My favorite now is my CZ 550 7x57 and 156 gr Oryx.

 

[mdwest]

Over the years I have taken a couple with a 45-70, a couple with a 243, and dozens with a 308 (my primary hunting rifle for NA)...

This year I plan on hunting hogs with one of my ARs in 5.56...

I intentionally head shoot hogs (save the meat)... and have a very accurate AR with a 3-9x optic mounted on it that will drop a bullet into a sub 1” circle at 100 just as well as any of my bolt guns...

Shooting 75gr hornady interlocks at about 2350fps, dropping pigs should present no problem... I’ve found they aren’t nearly as bullet proof as most TV hunting show hosts would have you believe...

The biggest hog to date that I have taken was 588lbs.. he was a monster... he got dropped in his tracks at 80yards by using a broadside shot by a 243 shooting 100gr Remington core-lokt

 

[WAB]

I recently had a 6.5 Grendel put together on an AR platform. I have it fitted w a Nightforce for daylight shooting and a Pulsar thermal for night work.

 

[mdwest]

I thought about going either the 6.5 grendel or the 300 BLK route with my latest build, but opted to just stay with 5.56.. I built the rifle with shooting pigs at ranges of 0-150 yards specifically in mind.. a few years ago, before "heavy for caliber" was really an option for 5.56, and the best you could do with factory ammo was 64gr bonded bullets I probably would have gone with the grendel or BLK.. but since you can pretty much buy 70 and 75gr 5.56 at any wal-mart these days (thanks to the commonality of 1:7 AR's now) I decided to just keep things simple..

Ive got 2x more lowers sitting in the safe though.. Im guessing my next one will be something a bit more exotic...

I've also thought about 6.8SPC and 224 Valkyrie... I think either of those or the grendel could all be pretty fun calibers to play around with..

 

[Shootist43]

For my first Hog hunt I took a 30-06 and a 270. When we got there the guide told us that the best place to shoot a hog is 2" behind the ear and about 2 " lower than the ear. That winds up being a spine shot & DRT. After that I've used my 6.5 x55, 35 Rem (in an iron sighted Marlin Lever Action), a 308 and my 35 Whelen. Like tarbe said, just about anything you happen to have in your hand at the time will work with proper shot placement.

 

[Dwight Beagle]

I’ve shot hogs with a 30-06, .270, 6.5x55, .243 and and .223(AR-15). When I’m specifically hunting hogs I use a scoped Marlin 336 30-30 with factory loaded 150 grain Corelokts. It works fine and dandy. I guess I’ve been lucky because I’ve never encountered one of the super hogs I read about on the internet, the ones where bullets bounce off them unless the hunter shot them with a dangerous game cartridge and even then it took three shots to anchor the hog.

Slugs are fine, I’d never use buckshot.

 

[mdwest]

the guide told us that the best place to shoot a hog is 2" behind the ear and about 2 " lower than the ear. That winds up being a spine shot & DRT.

Yep... thats a great place to place copper and lead.. it will drop them in their tracks.. (I love hog hunting BTW.. one of my favorite things to do during the "off season" around here... )....

 

[IvW]

If specifically hunting warthog or bushpig 7x65R/12ga combination for my son and 9.3x74R/12ga combination for me.

In the corn or following up on wounded pig in the thick stuff, 12ga sxs double trigger 24 inch barrels ghost ring sight and slugs only.

Over bait at night, 7x65R/12ga combination with a scope fitted with illum reticle or any of my other rifles 7x57, 375 H&H also with illum reticle.

 

[John A Flaws]

I enjoy hunting pigs with big bore rifles. I have used a 375 H&H mag, 404 Jeffery, 475 NE No2, and 500 Jeffery on pigs. In fact I believe I might have lost a pig once if I had only been using a much smaller caliber. I hit the pig to far back but because I was using a 375 the bullet did a number on him. He was in a bad way so I was able to get a follow up into him. I believe if I had been using a lighter caliber the pig would not have stuck around, and I would not have been able to clean up my bad first shot.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

For my first Hog hunt I took a 30-06 and a 270. When we got there the guide told us that the best place to shoot a hog is 2" behind the ear and about 2 " lower than the ear. That winds up being a spine shot & DRT. After that I've used my 6.5 x55, 35 Rem (in an iron sighted Marlin Lever Action), a 308 and my 35 Whelen. Like tarbe said, just about anything you happen to have in your hand at the time will work with proper shot placement.

Shootist43
I've shot pigs with a 22 rimfire up to a,444 marlin. The 444 works real well w i th 265FTX, the Whelen is great. Heaps with the old 303 and 25/303, 22 hornet ,222 rem. Shotgun or whatever was in my hand a trip the time.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

My dad used to hunt them in lignum tunnel in western QLD with a 455 Webley hand gun and a tomahawk. When he run out of ammo he'd belt them between the eyes with the tomahawk. He said it could be a bit hairy at times.
In OZ a lot of blokes chase them with dogs , grab the back leg and stick them.
I'm to old for that now. I couldn't run far enough to get out of sight on a dark night let alone chase pigs on foot.
Bob

 

[Major Khan]

For close range work / Herd culling :
> Winchester Model 1894 lever rifle , chambered in .30-30 Winchester calibre .
Loaded with Winchester Super X soft point 170 grain cartridges
> M 1 Garand semi automatic rifle , chambered in .30-06 Springfield . Loaded with Winchester Silver Tip soft point 220 grain cartridges

For Hill shooting / Stalking over open terrain :
> Pre 64 Winchester Model 70 , chambered in .300 Winchester magnum .Loaded with Winchester Silver Tip soft point 220 grain cartridges .

 

[CBH Australia]

I shot 3 this evening with my Tikka .308. Yea whatever you have at the time is fine. I have head shot them with .223 instant kills.
If you get a clean shot most rifles are capable.
In Australia plenty would have .308 or .223 in their safe, some of the older fellas still have their .222 but with pro roo shooters nailing a few I reckon the .223 bolt actions are racking them up all over Australia.
I need to try my .375H&H on pigs, or I need to find pigs when I am carrying it.
I want to hunt the Northern Territory bigger pigs and Buffalo.

 

[Major Khan]

I shot 3 this evening with my Tikka .308. Yea whatever you have at the time is fine. I have head shot them with .223 instant kills.
If you get a clean shot most rifles are capable.
In Australia plenty would have .308 or .223 in their safe, some of the older fellas still have their .222 but with pro roo shooters nailing a few I reckon the .223 bolt actions are racking them up all over Australia.
I need to try my .375H&H on pigs, or I need to find pigs when I am carrying it.
I want to hunt the Northern Territory bigger pigs and Buffalo.

Out of curiosity , CBH Australia ... How come the .30-06 Springfield calibre never quite caught on , with you Australian gentle men ?

When I visited Australia in 1979 to hunt my Kangaroo and some Magpie Geese ...
The .308 Winchester and .30-30 Winchester appeared to have a national following in Victoria , Tasmania and New South Wales .

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

ZG47 in 9,3 x62 caliber , cartridge from Norma with bullet Oryx.