Best Pig Rifles and Ammunition

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

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 .

My dear friend Ponton
The 06 never really caught on in Australia because we had the 303 British as a service round and for use as a full bore long range target round.
When we transitioned to the 7.62x51 in 1957 it was just a natural progression for Australian hunters to do the same and go for the 308. The same happened with the 223.
Both were cheaper and easier to get than other rounds.
Australian hunters didn't really need anything bigger apart from for buffalo hunting.
In the US they had the good old 06 from the early 1900s and it became a favorite with American hunters.
Hunters in OZ when I was growing up in in the 50s and 70s thought the 06 was just to powerful to warrant it's used. There were a lot of people also that thought the 303 was to much gun so necked it down to 22,24,25,270 cals to make it a better hunting round. In the early 60s importing of other calibers was starting to become more common and the older cartridges fell by the wayside.
I hope this helps you my friend.
Your friend
Bob

 

[bruce moulds]

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 .

Australian gentlemen and other australians

 

[CBH Australia]

Major Khan, As Bob is saying it seems to be we followed in the steps of our military offerings, when the I suspect returned servicemen and military surplus saw many .303 rifles available in the 50’s onward. Many were rebarrelled in Australia with dies and ammo made by Australian companies for the .30-25 and others.
The .30-30 was pollard for a long time, still is but perhaps the .308 pump actions are taking some of that market and an I think it’s the age bracket too. I m 48 and knew many with .303 and ..30-30 wit her hunters over 50 still fans of the .30-30 but perhaps younger huh are going with the pump action and the accessories that go with them.
I might using all bolt actions except a .375magnum lever action that Also handles .38special rounds. That wasn’t bought for hunting but is fine on small pigs and close range.
A .30-30 would be nice too but I would possibly purchase the Rem 7600 in pump action ..308 if I had to choose.
In the late 80s into the early 90s most states allowed semi-autos. Some allowed the Lithgow L1A1 SLR which was still in service with or armed forces. AR 15’s were available in some states , M1 Garand and others.
Then we saw the SKK and SKS in .7.63x39 in most states being cheap Chinese imports with cheap Ammon heaps of people bought them including would be hunters. Anyway one mass shooting and almost all semi autos were banned and special conditions imposed for licensing saw a big change in our laws and our selection.
The shooting was a tragedy but nevertheless the act of one person changing the way government managed firearms across our great country from 1996 onward.

 

[bruce moulds]

chris.
in my teens I could buy a 2nd hand 303 for 5 pounds or a new one for 10 pounds in any surplus military store.
I went for a new one to shoot competitions in the school cadets, but it went on to shoot goats.
imported rifles were far more expensive.
bruce.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

chris.
in my teens I could buy a 2nd hand 303 for 5 pounds or a new one for 10 pounds in any surplus military store.
I went for a new one to shoot competitions in the school cadets, but it went on to shoot goats.
imported rifles were far more expensive.
bruce.

Bruce
My dad gave me a 303 in the mid 70s with a stuffed barrel. I bought a new heavy barrel still in the grease and wax paper for $15.
Oh to have those prices again.
Bob

 

[35bore]

Bruce
My dad gave me a 303 in the mid 70s with a stuffed barrel. I bought a new heavy barrel still in the grease and wax paper for $15.
Oh to have those prices again.
Bob

First hog I shot was with a 303 (first deer for that matter). Around 75yards. Awesome caliber.

 

[Major Khan]

Australian gentlemen and other australians

It is customary in our culture to treat every man as a gentle man ... Regardless of how he chooses to make a spectacle of himself , Bruce .

 

[Major Khan]

My dear friend Ponton
The 06 never really caught on in Australia because we had the 303 British as a service round and for use as a full bore long range target round.
When we transitioned to the 7.62x51 in 1957 it was just a natural progression for Australian hunters to do the same and go for the 308. The same happened with the 223.
Both were cheaper and easier to get than other rounds.
Australian hunters didn't really need anything bigger apart from for buffalo hunting.
In the US they had the good old 06 from the early 1900s and it became a favorite with American hunters.
Hunters in OZ when I was growing up in in the 50s and 70s thought the 06 was just to powerful to warrant it's used. There were a lot of people also that thought the 303 was to much gun so necked it down to 22,24,25,270 cals to make it a better hunting round. In the early 60s importing of other calibers was starting to become more common and the older cartridges fell by the wayside.
I hope this helps you my friend.
Your friend
Bob

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain this to me , Bob . I was looking at the web site of a renowned Australian sporting goods store , today ... And I noticed that Tikka rifles enjoy a great deal of popularity in Australia .

 

[Badboymelvin]

I honestly think that if I was going to get a rifle solely for pigs it would be a nice sporterised .303 Lee Enfield.

There's a few reasons for this;

• I love Lee Enfields
• I love the .303 British
• Really slick - fast operating action
• .308 level power
• Reliable and rugged
• You can get a nice sporterised .303 pretty cheap (in Australia anyway...)

That would be my choice guys

Cheers,

Russ

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain this to me , Bob . I was looking at the web site of a renowned Australian sporting goods store , today ... And I noticed that Tikka rifles enjoy a great deal of popularity in Australia .

Friend Ponton
Yes Tikka are popular in Australia so are Remington. These are mid priced rifles and can be had for around $1,200 and can sometimes be found for as low as $900.
One of the more popular rifles is the Howa 1500. Great selection of calibers and you can build it how you like. You can get your choice of caliber in a barreled action in blued or stainless as well as fluted then match it to your choice of about 7 different stocks. It called a Howa dream it, build it.
My son's Howa 308 came complete with scope, mounts and gun bag for $600. They are usually very accurate rifles straight from the factory. The Howa company also makes the Weatherby vanguard.
Keep safe and well my friend
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I honestly think that if I was going to get a rifle solely for pigs it would be a nice sporterised .303 Lee Enfield.

There's a few reasons for this;

• I love Lee Enfields
• I love the .303 British
• Really slick - fast operating action
• .308 level power
• Reliable and rugged
• You can get a nice sporterised .303 pretty cheap (in Australia anyway...)

That would be my choice guys

Cheers,

Russ

Russ
You forgot the nostalgia of the three O
What about the 10 shot mags.
Bob

 

[Badboymelvin]

Russ
You forgot the nostalgia of the three O
What about the 10 shot mags.
Bob

Right you are Bob - I was meant to mention the 10 shot mag and I forgot! I love the Lee Enfield magazine, all steel and very reliable

Also, the nostalgia is big thing too. lt's just plain Australian to own a .303 and even though I've owned a few - I don't currently own one at the moment... that might have to change... it's on my bucket list to bag a deer with a .303

Cheers,

Russ

 

[CBH Australia]

I honestly think that if I was going to get a rifle solely for pigs it would be a nice sporterised .303 Lee Enfield.

There's a few reasons for this;

• I love Lee Enfields
• I love the .303 British
• Really slick - fast operating action
• .308 level power
• Reliable and rugged
• You can get a nice sporterised .303 pretty cheap (in Australia anyway...)

That would be my choice guys

Cheers,

Russ

Possibly the only downside of the .303 was they would have bee not used with Military Ammon for hunting in the early days. They could perform far better with soft point hunting projectile and a article I once read said they go very close to .308 ballistics with modern components.

Mmm, now to find a cheap sporter somewhere for use with open sights.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Possibly the only downside of the .303 was they would have bee not used with Military Ammon for hunting in the early days. They could perform far better with soft point hunting projectile and a article I once read said they go very close to .308 ballistics with modern components.

Mmm, now to find a cheap sporter somewhere for use with open sights.

Chris
There's plenty of them around. The jungle carbine was the original 50 years before the Ruger gun scouts.
Bob

 

[CBH Australia]

Chris
There's plenty of them around. The jungle carbine was the original 50 years before the Ruger gun scouts.
Bob

There probably is but on used guns they are starting at $450, I could have had a new .308 cz550 for $1000 recently open sights
The Jungle Carbine have always been dearer, usually around $800,
I’ll bet there are some Old Fellas have some In my home town, they might sell cheap. It’s finding out who has them and who will part with them.
I reckon Russ is only a young fella like me, that’s why we don’t have them but still a bit sentimental about Australian history

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

There probably is but on used guns they are starting at $450, I could have had a new .308 cz550 for $1000 recently open sights
The Jungle Carbine have always been dearer, usually around $800,
I’ll bet there are some Old Fellas have some In my home town, they might sell cheap. It’s finding out who has them and who will part with them.
I reckon Russ is only a young fella like me, that’s why we don’t have them but still a bit sentimental about Australian history

Chris
You can get them over here for a couple of hundred bucks in reasonable nick
Bob

 

[CBH Australia]

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?

Correlation, Your Tally was higher and no one gets sick of shooting pigs.
The end.

 

[DWB]

My 404 Jeffery with Aimpoint Micro and whatever 400gr load is what I roll with and what the pigs roll from...

Like spike.t mentioned earlier, everyone always knows when its me shooting ;D

 

[Professor Mawla]

I predominantly use a .458 Winchester Magnum ( a custom job built on a Winchester Enfield Model 1917 action ) and 500 grain Nosler Partition soft nosed factory loads .

However , if I had to name the greatest wild boar rifle of all time ( in my opinion ) , then it would have to be the .30-30 Winchester ( in a Winchester Model 1894 ) and the 170 grain Winchester Super X soft nosed factory load .

 

[WAB]

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..

I’d be curious how the 70’s and 75s work for you. Shooting gold dot service ammo (63 I think) I had a lot of runners. The Grendel puts them right down (other than the one I shot the nuts off running away, he made it about thirty yards squealing like a banshee!).