having never hunted hog and wish to do so without new purchasing a new gun looking for advice. have; cz 550 in .270 and many silvertips, winchester (browning) 1885 high wall 38/55 (using magus 245 cast), and a thompson encore in .223 & 6mmbr(so a new barrel is doable). general advice on rifles and specific advice on bullets and load would make me ever so grateful. even more grateful for fertile areas near viginia.

The .270 will work fine, I like the 150gr bullets for hogs.

I also use a 270 for hunting pigs. I have never lost one using the 130 grain Nosler partition. If I get an invite where the hogs may be larger I take my 300 weatherby. Place your shots with the 270 and I think you will be fine. remember the shield on the shoulder!!

Your 270 will work just fine. I shot many with a 30-30 when I first started hunting and never had a problem. I have also used the 260 Rem with 129 gr bullets and they worked just as well.

caliber is a concern if things go wromg.. shot placement is the most important thing!!!! from the ear to the eye or take them through the second joint of the shoulder and break them down khh

i prefer a larger diameter for hunting hogs

iv done 99% of my hog hunting with a 375 h&h but a 45/70 and 30-06 or 300 wing mag also work quite well.

but is really hard to beat those big pills from that old 45/70

im going to be in GA in april hunting boar.... will have a tc encore 15" hand gun shooting 180 grain nosler ballistic tips at 2400 fps

and ill of course bring my 375 h&h

I've had great results with .270 Win w/150gr Nosler partition.

Some guys here will have you believe that you need a .470 nitro . . .

i should mention that i in no way ment to imply that you need a elephant rifle to do that job just that i my self prefer larger rifles for hogs...

how ever its hard to beat teat hounds combo of a 270 with 150 grain nosler partitions or a 150 grain barns x bullet.

We shoot several hogs at our place each year. We are hunting for deer and use our deer rifles. My brother uses a 270, my nephews use 6.5x55, 7 mag, and 30-06. My bro-in-law may have his 7x57 rolling block, 30-30 lever rifle, or his MIA carbine.Our skinner and cook uses a 30-06. My Grandsons use a 6BR with 87 gr. bullets and the other uses a 30BR with 125 gr. bullets. I am using a 300SAUM with 180TSX bullets this year. All of us have shot at least one hog and I am not aware of any misses. We are not shooting at long distances and we have a lot of time to pick our shots. I don't believe that my bro-in-law uses the carbine for anything other than varmints.
Butch

quote:

Originally posted by 700 nitro:
i should mention that i in no way ment to imply that you need a elephant rifle to do that job just that i my self prefer larger rifles for hogs...

how ever its hard to beat teat hounds combo of a 270 with 150 grain nosler partitions or a 150 grain barns x bullet.

Hi 700,

Your reply did not evoke my response, so no worries. Cheers!

lol its ok

rub...

I'm a believer in proper bullet construction rather than caliber ( within limits ). The Barnes, Partition, etc. would serve you well in the 270.

Now, if you get a long-term jones for hog hunting you might want to step up to something a bit more substantial for the truly larger hogs. I prefer the 35 Whelen and 45-70 myself, for this possibility.

Hog hunting is a blast...enjoy!

I too prefer the heavier calibers, but not out of necessity, but as a matter of preference and well, it's just more fun in my opinion. And, fun is the goal. Borealis has the right idea as well. .35 Whelen is one hell-of-a round. I have a .338 win mag that is slowly becoming my go-to hog rifle -- necessary? no. Fun? hell yes!

Take the Browning and have fun... Pigs just aren't that hard to kill. Hit them right, and it is a done deal. I like head shots because the head is the biggest part of the pig, but shooting through front shoulders will take them out, too. That gets lungs, and if you are a bit low, it will get the heart.

I have pretty good results with the caliber that probably works on just everything : .30-06 Spr. with 180grs Nosler BT and Partitions...

By the way I have shot 3 pigs with my .375H&H (just for fun) and they made each 20-30 meters from the place of shot, which did not happen with the .30-06 !!! Therefor the only damage in the meat was a big hole :-)

mine is a cz 550 in 9.3x62. no, i don't need something that big to kill a pig....i needed pig hunting as an excuse to buy a 9.3x62

i've only killed one small pig with the 9.3. i always seem to have something different when the pigs show up. the last two were killed with my 6.5-06 and 129 grn hornadys.

here's the last one

I happen to be partial to 45-70 300 grain but then I like large bullets.

I trhink the 270, using a 150PT or hornady interlock is an excellent choice. I use a 7x57 with 150ps as my go to hog gun for most hunting. All of the hogs that I've killed have been around 200yds or less. Hogs are not that tough, if hit right. I would say that most people that say hogs are hard to kill have hit them TOO FAR BACK. Any hog with an entry and exit shot behind the shoulder is a problematic killing shot. It'll kill them but they will probably run. Just keep your shots forward and a little lower than on deer. See this website for shot placement and other info. www.texasboars.com capt david

I have ordered a 308 "Tracking" barrel with open sights for my Blaser R-93. The barrel is 19.75 inches and should be perfect for hunting close range in the river bottom terrain of my place. I am planning on using Fed Premium 165 gr Trophy Bonded Bear Claw per advise from a friend.

If I were starting over and buying a gun just for hog hunting, I would go with a Marlin 1895GS 45/70.

The 270 will work fine, but if you load your own a heavy load in the 38-55 would work wonders if the range isnt too far, say under 100 yards. Would like to own a 38-55 someday and load it to its potential. As pointed out hold further forward than on deer and they dont go far, but I do prefer headshots if time permits.
Eterry

Geesh, I'm glad someone finally mentioned the .38-55 that he has. It is a pig killer supreme with any kind of decent bullet loaded to 1600 to 1900 fps. I killed 7 with .38-55 Marlin with Buffalo Bore loads in under 10 seconds last year about this time. Fun to shoot and accurate.

Would I say that it is as good as a .45-70 or .375 HH, no, they'd probably kill them deader. But since a .38-55 shoots the same diameter bullet as a .375 and goes through and through normally, I'm not sure the deceased would recognize the difference.

BTW, .270 is fine too, I just like old cartridges.

In spite of what you hear, pigs are relatively easy to kill, just don't hit them too far back.

The hopeless romantic in me leans towards the old design throwing heavy lead. My vote goes to the Browning in 38-55. You don't need mach 2 velocities, just get closer, most of the fun in pig hunting is sneaking up close to them, they are pretty blind.
My pig gun for the last 31 years has been a Marlin 1894 in 44 Magnum, drops them dead.

Just use the 38-55. If you "need" a new Encore barrel go 375 H&H. Contender, go 45-70. Packy

Nothing short of a German weapon that reads "88" across the barrel is acceptable for hog. Google "Bismark, Yamato, and Missouri" for other acceptable alternatives. Fat Man, Little Boy, and Sputnik impacting from re-entry are considered just a tad heavy for a sporting kill, but one should have no shame in their use on humanely hunting hogs with them either.

Seriously, you will be fine. Just be prepared to have the hog run when hit (hit em with a 600 nitro and I swear they'd still run). I'd lean towards the 270 or the HighWall (nostalgia) personally.

quote:

Originally posted by Doubless:
Take the Browning and have fun... Pigs just aren't that hard to kill. Hit them right, and it is a done deal. I like head shots because the head is the biggest part of the pig, but shooting through front shoulders will take them out, too. That gets lungs, and if you are a bit low, it will get the heart.

You are exactly right Doubless. I've been hunting them since I was 10 (half a century). In my early days in FL, I used a Colt Woodsman 22 pistol, and killed dozens of hogs with good shot placement. That is, until people convinced me that wasn't enough gun
Since then, I've killed hundreds of them with everything from 22's -338/06 but mostly muzzle loaders. Last year, while scouting for archery season, I ran upon a nice barBQ'er. The only thing I had was a 2" barreled, Beretta Mod 21 22lr pocket pistol. One shot in the head @ 15 yards put him in the freezer.
If you hit them right, any caliber is fine. If you don't a .458 won't help much.

That's dos centavos,
Greg
"Life's too important to be taken seriously"

I think the 270 would be fine but a couple of the folks who stated in the above postings that hogs are easy to kill must have never got on a big hog. i belive in good shot placement and a hog weighing less than 300lbs are not to hard to drob with an average deer rifle, i have shot a couple over 550 lbs the only reasion i know they were over 550 is my scale stops at 550 and they were bending the needle. i will share one story with yall i was hunting with a friend in the brazos bottom area of brazos co it was about 8:00 p.m. and two hogs came over the railroad tracks that border my friends place my buddy was running the spot light and i was shooting he flipped the light on and i shot the first hog which was a 550 plus hog at 80 yds broad side with a 375 h&h with 300 grain swift aframes he did not evan move he started running towards the truck out of confusion i am sure i put another one in his chest coming head on he turned i put a third in his rear end i put the fourth in the second hog he weighed 485 a bad shot through the hind end i realoaded and put the fith round in the second hog i put the 6th round in the first hog through the head and i put the 7th round in the second hog and droped him. now the point of my story when i cleaned the 550+ hog i had to use a hatchet to bust the cape and in the cape was all these little nots i cut one out it was a bullet there was probley a hundred bullets of all size from .22 rim fire to what looked like 30 cal bullets fired at 30-06 velocitysand every cal in between parden the spelling. but this story gets me going every time i share it. like i said earler i was shooting a 375 H&H with 300grain swift in the big hog i recovered 3 out of 4 bullets. I dont feel that hogs are easy to kill but ones under 300 lbs usualy go down with a good shot or two. the head shot is my first choice but it is not all ways feasable. i run a guide service and see all kinds of crazy shots and shot placement.

Whoooooo-wee! 600 lb. wild pig with a hundred bullets in him.

-snif snif-...Wait a sec, I think my dog went out and rolled in something awful, it just got real stinky in here.

RH Outfitter,
If you don't mind, would you post some pictures of those 500lbrs? capt david

if yall have ever heard of kens fish hatchery in alapaha, ga then you will know the story im about to tell.

i worked at this hatchery for years and occasionally put peanut butter out for the pigs. well on multiple occasions i saw pigs that were well over 500. there were a couple shot there when i still worked for ken that were over 9 feet long and there was a rumor going around that there was one wandering around that would tip the thousand pound mark.

shortly after i left, some paying hunter came in and shot the one they called hogzilla. there was some big to do surrounding the whole thing because the pig was so big or something. there was an article in some magazine about it.

anyhow, im with rh outfitter in that pigs really arent the easiest thing in the world to kill. ive seen large caliber rounds hit the shield on a 500+ pound boar and it get shrugged off like it was birdshot. when shooting large pigs one must be extremely careful of the shield.

geoff

OOORAH!!!

Maybe we should skin some of these hogs and use their hides on our vehicles in IRAQ.

I wonder how the ol' Europeans of Yore used to kill them with just musket balls?

quote:

Originally posted by Teat Hound:
Maybe we should skin some of these hogs and use their hides on our vehicles in IRAQ.

I wonder how the ol' Europeans of Yore used to kill them with just musket balls?

I've seen the shields on big hogs stop a 22 bullet & buckshot, but never a big center fire rifle bullet or even a 40 cal muzzle loader round ball @ 1800 fps which I've shot a bunch with: in the head & through the "shield" (lungs & heart). "Hogzilla" was buried before anyone could weigh it ) and the pics of it were taken at an angle that made it look bigger than it was. It was a huge hog, no doubt, but seems it was mostly a ploy to sell hog hunts

For me, it is what ever rifle I pick up on the way out the door. 223Rem - 458 Lott.

Keith

cptdavid i will try to post pics of the hogs in the story i told and i saved a hand full of lead in a jar i will try to post pics of them to.

I've got a 38-55 single shot I'd like to try on hogs. I've taken them with my 45-70, 30-06, and .50 muzzleloader.

quote:

Originally posted by captdavid:
RH Outfitter,
If you don't mind, would you post some pictures of those 500lbrs? capt david

Yeah that and use proper punctuation. What a run-on post!

150gr 270 does its job

finally got a decent one with the 9.3

rub,

Your 270 will be just fine. I have killed several pigs with a 30/30, 30/06 and my bow; I have a buddy that hunts pigs with a 22/250 and another that uses a 22 hornet. pigs aren't that hard to kill, but they will go a long way if you don't break a shoulder or take them in the ear.

good Luck and have a great hunt

Just got back from a weekend of hog eliminating and shot one at 244 yards with 257 Roberts 110 gr. Sierra BT and one at 190 yards 270 130 grn remington factory core-loc. Both bang flop. Seen animals killed out there with 22 mag to a 300 Remington Ultra Mag. It's all good, depends on shot placement and skill of shooter IMHO.

I like using a .577 NE. Here's a photo. And for those who ask, that is the entrance wound, not the exit.