The best gun is what ever you have with you when

you see a large hog. In Zimbabwe I was carring a 375H&H with a 300gr solid in the chamber. One day I shot a nice wart hog , another day we were huntig eland and my guide became very excited when he saw a large bush pig. I shot in the head after the 300gr solid went thru 2 tree branches. (2nd largest he ever had taken).
IN the states I use a.44 ruger carbine.,(florida,texas,and tennesse) with a 265 gr. hornady. A large hog can be tough.

At first I thought it was a 22lr, then a 30-30, then a 243, a 30-06, a 280, a 375H&H, a 458 winnie, another 22lr, and soon a 35 Whelen, then probably a 458 Lott. And I forgot a 45-70, a 6mm, a 220 swift, a 12 gauge.........

Whatevers at hand at the time.

.44 Ruger carbine .265gr.Hornady bullet

.44 Ruger carbine .265gr. HOrnady bullet

Jeffesso said it all: hogs are practice for whatever you want to hunt with. They die real easy when you do your part right.

[ 11-02-2003, 07:11: Message edited by: tigertate ]

My current favorite hog-thumper: .375 Win. with stout 220-gr. handloads.

RSY

I certainly am no authority on hogs, but I have had 3 one shot kills on hogs up to 250# using a 308 with the 165 gr. Sierra GameKing. And I have seen 6 others taken with the same cartridge/bullet combination. From what I have seen if hit right a hog isn't hard to put on the ground for keeps with a 30 caliber. Just my .02 worth.

Shoot Safe, Shoot Straight......RiverRat

Is Cole talking about the Auto Ruger in 44? If he is I think he's got a pretty good idea. Plenty power for pigs and lots of quick shots. I wonder how many of a big group a skilled shot could take before they all scattered? Failing the auto, the 44 lever action would be fun too - 9 shots in the tube. Just crank away.

Of course whatever you happen to have on hand will be fine. I can't wait to happen into a pig with my 300WinMag loaded with 220gr Partitions.

On Moonlightnights I use my Mauser66 in 8X68S,at the daylight the Mannlicher in 7X64 with TIG.
Because I work every day it�s importent to ban the boar on the place.I dont go after a wounded wildboar in the night.At the next day the meat could be tainted.A bigger Bullet is always better than a smal one.
Hauke

Gonzo----your right on, Ruger 44 semi auto. all 1 shot kills. from any angle.
I,ve added a red dot sight. a large boar can have a inch thick hide with tuff tissue and bone underneath. the 265 hornady bullet is a rifle bullet not a pistol bullet,it does not open up quickly but plows thru every thing.44 & .45 bullets do not need to expand much,they are leaving a large wound at their original diameter.

Cole--

I, too, hunt hogs with an old-model .44 Ruger carbine. So far, my hog encounters have generally been at close range (although I have passed up some longer shots), but even so, the accuracy of the rifle--or lack thereof--make me hesitant to take a head shot past 40 or 50 yards (a problem, since some ranches I've hunted on instruct hunters to take head or neck shots only), while accuracy, trajectory and power convince me to pass up even a broadside shot when distances approach 100. Although I haven't had any problems to date, I also haven't had any really large hogs (haven't had one over 250 in my sights, much less hanging from the gambrel). I've had the rifle for a couple of decades, and it serves well in the northeastern deer woods (my familiarity with it in brushy country is why I don't just switch to something else when hunting hogs) but I don't have a lot of faith in it to put down a big pig that's just a step or two away from the thorny stuff.

Most of my hunting has been with the Winchester Combined Technology factory loads, with the 250 gr. Nosler partition. They seemed to do well on game, but accuracy was dismal (over 4" @ 100). I'm getting somewhat better accuracy with 240 gr. Swift A-frames @ 1800 fps+, and my first loads with the 265 Hornadays also seem to group a bit better than the factory loads (using the max load of H110 shown in the Hornaday manual).

You seem to have a lot more confidence in the rifle and cartridge than I do, and the successes to back it up. Therefore, I'd like to take the liberty to ask a couple of questions.

What sort of accuracy are you getting with the 265s? What do you consider the maximum effective range of the .44, thus loaded, on hogs? Finally, if you feel comfortable doing so, can you recommend a load?

Thanks for your insights.

I went to RSA with 4 friends last year. We had 76 warthogs between us for 5 days shooting.

i used a 8x57 with norma Oryx 196 grain bullets at 2500 fps. Worked a treat.

I have used the following;
.223 - 100's
.243
.270
6.5x55
6.5x64
7mm08
7mmRM
7mmWBY
7stw
7ultra
30/30 - 100's
308
30'06
300win
300wsm
300saum
8x57
338win
340
375h&h - lots
458win
500whisper
510wells
500 3"
50/90

I think the ulitmate is the one you shot well. Shot them in the head and eat the rest.
At 1 time on a range in texas we did the X-TREME thing and we would run them down on foot. When you got in the midst of the sounder we would open up on them. This would get real western and not the least bit dangerous. For this blasting I really liked the .375 H&H. It was so cool to be whipping the bolt and stuffing shells. We (4 of us) shot 62 hogs in 1 evening covering about 65 miles of ranchland.

ED

One of my co workers, before I retired,hunted hogs
year round up in the Magnolia area.He used his grandpa's original Marlin 32-40 with cast bullets.
Worked great.
I grew up hunting the Neches river bottom north of Beaumont.We used everything from .22lr to 8mm.
all worked. we generally went for smaller more edible hogs. Boars were generally trapped or caught with dogs,cut, fed out and then killed.
I really liked 8mm. You didn't mind skinning up a
$35.oo 98k and the round never failed to penetrate and stop any hog I ever saw.
Of course, I never saw one of those 1000 pounders.

Nobody else has either. I have shot all mine with a 30/06. But not because I wanted to, but because I had to. Have not had a shot at one with my 8mm yet, but I know it will work. I also purchased a (new for me) m46 husky in 9.3x57 that I plan to wack one with after deer season. Got some friends in my home state that love to do the hog tying thing, So i'm going with them next year.

[ 11-19-2003, 19:12: Message edited by: Littleloadingblock ]

.22rf, .22 wmr, .22 Hornet, .257 Bob, 30-30, .410, 20/16/12 Ga. Use whatever is handy, a repeater is handy in a covey rise.

I have used a 22lr, 22mag, 30-06 and a fence post (long story).
I have seen used 223, 243, 7.62x39, 12 ga. slug, 20 ga buckshot, 308 and 270.

Good luck and good shooting,
Eterry

There is a guide agency in the mtns of NC that drives the russian boars with dogs untill the hog backs up to something, and then some ppl use a spear to kill them. Seems pretty intimate to me.

I live and hunt hogs in east and coastal Texas. I usually hunt them with my recurve but I have also taken many with my 30.06.
If I was going out to buy a rifle for just huntin pigs it would be a fast swinging 20".308 with open sights. I've never had a shot over 100yds and most have been around 50y.
I usually use a 165Partition because that's what I use for deer hunting but if I was going to load just for big hogs it would be the 180Failsafes in the .308. You don't need the expansion- you need the penetration. You also don't need a big magnum canon!

As mentioned above- many old timers used their 22 squirrel guns. Sure, they were in the woods and the shot might be 25yds. If you hit any pig 1-2" behind his ear it's a dead pig.

I still prefer my recurve with a (565grn.total) 2117-w/125grn Zwickey Eskimo- knocks the poo-poo out of em...

Crazyquik wrote:

Quote:

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There is a guide agency in the mtns of NC that drives the russian boars with dogs untill the hog backs up to something, and then some ppl use a spear to kill them. Seems pretty intimate to me.

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Crazyquik- Do you remember the guy on the Australian- Survivor who killed the hog with his knife. Spear & knife are the classic method. That's why I like killing them with a bow.