The Accurate Reloading Forums
.30-06 Bullets for wildboar
08 August 2023, 17:56
ofbiro.30-06 Bullets for wildboar
I am planning a hunt in November to mufflon and roe females and lambs/kids.
In the past I used a .30-06 with Sierra Gameking 150 grs SPBT.
Now wildboars are becoming more common in that area.
Question to the colleagues:
"Is the a.m. bullet sufficient or is better to use a Sierra HPBT 165 grs?
Thanks in advance for the advice.
08 August 2023, 18:05
jeffeossogamekings are pretty soft bullets - I like them for most game, but i also like 165gr in 30 caliber
08 August 2023, 19:26
AtkinsonThe Sierra 165 gr. BTHP is a target bullet, not intended for hunting according to Sierra, I agree with that, and it is soft as butter..but about any bullet works on hogs who's toughness is greatly over rated IMO..However Id stick with 165 Gamekings or their equivalent if I were using only Sierras, but I personally use Nosler partition or Accubonds for all game with my 30-06..Partitions open up quickly and penetrate very well indeed, and work on Texas 90 lb whitetail or 2000 lb. African Eland.. All this stuff is just opinion I suppose.
Ray Atkinson
Atkinson Hunting Adventures
10 Ward Lane,
Filer, Idaho, 83328
208-731-4120
rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com
08 August 2023, 20:48
WstrnhuntrHave some fun with it, load up some 220 grainers just for shits and giggles. Texas heart shot, no problem.
AK-47
The only Communist Idea that Liberals don't like.
08 August 2023, 22:24
StonecreekThe 150's you are currently using will take down boars just fine.
08 August 2023, 23:30
p dog shooterMy favorite boar rifle in the thick stuff.
Is Springfield 03 30-06 converted into a scout rifle set up.
Shooting any 220gr round nose at 2350fps.
Works really well.
09 August 2023, 00:38
dpcdDo not use a 150 grain on a pig; if you hit one in the shoulder it will not kill it; seen a few new hog hunters do that.
Personally I don't ue a 30-06 on anything, although I did kill one 250 pound boar with one; used 180 Sierras, did not penetrate both sides, but did kill it. Pest guns, primarily.
Do not use the word "kid"; it sounds like you are killing babies.
09 August 2023, 01:12
crbutlerIf a 150 isn’t enough, I’d go to a 180 or 200.
The 165 isn’t going to gain much penetration.
If folks kill them with .300 BLK or .223’s, a properly constructed 150 will work.
Don’t use FMJ or match bullets, and you should be fine.
09 August 2023, 02:51
Stonecreekquote:
Do not use a 150 grain on a pig
More pigs ("boars") have probably been killed with .223's than any other caliber. Like I say, your 150's will do fine.
09 August 2023, 04:16
dpcdMy personal experience must be different, and hence my recommendations. Do not plan for the optimum shot; of course a 22 LR will kill a hog; I have killed plenty of them, and cattle too, but that is not hunting.
Prepare for the worst case, and you will be fine. That does not include 223s, or 150 grain bullets. Maybe in Texas the hogs are weaker, but where I have been, they have a thick plate and tough bones. If you happen to hit one in the shoulder which I have seen done even though it was not planned, well, that won't kill them.
Plain for the worse.
09 August 2023, 06:13
delloroOP, I have shot wild pig, about 200 lbs. Shot both with factory winchester soft point, 150 grain. Both bullets blew up in the chest, and never exited.
Both bullets came apart, but both pigs died on the spot.
I will not use them again if there is a better alternative available, but I would use them again if I had no better option.
09 August 2023, 07:17
SaeedI once shot a warthog with a 375 H&H Winchester Silvertips.
Hit him smack on the shoulders.
The bullet never penetrated the chest cavity, broke up on the shoulders.
It killed him.
09 August 2023, 07:33
sambarman338I have never shot any European wild boar but believe they grow a bit bigger and tougher than the feral pigs we have here. I read a book from about 1900 where the author had two favorite calibres for boar: one was the 6.5×54 MS with 156-grain bullets; the other was a 4-bore double rifle.
Therefore, I would be thinking at least of 180-grain partitions or 220-grain Core-Lokts.
09 August 2023, 08:30
dpcdDellor; did you shoot them square in the shoulder? I personally watched a friend do just that after I told him not to. The bullet did not penetrate anything vital but blew a cavity into the shoulder. The pig ran 50 yards and stopped, probably from pain. He proceeded to do it twice more, and since that was all the ammo he had, stopped shooting. At that point I had had enough of this nonsense and shot it with a 376 Steyr, which killed it on the spot. Needless to say, the left shoulder was disintegrated. As were the bullets. Oh, 150 grain factory, which I told him not to use in any case. He knew better, and he also knew where to shoot pig. Same as he had shot many deer before.
Again, plan for worst case, not optimal shots.
I was on a hog hunt in May;I used my 58 caliber Kodiak Double Rifle. Hit one, just behind the shoulder; dropped on the spot. Shot placement is important, but using light bullets and small calibers can fail if you are in a situation in which shot placement is not perfect. Like when they are running through heavy cover.
09 August 2023, 08:34
MyNameIsEarlquote:
Originally posted by dpcd:
Do not use a 150 grain on a pig; if you hit one in the shoulder it will not kill it; seen a few new hog hunters do that.
Personally I don't ue a 30-06 on anything, although I did kill one 250 pound boar with one; used 180 Sierras, did not penetrate both sides, but did kill it. Pest guns, primarily.
Do not use the word "kid"; it sounds like you are killing babies.
270 WSM 140 A frame isn't enough either. Smacked one right in the shoulder and never penetrated the chest cavity. I stood in awe and shock as it ran away. I had never seen an animal absorb that much energy like it had a ballistic vest. Learned a valuable lesson that day
09 August 2023, 09:18
buckeyeshooterquote:
Originally posted by p dog shooter:
My favorite boar rifle in the thick stuff.
Is Springfield 03 30-06 converted into a scout rifle set up.
Shooting any 220gr round nose at 2350fps.
Works really well.
l have a Winchester 1895 carbine in 30-06 that works for me in the same manner. I like the 220's too. The ladder sight on it is set up for 220's, not that I would shoot that far.
09 August 2023, 17:07
Bill/OregonCould also go to our friend Ray's favorite .30-06 slug, the 200-grain Nosler Partition.
There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t.
– John Green, author
09 August 2023, 18:09
Stonecreekquote:
OP, I have shot wild pig, about 200 lbs. Shot both with factory winchester soft point, 150 grain. Both bullets blew up in the chest, and never exited.
Both bullets came apart, but both pigs died on the spot.
Yet another example of catastrophic bullet failure. At least it was catastrophic for the pig.
I once had a heavy-for-caliber Nosler Partition take a chunk out of a whitetail's shoulder and fail to inflict any trauma to its vitals. Such things happen. If I were to hunt wild boar (feral or native European) with a 150/.30 caliber bullet of conventional construction I would in no way be dubious about the bullet's potential performance.
09 August 2023, 19:01
hogfarmerNo experience with European boars, but I've shot quite a few feral hogs. Just about anything will work if you hit them in the brain or spine. Killed a number with 6.8 spc, 243 Win, 6mm Rem and the like. But those were carefully placed shots.
The problem is that you don't always have the time or position to make that kind of shot.
Back when I used the 308 a lot, I switched from 150 grain Speer cup and cores to 180 grain partitions because they held together better. My 35 Whelen is, in my opinion, the perfect hog rifle. I can see why Europeans use the 9.3X62.
"For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind..."
Hosea 8:7
09 August 2023, 19:44
dpcdGlad you mentioned the 9.3; another friend of mine uses a custom 9.3x62. That will penetrate thick armor, and kill them, unless you blow their legs off, which he did once. Damn thing ran for 200 yards through the woods on 3 legs.
Pigs can be tough.
09 August 2023, 22:27
delloroquote:
Originally posted by dpcd:
Dellor; did you shoot them square in the shoulder? I personally watched a friend do just that after I told him not to. The bullet did not penetrate anything vital but blew a cavity into the shoulder. The pig ran 50 yards and stopped, probably from pain. He proceeded to do it twice more, and since that was all the ammo he had, stopped shooting. At that point I had had enough of this nonsense and shot it with a 376 Steyr, which killed it on the spot. Needless to say, the left shoulder was disintegrated. As were the bullets. Oh, 150 grain factory, which I told him not to use in any case. He knew better, and he also knew where to shoot pig. Same as he had shot many deer before.
Again, plan for worst case, not optimal shots.
I was on a hog hunt in May;I used my 58 caliber Kodiak Double Rifle. Hit one, just behind the shoulder; dropped on the spot. Shot placement is important, but using light bullets and small calibers can fail if you are in a situation in which shot placement is not perfect. Like when they are running through heavy cover.
No, right in the ribcage, I had perfect side shot presentation.
Things may well have been different had I hit the shoulder.
16 August 2023, 05:07
AtkinsonIve killed hundreds of feral hogs on texas ranches,including my own with my 222, 6x45, and 25/35 and many of those with a 250/3000 and 30-06 with 150 gr bullets of various make while hunting deer at the feeders..The are as easy to kill as a deer.
Ray Atkinson
Atkinson Hunting Adventures
10 Ward Lane,
Filer, Idaho, 83328
208-731-4120
rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com
23 August 2023, 00:32
p dog shooterI can tell you a 460gr hard cast at 1450 from a 45-70.
Well enter a 200lb pigs rear end and end up coming out the stout. At 30 yards DRT.
02 September 2023, 13:07
enyIf your hunting europe, I would go up in weight a bit .The skin on a big euro boar in the heart/lung area is thicker than the skin on a cape buffalo doubled. On the big ones I have never had an exit with those shots with 450/400, 9.3x62 and 30-06.
If your shooting from a blind under a feeder in usa, just about anything that goes bang will work
