I am new to the hunting sports (better late than never at 41 yrs!) and have an opportunity to start out with wild boar in central California. Any recommendations for an appropriate rifle/load? This would then be used, later, for blacktail deer in the Sierras. Thanks for your help and advice! My lunatic friend uses a .375 H&H for the pigs, but I think that I might want to start out a bit lighter.
Dave

Dave,

I shot my last California piggee with a .308 Win using a Federal 150 grain factory load with Trophy Bonded bullet. Any similar "deer rifle" will work fine on the pigs and obviously will work well for the deer hunt later too.

There are so many pigs available that people use about anything you can think of to hunt them, but I think the .308 works just fine.

jim dodd

Dave,

I have seen pigs taken with everything from .22's to 10 gauge shotguns. I would be happy with anything over .22 caliber. Use what you have with good bullets and go have some fun!!

Dave,

If I were in your position I would get the all around rifle for North America. The 30-06, it will work with pigs, deer, elk and Moose.

It is the jack of all trades when it comes to rifle calibers.

just my .02 worth

BD

I use a .308 Win on the pigs around here. I use the Sierra 150 BTS Game King bullet and haven't had any trouble killing them.

I use a 300 winny for most of the hogs I have taken but I have used just about everthing to take them out.My kids use a 243 with 100gr.nosler BT's and my 44mag. but if you are not going to shoot over150yds. I would use a win.94 in 30/30 with 150grs.that is what the wife use and she has taken over 100 with her gun.

Most any caliber will kill them.

I hunt for a living as a Wildlife damage officer.

Doc

This is my favorite load 85lb hollowpoint over a ton of excitment!!!! Catch 'em,and tie 'em!!!!



Eric

358 winnie.
no questions, it's the best thin skinned, woods round. load it with 225 gr sierras or 250 gr hornadys, and shoot still you are blue in the face. The lighter stuff does fined for placed shots, or stands, or when YOU are the hunter. Since boars are my specialty and passion, I've been the hunted (see my tag line). Get a BLR or 99 in 358, and you'll have it nailed. I carry mexican mausers in 358 for this, and I am building my "light" african rifle, in 376 steyr.

In all seriousness, you need a rifle that will HAMMER a hairy VW beatle, at the amazing range of 2 to 10 yards, and will penetrate. They are not called "east texas grizzlies" for nothing. While a 250 pounder seems like fun, when it's 400+... 500, 600... MORE... you want something that will plow through the "shield" or the skull when he's facing you.

The boar, either russian, hybrid, or feral, can be the most challenging beast in the woods. How many have you seen car struck? I've seen more bobcats hit than boars.

The 708/7 mauser should be considered the smallest for brush hunting, while a 250 savage is good for stand shooting with a high powered scope. The 308, with heavy for cal bullets is a good choice, the 3006 with 220s will do it fine. 33806, 348, 356/8, 35 whelen, 375 winnie (nice round) 376/5... and bigger. I've been carrying my nearly 11# 416 for them lately. And I've been stalking when that was the smallest gun.

your choice, but please make it at least 7 mil, and think hard about 338+
good hunting
jeffe

308 is ok with bullets 150 grain +. The small difference to 30-06 is not worth to mention it.
If you want a bigger one use 9,3 or 338.
I have shot a lots of with the .308

Dave,

Pigs are really tough animals. Of course you can kill them with a .22. But... Here in Europe we hunt them mainly with driven hunts, and so we almost always shoot at running animals. It's difficult to aim accurately in those conditions, so you don't go for the heart. You go for the anterior half of the pig! And to down them on the spot the right european medecine is 9.3X74R or 9.3X62. Or 300 mag. But I don't recommend you get something smaller than 7X64 or 280 rem.
I saw once a 60 lbs 7X65R neck shot piglet stand up again and run...

Any big game rifle with good bullets will work on hogs. Your best shot is right behind the ear. They will drop in their tracks. If you take a shoulder shot, shoot lower than you would on a whitetail right behind the leg. FYI-I use my 7mm-08 rifle or 7-30 Waters Contender. There is no "best" cartridge.

Good Hunting,

Bob


[ 07-10-2002, 18:47: Message edited by: Bob in TX ]

Dave Oliver,

In US calibers list the .338 Win Mag
in EU calibers list the 9.3X62

The standard deer calibers work well using bullets that are medium to heavy for caliber. I shot six large boars and one large sow in 2000 with the 140 grain nosler BT; five behind the shoulder, one frontal chest and the two boars I shot high up where the neck and shoulder meet(and shooting down from an elevated stand) were both lost obviously from not enough penetration. All the rest took off and ran a ways except for the chest-shot boar that just couldn't get going but for six feet. The .260/6.5x55 to .30-06 are excellent as of course are any bigger calibers. The pure strain of wild boar in Europe are probably a much meaner hog to deal with.

For wildboar I us my Mauser 66 in 8X68S with 220 grain RWS KS.I also us my Drilling in 7X65R with a TIG ,Torpedo Ideal Gescho�,a from Wilhelm Brenneke disigned Bullet.They works good on wildboar(we call them "the black bandits").
The hunt on wildboar is for me the most interesting hunt.
Good hunt and Waidmannsheil for your first wildboarhunt from Germany
HKW

Since wildboar are real trouble for farmers,they are killed on regular basis here, and most popular way to hunt them is drive them out of corn or sugercane crops with the help of dogs and most popular weapon is 12 bore double with OO buckshot.
Night shooting for wild bores is allowed in Pakistan and here rifles shine, and any thing from locally converted M1 Grand to 8x57,AK-47's,and vast varity of other bolt action rifles are used, altough 7x57 Mauser is the most popular choice in rifles.

Dave

I think that your question is a good one - unfortunatly I don't think that everyone did read your question!

Yes the ideal rifle for wildboar hunting exsclusivly would be a big medium bore like the 8mm to 9,3mm - but what you rae looking of ras a new hunter who will try hunting some different stuff just beginning with pigs, I think you should go for a riffel in the .260 to .308 range!

I my selv would give the 7-08 rem with 140 grians Nosler Partition ago. But if you are sure you will use the gun later for Moose or elk I think the .30-06 would make sence.

First you should buy a medium gun. then try to shoot some pigs and so and deside if hunting is something for you. If it is then no doubt you'll need a .338 win or 9,3x62 for your pigs, elk and moose.

regards

Mads

The same you wouldn't approach an average bookkeeping clerk like you would a heavy weight fighter, don't confuse feral pigs with Wild Boar. They may be close genetically, the latter being the ancestor of the first, but they hold on to life (and fight back) quite differently, believe me. Once, I had to track down a medium weight boar (70 kg) that rolled but instantly got up and ran for cover, after being hit in the shoulder by my neighbour, using a Ruger .44 Mag rifle (BTW, illegal in this country for not meeting 2.200 J / 100m). I still vividly remember the emotions of approaching the tusks clashing sound of the boar fighting off the dogs in the high fern, without seeing more than a meter in front of me. Luckily, the racket was so intense I came upon the scene without being spotted. He and me met rather close but I was ready and could place a shot before he could react one way or the other (I desperatly tried and succeeded in not hitting one of the swirling dogs. I felt concerned afterwards for 2 of them were wounded but, as I found out to my relief , they were cut and slashed but not... shot). Dressing the animal, we found a perfectly expanded .44 SP that only penetrated about 10 cm through the boar's gristle armour. My 9,3x74R did and exited the other side. Make your own choice and pick your caliber, the option being easy as far as this hunter's concerned...

I can hardly believe that no one mentioned a 45-70 Marlin guide Gun (except that you asked here and not on marlin talk). Perfect for deer and piggies under 200yards. Big bullet moving fast enough to put Mr. Pig down and not destroy too much meat like one of the expanding smaller bores can and might. besides you get fast follow up shots and a handy little package.

Dave Oilver

Welcom to the forum.
I have never hunted for boar, but I would go for a 308win with 185 grain mega if I ever get the chance. The 308 is my favorite cartrige.

If the hunt is a driven hunt, my "ultimat" boar rifle would be a 9.3x74R dobble. I don't belive that this guns is an "allround gun" or a starter gun but it would sure be nice to have.

I'm kind of recoil shy so I really like my 308.

Since I never have hunted boar, don't take my advise so serios.

Johan

Depending on what else you want to hunt, and where here are my suggestions.

If you hunt typically in thick brush with shorter ranges a short barreled 35 whelen will be awesome and pack plenty of punch. Can be used on anything in N. America. Maybe a 2x7x36 would fit the bill here.

Open areas, maybe something flatter shooting with a longer barrel, like the new 300WSM would also do well. Maybe a 3x9x40 would be good for this one.

Maybe to combine the two, check out the winchester featherweight in 300WSM...

Just be sure to get something YOU like and are comfortable with. There are a lot of people on here who ask similar questions to yours, and the best answer is to take into account exactly what the rifle will be used for, who will be using it, and what do you have planned for the future as far as hunting. Check out some of the excellent info aval on THIS site on the homepage and look at Saeeds rifle collection. Might give you some ideas on what you like and dont like in a rifle.

Cheers!

Buell

I think I would go with the 308 on this one. For an all around caliber in North America, it's pretty hard to beat, ammo is everywhere, including cheap surplus ammo for practice. My initial thought for boar hunting was to find yourself a Remington 600 in 350 Remington Magnum and don't look back, but once you add deer in the Sierras into the equation, you'll want a little more reach. Use a 308 with 180 gr bullets for hogs, and 150's or 165's (whichever the rifle likes best) for deer, and you'll do fine. FWIW - Dan

Just FYI, Blaser has a proprietary cartridge for their R93 straight pull rifles called the .45 Blaser. It launches a 350-grain RNSP at 2050 fps, and is designed for follow-up of game like wild boar.

Anyone have experience with this round?

My favourite pig rifle is my marlin 1895 ss 45/70 with leupold 2.5x compact. I use 300 gr sierra HPFN's loaded to 2150 fps. It stops pigs very well. 30/06 is also very effective.

Dave
I shot a lot of pigs here in Australia, I use a M96 in 6.5x55. I've used factory rounds (PMC 139gn) and handloads using 120 and 140gn projectiles. There is not a pig (in Australia anyway) that will not fall to the 6.5. If you want a calibre to handle everything from boars to bucks, start at the 6.5 up to 3006.

Bakes

Dave, you have some interesting posts here, but I guess I have to go ahead and put in my two cents as well.

I live in Central California and am lucky enough to shoot several wild hogs each year. I have about decided that hogs are much like deer, elk, or any other wild game. Sure, they are tough, but when hit in the vitals with any reasonable cartridge they die in short order.

That is not to say that they sometimes don't surprise you. A friend of mine shot one a couple of months ago with a 338 X 378 Weatherby using 210 Nosler Partitions leaving the muzzle at better than 3500 fps. While that boar died about 50 yards from where he was shot, he never lost his footing till he keeled over. A shot with a load like that right through the chest and he ran off as if not even hit.

Hogs are amazing critters, the last two I got were both shot with my 25-06 using Sierra 120 HPBT bullets. Both were about 125 yards, neither knew I was in the same county. One dropped on the spot and the other ran off and I had to use a dog to track him down. (He was dead as a stone when found, but he ran like a scalded cat.)

I have shot them with the with several calibers from the 25-06 to the .338 Win Mag. All will work with good bullet placement and a reasonable bullet choice.

Just pick a cartridge that you can shoot and you will do fine. Good friends of mine have killed three nice boars in the last week using everything from a 25-06 to a .257 Weatherby to a .300 Weatherby; they all collected some good eating material.

Have fun, R. F.

Bolt action rifle, 9.3x62, and a 1,5-6 variable scope
Bye

I've shot a good many wild pigs over here, 3 of them were in the 300 lb range, (140Kg), and I am a firm believer that bigger is better. A good pig caliber starts in the .30s and from there the bigger the better within reason. You don't need a .416 Rem mag for a pig, but the .45-70 is nearly perfect.

All that said, for a general use hunting gun such as you describe, there are 3 calibers that stand out IMO. And there are quite a few others that are nearly clones of these 3.....but anyway, the 7mm Rem Mag, the .308 or the .30-06 will do anything you need, and, considering your level of experience I would lean toward the 7mm Mag, first and the .30-06 second. Just a little more versatility in both than in the .308 IMO. I often hunt with a .308 so I am not opposed to the caliber at all, just think you get better trajectory or bullet choices in the other 2. But it is very important to choose good bullets in whatever caliber you pick. After all, when it is all said and done, the actual bullet is all that does the killing, the rest is just stage work.

Gato,

we are on the same wave length "The 45/70 is neally perfect".