Hi Guys
My cousin has invited me to shoot wild boar for three nights prior to the full moon in December in Niedesachsen Germany. Its a management shoot not trophy so the really big pigs are out.
I have three rifles which are all suitable calibre for wild boar and I shoot equally well in the field.

7x64 with 175gn speer magtips
.308 with 165 swift A-Frame
.308 with 180 Barnes XLC
375 H+H with 270 gn Hornady RN
What do you guys recommend, I have my own theories but any additional info would be great.

Regards

Mark

I'd go with the .308 with the 180 grainers myself; should be plenty.

It would be fun to use the .375 however, but I'd check with your cousin, and see if anyone has objections to using the cannon! If it is a meat hunt would this caliber cause a lot of meat damage?

P.

Out of the listed calibers I would go with .308 and the Swift A-Frame. That's for sure enough, more than enough. Shooting distances will not be far in the night, and I'd prefer the bigger caliber in any case. And....not to forget, that the A-Frame is one oft the very best hunting bullets ever built.

All that said, it is a personal choice and you should go with the rifle, with which you are most familiar, every mentionned caliber would work flawlessly

Have a good hunt!

The .308 with any 180 grain ammo will be a lethal combination. Remember that the pigs frequently bunch up when scared and the 180 gr ammo will probably go right through the first pig; if there is a second one behind the first you'll hit it as well.

analog_peninsula

hi mark
your 7x64 will work great,i have used mine with 150 grain swift scirroco with excellent results but will be taking a 300 win mag this year now that ive finally to get stainless sako 75
regards scirroco

Take the rifle with the brightest scope

Hi

Irish Paul
As far as meat damage is concerned the 375 has probably produced the least as on smallish game the bullet does not expand/fragment as much compared to the smaller faster projectiles.
Bobby
The 308/7x64 both have a zeiss Diavari 3-12x56 with illuminated reticle,the 375 wears a Schmidt+Bender 1.25-6 x42 with illuminated reticle.

Regards

Mark

Any will do perfectly, I would shoot the .308, again as said use the one with the brightest scope

Aleko

Mark,

This is a no-brainer, since you're sitting for Piggies in a High Seat during the evening/night take the rifle with best light transmission - obviously either of the rifles with the 3-12x56 Zeiss' on them. If I had to further narrow my options it would be the 7x64 Brenneke with those 175 gr. Mag Tips.



If it was Driven Hunt for Wild Boar the .375 H&H would be the obvious answer.

We also expect to see some photos of a smiling Mark & some dead Piggies when your return.

Waidmannsheil!

My two favorite Wild Pig calibers are 308 and 7x64. So ether with a big Schmidt & Bender, Nickel or Zeiss would be great.
I would use A-Frames over the Barns X also.
ozhunter

A .375 if you hit a heavy bone can do a lot of damage.

All of the other three sound fine to me. Whichever is your preference.

Tell us what your own theories are?

why not sell a couple of them and get a nice 9,3 x 74r which is the standard boar shooting cartridge nowadays. and a night vision scope and you will be in business

Hi Tomo.

Do you think the piggies will notice the .2mm differece between the 375(9.5) and the 9.3
I like to use the 375 on difficult hunting like thick scrub or twilight as it leaves a better bloodtrail. I use 220 gn flatpoints on the fallow deer here. Premium 7mm and .30 cal bullets like swift A frame, barnes etc have in my experience failed to expand sufficiently and though the beast dropped quickly there was very little blood trail. I always keep my bloodhound and vizsla close to hand when hunting the woods at home. It still amazes me how a large animal can disappear in a small amount of undergrowth.

Regards

Mark

Mark is right, the .375 HH, 9,3x62, 9,3x74R or .338 Win all work the same, which is to say they all do the same perfect job.

YOu probe wit's the 10,3x60r hat very strong sock an animal.

I 've not got around to trying my 9.3x62mm on our larger deer, so was very interested in your comments on the .375 and Fallow...

Is there much meat damage? Or do you load it down a little?

I have visions of loosing the front end of the carcasses due to bruising which is why i haven't given it a go yet...

Regards,

Pete

Your 308 with 180gr and the zeiss scope sounds just perfect - have a great hunt, weidmanns heil in anticipation!

Hi Pete

I load the 375 with either 220 gn or 270 gn hornadys @ 2400 fps. Very little meat damage in the few I have shot. Possible the same as a 243 but better than the 308 with factory NBT's.
The entrance wound is obvious and the exit about the same as a 308. I have had the 220 FP not exit on a head shot due to overexpansion but it did pass through the equivalemt of 8" of skull and spine.

300 gn SP @ 2281 from an impala frontal chest shot 93% weight retention. Bullet retrived from the intestines.

To make life easy I am taking the 7x64 and will buy some 175gn RWS teilmantel (std softpoints)on arrival rather than all the potential hassal at the airport.
I hope the sky stays clear as we are ment to mbe shooting by moonlight from a shooting box.

If I'm successful we'll have photos/report. If not we'll drink a lot of Jagermeister and beer anyway.

regards

Mark

.308 anytime, if you don't have a 45-70.

Pete

The .375 just plain works - same same the 9.3. Mine is on ticket for all UK animals - and experience has shown it's equally at home on Roe and Red. No meat damage and an impressive knock down.

Come to think of it - I've successfully taken rabbits with my .375hh. Once more, no meat damage.............. no head - but no meat damage either!!

Think we should get together for a safari stalk sometime?

Rgds Ian

quote:

Think we should get together for a safari stalk sometime?

Ian,

That sounds like a plan! Maybe it would encourage a certain person to buy that double he has been hankering over

Regards,

Pete

Hiya all, what a great site this is here, I`ve been reading it for a while, now I`ve been allowed in.
I do a fair bit of boar stalking here in the U.K and I use my 30-06, with 180 grainers.Well actually, I use if for nearly everything, here and in Africa.

Hi John, seeing as you are the new guy here, with wild boar stalking in the UK, I think it is only fair you should spill the beans and tell us where these wild boar are.

Nothing too specific, OS map co-ordinates are fine...

Brian,

Now, Now, Form an orderly queue behind the Moderator please!

Regards,

Pete

oh, seems like I could be popular here
I have been known to like Guinness and good malt whiskey
But back to the serious stuff, I do alot of management and am lucky/unlucky to have them on the properties I manage and have seemed to veer off from the Deer management and concentrate on the Boar.
They are a wonderful quarry and I never seem to lose my facination for them.

Hi Folks

News hot off the press.
We are meeting the tracking dog handler in 1-2 hours to find Mr Boar who inconveniently has run back into the forest last night.
I,ll write up a report when I get home as long as I dont get stomped on.

Regards

Mark

You shoud have taken the .375.
That way the dog handler could have stayed home!
Jokes aside, hope you find the animal, and all goes well.

Yes,yes,yes.

I know the 375 would have been better and my 458 Lott better still but the scope was for Africa not dark German forest by night.
However when a 175 gn 7x64 bullet does not exit on a broadside standing shot at 50m you know 100% your in trouble.
More to come when I get the pics posted.

Mark

Any of the calibers are plenty, I have hunted a lot during the night, but I wouldn’t do it without a big Schmidt & Bender, Zeiss or another quality scope. You should also use a good quality bullet.

This one is taken on a driven hunt in Sweden, with a 270 Win with a Lapua Mega bullet.

Nice pig, and nice looking rifle too!

Hi Guys,

Quick question for those who have their .375 to use in the uk. How did you go about it? I've just got a .375 but it's only ticketed for use abroad which is a bit of a shame cos it's too nice a rifle to leave in the cabinet! Just wonder how to broach the subject with my local officer without him thinking I've been at the sherry over christmas!

Hi Gerry

Its simple. Go shoot some red deer on land approved for the caliber such as Scotland.

Regards

Mark

I haven't tried them yet but a 250 grain North Fork would be ample I'm sure for wild boar.

If it was me I would bring a couple of the rifles so that for future reference you know which did the best on them.

If I had the chance to shoot hogs over the course of 3 days I would bring the suitable calibers (The ones you listed sound like they will be fine)for the hunt and try out all of the guns.

I'm the one on the left!!!!!!


] john's Boar[/URL]

Left and right !! with a fox in the middle.Greedy or what?



[URL= ]Will and pigs[/URL]

Excellent animals John!

Any guess on what they weighed? (approx.)

What caliber were you shooting?

The single pig weighed 325lbs thats with guts out.
The pair weighed 240lbs and 230lbs with the guts out.
I use my 30-06 and the client with the pair used my 30-06 too

The minimus caliber is 7mm
Very good is 30-06 with 180g bullet.

This is my boar for season 2007 in snow shot.
My rifle is mauser 98 in caliber 10,3x60r (final force very strong)



This is a foto of hold 10,3 and new RWS KS

quote:

Originally posted by 10,3x60r:

10.3, Weidmannsheil, good going!! Tell us, where was this picture shot, which lake is this (somewhere in Switzerland?)?? When I first saw the picture, the name Walensee went through my head, from the St Gallen side. But then again, there are so many lakes in Switzerland. From your caliber, it should almost be in Graubünden... In a sense, it would be a bit of a surprise if the picture was taken in Switzerland, as there are not really a massive amount of pigs in the mountaineous areas. They seem to have trouble dealing with the snow...

Speaking of the 10.3x60R, have you looked into the 10.3 bullets our very own "Collani" manufacturers?? Seems to breathe new life into the old "war-horse" by use of mono metallic bullets with comparatively low bullet weight. I have seen Collani shoot these on paper, and the accuracy is phenomenal!!

http://www.gian-marchet.ch

- mike