Hog hunting caliber/rifle

[OnTheFly]

A friend invited me to go with him to his leased hunting area this coming spring.  He said we might be able to get some hog, and I'm looking for suggestions for what might be appropriate equipment. 

I currently have a 16" heavy barrel AR-15 with a Wylde chamber.  I only have a red dot 0x sight.  I am told that we won't be shooting past about 100 yards. 

My questions: 

1) Is .223/5.56 sufficient for a hog at that distance, or do I need something with more stopping power?

2) Would this be a good time to start putting together a rifle in .300AAAC, or is there another caliber you would suggest?  I was already thinking about building a rifle in 300 Blackout, so I was wondering if this would be a good time.

3) If .223/5.56 is sufficient for the task, should I look at a longer barrel?  I'm thinking that a 16" barrel should be sufficient for a 100 yard shot.

4) Should I just get more suitable optics?

So basically, new caliber upper, new rifle all together, or just new optics?

Thanks,
Fly

[NE Bull]

Scrap the .223 and go with the ol' Turdy-Turdy.

[Mudinyeri]

223/5.56 is adequate for hogs at close range if you're a good shot, but beyond about 40 yardsdI'd be looking for a heavier caliber for bigger hogs. Why not look at an AR-10 if you like the platform?

[Mntnman]

300 blk should be fine. It is similar to 30-30 and I think barnes 110 grain copper bullets would hammer hogs. It would be a good excuse to at least build a new upper. My daughter's deer gun is a 300 blk, just haven't found a deer to shoot  with it yet.

[tstuart34]

6.8 is a great round for hogs. Very similar shooting to a 270 supper accurate lots of bullet choices.  Factory ammo can be bought at most major sporting good store and SSA has a lot of good high powered loads. The only draw back with the 6.8 is you are looking at new mags and complete upper compared to a new upper minus the bcg if you choose not to purchase a another. The 68fourm guys clean up with pretty nice and a lot of fun lookin videos.

Sent from my VS920 4G using Tapatalk

[OnTheFly]

Why not look at an AR-10 if you like the platform?

Short answer...I was thinking that I could save a few dollars.  The 300AAC uses (I believe) the same lower and mags as the .223/5.56, so I would only need to buy the upper components (barrel, etc.) and a scope.  I could just use the lower I already have.  I have read about the 300AAC ballistics, and as Mntnman said, they are similar to the 30-30.

Fly

[tstuart34]

Short answer...I was thinking that I could save a few dollars.  The 300AAC uses (I believe) the same lower and mags as the .223/5.56, so I would only need to buy the upper components (barrel, etc.) and a scope.  I could just use the lower I already have.  I have read about the 300AAC ballistics, and as Mntnman said, they are similar to the 30-30.

Fly

All true... I know you can buy ammo for the blackout but I do not think you have as many off the shelf options for ammo. So reloading becomes very handy. The 300 I have shot is very light shooting with a 16" barrel.

[DenmanShooter]

A friend went last year and he asked me what I recommended and I sent him down with a Remington 700 in .270 and he came back smiling from ear to ear.  One shot one kill.  Plus he had a ball splattin' coons at night with it.   

[landon410]

Check out sota arms, you can get  300 blk upper minus Bcg which you have in your 556. I think its about $350 including shipping.

 Bison armory has decent priced 6.8 uppers, with Bcg your be looking at $600

[Gunscribe]

Having extensive harvesting a dozen wild hogs or more and guiding another 2 dozen hunts I have the following opinions on what is adequate for a clean one shot harvest;

1) Any caliber that is historically suitable for deer and black bear with a heavy bullet will work for hogs.

2) Unless the hunter is willing to wait for and take the perfect close range (50 yards or less) behind the ear shot the series of .22 caliber centerfires are inadequate.

Even with a well placed shoulder shot with a 30-06 I have seen clients hogs run so fast and far into "on your hands and knees brush with a 44 mag in hand" that they could not be found. Large hogs shot in the shoulder area even with a complete pass through seldom leave any blood trail.

Also I won't harvest a boar much over 175-200 pounds. Unlike store bought pork wild hogs are not castrated at near birth. The older they get the more the testosterone affects the flavor of the meat. My wife harvested a 300 plus pound pig that was barely eatable with enough barbecue sauce.

My discipline concerning hogs; No matter what caliber firearm I am using I will only take an ear shot at 100 yards or less from a steady shooting position.

[landon410]

What ammo manufacturer makes a hog round?
Its made to expand later compared to rounds made for deer

[Chris C]

Even with a well placed shoulder shot with a 30-06 I have seen clients hogs run so fast and far into "on your hands and knees brush with a 44 mag in hand" that they could not be found. Large hogs shot in the shoulder area even with a complete pass through seldom leave any blood trail.

I've been doing some reading about hunting hogs and have read that head shots aren't a good idea.  Any experience if that's true or not? 

[Gunscribe]

Landon, this is based solely on my experience, so you can take it for what it's worth.

At any reasonable distance with a suitable rifle there will be a complete pass-through. Expansion is not the problem.

The hogs constitution to absorb a lethal round from a stand still and run 100 yards plus into thick brush without leaving a blood trail is the problem.

Hogs develop a very thick "armor plate" of gristle on their shoulders that protects their vital organs when fighting other hogs. I have shot and seen shot hogs through this "Armor" and take off running. At the point of impact on the far side of where the hog was standing you could see bits and chunks of lung tissue. Following the direction the hog took when shot will reveal no blood at all or possibly a drop or two every 20 or 30 yards. The gristle "armor" will seal the entry and exit hole no matter what caliber or expanding bullet you use. A heart lung shot will not generally put a hog down no matter what caliber you use.


The only reliable shot that will prevent a hog from being lost is to the head or spine. When they run and if they get into a large acreage of brush your chances of recovering a hog drop drastically.

[Gunscribe]

Chris, I will aim right behind the ear essentially holding more for the top of the spine than the head itself. This can be a difficult shot as, even if the body is still, a hogs head is always moving to some degree.

In the thick brush country of north central Oklahoma I have seen to many heart lung shot hogs run off and not be recovered.

If the hunting area is more open range the hunter may, with a heart/lung shot visually follow a hog till it drops. Where I normally hunt the open areas are small and surrounded by acres of thick brush in any given direction. Under these conditions, if you want to recover the hog it needs to be anchored where it was standing when you pulled the trigger.

Like I said though, these are my experiences. Anyones mileage may very. Terrain does play a major factor in whether a heart/lung shot hog is recovered.

[Gunscribe]

Chris, been rethinking your post. I will agree that head shots are not a good Idea if they are straight on. That is a shot I wouldn't take or recommend. With the target standing broadside I would take the head/high neck shot over a heart/lung shot everytime.

[Mudinyeri]

Having extensive harvesting a dozen wild hogs or more and guiding another 2 dozen hunts I have the following opinions on what is adequate for a clean one shot harvest;

1) Any caliber that is historically suitable for deer and black bear with a heavy bullet will work for hogs.

2) Unless the hunter is willing to wait for and take the perfect close range (50 yards or less) behind the ear shot the series of .22 caliber centerfires are inadequate.

Even with a well placed shoulder shot with a 30-06 I have seen clients hogs run so fast and far into "on your hands and knees brush with a 44 mag in hand" that they could not be found. Large hogs shot in the shoulder area even with a complete pass through seldom leave any blood trail.

Also I won't harvest a boar much over 175-200 pounds. Unlike store bought pork wild hogs are not castrated at near birth. The older they get the more the testosterone affects the flavor of the meat. My wife harvested a 300 plus pound pig that was barely eatable with enough barbecue sauce.

My discipline concerning hogs; No matter what caliber firearm I am using I will only take an ear shot at 100 yards or less from a steady shooting position.

Similar to my experience.

I have harvested a hog with .223 (AR platform) at about 35 yard with a spine shot behind the skull.  She dropped, flopped and was done for.  A shot that doesn't penetrate the brain or sever the spine will likely have the effects described by Gunscribe.  The hog will run and you will be hard pressed to find it without a dog.  Many of the places that sell hog hunts have dogs for just this reason.

Personally, I wouldn't harvest any hog for meat that weighed more than 200 lbs - boar or sow.  I also would not recommend traditional curing for wild hog meat.  The flavor will be fine but the meat will be much drier and tougher than farm-raised hogs.

[tstuart34]

All this hog talk made me go to the 68forums and find this  man this looks fun....

[ILoveCats]

Ahhhhhh.... pig 'chootin.  Best thing ever, short of cat 'chootin.     Used to hunt a lot of warthogs when we were living in west Africa 'cause it was our only source of pork (Muslim country), but as much as I'd like to I've never shot their American cousins.  Over There I used a .280 Remington with nosler partitions.  It was (and probably still is) the only .280 Remington on the continent, since I gave it to a friend.  God help him finding ammo.  The 7mm projectile was absolutely "enough" for even the biggest ones, but probably not "a lot more than enough".  Don't know how tough the American ones are, but wouldn't personally take a .22 caliber afield for die wildschweine.

[bk09]

What ammo manufacturer makes a hog round?
Its made to expand later compared to rounds made for deer

Winchester makes a Razorback round.

I think a 60gr Nosler Partition loaded on the warm side would be decent for hogs within a reasonable range.

[Hardwood83]

I've hunted hogs several times using .308 & .30-30 and agree with others that decent sized hogs take a lot of punishment. The one I have mounted on my wall took 3 (well-placed) shots from a .308- the last the coup de grace. They also don't leave blood trails like deer, at least in my experience.
 
I personally wouldn't use 5.56, but from what I've read a lot of guys do. Of course there is a difference between hunting and eradicating vermin. If I was just looking to wipe them out from my property a silenced .300blk might be just the ticket.

If want an excuse to get another rifle, this is it.