User Panel
Posted: 9/12/2005 3:16:28 PM EDT
What is the best ammo to use??
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I'm not sure I would use a .223 for hogs. A pissed off hog can do you considerable harm before you whittle him down with such a light cartridge.
I would use something much heavier. |
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Do a search.
There is another member who does this and has shot some real 'hogs'. Sorry I can't remember the screen name. I wish I lived where I could give it a try. Good hunting. Seydou |
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There are one or 2 guys on here (Kitty something I believe) that takes down hogs with his M4gery. Plenty of pics posted in his threads, do a search for hog or boar. There weren't little piggies either, lol. |
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i think that kitty-kat (?) uses win Q3131a ammo w/ good results and nice kills
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He indeed does use Q3131A. |
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Talk to TheRedGoat. He routinely kills them with 147gr flat nose 9mm ammo.
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I have killed lots of pigs with an AR with m193 to wolf. I have lost as many as I have knocked down. It is really not the ammo but the placement with223. I really would not advise using 223 if you have something bigger. The neck shot is the most efficient but very small area. The spine sweeps down low behind the ear. Aim center neck behind jaw and below ear. With a larger caliber (270/ 30/06) you can get by with a shoulder shot. but not likely with 223. If you are paying to hunt, looking for meat, vacation type trip leave the AR at home. I used an AR last summer to get the pigs out of a wheat field at night. Killed around 15 over a 3 week period and field was still a total loss. We kill them because it is money out of the pocket. Good luck.
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Like everyone always argues you could kill a hog with a .17 HMR but should you?
I hog hunt almost everyweekend and typically use my .45-70 lever gun b/c it anchors them. I don't like injuring animals and I certainly don't like them charging me. I've had it happen, even with perfect shot placement, and its nothing to trifle with. That said, I would use the heaviest .223 ammo you can find, given that it shoots well in your rifle. Smaller hogs should be easily taken with a .223 like sub 80 lbs. |
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Ok not to thread jack but my father in law asked me to be his rifleman back up as he wants to hunt hog with a .44 magnum so what are the MINIMUM recomendations for caliber for a back up rifleman in hog hunting. Ive heard a 12 guage with 00 buck or slug will suffice but I'd prefer a rifle as thats what im more comfortable shooting with. Thanks for the help.
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44 mag in a rifle will work. I have shot most of mine with 223 62 grain softpoints. I usually use a head/neck shot. 4X scope. If you can't get good shot placement, use a bigger caliber.
My 44 mag contender with 240 grain sp would have a golf ball sized exit wound. With it you needed shot placement not to ruin meet. |
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Anything you shoot well, quickly! After the first shot it will be tough to get a second. People don't realize how fast these things can move. Night hunting or in heavy brush be careful, charging is unlikely (but possible) but they might run over you in a panic trying to leave. I shoot a 1911 with crimson trace laser grips up close. IT WORKS!!!!
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If he wants back up you're really protecting against a charge. Killing a wounded animal is secondary. In that case you do want something that puts a hefty amount of grainage out there. .45-70, 12 ga with slugs would all definetly do the job. Otherwise, as a big a rifle as you can muster; hopefully in something with a quick repeat shot capability. ETA: I usually have a .44 mag with "bear loads" on my hip when I'm out hunting where hogs are around. My lease is full of them and they are LARGE. A .40 +P+ won't do anything to a charging hog. I should add, that back on topic, I do most of my hog hunting "up close and personal" and not like most people do it. I don't hunt hogs over a feeder sitting in a stand or some such. If you are hunting so that you can get good shot placement, a .223 will do it, as I said earlier, so will a .17 HMR, but... does it fit your situation? |
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I've killed several hog's with my AR, I used Winchester Ranger 64gr power points. All of them were one shot kills.
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Reloaded some of the pics in those threads for ya 99% of the M4gery hunts were done w/ Q3131A, only when I am out, I had to resort to softpoints or Walmart's 55gr FMJs.
THellURider, that's how I like my hunts also and that's where double or triple taps comes in when it comes to chargin hogs in the bush, and Q3131A works well so far |
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I also have a mossberg 500 that is coming along. This is my first time out with my AR (other than the gun range). I am going to a buddies house near lufkin. We are gonna kill some hogs, drink some beer, and waste a lot of bullets and shells. Should be a lot of fun.
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hopefully the beer will come some time after the death and bullets
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I had heard buckshot was good for hogs so i shot one about 30 feet away in the face and chest 2 times with 00 buck he ran off and i picked up the pellets they all were flat with hair marks on them none of them penetrated,a slugs the only way to go with a shotgun.
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Whodathunkit? A guy named billy bob from Texas. Now, back to your regularly scheduled pig slaughter thread. WIZZO |
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+1 But have fun, and remember, climbing a tree to escape a pig does not make you a pussy. |
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I 2nd that, I use q3131a also. I do carry a 45 as back up too. |
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I hunt hogs with my 20" pretty frequently, I just use whatever ammo is on hand at the time. It is not one shot up unless you get lucky, but YOU DO have 29 more in the mag. Hunting ammo might give better results, but that would get pricey. Just carry a good .40 or .45 for back up and you should be ok, so far I haven't had to use the pistol. But, I do not let them get that close either.
It makes more sense for me to use a high capacity rifle even if it is only a medium sized cartridge, shotguns work well also. Hogs are very tough animals and with just about any caliber, aside from large game rifle or exotic game rifle, it sometimes takes more than one shot. The Ar-15 does work well for hog hunting though, at least in my experience. How can you argue with being able to fairly comfortably carry 240 rnds with you, if that doesn't get the job you really shouldn't be hog hunting. |
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I'd bet it would work real good, but damn I'd sure hate use what little ammo most people have for em shooting hogs. |
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Small hogs (the good-eatin' kind, which are about all I like to shoot) go down nicely to just about any decent ammo (though I would leave those 45 or 55 gr bullets at home personally).
If you're after a big stinky boar, you're probably still ok with a big 5.56, but there are better tools for the job. 7mm STW, for example, will knock the legs right out from under just about anything. As with every other kind of rifle hunting, if you can't put 'em down with one shot, you are better off shooting paper at the range. And whoever said .40 won't stop a hog definitely has different experience than me. Last one I shot between the eyes with my .40S&W dropped like a rock. |
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Center of mass shots in hunting are not a good idea. COM shots typically hit the liver, stomach, intestines rather than the heart/lung area. As I said before, if you can't hit the spots that put them down with one shot, you're either not using the right weapon or are unable to hit the right spot. If the best you can do is gutshoot a hog (or deer or whatever) stay at the range. I've spent way too much time tracking down or finishing off other people's mistakes to have any patience for people who point at the middle of the biggest part and squeeze the trigger. That shit may be the right thing to do against 2-legged targets, but in hunting all it does is lead to lost game or (in the case of things like big hogs) put the hunter (or his guide/partners) in danger.
EDIT: as for shooting at hogs on the run, why didn't he just stalk a little more carefully and make a decent killshot instead of shooting on the run and (obviously) not knocking him down immediately? People who deliberately seek to shoot moving targets should stick to birds and shotguns. |
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I agree w/ COM shots should be avoided compared to heart/lung or CNS shots, and have never lost a deer or hog or put my partner or guide in danger or needing my guide to finish my job in my 15yrs of hunting. Many farmers & landowners could care less about CNS shots, humane 1 shot kill, they will shoot as many rounds as it takes at hogs that are tearing up their land; I don't have any problems w/ landowners protecting their land w/ any legal methods necessary. |
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I 2nd what AR15KittyKat said regarding landowners. I know a couple people that hunt hogs with nothing more than a few dogs and a couple knives - not one gun between them. They have a group of landowners they work with regarding hog control and they really don't care how the hogs are killed. Quick kill, slow kill - the land owners just want them gone by any means.
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I see no reason you can not kill a hog cleanly with a 223, but you will have to hit the right
place. High in the neck near the ear, or a direct (not angled) head shot. A shoulder shot will work on smaller hogs if you miss the leg bone. You shoot a big hog in the shoulder, you will be putting several more rounds down range before it is over with. You put a shot behind the shoulder on them and they will be gone. (this is a gut shot on a hog) The lungs do not extend behind the front legs as on a deer. I have kill a few with the 223. I shoot an AR10 now, and before it I primarily used a 300 win mag. I still try and place all of my shots in the neck or head. Over the last year or so I have been averaging two to three per week except for the last couple of months, but I am headed out there this evening We have a lot of hogs around here If you are interested I can put up some pic's and some links to some good info if you want to learn. |
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The 326lb Russian boar I took was with a .223/5.56. I used a Colt Sporter Match HBAR with a 1/7 twist and Winchester 64 grain Power Point rounds. Mine was shot twice to the head with one round exiting behind the right ear. They told me you had to use a .270 or larger......But the .223/5.56 killed that hog stone cold dead! Shot placement is everything even if you are using slugs......A poor shot is a poor shot no matter what you are shooting. JMTCW........Trapfan
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I'll argue that all day. A slug to the hip or shoulder will anchor that hog in place regardless, a .223 or a .270 will not. Then you can finish it off, and it won't charge you. It's like that saying "There's no replacement for displacement", on hogs caliber/grainage can make up for the shooter's ability or the conditions of the shot. What you're doing in the rest of your post is reiterating what everyone has said. YES, a .223 will killa boar, but so will a .17 HMR with correct shot placement. Good shooting though. (I don't shoot mine in the head cause I like to keep the skulls.) I've seen bullets bounce clear off a hog's skull, and dug .270 rounds out of the fatty chest issue that didn't penetrate any further so YMMV. |
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What??? Are you sure they didn't exit the animal or something? Was it wearing a level 2 vest? |
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I've knocked good size hogs on their ass at five times the distance you state with 00 , and 000 Buck , 2 3/4 ". Excuse me, but at 10 yards a load of 00 buck to the hogs unprotected "face" , as you state, = one dead hog. |
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I've knocked good size hogs on their ass at five times the distance you state with 00 , and 000 Buck , 2 3/4 ". Excuse me, but at 10 yards a load of 00 buck to the hogs unprotected "face" , as you state, = one dead hog. just telling you what happenend to me after that i dont trust buck shot on a hog.
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q3131a was great for me on my first boar hunt. a quick doubletap to the head/neck area followed up by a few more to put it out of its misery.
i believe a .223 will be suffice for hunting boars in less brushed or wooded areas. a bigger calib round would be suggested for heavy wooded areas. i witnessed a .308 penetrating through a few branches and devastated a boars hoof with my own eyes. all in all...a .223 is a good round in the hands of a good shooter. |
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