Hi Ant264,
I hunt wild boars in France and Europe for long years now and i understant, as my discussions with Mick Matheson confirmed, that your hogs are a bit different as ours. But they both are tough animals. I understand you'll be hunting them in some bush and cover as i do when driving dogs in driven hunts. For that job i once used 44Mag in Browning 92 and Ruger semi auto, 30-30 in 94 standard. Both killed, i used handloads with 270grs Speer GD for the 92, 250grs Partition for the Ruger and 170grs Partition for the 30-30 at max velocity. At short range the 44Mad seemed to be better stopper but that's no science. Generally i double sometime triple the shoot cause in thick brush and animals running they were not always well placed, heaviest one was more than 225lbs. For such game the 44WCF seem a bit weak but can do. Now i often use more powerful rifles, one 7600 carbine in 35Whelen, a KR1 Merkel in 9,3x62 or my favorite 86 Winchester lighweight in 45-70 handloaded hot with 405grs bullets and heavy load of VN133.
If you have only choice between 30-30 and 44-40 better go to the 30-30. 170grs bullets seem to have enough penetration and enough expansion at short range. Note that i'm used to dispatch some boars, wounded or not, with my Cold Steel Trail Master when blocked by dogs and dangerous for them to use rifle. Can be "interesting" sometimes
Regards from down under.
Dominique
