Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game 410 Shot Gun on Hogs?

I friend of mine just got a 410 shotgun as a gift from a client. She also has a hog problem with them coming right up to the house. Will the 410 work with buck shot for hogs? I would recommend head shots only but it is the equivalent of many black powder rifles that have been used on hogs successfully. It would really upset her to wound one and have it run off.

Would a slug bet better?

If you hit them with it, they will run off and die. I don’t do that, but lots of people do that with hogs. I’m sure she doesn’t want to have the issue of carcass disposal to deal with.

She would be better off with a .22 magnum.

What Hanco said +1.

If she does not want the meat, then letting the wounded hog go elsewhere to die is practical.

DCON will also give similar results, but may be eaten by other creatures, causing them to leave and die elsewhere.

Slug would be my first choice.

Buy the defense loads that are designed for the Judge its like 3-4 000 buck it will hammer them at 15-20 yards

Since a .410 is probably marginal for clean kills no matter what the load, and it's not like she's going to wipe them out and end the problem, why not get some of the rubber buckshot loads they sell for dealing with stuff just like this and let her wail away at them with that? For that matter, some #9s fired at a distance might work just as well without any permanent damage.

No hurt feelers over wounded piggies running off.
No carcass-disposal issues.

I expect the pigs will learn to avoid her place after getting whacked a few times. If not, then the Final Solution is still on the table. In that case, I'd look at the multi-disc PD loads or the ones with 4 or 5 000 buck, but wounded pigs are almost a certainty over time.

Pappy I think you nailed it. Plus if she killed one then I would get the damn phone call to come over at midnight or later which may have other benefits but I would prefer not to due to the drive.To my amazement they trapped I think 27 right by her house and they stayed away for 3-4 months, but they are back again.

410 would be my last choice but we've killed them with 20ga turkey loads. Put it right in the rib cage, you knock the air out of them and they'll lay there long enough to put one in the head up close. And if they run off, yotes,etc clean the carcass up pretty quick.

Ive used this with decent results. Hog ran maybe 30 yds. And died.

I tried some of those defence loads with the copper discs in them. At 20 yards the discs bounced of the OSB backstop and landed at my feet. 3/8" OSB. A 38 Spl target load gets better penetration than that.

I will get her some slugs and buck shot and also some #9 loads and encourage her to use those. Rattle snakes will be the primary use so #9s will work for that as well.

Why don't you loan her a rifle, like a .223 or something w/o a lot of recoil?

All mine are lefties and/or irreplaceable or expensive. She wants it full time for snakes and home protection more than anything else. If the hogs get thick again she has some guys set up a remotely monitored trap. Some one gave her a 1935 Ive Johnson 410 which I am cleaning up and refurbishing for her.

She probably won't shoot the hogs as they are very nocturnal and spooky. It's just if one is around and may be a threat to the pets or something. The #9 shot would take care of an individual hog in this scenario.

Slugs will work IF properly placed. Buck is a better option.

Slugs hit harder than one would think. I've found the 2-1/2" 1/4 oz (109 gr) Federals to be the most accurate. I'm not impressed with the buckshot.

They can be effective in hogs, I’ve killed a few with .410 slugs. There’s precious little leeway on placement however, and long shots are a non-starter.

LOL, do you cast round balls? i'd be tempted to have fun were i in your place, fun would be some three inch hulls with 4 hard alloyed 000 buckshot pellets over a max charge of lil-gun powder, get her a little fiber optic green bead for the barrel too! no pig going to shake that headache ; ]

Stray thought: .410 FC diameter is ballpark .398”. Find some roundballs, or cast cast some around .390” and load ‘em. OR, measure the choke ID for that gun and roll...

I killed my first deer with a 410 slug! I darned sure wouldn’t recommend it, minimal penetration ( neck shot, cut an artery)! However, it was a 50 + yard shot. As hanco stated, on a close-up shot, the hog probably leave the scene and die elsewhere! May not work on a large hog! memtb

Use Brennecke slugs if you can find them. I also killed my first deer with a .410 slug. I also wouldn't recommend them unless you don't have anything better.

But the thing is, some country people don't have anything better, and never have.

Where I grew up in the last century, a .410 single shot was often THE GUN. And they did lots of things well enough. Not wingshooting, not deer hunting. But killing many varmints at very close range (like barnyard distance), pot shooting gamebirds and small game, and building confidence when "things go 'bump' in the night."