Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles .223/5.56 NATO ammo for small meat hogs?

i bought a Diamondback DB15 5.56 NATO mostly for target shooting also would like to use it for small meat hogs what do you use to put them down? Most shots will be under 100 yards.

any dang thing you want, yet if FMJ then head only shots IMHO.

small meat hogs under 100 I'd use suppressed 10/22 and subsonic ammo... but since you said the AR... I actually like the small barnes bullets. Very little damage. Kill well enough. According to some to expensive... of course they have almost 1000 in a gun and optics, 2000 if suppressed... so that theory is out the window for me.

Others... 63 Sierra semi point was always pretty good. Most 55 soft points are too frangible for our tastes. OTOH we have lots of heavier IE 69-77 ish match hollow points around and they have never left us wanting and usually not that much damage though the damage from them tends to be somewhat variable.

You can go frangible. But it might destroy meat...

We run 40 vmax at home since there are so many houses around.. if you can keep it in the ribs it works great. Which is hard on running hogs at night with a thermal. But the first one you can control.

If its 150 pounds or less it won't take a lot of killing for sure.

65 Sierra BTSP. I've shot dozens with this bullet. It has great expansion and pretty good penetration. With smaller pigs its perfect. I've shot a couple large boars with it and it's never left me wanting.

55 FMJ will also work. I'll defer to Rost on headshots only as my experience with them in the shoulders/ribs is convincing, but very limited. Less than a handful.

The 55 Barnes TTSX is an excellent deer and pig round for 223.

Probably shot more with the 55 gr. M193 than all other rounds combined. Worked pretty good with head, neck and shoulder shots. Lost some also but since I was not that interested in recovery most of the time I didn't care. I remember one night killing three with 4 shots, one a finisher all shots in the shoulder. The jacket on the M193 in it's original form was so thin you could sometimes see lead at the bottom of the cannelure.

The various 62-64 gr. bonded bullets like the Federal Fusion and Speer Gold Dot are fantastic for such purposes. I think Winchester and probably Remington have similar loads. The Barnes TSX would be great, I like the 62 gr. version of that. Federal has a 60 gr. Nosler Partition that would be great also.

Shoot 'em in the ear and it doesn't matter what you use.

I've killed a lot of hogs with .223's... But for multiple targets usually running after the first shot, I have a .308 AR10.

I personally don't hunt with FMJ's on any animal.

like the above, it does not matter if you shoot head/ear... I've killed hundreds with FMJ's.

Thanks for the replies,, I did some reading up on hunting ammo for my gun I like the Barnes. My DB15 has a 1:8 twist so I'm trying to decide which would be best to try.
Barnes VOR-TX 5.56/45mmm 70 gr TSX Boat Tail.

Barnes VOR-TX 5.56/45mm 62 gr TSX Boat Tail

It also depends on where you intend to shoot them. If you think it will mostly be shoulder area vitals, the TSX/GMX loads will work fine, although they lean more to penetration and less to fragmentation (pigs likely to run if bone isn't hit). Another option is the heavier-weight cup/cores or bondeds like the 65gr SGK, 77gr TMK, and various Fusions and Gold Dots. They'll work well on shoulders and necks, as well as softer tissue. Varmint-ish loads and FMJ works also, but you better stick to well-aimed hits in the neck/head. I generally keep my truck/buggy AR loaded with the 77TMK or 65SGK, but I'd probably pick up some the Fusion or MSR loads if shooting factory. The Barnes really needs to hit big bones to be most effective, at least at AR15 carbine speeds. My two cents.....

I have used the 62 gr. TSX from a 16" AR on both deer and hogs. It worked with no issues, the vitally struck critters would flinch and run 40-60 yards and pile up. Exit holes were small and I honestly think if I were to use a TSX again I would drop down to the 55 gr. with the idea that the mono bullets need high velocity to really open up and do their work. The 16" barrel limits velocity and the 55 gr. might be a little more dynamic inside the critter.

I like the bonded soft point 62 gr. Fusion and Gold Dot better for an all-around bullet.

75 grain swift scirocco worked for me on several pigs and deers as has the 62 grain tsx shoot for bone with the tsx has worked.

Yep I would have to agree with the 55g Barnes, reason being is that I called Barnes for a recommendation for deer and possibly hogs, ar in 5.56, 16 inch, 1–7 twist and they recommended 55 grain to my surprise.

Interesting so what y'all saying is my 16" barrel 1:8 twist would be better with a.223 55gr Barnes instead of 5.56/45mm 62 or 70 gr. Barnes.
I thought the 62's or 70's would do yhe job quite well with all the reviews from people using them hell some swore 70's were a must for quick kills and it's all they would ever use.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

THIS

Granted I've been lucky but if I hit on running shots the 40 vmax has yet to loose a pig. Hits a bit far back IE guts, it tends to dump em quickly anyway.

No flies on the 308 but there is recoil.

The short barrel and attendant lower velocity leads to less expansion and narrower wound channels. If you feel you have to use a mono I’d use light ones. I’d much rather something softer based on having killed a few hundred pigs with about 25-30 different bullets out of 16 and 18 inch 223s.

If not loading your own? Look for Palmetto AAC 5.56 spec OTMs or softpoints on sale. You could probably even use the V-Max for head/neck…..they’re all generally more accurate than FMJs and can be had cheap, too.

So along with Barnes I also contacted Hammer Bullets and asked for same recommendation. They have .223 up to 80g and again to my surprise he recommended 57g HHTs. I'll be going to the range soon bp gas near me

I think it's been said but the 63 grain Sierra SMP would be ideal with a stiff load of Tac.

kwg

mono bullets for smaller stuff I'd always run lighter than normal so to speak.

If I was trying to make the 223 into a huge penetrator I might consider the 62/70 grain mono range.

50 ttsx for us in 223 for the times we dont' use other bullets for other reasons.