Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles best caliber for pigs

I know 308 works great but will the 223 with 55SP work. May have a chance to got piggy hunting and want fast follow up. Next best is BLR in 308 or Win. lever in 444

50 Beowulf is the most effective AR caliber ( under 200 yards) I have used. I am planning a pig hunt for late summer, I can't wait. I have taken whitetail and coyote with it and it definately leaves a mark.

I have had very good results with the good old 30-30 Win lever action for close range. Up to 200 yards.
Friends have use a Ruger mini-14 in 223,with ok results.
I usually go piggin once aweek if its not raining. I now use a 264win mag. No need for a follow up shot.

If you are going specifically on a hog hunt, the bigger hammer is likely better. Especially on larger hogs & if you may not have perfect shots. They're a pest here, so about anything goes, but if it's an actual hunt, your other choices would be a better choice, IMO.

Hogs aren't bulletproof. Any good deer caliber will work with proper shot placement.

You can get a 30-30 and a 264 win mag in an AR?? WoW.

I mainly think of hogs in terms of head shots. The 223 with a good bullet is fine, and works will with light TSX.

I have a 50 beowulf, and I've shot deer, coyotes, and hogs with mine. It kills fine, but its not impressive as a killer at all. They all run a ways before they flop if you lung em. Not a big deal to me.

The 50 beowulf gives follow ups quick, but not as quick as say a 7.62x39(30-30 power.....) or a 6.8 spc......

Shot placement and bullet choice are the keys here. I've probably killed a lot more pigs than most average folks with my Mk2 bull barrel and 22 LR Hps.... and not stingers either, just standard HV Hps.... Lung em and they just don't go far.

these are domestic pigs that either got lose or were turned lose. there is no tag you just have to have a hunting licence. Only semi I have for mutiple targets is the AR. I can load any bullets available SP or HPs.
I could back it up with a 44 mag revolver.

I have 3 pigs with my .223 VTR. Head shots require no follow up. If you lung a pig they will run for ever so try for a head shot. Really at 50yds or less a soft point will do fine. The .444 would be my choice just because.

I'd pick the 52 tsx if it shot well. Best of all worlds there IMHO.

And no they wont' run forever on a lung shot. Thats about all I used on my pistol kills as I'd wait for a hunter to take his shot with a deer rifle when we'd spot and stalk them, then when they'd scatter they'll run a ways, stop for a second or two and run some more.... most what I got was 150 pounds and under and a second for a quick shot.

I won't kid you they will run though.... about 50-100 yards is typical.

458 Lott!

With a .308 lung shot no they wont run very far... but talking about using a .223. I have seen them run a long way lunged with a lighter caliber.

we shoot a lot of hogs and use anything that shoots, deer season we use deer rifles the rest of the time we use what ever we have in the truck,we have killed them with 22lr. .223. 22-250. .243. .270. .308. 30-06. .44mag. .45 acp. 9mm. .405 win. woops forgot 30-30, they are not bullet proof.most any thing will run a little ways if you shoot it in the lungs, shoot it in the ear.it wont go far.

Anything (that an AR offers) will work for the brain and lungs. The shoulder/heart shots require a pretty tough, or heavy, bullet. Not all hogs are created equal either. Some have skin like a tank, while others have hide like a football.

Never seen one make it far with a 223 through the lungs, and I shot a LOT of 223 in the day.... and still use it a fair amount. 77 bthp, 69 bthp, 75 amax and 62 tsx have worked wonders

Though even the ones with hides like a tank(and just cause they are 200 plus doesn't mean they have a hard thick hide but generally do....) have a groove, a slot in the shield that has to flex to allow them to walk.... ends up being right about where a good lung shot would go too...

But an arrow makes quick work of ANY shield I've ever seen and the one my wife shot years ago had a cartilage that we measured at a hair over 2.5 inches thick..... she got through the first side, and the tip of the Zwickey was poking out the other side....

BTW hogs are the one thing that I miss dearly about the lease we lost... we could go shoot 5-6 almost every other weekend of the year if we wanted to... I regret that hogs are expensive to hunt these days or at least more so than they should be. They are terrific fun!

Jeff

'Bout a hundred and fifty miles east of you is a 10K acre lease where you can hunt them free!

64 grain Winchester SP works

You can kill them with just about anything, but that's not the best idea. My choice is a Marlin 45/70 Guide Gun with 405 grain Remington SP's. It drops them all, big or small, head shot or low in the chest for heart/lungs. No tracking involved and makes for better tasting pork. The less adrenaline pumped thru the meat, the better it will taste.

Let me know if you find an AR chambered in 45/70 - I want one too!

45-70 Ars.. 3 of them. 458 socom, 50 beowulf and 450 bushmaster..... have at it.

its way overkill on most pigs by far, but that doesn't hurt anything.

BTW I hear you on adrenalin, but a death run I've never seen cause bad meat. Now if they are run by dogs or such a better chance.

As to dropping them with a low chest/heart shot... thats all pure luck. Unless you hit CNS they can all run. And I have yet to drop one with the 50 beowulf but they are all lung shots and hit no major bone etc....