Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns I need a carry gun that will be enough for hogs as backup.....

Currently have a Glock 19 in 9mm. Very nice carry gun, especially with Hogue overmoulded grip. I have taken a hog with it but really need/want something with a little more beans to use as a backup gun for hogs. Having owned a Ruger Super Redhawk (7" bbl), I am somewhat sensitive to carrying such a large handgun when I'm not hunting. I was thinking along the lines of a Glock 45ACP or 10mm. Suggestions? badger.

Glock model 20 works great. I have used the 10mm in a Glock 20 and S&W 610 on Deer and pigs in Florida. Try some Cor-Bon hunting rounds.

I'll second the 10 mm. The .45 may work, but the 10's bullets are available with more sectional density, and good construction.
<br> I've never killed anything with my 10, but, based on my experiences with the .45, the .44 Magnum, and the 9 mm, I'm sure it will work.
<br> The Cor-Bon loads do work well in tests. Also available are the Hornady 200 gr. XTP, the CCI Blazer 200 gr. TMJ ammo, and many other bullets for handloaders. E

It is not clear to me what you mean as backup.......if you mean a back up gun to hunt with in case of failure of you primary one, then by all means get the 10mm, at least. If you mean a back up gun in case a hog is trying to convert you into a barber pole, that is red and white striped, then the 9mm will be adequate, because you shot will or should be into his head, spinal cord. And the ability to spit out several bullets(recoil recovery time) in a hurry might well be more important than maximum power. It is really hard to maintain a sight picture when something is eating on you, or shooting at you, for that matter.The only problem will be not hitting your foot/leg.
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<br>I haven't used Corbons, but aren't they designed for rapid expansion on human type targets? It that is the case, then I would definitely not recommend them for hogs, since they might will blow up or not get adequate penetraton on a big boar. Again, if you are shooting him off your leg, it probably doesn't matter. But I can tell you from multiple personal experiences with hogs, that something about their hide, fat layer, gristle and tissue has a tendency to make bullets perform poorly if they are of the rapidly expanding type. Obviously if you put it in the right place it will work, no argument, but sometimes we miss the right place by an inch or two, particularly with a pistol and then you will need some serious penetrating ability.
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<br>We have a lot of hogs in our area and I heard a good, true story the other day. I don't hunt them with dogs, but the dog guys love it, and often just catch them and take them out by hand. At any rate, the 2 acquaintances of mine were hunting on a ranch just a little to the west of mine, had 4 or 5 supposedly good hog dogs, and put them down on trail. As I said they usually would just reach down, flip the hog over, with the dogs on him, tie him up, and then haul him or her out.......didn't even have a gun with them. Dogs caught a BIG old boar, or rather he backed into a downed tree and caught them, he turned them into confetti and was in the process of trying to kill the last mobile one when the guys came on the scene, Boar shook the dog with his tusks one more time and looked at them like "Do you want some, too?" and turned and ambled off into the bushes. I think they're converted into carrying back up guns now, too..
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<br>I asked them why they didn't just grab him and flip him over,and they didn't think that was funny. I think only one dog actually died.
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<br>On the other hand, another set of hog doggers I know caught a 400 plus pound boar less than a 1/2 mile from my ranch, with 2 dogs. So it just depends.

Cat, you pretty much hit the nail on the head, my primary shooter being my 270. There are times, however when its just not practical to carry the rifle, crawling through briars etc when I want something that I can shoot with from the hands & knees position. I shot & lost a hog with the 9mm, good initial blood trail but it died out after about 30 yds. Spent 3 hours looking for further blood until a rainstorn washed out all further sign. The other hog I shot with the Glock was a no-brainer (literally ) Snuck up to him & put the Glock 6" from his ear. Sounds like a 10mm may be on the cards. Anyone want a good 9mm with a 10, a 15, AND a 31 Rnd high cap magazine? I'm open to offers badger.

<br>Badger,
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<br>Ditto on the 10mm. I had a S&W 10mm auto for several years and loved the round but the grip design of the Smith didn't fit my hand to well and eventually traded it off. The 10mm is a very respectable cartridge for hunting and duty carry. It kicks a bit much for Police or so the story goes but rates a fine round on my book.
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<br>If you do get one, holler at me. I have a very good set of Dies for it,as well as cases,bullets and powder. I think I have a few hundred rounds loaded up with Hornady 200gr XTP bullets,somewhere in the shop...James

Badg I could ditto every thing CAT said. I use a 357 mag Tarus 66 in a shoulder holster cause I ride a 4X4 most of the time. The "trick" bullets, XTP Corbon, Gold Dot etc that are made to open fast you definately don't want on a hog. I use 158 gr cast of wheel weights. Workd fine so far.
<br>I don't see why the 10mm wouldn't work fine if you like autos. I know a 45 will.
<br>The reason you can't catch a really big hog is because besides being awfully stout unless you are built like godzilla you can't close your hand around his hind leg. You don't want to grab the front leg for obvious reasons. Like he will eat you alive.
<br>BCR

I guess I will share my feelings since you asked. I was taking plenty of guys bear hunting in Idaho where any gun bigger then .22 centerfire is legal. Because of this I had a long string of Eastern city cops who came hunting with me to shoot bears with their "carry gun". All my hunting during that period of my life was with hounds and almost every bear shot was in a tree. Some would bay up on the ground but 99% would tree. Shooting distance would be about 20 yards on average.
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<br>We could also shoot two bears per person and I was taking 20 or more guys a year. This was a lot of bears over the 6-7 years I was hunting there. Word spread among the police in the cities where these cops came from and it seemed like more then 1/2 the guys hunting with me were cops.
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<br>With this "set-up" I was seeing just exactly what carry guns and ammo typical cops used during most of my hunts. The average bear was about 200 pounds and the bigger ones were well over 300 pounds. The cops were not fussy or trophy hunting they just wanted to kill a "human" sized bear with their carry gun. The first thing I noticed was the pathetic killing power of the 9mm pistol. I wish I would have kept better records because this would have been an amazing data source and a great magazine article too.
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<br>Before this gets so long it loses interesst for you all I'll cut to the chase.
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<br>The 9 mm pistol with any ammo is a horrible and totally worthless killer of big game. Many bears were killed with my 44 mag after being shot countless times with the 9mm.
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<br>The 38 special was about as good (or as pathetic) as the 9mm with any load used.
<br>the 40 S&W is not noticably better then the 9mm. Way to many bears just looked down at us with multiple chest hits many climbed furter up the tree after the first shot or after several shots. Not a bear gun or big game gun under any situation I can imagine.
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<br>The 45 ACP had noticable impact and with a perfect shot would kill a bear with a single shot. However most bears required several before they fell from the tree and once they fell from the tree they would run most of the time requiring another chase with a now wounded and very dangerous bear.
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<br>The 357 Magnum was better then the 45ACP by a good margin but still not a good choice. Again most bears would continue to growl and paw the bark off the tree after being shot in the chest with the first bullet. Head shots being the exception, but not a good choice for the hunter or anyone else in my opinion. Several horrible and rather disgusting hunts were ended with my 44 magnum after bears were shot with 6 or more times with 357 revolvers using hollow points. My brother shot a bear 6 times with 158 grain hollow points in the neck, shoulders, and chest. Little reaction and another hour of chasing the bear. The seventh shot to the top of the head ended this with a 340 pound bear. I would never recommend the use of a 357 mag with hollow points for any big game animal.
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<br>The 41 mag was a turning point handgun cartridge. For some reason the guys using this gun really knew their guns and really knew how to shoot. I can't explain why the really serious and knowledgable guys had this gun as a carry gun? I know most were probably asked why they chose this odd cartridge and were used to the questions, so they probably researched the answers. They also usually had a problem with semi auto guns jamming or failing in some way what ever their reasons. This gun had noticable and devistating results on bears using hollow points or any points. It was the first "cop handgun" I saw knock a bear from the tree which was about dead when it hit the ground. This was consistant performance and I started to be more impressed with cop handguns and their bullets after seeing the .41 magnum used. I could see the .41 magnum as a close range big game gun for most species with good bullets and an accurate shooter. Many of the bullets exited the bears on broad side shots, they would also break the leg bones.
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<br>The 10mm is another odd cartridge. I assumed it was going to be as pathetic as the 40S&W because it's the same bullet. Much like the 9mm and the 357 magnum. Nothing could be further from the truth! That 10mm in a Colt pistol as used by the few hunters who had it was a powerhouse and nearly the equal to the 41 magnum I had seen so many times before. The 10mm cartridge in the Colt pistol is the first semi auto pistol I ever saw that impressed me as a carry gun with it's great power. It was able to put 2-3 shots into a bears chest in a couple seconds and the bears were dead before they hit the ground nearly every time. This is a cartridge to be respected and used with confidence on big game within reasonable ranges and with good ammo. I'm not a semi auto fan and saw plenty of these carry guns with trouble but the guy paying attention to cleaning and loading with a 10mm semi auto has a hand full of power!
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<br>The 44 special was an odd cartridge I only saw a couple times. It was about like the 41 magnum. Maybe not as good but I did not see to many to have a good opinion of it.
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<br>The .44 magnum was the real standard of hunting cartridges for me. When hit with a 240 grain hollow point bears came out of the tree every time. Barrel length and bullet choice was of little importance. The impact power and the reaction of the bears was always impressive. They were dead when they hit the ground most of the time. It was very much "rifle like" in performance and not even close to the other guns. It's another level above the typical guns brought hunting by the cops I took. Nothing compares in a cop carry guns to the .44 magnum when used on big game. Very few guys use the .44 mag as a carry gun but lots of cops brought a 9mm and a .44 magnum and took a bear with each one, since we could take two bears.
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<br>There were lots of bigger contender handguns and 454 revolvers used but those were not cops, nor are they carry guns. My opinion is nothing under the 41mag, 10mm catagory should be used on big game. The .44 mag will accomplish anything you need with ease and in a revolver it's a rock soild dependable trouble free performer. Even a down loaded .44 mag with hollow points is better then any of the others! This is my opinion after seeing the bears shot with it. A big hog will be every bit as tough if not more difficult because they don't tree and have the thick gristle plate to get through too.jj

JJHack: I noticed that hollow points were being used in the .44 for bear. Will they reliably penatrate the front shoulder and get through vitals on a front quartering shot? Have you had experience with the cast bullets and wide meplats? Any difference in performance? At what size game do you quit using hollow points? dvnv

With my .44 mag and the 300 grain XTP nothing in NA except Polar and Brown bears will concern me under 50 yards. I have used Wilson 300 grain Hardcast, Garret 310 grain hardcast and several others who jumped on the 300 grain hardcast wagon. All work great and penetrate with amazing power. The Hardcast bullets also get higher velocity by almost 100fps in many revolvers.
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<br>I like the XTP bullets as well as anything I have ever used in the 44 magnum. Even the little 180 grain XTP at over 1500 fps is an explosive and wonderful bullet on a black bear. The 300's usually blow through and if no bones are hit may be to heavy for a 300 pound black bear. The old standard 240 grain XTP will also blow through but really leaves a gaping exit hole. I have never had a 180 XTP exit which is why I liked them for the hound hunting I was doing. I hate the thought of hitting a dog on the exit side of a bear!
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<br>I did shoot a Garret bullet into the back end of a bear as it was across a short creek or tiny canyon. It was about a 50 yard shot. The bear was a big dude to, B&C and nearly 7 foot square. It had been previously shot by my client with a 50 caliber muzzle loader. The bullet exited the neck of the bear! That kind of penetration is extreme for black bears and more suitable for Elk, moose, African game etc. I like the more explosive 220-250 grain hollow points in a .44 magnum for bears and wild hogs. From what I have seen bullets that blow through don't seem to have the effect on game that bullets that mushroom do.
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<br>I relate this to my early days of archery. When I was a kid I shot a rabbit with a field tipped arrow. It ran 100 yards with that arrow in it. until I finally ran it down and caught it. I did the same with a Red Fox which I was lucky to catch up with. With a clean pass through not much instant trauma occurs. Now when using a razor tipped arrow on big game I have seen them drop in a few yards. Same can be said with fast expanding bullets in a handgun. So long as they are not driven so fast they explode into shrapnel the bigger mushroom with sharp edges is a better killer then the hard cast bullets most of the time. It still comes down to shot placement with either one.
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<br>The beauty of the .44, .41. and the 10mm is that they have plenty of power to make use of lots of different ammo. The other handguns can't make use of any ammo with the low power they have.

JJ I wouldn't dispute your word on bears for a minute for the simple reason that I don't know nothing about no bear. Actually not disputing your word on a hogs, which I do know some about, either. If a pistol was to be badgers primary hog killer a 44 is fine asuming he or any body else, can shoot the durn thing. Badge said he wanted a back up to his rifle for crawling around in the bushes and such. I don't think he really needs a big heavy 44 for that. Since he likes autos I'd agree about the best would be a 10 mm or a 45. In my experience if you are working hogs with out a dog 999 times out of a thousand if they sense you they are gone if you have not hacked them off. Who knows what hacks off a hog. I doubt the hog knows what is going to do it that day. If a hog is really hacked at you we are talking shooting at maybe 10 feet not 20 yards. Heck, he may be grazing on your boot toes. You will be shooting at his head because that is what is pointed at you He will be comin low and fast and if he is popping his chops and yelling at you he ain't bluffing. Hogs will bluff, boars more than sows but if it is doing like I said Katy bar the door cause the hog means it. I have never seen a hog bluff if it was singing its war song. It will most probably be coming at your right leg because most hogs are right handed. Meaning he hooks out and up with his cutters to his own right. Some hogs are left handed though and they will fool you or a dog. Shooting at his head or down between his shoulders is why I don't like the expanding bullets or hollow points. I want a through and through that will smash up what ever is in the path. I have seen too many expanders slide off or around a bone or the side of a skull to trust them all that much. Taking a shot at an undisturbed hog is a different matter and where I could pick my shot an expanding bullet would be fine.
<br>BCR
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JJHACK: Thanks for the response...
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<br>FWIW, I have been playing around with Nosler Partition in .45 cal and have been favorably impressed and am going to try them in the .44. They seem to be more accurate while expanding and holding together better than XTPs (in phone books, dirt, oak, etc...no game animals yet).
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<br>Another high expansion .44 bullet is Speer's 225 gr SJSWCHP (if I got the name right)...if you are ever in an experimantal mode or can't find 180 gr XTPs.
<br>dvnv, an ex-XTP user.
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<br>p.s. I am a revolver guy, but if I had to pick an auto to hunt hogs with it would be a 10mm. I would use a reasonably tough but expanding bullet, but have to defer to BCR for their effectiveness in a face to face stituation. A big hog where I hunt is 225 lbs and I have never been charged.

Did anyone use a .357 mag with Federal cast core bullets ? And how did they do ?

dvnv,
<br>there are a few areas that I hunt (including a new lease that I will be looking at in a few weeks )where sows of 350 lb or better have been taken. Boars? Well, lets say that Volkswagon Beetles tread carefully around them. badger.

Badger: I don't doubt it...I was trying to say that my experience only included relatively small hogs and that I have never witnessed a charge.