Got into a lease this year to hunt hogs on while in FL. Shot 5 with a 308 150 Corelokt and no complaints. Killed one a couple of years ago with a 270 140 Hornady, no complaints. A couple of these hogs were over 200 lb. All center mass shots.

I have an AR 15 in 223/5.56 and read a lot about the round and pigs. No surprise that some swear by it and some swear at it. I am thinking it might be fun to hunt them with an AR style gun thus my question:

For those that have hunted pigs with the 6.8 SPC and the 223/5.56, how much more effective is the 6.8 SPC than the 223/5.56 on pigs? Center mass shots. The cover is very thick and it sure is nice to "stop" them before they get too far in that stuff.

The 308/270 loads were very effective at putting them down with center mass shots. The farthest one made tracks was about 40 yards and I did hit that one back just a bit farther than I should have. My thoughts are the 223/5.56 maybe not so good unless a head/spine shot is taken, especially on a larger hog. How much better would the 6.8 be?

Our lease is a "hog" lease they've ran off or killed all the deer.

All of our members much prefer the 6.8 over the 223 -many are ex-military and shoot AR's .

Thanks for the info, it is the kind I am looking for!

You're welcome .

.223 to the brain pan will do just fine. Heck I have a friend that killed a couple pigs (80lb and 100lb) with a .17HMR.

Here's one I killed with either a .223 or .204 (can't remember which) when I was a younger man.

Where you at -on the beach ? grin.

Falfurrias in Brooks County, TX. All sand and Oaks there.

OK, not much feedback on the 223 vs 6.8 question so...

After reading a bunch on other forums I have decided to try the 223/5.56 that I already have and use the funds to buy some GOOD night lights, looking to set up 2 rifles for various reasons.

So now looking for a good AR load to do the trick on hogs. My Stag has a 1/9 twist so my choice for tips is narrowed down to the 62 Barnes TSX or 60 grain Nosler Partition.

Any input on those bullets for use on hogs?

try the nosler 64 gr BSB
Comes in a home defense load.

has a wider me plat and thus should smack harder and dump more energy faster.
Worked for me on deer and pigs just fine.
ToA

Saw the 90 grain version for the 6.8 and liked it, did not see the 22 cal, looks like a good one! Should be fine within my self imposed range of about 200 yards with this cartridge. Thanks!

By the way when I refer to center mass, I am referring to shoulder/heart/lung shots, not center of the pig. A friend of mine had not heard that term and questioned me over the weekend so I thought I would clear any misunderstandings up.

We use 6.8 with Federal 90 gr gold dots. Very effective on Oklahoma Hogs have killed them up to 350lbs no problems. Also ammo is on sale at palmetto state right now for $9.99 a box.

Load up Barnes X, Nosler e-tip, or Hornady GMX and put the bullet in the vitals or CNS...

The problem with hogs is that they are so many different sizes. I have shot them from 10lbs up to 400. If I knew I was going to just see Big Ones I would go bigger than the 6.8. The big boars don't bleed much with the grissle plate. The last Big Boar I shot with the 6.8 only went 30 yds. But he left no blood trail the bullet went behind the shoulder and stuck in the plate on the far side. He was 355Lbs

My son and I went to Texas last year. It was my third trip down hog hunting.

I took a 223 w/ 65 gr SGKs for my son & my 257 AI w/ 90 gr GMXs and my 6-250 loaded w/ 90 gr NBTs.

The night we arrived I talked to the ranch owner who said that the 223 was great if a perfect head shot was guaranteed but for my son he thought the 6-250 and a guaranteed exit left a better margin.

He uses a 22 Hornet on a regular basis but he kills me and leaves em.

The 6-250 did great by Elijah; he made two perfect shots, with one second shot for the sake of grace not of necessity.

The 257 & fast monos did wonderfully also.

I'd go SPC.

efw - Glad to hear about your son's successful hunt! Always nice to read about young hunters.

My gut still tells me you and others are not too far off recommending the 6.8. That said I read enough from others singing the praise of the 223. So I am gonna load up the best bullets I can find, start out slow, pick my shots carefully and see if I can find MY limits with the 223.

There may still be a 6.8 in the future...

With head shots the .223 works great. My sample of three hogs. They have also died with head shots from a .25-06 and a .250/3000. If I thought I was gonna have to shoot for the heart and lungs I would probably use a bigger caliber.

My thoughts exactly. An AR is so accurate, there's no reason you can't make head shots.

The last hog I shot, about a month ago, was a boar, just a bit over 300 pounds, died on the spot, 22LR subsonic HP about 40ish steps away.

They don't take much. They do take some thinking though... IE if you are going to shoot X size, at X distance and where in the body are you shooting, will regulate what is needed.

I've shot quite a few this year suppressed sub sonic 300/221 and 194 lehighs. Including deer(last fall's season15/16).

Arrows work really well.

Where you will find an issue, at times, is a pig with heavy shields, shields will not stop a sharp broadhead. Then CAN and will at times, cause a cup and core bullet, even a mono bullet at times, to expand and expend most if not all energy without getting past the ribs... There is a crease in that shield, that will allow even a 22lr into the ribs...
This area of the shield is the area that makes pigs into big ol tough unkillable animals. Just that shot placement/location/bullet choice was not enough to do the job.

That said I"ve also shot quite a few pigs in the 100-150ish pound range, and obviously under... with 22lr pistol and HP bullets, one to the lungs and let em run.

The other thing, no animal, unless CNS is taken out, dies nearly as quickly as folks think, go follow a lung shot pig to soon, you will have fun. Well to some of us its worth a chuckle. It'll raise your hair sometimes.

More than a few pigs bed up facing their backtrail while bleeding to death....Your timing is the difference between dead and interesting.... I used to follow to quickly... I've had to kick a couple of wounded ones away. Thankfully they were all around 75-80 pounders.

well i can think of a reason... a standing shot over 150 yards away at an animal that is moving around. sure i would have loved to shoot it in the head, but i figured 168 grains would explode the shoulder bone into enough of the vitals and hopefully the CNS to drop it. unfortunately i hit a little back, right in the arm pit. it's a pretty tough animal that can run that far and that fast hit in the chest. 223 is fine for a lot of things, but it's not my first choice for a hog gun no matter what bullet comes out of it.

I couldn't list all the different calibers I have killed pigs with here on the ranch, I like to test different bullets on pigs, lately I have been on a cast and coated bullet kick, shot 3 pigs yesterday with a 38-55 245 gr, hard cast, it killed the hell out of them. tonight I am going to use a 45-70 with 420 gr hard cast and see if it will bounce off a pig. Rio7 P.S. I have killed a couple of semi loads of pigs with a ar-15 .223

Good to hear that you are doing something except watching fence being built. miles

Miles,haven't started fence waiting on posts to get here. Rio7

It is a situational thing. I have shot them with a few different calibers and prefer triple digit bullet weights. Don't have to be thumpers but I have had better luck with a little more authority especially if the objective is more than just one hog. I have had pissed off wounded ones nearby and prefer them horizontal.

Wish I could shoot right next to you a few times with a 223 and see how many dead pigs pile up on the 308 and 223 side...

that sounds great, cept... ughh... u cant kill a hog with a 223

correction... if they're stripers a 223 MIGHT kill them. of course the sow took a 223 in the neck, reared up and took off. she soaked up two more body shots but continued to head out to parts unknown.

of course there's nothing quite like the authority of a 308

djones, just how many years have you been hunting hogs? Rio7

i've been hunting them for a couple months now, but have only actually killed some in the last two weeks. i have, however, read quite a bit about them on the internet.

djones, Take your lies some where else, Like Long Range Hunting, In the ear-- Really Thread, where you have been bragging about hog hunting since 2011. Rio7

wow, that was harsh. bragging? i don't think i've ever said i've shot a couple of semi truck loads of pigs. i thought my posts about 223 bashing was obvious to everyone as joking, but i'm sorry if you didn't get it and took offense. not sure why you asked, but if it really matters to you, i've been hunting hogs for a few decades.

have no taste for animosity here, so to make amends, i'll offer these pics as a peace offering. i shot them all with a 223. they were hit around the ear and all died instantly except one that needing a finishing shot.

one of the stripers needed a finishing shot as did the small hogs.

At no point did you hear me say the .223 was the best caliber for pigs just that I have shot a couple of truck loads of pigs with a .223 as have a couple of other fire members, I think it was you that said a .223 won't kill a pig, not me, now your lying to your self. Rio7

i never said you did


as i said, it was a joke, and an obvious one at that.


i've already apologized but you still seem pissed. it's just a forum. nothing to get all worked up about.

for those who like posting kill pics and also like to see them, here is a closeup of the dental work on the spotted one.

Just ordered some Barnes 62 TSX and Nosler 64 Bonded to work some loads up for. Will not get a chance to try them till next year though as I will be heading back to PA soon, and we have no hogs in our area.

Also bought a set of Wicked Lights for night hunting, got both red and green led's for them. Gonna try some night yote hunting this spring/summer.

So next season I will bring the AR and another rifle, perhaps my 280 as that gun has never killed anything yet.

Nice pics there djones, like the cutters on that spotted one. The one good size boar I got probably weighed about 200 or a bit more had all his tusks broken off. A local here told me if the pigs are eating a lot of oranges, that for some reason it makes their teeth soft and it is not uncommon for them to be broken.

thnx. i think thoz will b pretty gud bullets. i was shooting black hills 68gr match hp. prolly not the best hunting round. mite xplain why the sow got away?? theyre accrate in my gun tho.

ps-sorry for the rant on ur thread

Thanks - no problem! Appreciate all the input!

Djones is correct you can't kill a hog with a .223. They will just run off into the woods.
He is the true master of slaying pigs. I mean he is the only one posting pics. Where are the truck loads of pigs you have kill with this so called .223. Seems you may be a keyboard warrior everyone knows you need a 300 win mag or larger to stop a large boar.

^^^^
i have as warped a sense of humor as anyone and it IS pretty funny... but thats not me!!

Motox801, First may I say Welcome to the fire, I have no doubt djones, kills pigs, I have seen his posting else where,and I am glad to hear he has sense of humor, but I find his posts miss leading.without a smile face, as for the pigs I have killed, there are many camp fire members that can confirm my comments about killing pigs, I do not post pictures of my kills on the internet. Rio7

ok. you get a smile face for that one

i'm beginning to understand why i'm having this pointless dialogue now

I'll vouch for Rio. He definitely ain't a keyboard warrior, and he doesn't BS either.

KMS, Thank You for the kind words. Rio7

I can vouch for djones as well.......if we all need vouching. He may sometimes wear a bandana and a Microsoft shirt to hunt, but he's killed more hogs than anyone else here. That is not debatable.

I once saw him drop his night vision and his 308 AR and take out after a group of pigs - boars and all - with nothing but a knife and a S&W Model 19. I looked up for a second to see a lot of fire coming out of that revolver. There was also a lot of squealing and it wasn't djones making the ghastly sounds. I went back to my fetal position in the floorboard while he continued with the slaughter. I've never seen such carnage as was the end result of Dave's rampage.

When he convinced me to come out of hiding, I found him drinking another Rock Star and we were off to scan the next field for more victims. And that is all a nightly occurrence for him.

Yea. He's killed lots with a 223. And he's killed lots with a 6.5 CM, 338 Lapua, 25-06, bare hands, knives, 12 gauge, and 357. But he's killed countless more with his 308 that's on its 2nd upper. How many here have shot so much that they've worn out an upper? And he doesn't shoot at the range, trust me. 99% of his shots are at hogs.

So just listen/read and learn. And try to excercise a little better comprehension.

That is all.

I must admit I was trolling you on my first post. Lol no sarcasm font. Djones does kill lots of pigs and i wasn't being serious about posting pics of your ability. On topic a .223 will do just fine. I've actually killed more pigs with a .223 than anything else. Best bullet I've ever found in the 62gr nosler partition. Now when I move to larger caliber bullets I shoot 100gr cutting edge raptors in my 300blk at 2550fps those work amazingly well. Almost makes it feel like your shooting a larger caliber round. But for the vw sized pigs I choose the .458 socom using 295gr cutting edge at 2280fps if I remember correctly. Again I was just screwing with you before b cause I love when I hear people say you can't kill with a .223. But the 308 or creed are a better option if available. I personally love that djones post pics. I wish I liv d where I could hunt pigs all year. Last trip to Florida I shot many but I am to ugly for pictures so I won't post those.

If there's a potential for multiple running shots at 100 or 150 yards, of which djones makes routinely, i'd go with a flatter shooting 308 with more killing power. If shot placement is iffy, such as with multiple running targets at longer distances, the 223 won't drop them as easily as a 308 will. I don't believe that can really be debated.

The 300 BKT drops like the BB's out of the cheap Daisy lever actions that we used to have BB fights with. Dave tried the round (I believe he used the lighter Barnes offering) on pigs and subsequently got rid of all his Blackout stuff.

Over the years I have used what ever firearm was handy to kill pigs, I would say any round that will kill a pig Quickly is the perfect round,there is no secret to killing pigs. Rio7

There may be some here that knows more than Blue about killing game, but there ain't a lot of them. Lots of experience there. miles

i'll vouch for heaven. he only vouches for the most accomplished, deadliest hog killers... who don't brag or lie about it. and his story is no BS.

yet i don't know if his vouch compares to a vouch from a guy who killed a pig back in 2000 something AND who knows someone who killed an 80 and 100 pounder! the thought of that gives me a chubby.

If this was directed at me, as it seems, I have no idea where that is coming from. miles

I know a guy that regularly kills them at close range out of his dining room window with a 22 Mag. Proper shot placement as well as proper feeder placement is a necessity under that scenario. There is no secret as you say. If you can drop multiple running pigs at ranges of 100 + yards with a 223 with regularity, I'm very impressed. But I would like to see pics or better yet, video, of those frequent and regular occurrences. After all.........this is just the internet.

I as not to impressed with my 300blk when shooting the 125 nosler or Barnes, and I reload d for both but the 100gr raptor is awsome. It actually went from the last at I'd take to the first place f I m walking a lot. Still drops but not as bad. I have taken them out to 265 with it so far. I'm gonna try a doe this year at 300 to see. Just past that is the min velocity for the bullet.

heaven,
you know you can't make that claim without a pic. the rule is... 'no pic, no pig', otherwise you're a LIAR!!!

Sounds good. What is the drop on that bullet at 300?

Well djones it sure looks to me as you are the pig king!

heaven,
are you trying to get me sent to ban camp? if i disclosed the drop i would be bragging!

miles,
guess you figured out by now that i wasn't referencing your post. sorry for the confusion.

tt,
it's your thread. whatever you say goes!! but i don't kill nearly as many pigs as i used to. certainly not a semi load of pigs. well, ok... if we go back a few years ago, yea maybe i did shoot a few semi loads, but you'll never catch me bragging about it. now we are talking about all at one time, right?

That is kinda funny how nobody would have believed you if you didn't have pics.

And the 300 BKT bullet drop question was for Moto.

I believe it was directed at me. I will say that Rio, myself and probably others just don't feel the need to take pictures of every damned pig we kill. But whatever, HE'S THE MAN!

Wow! He sounds positively larger than life!

Uhhhhh...I'm a .223 on pigs fan too, and Ive done just enough to know Nosler doesn't make a 62 grain partition....



and it looks like I'm wayyyyyyyyy behind djones!

kms - please... no more compliments. people will get the wrong idea.

LOL! That's friggin hilarious! Ok, you win!

i hope you're too good of a sport to get me back

I would have expected leopard print on Ingwe maybe. But damn. That's way over the top for any normal (i.e.: not superhuman) guy.

Nah. I'm laughing too hard.

my job may be done here...unless you've got a pic of rio, lol

No, and I deeply regret posting my own picture as well.

if you really don't like it i'll take it down. it was just supposed to be funny.

It was funny! Leave it stand! You guys crack me up!

I really thought it was funny. I just showed my wife. She's still laughing.

Looks like I have a Mohawk. Mr.T.

Sorry I stand corrected it's a 60gr partition. It's been a while since I have done any of those. So other than the 2gr diffence they are still the best .223 bullet I've found. I tried the raptors but I think they are a bit to lite to work as well as the heavies.
I also can't tell you the drop on the 300 blk as I just switched to an I phone so I no longer have strelok. I will be doing applied ballistics on this phone just have not pulled the trigger. As soon as I get back in town and a nice day I will be doing real world drops out to 300 yards. Strelok was very close but I always did real world just to be safe.

Djones has done some fancy photo work with me to. Just drink it in..
I wish I had the pigs like djones. Michigan sucks no pigs. At least during season I get unlimited doe tags for where I hunt. Maybe I'll post some pics this year if you guys promise not to accuse me of bragging.

Cant help but notice the guys leopard thong.........







I thought I was the only one.....

The NPT is a helluva good bullet...in all sizes.


I like to screw with stuff so my last pig hunt was conducted with the .223AI and 60 grain nosler Ballistic Tips....they worked fine...but Im learning anything you shoot them in the brain with works fine....
I like real world drop tables too, and Im finding some sight in differences between my home in Montana and lower elevations in Texas and Florida....

Wish I could figure out how to send you a bunch or three! I'd even throw in some killer bees, and some fire ants..no charge!

What a guy! The generosity of the C/F members never ceases to amaze! LOL...

LOL! I though maybe that was you my face got photoshopped to.

i have a problem with drops changing from elevation all the time. That's why if I'm on at home I can use my app to get me where I need for my out west hunts. Becomes especially important past 1000 yards.
I'll take as many pig as you can send up here. Lol more target practice.