Best Pig Rifles and Ammunition

Hello all! I am relatively new to AH as a member but have been scouring the site for information for a long time. I live in California and do a lot of pig hunting. I am curious to know what people think are the best pig rifles and ammunition. My favorite gun to use on pigs is my pre-64 winchester model 70 in 30-06 with 180 grain barnes TSX bullets, but i use my Ruger No.1 in .270 win. just as much. I certainly think the .30-06 bullets are better suited for pigs as far as penetration but that little Ruger is so handy. What is your experience, what might be the most versatile ammo/rifle combo for a pig hunter?

welcome to AH cormac, the best combination for pig shooting as far as i am concerned is my very nice jefferys double rifle in 9.3x74r loaded with 293grn RWS uniclassic bullets.. this will probably come as a surprise to some people....... nah probably not

nearly missed the chance to put a photo of it here again!! P1010125.jpgP1010126.jpg

I ve shot a few pigs with a 7x57, a .270, and shotgun slugs.

A friend of mine is very happy with his .444 Marlin levergun.

As long as you place your shots......

Spike.1, haha im sure that combo works very well, i've always wanted a double. Your jefferys seems very handy and what a nice boar as well.

Nyati, im totally unfamiliar with using shotgun slugs, i imagine that have the necessary penetration but what sort of effective range do they have?

hi cormac,
welcome here and i hope you will enjoy the stay..

i've shot quite a few warthogs with my 12g smooth-bore shotgun and brenneke slugs
slugs are surprisingly accurate once you are comfortable with it out of your gun,
and my average distance was 30-40m with a 63m once,and i've never had any penetration problems[behind the 'elbow' shots]
the bullet drop was less than expected,though i would not recommend such long shots
personally i prefer the big hitting +_ 550gr slugs above LG [buckshot [000] = +_ 6 x 9mm ' pellets'],though they have also never failed me
--well i must add that i usually hunt warthog in more open terrain/bush

i use my 30-06 [180 or 220 gr] for the longer shots
happy hunting!

I have the same experience as Willem, Legia Brenneke slugs out of a Remington 870 with slug barrel.

It s an ideal combination when hunting in a densely wooded area, a short, light weapon for quick shots at short distances.

I would have to agree, Brenneke slugs in close quarters is super deadly! I grew hunting with slugs, DRT if you hit a animal in the correct spot. High shoulder shots, knock a animal down for the count.

Hmm, i certainly see the logic behibd a heavy slug, i djoot mosy of my pigs in bush and closer than 50 yards. Does the choke on a shotgun affect the slug? Should a shotgun shooting slugs be lightly choked if choked at all? Thanks for all the feedback! Ive always fantasized about owning a paradox rifle for boar hunting, it's pretty much a slug gun that shoots bird shot as well, and the mention of slug hunting hogs is encouraging

Some slug gun have chokes on their barrels, it's a specialized choke tube, but most of the time they recommend no choke. Usually a seperate slug barrel for a shotgun isn't a big expense. Most deer hunters in the Midwest have to use sabots or slugs to hunt deer. With slugs you have a 50 yard window to be accurate (some are good out to 100 yards), but sabots are accurate out to 200 yards.

I was told recently that in some American state they were shooting deer with solids out of shotguns out 200 metres ,and were getting good results .
id like to try that ....
or even see it

It's possible bluey, with a rifled barrel on a shotgun. Many guns are capable, I've seen exceptional results from Browning shotguns, but even Savage shotguns work.

that would be fun to try these solids or see some else doin it enysse
I once rolled a fox at 90 odd metres with OO/SGs im not sure what your equivalent is in America but they have 9 pellets packed in salt or something .
they were good fun ,not at all sure why l never bought more of them .

My hunting buddy and I use lever guns for pigs - mine's a Winchester 94 in .30-30 and his is a Marlin in .44 Magnum. Both guns work well, although the .44 doesn't work as well out past 75 yards - most of our shots are well within 50 yards. On a side note, as a young sailor in Virginia, I did a lot of hunting with a shotgun. Found them to be very effective at short ranges - although I can't same the same for my hunting skills at the time.

Originally Posted by bluey

that would be fun to try these solids or see some else doin it enysse
I once rolled a fox at 90 odd metres with OO/SGs im not sure what your equivalent is in America but they have 9 pellets packed in salt or something .
they were good fun ,not at all sure why l never bought more of them .

Sounds like buckshot, it's legal in some states, but not my home state for deer hunting. You can use to hunt coyotes in WI.

not at all sure we would be able to use it on deer down here either enysse .I don't think id want to .it would do a bit of meat damage unless it was point blank , then it would be all in one area .
I think they use OO/SG on pigs and things ,but once again im not entirely sure.

I will say I think hog hunting, would be a good time to try any big bore gun, to practice your shooting skills. But even your plains game rifle would sharpen your skills, just use strong bonded bullets. We don't have hog hunting unless you hunt in small fenced properties here in Wisconsin, so we miss out on hunting them.

Your 30-06 with 150-180 gr bullets will do it all. I prefer the 150 TTSX bullets in the no-lead zone. I am in the central valley and if you are near here you can try out any of my rifles. I have a bunch of different chambering and brands. Now the Tikka T-3 Lite and the Weatherby Vanguard are most favored. I also have savage/ruger/rem and such.

I agree enysse, hog hunting is a good resource for practice. thats not to say unethical hunting is any more acceptable with pigs its just that there are so many of them, you can experiment a bit and learn more from it. Divernhunter, thats very nice and next time im looking for a gun to buy i would probably be wise to contact you, thanks! as a side note, are there feral pigs in the central valley yet? i do most of my pig hunting in the coastal ranges by monterey.

They are on this side of the hills but mostly still in the hills on the west side. Most all is on private land and a hunt for a fee type. You are welcome to come shoot anytime.

My favourite is a scoped 9.3 double with heavy scope reticle such as German 1 or 4 posts with Woodleigh or Gecco soft nose bullets.


My Blaser Attaché in 7x64 with RWS TIG bullets or 9.3x62 with Woodleigh bullets work well also.