Best Pig Rifles and Ammunition

Now that is a beautiful rifle!

 

Adam,
both the above are outstanding Hogs, well done.

The first, in particular is a ripper mountain boar with an excellent cape and Trophy.

In response to the opening question, I think that the answer mainly depends on the type of terrain you are hunting most often.

Swamps, open-plains, thickly-forrested mountains, thick crop feilds etc.

Most of my own wild Boar hunting takes place in very dry and hot conditions of Australia's Northern Territory.
Quietly poking around permanent waterholes as well as walking into know bait sites.
Often shooting can be between 50 and 200 yards.
A lot of the times the target Boar is unaware and may be up to or exceed the 100kg body-weight, similar in build to both animals in Ozhunters post above depict.

You want a good amount of impact energy for perhaps 100kg's animal as well as a well constructed projectile that may have to punch through dried mud and 2" thick fighiting pads BEFORE it reaches the shoulder bone.

Most of our Trophy boars are taken by hunters who are there to hunt buffalo and therefore they also take their boar with the same rifle.
And that's not a bad thing.
I'm an in no way suggesting that this is neccesary, but the .375 being the most common, ofcourse we have taken wild Boar with most big bore cartridges.

There are many good Boar cartridges out there, the best choice would be to suit a platform of firearm (bolt, lever, pump etc) to the conditions (terrain), and then choose the best chambering in that platform.

My personal preferences are for a light-weight bolt-gun with a compact scope, chambered in .270, 30/06 or .300 Win mag.
Well constructed projectiles give enough energy and penetration to bring the biggest Boars down at any sensible range in most conditions.


Sorry for the long winded reply..... I love hunting a good Boar !

 

thanks classissaf there are a few more photos of it in my photo gallery if you want some close ups :beer:

 

hey paul i would have thought you would be itching to try the .500 vc on a few running pigs

 

Whilst not a 500, the 470 does a sterling job on Boar;

Tusky old Boar


Old Sow on last light BUT not the Boar.

 

i am sure it does is that the vc? , does that stunning westley get used on them ? the biggest i have used on driven boar was my .416 rigby and every one said they could tell whenever i was shooting for some reason......:biggrin2:

 

The only pig I have ever taken was a warthog at a waterhole on my recent safari (probably 40 yard shot) with my 300 wm with 180 grain partitions. He didn't take another step, so, for me, it's my best pig gun!

 

First off, Welcome to the forum. Secondly, the 35Whelen using 225gr tbbc.... ... Just partial to it. Really though there have been a lot of great suggestions, I think it all boils down to the shooter and what he/she can handle. Use a gun/caliber you can manage, and you are sure to be successful.

 

Got this hog with a 500 Jeffery, 570g TSX at 2300 feet. Shot him at 8 feet as he came out of the thicket approaching us. A little overkill

 

If you shot him at 8 feet I bet he didn't make it to 7 feet.

I like your hunting cammo. You look about my age.......I figured you would have on the pink floyd/led zeppelin pattern.

 

Thanks! I shot him between the eyes (a little to the right) as he walked out of the thicket coming toward us. The 570g TSX left a desert plate sized hole exiting his left ham, liquefying everything in the bullet path. My youngest son with me got an even bigger one that day, though it took three 150g Partitions from the 40 plus year old 270 I handed down to him to finally quiet him down. The first Partition dropped him though ... Hunting with your sons is just a joy ...

 

You are right........hunting with your son or father or brother is about as good as it gets. Even though your son took three shots does he claim to be better since he only used 450g vs. 570g?

 

classic,

Might I also know you as ozhunter? Nice piggy's there!

 

Colorado that thing is BIG! i think you need to upgrade your son to a 9.3.......

 

very,very nice photo's!

here is a nice size pig taken with slug and shotgun in Transylvania.....

[it seems to me that if i must name ONE common animal that is hunted with a passion on all the continents, then it is the hog/pig!]

 

i can not agree more..:thumb:

The three main types of shotgun slugs used in hunting

 

20 inch barrell 308win. with handloads (170gr flat points(30-30WCF bullet) interlocks from Hornady over 43 gr of Reloader 15 and CCI 200 primers).
I do only head, neck or shoulder shots and the results are devastating on pigs

 

The best :
#1 : 9.3x62 Mauser + CZ 550 synthetic stock barrel 20"
#2 : 9.3x74R Double
#3 : .338WM Winch 70 barrel 22"
:m16:
#4 : .35Whelen REM 7600 barrel 20"
#5 : .300WM
But ... .375 H&H is efficient so ...:devil:

 

I honestly believe the best pig rifle is the rifle you have in your hands when you happen to see a pig!

I say that because most of the pigs I have killed, were taken when hunting for something other than pigs.

Like the day a couple months ago when I was deer hunting in South Texas and the pigs kept trying to run me over. Had to defend myself with a little Kimber in 308.

 

did you pop a cracking whitetail ,aswell?