Thread: A good calibre on pigs

I shot feral hogs for 40 years with a Ruger semi carbine in .44 Magnum, till Aunty Jacinda decided I wasn't allowed to play with it anymore. They were all 1 shot kills. I liked it because it was light, short, and deadly. Today I would go for a Ruger lever action in .44 Magnum: light, short and deadly.

Ah the old caliber conversation.

.308

My first pig as an 11 year old was with a single shot .22, a 50 pound straggler in a big mob that ran past my father and I, instant kill neck shot at about 20 yards. Since then I have found .38 S&W, .223, 7x57, .30 M1 Carbine, .303, .308, .30/06, .44 Magnum, and .45 ACP have all done the job nicely, albeit under differing conditions. No calibre is perfect for all conditions but in terms of number of animals shot, .303 and .30/06 have been the best in my experience, although I once shot 14 pigs in one mob with 15 shots from my FN FAL (back in the days when we were trusted with such things!).

Timely thread resurrection. I've been asked to deal with a pig problem which is great! Due to the nature of terrain and bush, I can only setup 40 metres away from the bait station. These pigs have been confidently rooting around a garden shed and eating my baits, so don't think it'll be a problem as long as I'm quiet and the wind behaves. I've decided to take a headshot with my 300BLK from a noise point of view. It's not a built up area by any means, but there are other houses around. I'll probably only get one at a time, but more fun than trapping!

.338 win. mag.

Thread seems locked on page 5, anybody else have it that issue?

Originally Posted by Finnwolf

Thread seems locked on page 5, anybody else have it that issue?

Yes, locked in a time loop!

same here,,was wondering if a few banned members with deleted posts had got caught up in thread.....
I shot 4 pigs with 5 rounds quicker than you can read this,last winter out on dairy pasture,smallest was about 80lb and largest about 140lb all big barren sows,fat as mud,the humble .223 did job fine with neck shot on first and body shots the rest,2nd one in micro pause,last two full run,thus finishing shot for last pig,they died no more than 30 yards apart.....bolt action zastava.2 rounds barnes ttsx 50 grn the last 3 were winchester 50grn bog std factory loads.

Shot two pigs last week. Pill in the earhole laid one out on the spot. The other one was moving, so more of a shoulder shot and the projectile passed right through without hitting bone somehow. It ran 10m into a creek and drowned.

Now the format for the forum has completely changed, not green anymore and format changed.

Originally Posted by Finnwolf

Now the format for the forum has completely changed, not green anymore and format changed.

Click the "Full site" link at the bottom of the page

Any one fancy the 7.62x39 for pigs? If a .223 will do it, then the good old 7.62x39 can too!

Originally Posted by Daniel L

Any one fancy the 7.62x39 for pigs? If a .223 will do it, then the good old 7.62x39 can too!

Once upon a time I had a Russian SKS, from the Afghanistan theater. It got bent. However I digress. A couple of pigs were damaging the pastures, an uncommon occurrence in the area. Not being too knowledgeable on shooting pigs back then I chose the SKS with military ammo instead of the 30-30 with soft tips. Came up over a rise on to a big old boar and an even bigger sow keeping each other company in the late arvo on the greensward at about 30m. Drew an iron bead on the boar, being most proximate, an put one behind the shoulder. Knocked him sideways off his feet to lie still on the ground. Sow took off and stunned with my success I momentarily froze as she hussled arse downhill and away. Took a doz steps toward the boar whereupon he uprighted himself and ran toward and past me at about 20m into a scrubby gully. Woeful me scratched head and decided discretion was the better part of rash velour and left him no doubt to expire amidst the gorse and blackberry. Slouched my way home. Some time later a more knowledgeable chap explained the penciling effect of FMJ and the virtues of a 30-30 soft point. Not to mention aiming at the earhole. The next time I shot a feral boar was with a 12ga and a load of #5 shot running alongside him in the paddock. Back in the days when I could still run. From his ripped ears and savaged testicles it was clear he had outrun the dogs but his 2nd wind was finished - lucky for me. A charge of #5 in the ear hole at about 10 paces had the desired result. I was chainsawing firewood when he appeared coming down the farmtrack and the shottie was the only thing at hand other than the are. I didn't fancy running with the chainsaw. I possibly would have favoured the axe over an SKS with FMJ tho.

shot quite a few with 7.62x39mm and sporting ammunition.