Specialty ammo for hog hunting?

Remington Hog Hammers?
Looks like good ammo they are loaded with Barnes Tsx bullets.

I believe that the Hog Hammer ammunition line is specially engineered to feature an extra-thick profit margin to ensure world class penetration into your wallet. Anything you shoot with these bullets will become something beyond dead.



Marketing Hoopala aside, they are Barnes TSXs loaded by Remington. TSXs are expanding monolithic bullets built for rapid expansion and deep penetration.

peacebutready said:

I noticed specialty ammo for hog hunting. I forget the name of it but it shows a hog on the box. How are these bullets different from typical hunting fodder? Is the jacket thicker so it penetrates more or is more likely to smash through bone?

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It's a copper solid. They're becoming more popular here and there, good for lead free zones too. There is no jacket to shed, rather than mushrooming back with a lead/hollow cavity, the tip opens with petals that peel back to the shank with usually a 95%+ weight retention IF the bullet doesn't exit. Penetration is the name of the game, think of the expanding tip arrows. Depending on cartridge, you may need a faster twist (.223 1:12 probably wouldn't stabilize the 60+ gr copper solid).

Winchester has a Hog Special as well. Looks to be their standard "Power-Point" cup and core projectile in a specially labeled box.

Personally, if you're using a full power rifle caliber like anything in the 308 or 30-06 cartridge families you ought to be good. Unless I'm missing something, these cartridges should carry enough energy to penetrate a hog well enough to kill it no matter the bullet type.

Bullet types to kill hogs is more of a marketing thing than anything else as far as I am concerned. Any reasonable caliber with a decent bullet will do the job. I can understand using a copper solid in places like the leftist coast where lead is considered as big of a threat to our country as a republican president. Now Zombie ammo...that's a different situation !

Gtscotty said:

I believe that the Hog Hammer ammunition line is specially engineered to feature an extra-thick profit margin to ensure world class penetration into your wallet. Anything you shoot with these bullets will become something beyond dead.



Marketing Hoopala aside, they are Barnes TSXs loaded by Remington. TSXs are expanding monolithic bullets built for rapid expansion and deep penetration.

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Oh that's good. That's very good!

Marketing only. Nothing special about it. Shoot a pig with Core-Lokt, shoot a pig with Razor Boar XT, shoot a pig with Hog Hammers, doesn't matter. The pig will die with a well placed shot.

So, spend money on specialty ammo, or spend less money on tried and true. As stated before, unless you live in a state where lead isn't allowed by law, don't waste your money. Or do waste it. It's your money.

Stony said:

Bullet types to kill hogs is more of a marketing thing than anything else as far as I am concerned. Any reasonable caliber with a decent bullet will do the job. I can understand using a copper solid in places like the leftist coast where lead is considered as big of a threat to our country as a republican president. Now Zombie ammo...that's a different situation !

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I feel the same way and would like to find ammunition that works well for zombie and chupacabra. Chupacabra are migrating north towards where I live and zombies have been here for 18 months.

As others stated, it's marketing. However I think it does a good service for the 223/556 crowd as its an easy way to identify medium game bullets for them. In the past the majority of soft point ammo for that caliber has been varmint loads which are really frangible and do not penetrate by design. So by giving folks an easy way to find an appropriate hunting bullet for a very popular caliber I do applaud the marketing dudes, even if it does sound kind of korny.

It's also lead free

That's a big deal in some jurisdictions ...

Depends on the size of the hog. Big difference between a 100-150lb meat hog and a 400lb bruiser. Deer loads tend to work for the former but can get you in trouble with the latter.

All of these Super Bullets are like the Fishing Lures. They are made to appeal to the fisherman not the fish.

CraigC said:

Depends on the size of the hog. Big difference between a 100-150lb meat hog and a 400lb bruiser. Deer loads tend to work for the former but can get you in trouble with the latter.

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I believe deer loads would be fine on a 400 pound bruiser. How many have you encountered? If so can you prove it? I'm almost 58, have been hunting all my life, have lived in Texas all my life(where there are many more hogs than any other state) and have never seen a feral hog that big.

The premium bullets work, and work better than the older bullets. Not always needed, but if shooting at extended ranges the difference is dramatic with some of the newer high BC bullets. Or shooting larger game with calibers traditionally considered too small. A 243 loaded with copper will do about the same damage as an old school 180 gr 30-06. If you have a 30-06 load it with cheap 180 gr bullets and go kill 400 lb hogs. If a 243 is what you have it is cheaper to buy premium bullets than buy another rifle. Plus a lot of folks are finding that it is nice to shoot a rifle with 12-15 ft lbs of recoil with good bullets and get the same results on game that used to require a rifle with 20-25 ft lbs of recoil.

have lived in Texas all my life(where there are many more hogs than any other state) and have never seen a feral hog that big.

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Everything isn't always bigger in TX.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/01/30/father-son-bag-charging-700-pound-hog-in-north-carolina.html

http://wtvr.com/2014/03/13/hunter-kills-500-lb-wild-hog/

http://www.kten.com/story/5891382/durant-man-kills-600-pound-wild-hog

cdb1 said:

I believe deer loads would be fine on a 400 pound bruiser. How many have you encountered? If so can you prove it? I'm almost 58, have been hunting all my life, have lived in Texas all my life(where there are many more hogs than any other state) and have never seen a feral hog that big.

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I wouldn't, deer don't have 1.5" thick gristle plates and don't take much killing. I grew up in Florida and have killed a hog or two but most were with handguns. Never shot one bigger than 200lbs but have seen plenty in the 300lb range.

Erring on the heavy side never cost anybody a lost animal.

"Everything isn't always bigger in TX."

That's definitely true according to my ex-wife. I also believe in Bergmann's rule. But I'm asking about a particular person's experience. Also many of these so called huge feral hogs are gimmicks of photography or are domestic hogs that have recently gone feral. There are 400 lb feral hogs out there but they are few and far between. I've also read a bunch of mythology relating to how hard they are to kill. Place a decent .223 bullet in the right place and they go down. I don't hunt hogs with a .223, I hunt them with a 30-30 using 150 grain Corelokts and a Leupold VX-3 1.75-6x32 with German #4. Only thing I use the rifle for.

Craig Old Spot is close to your description, taken near Canton Texas but no Hog Hammer, i am holding a AAC Handi rifle in 300 Blackout using a 125 gr TNT bullet. He went about sixty yards and croaked. It is all in the location of the hole you put in them.

Have any of you ever gotten any bacon from a feral hog?

For hogs if we "go to work", they are quartered but hung "field dressed" overnight and the tenderloins cut out, cooked and eaten pretty quick.

If your just killing, maybe cut the backstrap out and move on. They are about the only varmint I like to eat but I try not to turn them into work. They are better dead or ran off than eaten, if you had to pick 2 of 3.

Gtscotty said:

I believe that the Hog Hammer ammunition line is specially engineered to feature an extra-thick profit margin to ensure world class penetration into your wallet.

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This pure gold. I will be quoting this in the future. Thank-you.