Crazy Question - Anyone tried .458 Win Mag on wild pigs?

[Kestrel]

I know this might sound crazy, but have any of you ever hunted something like wild pigs, deer, etc. with a dangerous game caliber, such as .458 win mag, .375 H&H, etc.? If so, can you relate your experience? How did the animal react to being shot, compared to a smaller caliber?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[LeonCarr]

Big cartridges I have tried on hogs:

Handloaded .45-70 in Marlin 1895 rifle, 300 grain JHPs, 2000 fps: 250 lb Boar Hog, shot in the head at 80 yards, spun him around like a helicopter rotor, dead right there.

.338 Winchester Magnum in Ruger M77 rifle, 250 Nosler Partition factory loaded: 300 lb Sow Hog, shot through both shoulders at 100 yards, hog ran about 5 yards, then died.

Honestly, on hogs up to around 400 pounds, in my experience, a .308 or .30-06 will do anything to a hog that the big guns will do, but that kill I made with the .45-70 was very impressive.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[H&Hhunter]

Steve,

Yo dude.........

My main hog gun is a .375H&H I just got back from texas where I killed 3 hogs with a .470NE, I've also shot several with a .458Lott.

The .375H&H may well be the best all around hog gun on earth. It's got reach and it's got swat for close in range.

I've killed in the neighborhood of 5-600 hogs with a .375H&H and I've killed 5 with the .470 and probably 5 or so with the.458Lott.

I've also killed several hundred with .308's -.06's .300mags 30-30 45-70 etc.

This may surprise you a bit but. The heavies on hogs.........
If you don't hit major bone do not kill much faster faster than say a .308 behind the shoulder. If you do conect on sholder bone the heavies provide for some really spectacular knock down, slammer, jammer kills.

the heavies are also capable of penetrating all the way through any hog from any angle and they always exit which will leave a good blood trail.

The .375H&H will not always exit on a big hog...Much to the surprise of several H&H users I've had out on the ranch. I've had a smallish 250lb class boar stop a 300gr NPT on the off shoulder on a broadside shot. I've had a smaller 150lbs hog stop a 270gr X on a stem to stern shot.

These animals were all killed quite rapidly but it just gives you an idea of how tough hogs are.

Just a few days ago I shot a pretty good little boar with the .470NE he was running by at about 40 or 50 yards. At the shot he gave no indication of a hit whatsoever. In any case I reloaded the rifle and started to run up the hill to get another shot when he just fell over dead. I had hit him twice low behind the shoulder through the heart. This hog took two 500gr .475 x bullets through the heart and then ran nearly 100 yards before kicking the bucket. Heavies are fun to shoot hogs with but they are not death beams by any imagination, and if you don't hit a hog in the vitals even with a .470 or a .458 they run off quite nicely......

But by all means go ahead and hunt them with the .458 it's fun to do and it will build your skills with a heavy rifle like no other type of practice can.

 

[Kestrel]

H&H,

Pretty exciting. That's interesting. I have a couple of .375s, a .458 win mag and a .458 Lott. I've wanted to try all three on hogs, just because.

Sounds like you lead an exciting life!

Thanks for the info.

Steve

 

[DigMe]

At the shot he gave no indication of a hit whatsoever. In any case I reloaded the rifle and started to run up the hill to get another shot when he just fell over dead.

I've seen this happen quite a bit too. Happened to the last one I shot. I'm pretty sure I hit it through the vitals but it continued running across a creek and then up a steep hill before dying at the top. I had no means of fording the creek without getting soaked...meh...I've got pork aplenty anyway. Later that evening I got to see a big, healthy coyote pick up the scent and find dinner.

brad cook

 

[Mannlicher]

I have an older Winchester Model 70, in .458 Win Mag. I have taken a few hogs with it. I agree with H&H Hunter, when he says 1. a body hit in flesh does not really kill any better than say, an 8mm. 2. hits that impact shoulders, shoulder blades or other bones can be spectacular.

 

[LeonCarr]

Take that .458 Winchester, handload it with 300 grain Sierra JHPs to about 2400 fps per the Sierra Manual, and then take it hog hunting. IME most .458 factory loads are heavy jacketed soft points or solids, designed to penetrate through the biggest and baddest animals on earth, and will sail right through a hog without expansion. Hogs are no where near as stout as a Cape Buffalo or Elephant. I used that same Sierra bullet handloaded in the .45-70 to 2000 fps, and it expanded to about 80 caliber. Devastation Inc.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[Kestrel]

80 caliber - Wow!

 

[only1asterisk]

Most of the softnose bullets for the big boys are made extra tough to penetrate lengthwise trough cape buffalo and such. Hogs can be tough, but don't need that much bullet. What seems to make a big improvement is to use bullet intended for black powder express rounds at somewhat over the original velocity. This shows a bit improvement over 30-06, 8mm, 35 whelen class. It makes for fun using monster rifles to hunt pigs, but you can ruin some meat. I wouldn't do it as a habit, but if you want to get some use out of that safari rifle I say go for it.



David

 

[Gordon]

I had a .458 Ruger #1 and used 400grain Speer flat points with IMR 4895. About 2200fps in mellow loads. It kicked the living s**t out of me when I sighted it in once too often -and away it went. BUT on the hog I shot it worked well at 200 yards , which is kinda far for a 45-70 which replaced it.