Hog hunting: Backup sidearm.

[bg226]

A rifle will be used as the primary, but I would like some advice on a backup sidearm. I've heard that .45s have a difficult time penetrating through hog skulls.

I do not want to have to purchase a new weapon, so i'm limited to 9mm, .40 and .45. I'm not sure which one to take with.

 

[Tom Krein]

IF a rifle is your primary weapon I think any of the below would work..

I would use FMJ heavy for caliber bullets. The 9mm or 40 S&W might be better as you really need to get some penetration on Hogs, especially the bigger ones!

Are there snakes where you hunt?? If so a .357mag, 41. Mag, .45 Colt, or .44 mag revolver would be perfect. Load up the first round under the hammer with snake shot and then heavy for caliber lead bullets with BIG meplats!!

I just purchased a Glock 20 in 10mm to use as a back up for Hog Hunting and EDC. I love the 10mm and the hotter 200+gr lead bullets will do the trick! Need to replace the barrel as a stock Glock isn't set up for lead bullets.

Now you just need to go on a Hog Knife hunt!!

Tom

 

[retrieverman]

I hunt hogs quite frequently and have never felt the need for a backup weapon.

If I can't kill one with a scoped high powered rifle, I would sure be pissing in the wind trying to hit one with a pistol.

 

[Tom Krein]

I agree, but it would be nice for EXTREME close range/heavy cover, snakes, feral dogs and finishing shots....

RIGHT?? maybe....

I just don't leave home without a sidearm anymore if I can help it.

Tom

 

[oklahoma caveman]

Now you just need to go on a Hog Knife hunt!!

im your huckleberry!
iv always wanted to do exactly that.

 

[alsaqr]

"I hunt hogs quite frequently and have never felt the need for a backup weapon."

Same here. Must say that I have felt a little naked a couple of times when it was necessary to go into a plum thicket after a wounded boar with a muzzleloader. A very big hog did come after me: He was shot and killed at about 12 feet from me.

 

[MCgunner]

I like a .45...but not ACP. I load a 300 grain XTP to just short of 1200 fps in my 4 5/8" stainless Blackhawk. I'd trust my 180 grain .357 load to most hogs, but on a really big one, I'd want a .41, .44, .45Colt. Not such a thing as overkill when you have to blood trail a hog in heavy cover. I know this for a fact. Gets your blood pumpin' when they charge you, though.

Best idea is to make that rifle shot count. But, everyone makes mistakes.

 

[spencerhut]

When I was a kid (12) I was chased up a tree by a hog I didn't quite shoot well enough. I emptied my 1911 (.45ACP) into the hog as it stomped on my 1940 German Mauser and ruined the scope. Not one round from the .45 made it though the hog at less than 10 feet. It died from the 8mm shot a minute or two later. Five of the seven hollow point slugs were recovered from the hog in non vital areas.

 

[bdg146]

I've never been hog hunting, but you guys sure do make it sound exciting.

 

[Tom Krein]

It really is a LOT of FUN! You should give it a try!

Tom

 

[TehK1w1]

I just hunt with a big-bore lever action rifle A 444 Marlin pushing 300 grain softpoints at 2150 FPS muzzle velocity will stop hogs pretty reliably. I also carry some 305 grain FMJs for those marauding rhinos

 

[Pumpkinheaver]

Use your .45 with a cast truncated cone bullet. Causes more efeect on target than a RN bullet.

 

[MCgunner]

I just hunt with a big-bore lever action rifle A 444 Marlin pushing 300 grain softpoints at 2150 FPS muzzle velocity will stop hogs pretty reliably. I also carry some 305 grain FMJs for those marauding rhinos

That's all fine and good unless you're trailing the trail though heavy brush on your hands and knees. The handgun is much handier for heavy cover. That's why I like to tote the big caliber revolver and, I mean, it's just nice to carry afield. I just don't wanna come face to face with a POed pig when I'm on my hands and knees and have to put a rifle into action. THAT hasn't happened, but being on my hands and knees through the rose hedge following blood has. Fortunately I was on my feet when I had to shoot, rifle slung across my back having just popped out of the rose hedge. I had hit that hog with 3300 ft lbs from my 7 mag, just didn't make a good shot, my fault, but no reason to die in the brush. LOL

Oh, btw, a hog's head isn't bullet proof. I've put down big barnyard hogs with a .22. It's just that big hogs in the wild have this armor plated (literally) shoulder area that takes some penetration and you might not get a clear shot at the head on a moving pig, small target.

 

[T.R.]

A 22 revolver or pistol is useful for making a finisher if needed. But I sure wouldn't drop my powerful rifle to attempt stopping a charge with a handgun. That is like bringing a knife to a gun fight as Sean Connery once said.

TR

 

[Tom Krein]

Bringing a knife to a gun fight is not as dumb as it sounds.... SERIOUSLY!

There are some times when a handgun will better serve you than a rifle!

Tom

 

[MCgunner]

Hogs like heavy cover, stick to it when danger is near. When wounded, 100 percent of the time, you can bet that's where they're goin'. If you're in a closet with a BG and he has a shotgun and you have a knife, advantage knife...... A big pig has a mouth full of 'em.

 

[pernicus]

i'm going to get flack for saying desert eagle but in all seriousness

.44magnum with 240 grain soft points...haven't shot a hog with it yet though but i like it alot mroe than any .44mag revolver i've shot...and i managed to hit a doe 3 times with it in a pinethicket once...there was deer in the trees lol

 

[alsaqr]

Usually hunt hogs with a muzzleloader: After being chased several times, I do keep my Remington model 870 rifled barrel shotgun in the truck to take into thickets after hogs.

 

[Katana8869]

My hog gun is a Remington 870 loaded with 1 slug in the chamber, 2 more in the magazine followed by 2 00 buckshot rounds. I figure that if I'm being charged it's better to keep my primary gun in my hands and firing as long as possible.

I keep my .357 640 in my pocket when I hunt hogs, but like some folks have already said, there are may be situations where a knife would be the better option.

All considered, any of the calibers that the OP mentioned would do fine for a back up gun on a hog hunt, but if I were to chose the 9mm, I would not go with less than a 147gr bullet.

 

[Ranger J]

Let's see if I got this right: Rifle/shotgun backed up by a pistol. Pistol backed up by a knife. Knife backed up by what...a baseball bat maybe? Seems like we are are going kind of counter evolution here. What kind of back up do African big game hunters use?

RJ

 

[MCgunner]

To each his own. If you don't mind tracking a wounded boar in heavy cover with a rifle, go for it. Right tool for the job, I say, and besides, do I really NEED a reason to carry my .45 Colt? Do they even HAVE rose hedge in Africa? I HAVE heard that the PHes there often carry shotguns for tracking wounded leopards. Not a lot of difference in application there, I'd think. Right tool for the job.

 

[Browning]

bg226 : I do not want to have to purchase a new weapon, so i'm limited to 9mm, .40 and .45. I'm not sure which one to take with.

Out of those three I'd use the .45 ACP and load it with some deep penetrating JHP load.

Maybe something like the Cor-Bon 185 grain DPX (Deep Penetrating X Round) would do the trick.

http://www.handgunsmag.com/ammunition/dpx_022305/

http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/Corbon%20.45%20ACP.htm

http://www.ableammo.com/catalog/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=95&products_id=75028

It still expands some and it creates a large wound channel, but it'll hold together through alot of meat and bone instead of fragmenting inside of 8 or 9 inches. The 185 grain +P would probably be a little more suited towards hunting than the 165 grain +P CorBon load.

 

[plumberroy]

Make the first shot count and don't worry about a backup lol I know that is easier said than done. I carry a hand gun all most all the time, and in bear country a pistol on your belt is better than a rifle leaning over yonder . but about any modern rifle or 12ga slug has at least twice the M.E. than any handgun the average person can handle and 4 + times the M.E. of the autos mentioned It is kinda like backing up a f350 with a pinto to me.. I can maybe see it with a muzzleloader since it is about 20 seconds to reload with a speed loader. I tend to carry a 22 handgun when I'm carrying a heavy rifle or slug gun or a large bore handgun when hunting small game
Disclaimer : My hunting style is up close and personal so my primary guns are usually something short and and pointable with low power scopes or shotgun with brenneke slugs I you are using a long barreled long range rifle with high powered scope you are in a different boat, take this into consideration when reading my opinion
Roy

 

[retrieverman]

I would go with a 357 for a back up weapon.

 

[retrieverman]

Here is a boar that I killed this week. It is proven fact that a bullet from a 308 or similar caliber to the side of the head will eliminate the need for a back up weapon or even a back up shot.