Pig gun: 30-06 or .375 H&H?

[fastest45ever]

Hi

How effective are these rounds on feral pigs?
What ammunition do you use?
Which do you like better for the task? Why?

Thanks

 

[TIMC]

Ether is more than you need. The answer to your question is 6 of 1 and 1/2 dozen of the other.

Now if you asked bolt action or semi-auto, which is better for pigs I would have said "Semi-auto is more fun!"

I hunt pigs with an AR-10 in .308

 

[C-grunt]

30-06 will work fine and have far less recoil than the 375 H&H.

 

[TexAg]

'06 is plenty!

 

[Ridgerunner665]

Lever actions are more fun...30-30, 35, 444, 45-70...thems hawg huntin guns.


30-06 will do fine...375 is WAAAAAAAAY overkill.

 

[hoghunting]

Either caliber will work well and if you enjoy shooting your .375 H&H, have a great time, but I would use the .30-06 as I've never seen a hog that needed a .375 mag.

 

[mnrivrat]

375 H&H Skin'em , Gut'em, and fry up the bacon all with one pull of the trigger - sounds like fun to me !!

 

[Inebriated]

.30-06, unless you're just trying to justify .375 H&H.

 

[Rail Driver]

My next door neighbor hunts pigs with a .22mag - he just brought me some sausage this morning. Tasty stuff.

I've got a one CRAZY buddy that hunts them with a good size fixed blade knife.

Most of the guys I know around here kill them with 7.62x39 or 30/30 and I know a few guys that like going after them with a .357 magnum revolver.

 

[finnwolf64]

Both the 30-06 & 375H&H Magnum are devastating on pigs. I like 150 grain bullets in the 30-06 & 270 grain bullets in the 375H&H.
I've used my CZ 375H&H to take numerous pigs out to 200 yards, but would probably recommend the 30-06 over the .375 as a pig gun. The main reason being that most .375H&H Magnums weigh a fair bit more than a 30-06, which helps soak up the recoil, but you start feeling the weight of the rifle if chasing pigs all day. You also don't require the power of a .375H&H for hunting pigs, but believe me-it is fun to use.

 

[threefortyduster]

.30-06 is more than enough. .30-30 is more than enough. They're all fun to use.

 

[Kyle M.]

Personally I'd use the .375 H&H, but thats because I already have one and it's the only centerfire rifle I have.

 

[dirtyjim]

I use prvi partizan 300 grain rn's in my 375 for hogs.
cheap, works & doesn't damage the meat to bad.
270 grain spire points work very well too

 

[aussiehunter steve]

Both are effective on pigs but the .375 is effective on everything!

 

[RPRNY]

Given that the .375 H&H is set by law as the minimum caliber for elephant hunting in several African jurisdictions, it would seem perhaps a bit much for pigs:

Males stand 3.2–4.0 m (10–13 ft) tall at the shoulder and weigh 4,700–6,048 kg (10,000–13,330 lb), while females stand 2.2–2.6 m (7.2–8.5 ft) tall and weigh 2,160–3,232 kg (4,800–7,130 lb)

- Barry Laurson & Marc Bekoff (6 Jan 1978). "Loxodonta africana". Mammalian Species 92: 1–8. Retrieved 2010-08-05.

30-06 is quite popular in Alaska and frequently used in addressing brown bear:

Most adult female grizzlies weigh 130–200 kg (290–440 lb), while adult males weigh on average 180–360 kg (400–790 lb). The average total length in this subspecies is 198 cm (6.50 ft), with an average shoulder height of 102 cm (3.35 ft) and hindfoot length of 28 cm (11 in)

- Grizzly Bears, Grizzly Bear Pictures, Grizzly Bear Facts – National Geographic. Animals. nationalgeographic.com. Retrieved on 2012-08-17.


Either will be more than sufficient for feral hogs:

A mature feral hog may reach a shoulder
height of 36 inches and weigh from 100 to over 400 pounds.

The Feral Hog in Texas, Rick Taylor, p4 http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_0195.pdf

 

[Il Duca]

.375 if you got it! Nothing better than popping off a big boomer. But how about a compromise? .375 Winchester. It's a thumper but not as punishing as the H&H. A little more stylish than a .30-06 too. And it comes in a great hog busting platform. Bottom line is either will take a hog cleanly, the '06 is more practical but ise what you want.

 

[musicman10_1]

Personally I'd use the .375 H&H, but thats because I already have one and it's the only centerfire rifle I have.

If you are only going to have one centerfire rife caliber that is a good one to have!!

 

[Swing]

Either be fine. I'd go with the .375 H&H just for fun.

 

[TexasPatriot.308]

my pastures are infested with them, I kill many a big pig with my .17hmr, ear shots, body shots make jello out of heart and lungs at 100 yards, I got lots of rifles in lots of calibers, just cant justiy spending that much money to kill hogs. when I ride my pastures usually got my little Savage 93 .17hmr with me, when I go to my hunting lease, (also infested with hogs) I usually go .308, 7mm-08 or .22-250. too old to take abuse of cannons, large magnums, wsms etc. see no use in it.

 

[fastest45ever]

Minimum calibers huh?

Let's see. Hit a 2300 pound beefalo with a 450 Nitro Express, 480 grains, 2200 fps. Went down. Got right back up. Lucky another barrel was present.

I was actually asking for specific loads, and bullets with both calibers. I have a ton of .375 H&H ammo, but, as it seems to go up like Gold prices, not really sure I want to shoot vermin with gold. Most of it is 300 grain Weatherby softpoints, like 300 rounds, at about a buck a round. To replace it is 3 or 4 times the cost.

30-06 ammo hasn't been cheap, and I do need an excuse to buy a .308, or I was thinking a K31 in 7.5 Swiss.

If I wanted to blow money, I'd convert the CZ 550 to .416 Remington, or more likely, I have a hanker for a .458 Lott.

Another thought is to open the .375 up to .375 Wby. Something about 300 grains @ 2700 fps that pretty much flattens everything out to 300 yards.

Problem is the .375 is pretty much ideal, capacity wise, 5 down, one up, in the CZ 550. With pigs, and other rather large varmits, they tend to be in packs, prides, etc. and magazine capacity can be an issue.

 

[Walkalong]

The .06 is more than enough gun.

 

[adelbridge]

i would use what ever had best optics suited for the task. down here we hunt at night and good optics trump caliber.

 

[azgsmith]

Depends on the bar you are at.

The 30-06 is perfect with a nosler partition. I shot a 300 pound hog at 50 yards runnin at me and a buddie, hit it low in the chest, it stopped turned, turned back and started at us again. It stopped again, turned broadside and the nosler dropped her, hoofs straight up in the air. The 375 is over kill and more expensive to shoot. Whatever you decide, dont forget to observe the Sabbath.

 

[CraigC]

Properly loaded, either will do the job. The .375 with a toughly constructed bullet will do less meat damage than the wrong bullet in the .30-06.

 

[TexAg]

There aren't many rounds in '06 that won't work on a pig in my opinion. An Accelerator wouldn't be my first choice of course, but it would work on an ear shot. I use 150 grain Fusions, very accurate and not too spendy. Haven't recovered a bullet yet. Pigs aren't billet proof.