Pig Hunting in Texas, which rifle should I take?

[jimsmith80]

I am going to texas in a mounth or so and my buddy & I are going to shoot some pigs. Vote on which calibers I should take. I can never decide on my own! I really don't need the well this so much better stuff, they are all good in their own way so just tell me what you think and why. Just to let eveyone know no matter which rifles I take I will use Barnes TSX bullets in them so no worries there.
There are also two handgun choices, of either a 9mm luger or .357 Sig. Each of these will be loaded with Gold Dot bullets.

 

[3pairs12]

With out knowing the type of terrain you will be hunting I chose .308 win. I really like tht caliber for an all around purpose. Still can be used in some thick woods but also stretch out and touch them aways off.

 

[rbernie]

I've used 308, 30/30, 270, and 7.62x39. They'll all do just fine. The only time I failed to get an exit wound was when using the 7.62x39 on a 500lb boar. That took four shots and none exited.

Big and slow beats just about anything else. My preferred medicine is a 180gr in 308 or 170gr in 30/30.

 

[Javelin]

.308 is perfect. Always bring enough gun.

 

[Floppy_D]

416 Rigby would make you cooler than anyone there, but 308 will do the trick.

 

[retrieverman]

I am currently shooting a 308, but any of the calibers in the poll will do just fine.

 

[TxBaaylea]

New here; first post.

Feral pig signs are showing up recently around our place. Haven't seen any for years. I plan to carry my Winchester 1892 .38-40 with hot lead bullet loads on my tractor in case I run across then. Probably use 180 gr cast but have not selected the powder yet.

Of your list I thinks any one of them except the .223 and the 9mm Luger could be my choice.

Vernon

 

[a-sheepdog]

I pick 308 first then on to the 300 mags. No need for that much rifle for hog hunting though. The 308 will do what you want without the excessive recoil. I have shot many with 308 and 7mm-08.

 

[cliffy]

First PIG Choice

.223 Remington with 60 grain Nosler Partition leaves no pig standing. For those that stagger off, a back-up .243 Winchester with 100 grain Speer Grand Slams will deck them HARD. Edible pigs are under 200 pounds, but if you want a trophy head rather than an edible ham and cutlet, drag out your .308 Winchester and let the coarse hair fly with 150 grain bullets. REMEMBER that a pig's vitals are far forward of any deer's. BEHIND a pig's shoulder is smelly stomach. cliffy

 

[CoRoMo]

I chose .223 AR.
Just behind the ear.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Those aren't rifles; those are calibers. What rifles? I voted anyway.

 

[Davionmaximus]

I personally use the DPMS LR308 as the weapon of choice for Hog Slayin'

 

[scalhoun]

+1 on the DPMS LR308. Hands down, it's my go to rifle for Hog hunting.

 

[TIMC]

My choice would be .308 for pigs. My preference in bullets are the Hornady 150 grain SST but the TSX bullets should work well too.

I have been shooting pig in Texas for many years and have tried many different rifles and calibers looking for the perfect pig gun. I settled on the AR-10 as the best pig killer out there if you are wanting to take out multiple targets. If you are paying by the pig then any bolt rifle with decent accuracy will do well. The best advice is to have good light gathering optics, pigs tend to come out very early and right at dark depending on hunting pressure.

Pig hunting is one of my favorite past times andwhere we hunt pigs are pest and the ranch owner demands they are shot on sight and request we kill as many as possible to keep the population numbers down.

 

[jimsmith80]

Wow
I suppose that I am not the only .308 fan out there. So far a 29 vote for .308, 13 for the 30-30, and 10 for the .223. Suprising how much of a lead the .308 has.! Whoever stated that those where calibers not rifles my apoligy I miss spoke. So to let everyone know what the options are in .308 here is the list

Sako L579 Forster Full Stock 308 win w/ VX-II 2-7x36mm
Sako L579 Forester Deluxe 308 win w/ VX-II 4.5-14x40
Springfeild IDF sinper M1A .308 win W/ leupold Euro-30 3-9x40mm
Enterprise Arms FAL 308 win Iron Sights
FN Patrol XP 20" .308 win w/ Mk 4 6.5-20x50mm (this is not really in the running I just figured I would list just to see if anyone has a prefrance for it)
The other thing I was supprised at was the low / lack of intrest in the bigger calibers such as the .338 win mag, 9.3x62mm, and .416 Rigby.
In june I was in Namibia and we shot bunches of warthogs. It was great fun but after a VERY close run in with a pig, I have a much greator respect for them. Lucky that day I had a loaded .338 Win Mag in hand (we where walking back to the truck, after shooting a Zebra, not looking for a wounded pig) when a warthog came for me from less than 10 yards. I hip shot and was lucky and got him in the neck! Needless to say every pig I shot with that .338 cashed in rather quickly! But There is nouthing wrong with the .308, I just assumed more votes would be for the big slow guns. thats why I love these polls! You never know!

 

[TIMC]

Curious to why the FN PBR is not in the running, it would be an excellent rifle for the job?

I took this big boy a couple of weeks ago with my PBR using hand loads with 125 grain spitzers. The shot was at 225 yards, dropped him in his tracks.

 

[jimsmith80]

The FN BPR is a most exclent rifle! I would never feel undergunned, the reason it is not in the running is the Mk 4 leupould 6.5-20x50mm Scope is set up for long range shooting. But in that no way to say that it is not a great rifle! It will shoot .75 MOA All day long, and this summer on one of the few times I took it out I shot a .5 MOA group @ 300 yards. I was very pleased! 1 1/2 " at 300 yards is some very fine shooting! Just as an FYI I was shooting Federal Gold Metal Match 168gr Match HP that day. I don't rememner the outside tempature or anything like that sorry.
Great rifle thoug

 

[TIMC]

the reason it is not in the running is the Mk 4 leupould 6.5-20x50mm Scope is set up for long range shooting

Hmmmm....

I like the high power scopes on my pig rifles, since I always take head shots ( at least on the first one)

I'm running a Leupold VXIII 4.5-14x50mm on my PBR.


My favorite pig hunting rig is my AR-10, it is running a Leupold 6.5-20x40mm LR scope Which does exceptionally well in the field.

 

[oregonhunter]

just missed on the chance to pick up a BPR for $700, you guys are making me jealous. Nice rifles BTW

 

[RustyShackleford]

AR-15 (.223) loaded full of soft points is my tool of choice for the ferrell swine... accurate as hell out to a few hundred yards, quick follow up shots and you'll never have to worry about running out of ammo or reloading. All the above rifle calibers you have listed will work fine but believe me when i say that the .223 is more than adequate hog medicine.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Rusty, handload or factory? Which soft point bullet? Thanks. Nice piggies!!

 

[RustyShackleford]

Factory reloads... they were actually Lake City 06 once fired reloads, looked to be some sort of foreign canalured heavily leaded soft points, and I'm not sure what the bullet weight was. I wish I could find them again ammunitiontogo.com used to carry them... 32.00 for a bag of 100 rounds, and they were surprisingly accurate as well. I bet I've shot a 1000 of those reloads, I'll be shooting handloads now that I've run out. I'll have to see if I can find an old bag tonight and see if it has the specifics listed on there and get back to you.

 

[Titan6]

.308 offers the best balance of power and price out there. .30-30 is a good follow up but then you have to deal with the lever action.

 

[deacon8]

I voted .308. .416 Rigby for hogs? haha!

 

[matrem]

Going hog hunting (to Texas) in March.Loading 60gr Partitions & have 55gr Bear Claws loaded already for an AR 15.Have never killed a wild hog,but from what I've gathered,I don't feel a bit "undergunned"?
Well. maybe a little ? But that's what I'm using.