Pig Hunting - Guns and Loads

[jhjimbo]

Great Guns & Handloads for Hog Hunting (shootingtimes.com)

[Ernie]

Nice article

[PigHunter]

Thanks Jim for posting the link. I've always liked Layne Simpson's articles and value how he relates his experiences with various cartridges.

I've used two different handguns to take pigs. One was my .40 S&W semiauto and the other my .45 Colt Ruger single-action. I've got a .357 mag revolver but have yet to try it on a pig.

My .308 Win bolt-action has accounted for most of the pigs I've killed. That's probably because it was my primary deer rifle for 20 years and pigs were just targets of opportunity. For dedicated pig hunting though, the Remington 7400 in .30-06 has proven to be slightly better.

So far the 6.5 Creedmoor has also been good and seems to drop them just as fast as did the .30 calibers.

[WA Mtnhunter]

I would like to try my .358 Win on piggies. The Savage 99 should allow for fast follow up shots or multiple hits in the porkers.

[FirstBubba]

Prior to the "Pig Explosion", back in the 1960's, pig sightings weren't rare, but scarce.
Anymore, where I am, if you're on stand and you hear rustling leaves, it may well be a pig rather than a deer.
When we moved to Okla in the summer of 2002, it didn't take long for the "pig problem" to rear it's ugly head.
Since then I've hunted, shot and trapped feral pigs/hogs quite a bit.

All that said, WAM, your Savage 99 in .358 Win is perfection for "pig plinking".
Any "deer" (?) cartridge in the .30-30 Win class is sufficient for pigs.

With all due respect to Mr. Simpson, pig, vermin or game animal, we, as hunters, owe our quarry as quick a death as possible.
If I can't get a "kill" shot, I won't take the shot. ...even on a pig.
But that's just me. Anyone else can do as they please.
Therefore, to suggest someone take a 5.56/.223 to hunt pigs is terribly unpukka.
I've killed pigs with a .22 Hornet*, but I would not take a .22 Hornet pig hunting.

His suggestions for handgun cartridges are pretty much spot on, though I'm not too sure I would purposely tackle a pig with a handgun if I was on foot.

Pigs is tough, but they ain't bulletproof!
Pigs "can" be dangerous, if you're foolish.

One of the games people play in this area is to use dogs to run pigs to ground. Once aground, the hunter moves in, grabs the hog by a hind leg and flips it over. On it's back, a hog is pretty helpless.
They want them alive to sell. There is apparently a big market in France for extremely lean pork.

So much for my ramblings!

* - targets of opportunity

[FirstBubba]

Myths I've heard about hogs.

1) If you're not shooting at least a .300 Win Mag, don't shoot a pig!
2) A .44 magnum slug just ricocheted off the hogs "shield"!
3) The feral hog is the "lion" of American game animals!

[Ernie]

You can hear a lot of things that are not true for sure.
Reality: 2 pigs taken with a 357 magnum.
143 yards or a 134 yards...Can't remember right now and it is smaller than a pig, but in the same class.


A tough hog/Warthog at 35ish yards, with the same 357 magnum (1-shot).

[Ernie]

My biggest pig: Combo kill.
Synchronized shooting at night (Spot and Stalk). I was shooting a 308 Win and my hunting buddy was shooting a 243 Win.
FWIW it is really hard for a left-hand shooter to pan very far left on a moving animal when shooting from the prone position

[PigHunter]

Like said before, I've used a .22 WMR rifle to kill a couple of pigs but only because no center-fires were legal that day.

The .45-70 and 12 gauge slugs punch right through, shield or not. But arrows seem to never immediately take one down.

Here's the largest I've dropped. Remington Model Four (7400) cut down to carbine length, .30-06 with factory loaded Remington 150g Core-Lokts

[Ernie]

I can't imagine how many game animals have been killed with Core-Lokts...

[FirstBubba]

I can't imagine how many game animals have been killed with Core-Lokts...

A bunch! LOL!

Oddly Ernie, the little "collared peccary" isn't of the "porcine" family.
Every search I've tried just comes back with "peccary". (family Tayassuidae - "new world pig")*
I can only presume that "javelina" is some native American slang or lingo.

The problem with them is that if the herd (called a "squadron"?) feels threatened, the entire bunch will come for you!
I understand that there have been hunters who were treed by a "squadron" of the ornery little beasts and had to stay several hours before they drifted off.

Needless to say, they ARE tough little customers!
I understand that even though they are also called musk or stink pigs, properly and carefully dressed out, can be quite tasty!

Good shooting Ernie!

* - pigs are not "native" to America and genetically, will not cross with the javelina.

[Ernie]

I didn't think the Javelina/peccary were actually related to our pigs.
The Warthog is just a tough customer (taste great though!).
My point being the little 357 does better than most people give it credit.

Back to the Corelokts...Since I rarely use factory ammo, I had never shot a big game animal with a Corelokt until a couple of years ago. Shooting a classis-Remington Custom Shot 6BR XP-100. When I purchased the gun I got 3-4 boxes of factory ammo with the 100 grain Corelokt bullet (This ammo hasn't been made for some time).
I shot a doe antelope prone with it at 255 yards, and dropped her quickly.
Then I shot a pd at around 40-50 yards using the tripod rest behind me.

[PigHunter]

Ernie, great pictures and descriptions. I find those center grip pistols fascinating.

The Core-Lokt in .308 Win and .30-06 has worked well for me on deer and pigs. My shots are mostly within 100 yards so there was no test of long range performance and expansion.

My .357 mag is a Ruger Sp101 with 4-inch barrel. I can also shoot .357 mag from my Handi-Rifle in .357 Maximum talked about last Summer. So far, I've not taken game with either but will try again this Fall.

[Ernie]

What weight and bullet type for the 357 Magnum?

[PigHunter]

For the .357 Magnum, I handload 158g Hornady XTP's with 16.0g of W296. It's good for about 2 MOA in the Handi, but didn't measure velocity. That's accurate enough for my typical ranges.

I need to check the speed and accuracy from the 4-inch SP101. No doubt I've done that before but I don't remember the results and can't find any records.

For the .357 Maximum, the handload is 180g Hornady XTP's with 21.0g of H110 for a measured velocity average of 2025 fps. This will do 1 MOA in the Handi using a 1-4x scope. I'm thinking of switching to one with greater magnification and that should narrow the group size.

I've got a box of the Hornady 140g FTX but haven't loaded any for test. They're lighter than what I want to use in the maximum. I still have about 150 rounds of the 158's in the magnum. What are you using in your .357 mag?