Ok, in the next 12 months I'll be buying a hog hunting gun of some sort and i am looking for suggestions. Probably figure a .308 caliber military type set up. Need to hunt day or night so a night scope will be on the list.

what gun/scope combo in the $1000 range would you suggest?

$2000 range?

$3000 range?


Looking forward to reading what more experienced hog hunters run...

Well, I have a $1,700 M&P 10 I bought new 4-5 years ago, not counting any add-ons and I spent $2,500 on a used Pulsar XD50A thermal scope.

You can usually find a lightly used .308 AR for under $1,000 and a new Pulsar NV scope for $600-700. I think that's about as cheap as you can start.

Stay away from any ATN scopes, no matter the price. I previouly owned (2), the monoculars I have are the exception.

No suggestions here, I am at close to $8,000 including suppressor. You can probably buy a used AR 10, and a used scope in the ballpark of $3k. The old technology thermals are dropping but are very functional. What I wouldn't do is buy a thermal that can't easily detect out to 600 yards at least.

WOW! 8K for night time hog hunting? Not sure I could slip that past the wifey...how often you hunt?

Here's my setup. Feeder pen (with a loose bottom wire) with a "Mr. Beams" motion activated flood light, runs on 3 D-cell batteries and lasts a long time. I got tired of dealing with the unreliable solar stuff. .308 bolt action with a Bushnell "Dusk to Dawn" set to the green reticle, zeroed at 100 yards. Wooden box 75 yards away to sit in. The pigs get used to the light coming on and they seldom do so much as look up from the corn. I do let it "rest" a good 3 weeks after a kill. I have buddies who even hang cow bells on the bottom strands of wire to wake them up when something hits it. Apparently the pigs get used to that, too.

Oh, my other favorite setup is a 35 gallon drum on its' side with corn at the back. It helps if you flatten one side of the drum a bit so it lays kind of still. With the pigs head in the drum, you can shoot the shoulder usually.

Oh, my current pig gun is a Ruger Scout Rifle. It's compact and very handy. I have the scope over the receiver, not in the "Scout" configuration.

I've got a Sight Mark night scope that has served me well for years now. I've shot a lot of hogs using it with no problems. Not a thermal, but not the price of a thermal either. You can mount one on anything you can mount a scope on, so your choices are many. I've had it on a bunch of rifles along the way, including a couple bolt actions...but my current is an Aero Precision AR in 6.5 Creedmore and it does a great job. I've gotten two in the 250 lb. range this past week (the only thing that limits me is my need for a little more sleep). You can pick up one of those scopes in the 500.00 +- range .

any AR-10

PULSAR 960 night vision - good quality, not too expensive $1200 - 1500 ish

AR-15 in 300 Black Out with a FLIR Thermal RS32 works for us. I'm not a fan of 223 for pigs. A 300 blk out has more energy and penetrates better. A 6.8 SPC or 6.5 Grendel would also be good. Ar-10 in 308 would be fine also, just bigger with more recoil and blast.

Thermal scopes are the way to go, IMO. Night vision has some major limitations in brush and in the woods. If you are hunting wide open fields, the night vision should be decent. Get in the woods, and the contrast has issues when finding and engaging targets. I've tried and used both, and thermal is MUCH better.

This is the same FLIR I hunt with on my AR.

http://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbth...-5x#Post6897888

PSA AR 10 for 600.00 and Sightmark Photon DigitalNV for 500.00. $1,100.00 plus tax.

You can kill any pig within 200 yards.

338 federal ar-10
200 grain federal ammo
16 in setup suppressed
Reap ir thermal

My other setup is 11.5 in 6.8 sbr with the reap ir

Do you already have an AR15? - if so, all you need is 300 Blackout upper...other parts will transfer - team it up with a Armasight Predator, some are selling new now for under 2k.

[quote=enigmausly]Do you already have an AR15? - if so, all you need is 300 Blackout upper...other parts will transfer - team it up with a Armasight Predator, some are selling new now for under 2k. [/quote

First post

Doesn't actually say he doesn't have other weapons ... just trying to create cost savings solutions to a hog platform.

If you have an AR15 platform already, I would suggest a 6.5 grendel or a 6.8 SPC. I have both but I tend to like the 6.8 SPC upper more.. Ever since I upgraded to the 6.8 my .223 stays in the closet! Just plug and play to your AR15 lower (except a new mag and ammo of course). A Grendel will typically run you less than the SPC - I got my SPC and Grendel from MWD Firearms and was super fast shipping.

I only trust the ammo from Night Ops LLC as well. They custom load all of their rounds and they DO SOME DAMAGE!

Now as far as the optics I am biased towards ATN, but this forum hates ATN scopes. Probably the most hateful forum towards ATN out there. But do your own research and do whats best for you.

If you want a great Day/Night Vision scope for under 700 that records in HD, has a ballistic calculator, holds several profiles for different rifles/rounds, and has an app that you can live stram through on any smart device to share your hunt with someone sitting with you. Then at least check out ATN X-Sight II. They have the 3x14 for closer stalking type situations and the 5x20 for longer (100 yards and over) applications.

Get on YouTube and see for yourself what the optics look like. Hell if you are in the Austin area and want to try out mine let me know I will take you on a hunt and let you use teh X-Sight or Thor HD if you want.. Sometimes seeing something in person is better than listening to a forum.

3000 isnt much for optics and gun

A decent Ar10 is about 1000

a strike eagle 1-6 with mount is about $600 (Day Scope)
a photon XT is about $600 plus a few accessories that you will need (Night scope)

That is 2500 and that is probably the cheapest you can start for optics and gun.

your 1000 2000 3000 should really be 2500 5000 7500 when adding thermals in the mix

Or just buy a gren/red light and stay with the strike eagle and you are in for under 2000

Are you stating that 6.5, 6.8 mags fit the 556 lower? Wasn't aware of that ... BCG and charging handle the same as well?

The magazines will both fit a standard AR-15 lower. You will have to have a different bolt for both calibers as neither uses a 5.56 bolt. Bolt carrier and charging handle are the same.

Excellent to know and thanks ...