Looking to get a side arm for hogs. I have started to guide hogs and usually take my shotgun but when brush gets tight and on hand and knees looking for pig want something more close quarter.

was thinking a 45acp or 10mm in a auto (more bullets and ability to put on lights)

or a revolver in 357 or 44mag. (more knock down)

any suggestions?

Well i'm not real sure why you would want to arm the hogs, but i'd probably give them a pellet gun or something.


On a serious note, anything from 9mm up would work. Worry more about bullet selection than caliber.

Sounds like time to "call out the dogs". Might think about tractor with brush hog, back it in to cut the brush or run over the hog. Might use it for a decoy, huge old boar wanting to breed with soft purring "hog". Hands & knees??

10 mm or 44 mag. I like the high capacity of the Glock 20 for extremely tight quarter situations. The 44 mag with a little breathing room would work just fine.

I have a ruger in 357 I use for hogs, never had a problem being undergunned.

I don't think much of pistols...My buddy shot hogs in our trap
with his 9MM, and last week we had 4 3 young choates and 110 gilt
which he brought his 8 shot 22 Mag...at 2 ft..I still had to shoot two twice...There are lots of pisterleros who love their
guns, but they are made to shoot people with...not everyone is
Elmer Keith...DD

As mentioned a glock in 10mm would be the best "get off me" gun in a close call, but a hard cast bullet of .429 or .452 diameter or such would be the best one shot game over type handgun.

10mm with a 200 grain xtp would be (and is) my choice for hogs. You want something with deep denetration and heavy weight. A 10mm, or 44 mag with 240's, or a 41 mag with a 210 would be great medicine.

If you have ever had a hog charging at you, the last caliber I would pick is a 9mm. Give me big bullets with good penetration.

My primary side arm at the lease is a Glock 33 357 Sig with Speer Gold Dots. When I shot the Boar in my sig pic with my 223 I drug him off a little ways and then 30 minutes later he got up and came crashing through the brush and right into my stand. It all happend so quick I drew my 357 Sig without even thinking and put 2 rounds right in his head droping him on the spot. I am sold on the 357 Sig as a hog stoper.

I cant belive anyones said a reg. 40s&w plenty of pop for close quarters...sure a .45 would be even better but just sayin...

No hog that I've ever shot in the head or chest with a 9mm failed to die quickly, and no hog that I missed or hit marginally with a .44 fell dead from fright. If a hog ever did charge you, which I've still never seen one do, even after trying very hard to get them to, the rifle in your hand is still a better tool than the pistol on your belt.

44 mag. Ruger Super Balckhawk 7 1/2" bbl. if they are still comming after a 6 round dose there is enough steel to throw at them n run like heck!

44 Special, 10mm or, 460 Rowland....

The ability to make reliably placed shots, and rapid, reliably placed followup shots, and to keep coming back onto the point of intended aim if needed, is more important than the power.

Which pistol will allow you to make the most accurate shots with the quickest followup?

I hunt and kill hogs every day. I use revolvers. autos are for self defense, combat. the puniest I use will be a .357 mag with 180 grain Buffalo Bore, I prefer .44mag and mostly .45 colt with heavy loads with cast bullets. a 10 mm may be good for all I know, but revolvers are just made for hunting. I guess if all you got is a .45 acp or 10 mm, use it. all my hog hunting friends that hunt all the time use revolvers, they must know something.

TP,
What loads are you using with your 45 Colt and 44? And just curious, why are you using cast bullets?

where are you guiding the hogs to?

Not sure what TP is using but a hard cast Keith style bullet is hard to beat for a pistol hunting bullet. Usually accurate, deep penetration and that large flat point does some damage along the wound canal

A 44 Magnum loaded with 240gr cast lead semi wadcutters with a full charge of your favorite magnum handgun powder.....it's a no brainer.

I have shot hogs with a variety of handguns and have dropped plenty where they stood, but I have had fairly poor success with anything less than a hungting cartridge with a hunting type bullet. Let's see...

Walther P22 with .22 LR hollow point (I was fishing)= FAIL

FIE Titan .25 ACP FMJ (For the LOLZ)= laughable FAIL...hog picked up his leg let out a nonchallant oink then went back to trotting along...gun jammed preventing a follow up shot go figure with FIE pocket pistol quality...

S&W 39-2 9mm 115gr FMJ = FAIL while in a tight spot resulting in a tree climb. Pig did die and bullets were recovered. One shot center of skull above the eyes failed to penetrate the skull and instead squeezed down and bent in an odd shape. Body shots were less than impressive also, The hit to vitals caused minimal lung/vessel damage.

S&W 10 .38 Special 125 grain SWC = FAIL Finished off 200 yards away with a .270 and found the bullet had failed to penetrate the shoulder from 15-20 yards.

Uberti 1873 .45 Colt 225 grain Hornady XTP = FAIL Very capable caliber, but poor bullet choice. Projectile fragmented upon expansion and failed to provide lethal penetration and damage. Wound was examined after a .30-30 finished it off after a long tracking job and shot while fleeing.

However, with all of these same guns (Except the Walther .22 and FIE .25) and a few other larger bore revolvers I have taken several other hogs cleanly and quickly with different loads at various times. Part of the fun with hogs is using a wide array of weapns to take them.

For a semi-auto you can't go wrong with the .357sig. That round is just amazing from all the information I have found on the net. No personal experience but it is on my list

My friend if you say it I am sure it must have happened,, but this is truly a bizzare statement.
I have shot buckets full of XTP's into everything from dirt banks and water bottlles to deer to elk and and even a bear out of really hot loaded 44mags and 45 LC and never have I seen something like this from that bullet. It is true that I shoot 240's in the 44 and 250's in the 45LC but still seems like a fluke.

I am pretty sure that is the name of the projectile...it is a hornady jacketed hollowpoint and at 225gr seems somewhat light for caliber IMO for hog hunting. I didn't reload these rounds just hunted with them. I have had better success on pigs with 250+ grain hard cast gas check projectiles. It wasn't a huge hog, probably a 150ish sow center of shoulder shot. Of course this one experience with this particuliar load was just that, one experience and not a long observed trend. However, due to the first time I used this particuliar reload on a hog resulting in a less than ideal outcome, I have only used heavy cast lead since and have not found a reason to try anything else.

There's a 454 casull for sale in the classifieds right now. It should do ok on hogs