I recently got an AR with the express purpose of reducing the hog population. Been looking at some of the heavier bullets, thinking varmint type bullets should be avoided.

What about FMJ's. They are cheap and available. My purpose is really vermin control. Anyone have enough experience with FMJs to feel confident regarding their effectiveness...or not? thanks,

IMO, .223 is not a good choice for pigs or deer. You will get a lot of guys who will say, ".223 in the ear drops them every time". Well, you don't always get an ear hole shot. FMJ in the boiler room will not be effective. The round that I have found to be very effective, and shoots well in my gun is SSA 64 gr Bonded Power Point. SSA 64 gr PP Bonded I am assuming that you have a .223/5.56 barrel.

I only use bullets designed to expand on pigs. If a hog deserves death, it deserves a quick one. All wild hogs in America deserve death.

FMJs are not ideal. I prefer a Sierra Game King 55 gr. soft point. Expands well and will shoot through both shoulders at 100 yards on a 150 pound hog. You may not be a reloaded, though. Of course they all work in the brain. If I had to use an FMJ, I think I'd shoot for bone. Like the near shoulder. That should put bone shards into the vitals.

No FMG on hogs. You will not like killing one with them. It is almost completely ineffective.

Gotta be better than poison

Put down between 25 and 30 in one night using 223 55gr fmj's. Effective enough for me.

Better man than I. After the FMJ debacle I will not shoot them anymore. Gave away a case the other day. If I shoot a hog it will be with my handload and a partition. And it will not be with my 223.

You almost had me. That was pretty good.

Not too many years back I bought my first AR from a guy and knew nothing about them or the .223. I went out and bought a bunch of ammo for $5/box. I was pretty excited to be able to shoot hogs so cheap! They were FMJ's and the results were not good, I actually got very mad about the horrible results, hogs would just run off, it sucked.
I took the advice of some guys on other forums and searched for the best ammo for hogs. I ended up sold on the Winchester Hog Special in 64gr. They were dumping hogs with shoulder shots and I was recovering most of the hogs I shot. Just my experience but buy the good stuff if you can swing it, it is worth the extra cash.

The bullet makes all the difference hunting deer and hogs with the .223.

My rule of thumb is 60 grain soft point or heavier, no polymer tips, bonded/partition/controlled expansion a plus.

The Nosler 64 BSB and the Sierra 65 Grain Gameking are my two current favorites, in that order.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

Any bullet in a hog is fine with me.

I have used FMJ and Never had a problem. Guess I have been lucky

I have had both good and bad results using various FMJ's from my 223 and 5.56 rifles. Not all are the same. I would choose the XM 193 Federal 55 gr. load. it starts breaking apart after 3-4 inches of penetration, will break bone in a satisfactory fashion and I have taken a truck load or two of feral hogs with it. That said since I mostly night hunt for feral hogs and the tall grass makes recovery difficult I always try to make CNS hits, head, neck and spine hits. So for me even the cheapie Monarch FMJ loads work pretty good most of the time. I have had them hit a hog and not penetrate in a straight line several times probably why I have had some mystery lost hogs using them. I much prefer the 75 gr. Hornady BTHP bullet with cannelure over just about anything else for hogs when I use a 5.56 nowadays.

Ive killed a few that have dropped right away but had just as many run off. I switched to the game kings for hogs and never lost one or had one that didn't die. The few extra dollars for a box of good hunting bullets is worth it.

Gentlemen Thanks for the feedback. Most helpful.