Ok, been using a .223 rem last few year on west TX hogs and deer-no real trouble on deer and when I am shooting, no real trouble on hogs-issues come when i take a recoil sensitve/new/young hunter out-we still do fine on the deer but hogs are a bit of an issue. Takes some tracking and follow up shots more often than I like-So i am wondering what other light recoil caliber you guys have experience with to get faster experiation on a hog?

I am seriously considering a 250-3000 for this application-wondering if anyone out there has real world experience with this caliber on hogs?

Thanks

Dave

.223 shouldn't be much recoil. Get a silencer if you don't have one already and they take out even more recoil and concussion.

yea, did that this year...but the shooters I have can't always put the .223 bullet where it needs to go for a "dead right there" result...last one we hit needed 150+ yards tracking and a follow up-

I've shot them with a lot of different cartridges and I have come to the conclusion that sometimes they run no matter what. I went to head shots only and still had mixed results. Several times I have thought I had a magic combination of bullet and speed for them after having a couple of dozen drop dead. and then my plan get ruined by one running a hundred yards. Basically, regardless of what I shoot them with, I plan on them running, and If they don't, it's a bonus. They don't die as easy as a deer in my experience.

OK gotcha-still prolly gonna turn my ruger no 3 in to a 250 savage for the heck of it! Just gonna use the excuse of "I need a bigger caliber for my youger hunters/kids to kill hogs more effectively"

Here's a big, mud-armored boar that dropped in his tracks to the lowly .250 Savage out of a Winchester M70 loaded with an even-lower 85 grain Ballistic Tip (a cup and core bullet...gasp!). I've also dropped my biggest whitetail (DRT) with the little, mild mannered cartridge.

I love the .250...to the extent that last week at Nashville SCI I was in serious talks with Park West Arms about building me an SD 10 (their reiteration of the old Dakota Model 10 single shot). Truly a gentleman's rifle.

I have NO idea why they'd consent to build ME one, in that case. Money MIGHT enter into it...

Mark

Like you, the first couple of hogs I shot with my 223. That was years ago, and they’re probably still running.
I switched to 6.8 SPC and 300 Blackout.
Even though you haven’t specifically stated you’re not looking for something in an AR platform, the 2 above and the 6.5 Grendel all are pretty light-recoiling in a Ruger Ranch or similar configuration and can be had for not much money.
I’ve shot around 150 hogs with the 6.8 and around 50 with the 300 and I’ve learned that if you don’t want them to run, shoot them on a line halfway between the ear and shoulder.
Here’s the last one- no tracking just dropped in place.

Like others have said, I had mixed results with the 223, so I went to the 6.5 Grendel. Much more effective, and recoil in the AR isn’t much. That said, a bolt action in 250 Savage would be a light recoiling choice, if you could find one.

What bullet? I’m a fan of 77TMK if you can stabilize them

If hit hogs with up to a 338 win mag, only ones ever DRT was shot placement

55 grn barnes TSX

6.8spc, 6.5 grendel or even 762X39

Using a suppressor the kick is minimal and plenty of hog killin power.

Big

I’ve killed em w about everything but my favorite is the ole faithful .308

I use.300 BLK supersonics.

My son picked up a .350 Legend and that seems to hammer the hogs pretty good.

My wife, grandsons and I killed dozens of hogs with a .243 using 100 gr. Winchester Power Points.
Only one hog wasn’t dropped on the spot. That hog was a marginal hit and recovered within 50 yds. The boys were shooting this setup since they were 8 yrs. old.
I don’t believe the recoil is very similar between the 250-3000 and a .243.

I built an AR15 in a wildcat .25-223 about 15 years ago. My reason was so my daughter could use it deer hunting (.223 is not legal here for deer). 87 gr bullets were going about 2,600 fps out of a 16" barrel. I shot one hog with it and it worked very well.

I have seen hogs killed with .22 cal air rifles to .50 BMG. Using smaller (caliber and/or weight) and less powerful (however you want to quantify power/energy/momentum) ammo usually means needing more precise shots to key external locations on the animal at a trajectory that will carry the bullet through the intended bone and/or tissue to the vitals to effect the kill, ideally, quickly, given the type of bullet used. As you increase size and power, you can make the same kills with with and less precise shots or shots to typically poor external locations and still make good kills.

I can recall a certain hunting partner hitting a quartering away running adult hog with a .300 win mag that entered at the hip (not enough lead on the hog) that would be considered a typically poor hit for most calibers that transited diagonally through the body and end up breaking the opposite side shoulder after ~30" of penetration, dropping the hog in place, bullet nicely expanded and reduced. That is not a shot that would have worked with my 6.5 Grendel.

If you are going with a light recoiling rifle, then pick a bullet that will give you the terminal performance (fragmentation or expansion) you want at the intended ranges you anticipate shooting (impact velocities). I would argue that you want a bullet that will give you at least 10" of penetration with good expansion/fragmentation. You don't want a bullet exploding on the shoulder and not penetrating deeply enough.

To me your problem is not recoil. For a bottom end performance wise hunter you aren’t going to beat the 223 in low recoil. Your hunters need more trigger time.

I really have to agree with redchevy. You're not going to find anything with noticeably less recoil than a .223 that will kill hogs.

22 creedmoor is my current flavor. It’s doing excellent

I killed a 150 pounder last night w AR 556, 62 FMJ green tips


Had a lot of luck w that bullet on pigs

Anything that isn’t rimshot. I have quite a few pigs and have used .222 on numerous occasions. Like deer, I’ve had to go find them after the shot. I wouldn’t use rim fire on any animal bigger than a squirrel, possum, coon.

.223/5.56 is popular, but I'm personally a fan of .308/7.62x51

I have no experience with suppressors but YouTube has plenty of videos with various sets ups that may help this looking to get a rig set up.

.223 or .243 both pretty light recoil rounds.

6.8 in an AR is hard to beat...

Can not find much better than the 5.56/.223 for recoil. I was going to go all in on the 77gr TMK, already had a 1:7 barrel. I went on a hunt that would not allow 5.56/.223. I debated .277 wolverine and 300 HAM'R back and forth. Went with the HAM'R and love it, pigs...not so much.

416 REM. Mag

.223 is not an ethical hog caliber. I don't consider anything less than a .308 to be ethical for hog hunting. Sure, lesser calibers will work if shot placement is correct. Pigs have a lot of armor and fat around their chest. If you are going to take the time to hunt them, then use a caliber that will put them down for sure. .308 is not a heavy recoiling cartridge. It is manageable for smaller hunters, and it can punch through armor for a clean kill with one shot.

Buckle up...

They're very large rats, not deer, or any other game animal. I trap them...and I don't eat a single one. I believe Aldo Leopold would say to eradicate them off the range by any way possible.

I prefer a blow gun.

Welp, I just found out I’m unethical. Learn something new everyday.

Love me some 77 TMK, lot easier on bear/lion hides also

I’m taking the 22-250 tonight, it needed some dusting off and it’s one of my favorites (caliber and rifle)

Killed many with it

If I was 30 years younger, I'd love to try that running up along side and spearing them.

I have one of those big Cold Steel hunting boomerangs, should try giving that a go sometime.

It's weird because I've killed countless hogs, dead in their tracks, with .223 Rem., .243 Win., and even a .22LR, usually with shots straight to the ear hole. Most were dead before they hit the dirt. I never thought I was doing anything unethical, but now I'm starting to question myself.

Or not.

>>Tracers (and full auto)

If you go the .250 savage route, go ahead and ackley improve it. My 11 year old daughter has gotten pretty dang good with it and a 100 grain ballistic tip. Nipping on the heels of a 25-06 with less powder and recoil.

I've been wanting to give this a tryout....

For my experience so far I'd recommend the .300 HMR. With a suppressor and adjustable gas block I get no recoil using 130 gr. loads. The hogs just die and even on running shots where shot placement isn't ideal they go down....can't be said for the .223 from my experience with them....

Many with 22-250 and old faithful 243.

223 in 1-8 twist uses same bullets as 22 CM, what the 223 and 77TMK does at 200, CM does at 400+-

223 is too fast and small. Goes through them but doesn't drop them unless ear shot. If that is all you have then go for it! My buddy that kills like 75+ a year switched from 300BO. too many ran away and couldn't find. He switched to 308 or 7.62. I like the 6.5 Grendal. larger than 223 but similar recoil for running shots...etc. But majority of my hog hunting is with my Trad bows or compound

Well, that's a start I guess.

Another advocate of the 6.8spc here. My daughter started out hunting with one at 11yrs old and never complained about recoil. She's moved up to a 708 now and the 6.8 has become my truck gun when at the property. When used within its limits it works well.

Ok….

Both my Gboys have taken hogs with 223 but it took a close-up second shot to finish.

6.5 Grendel. Is my go to. It is an awesome round

I've been putting them down for years with a .257 Roberts which is similar in performance to a 250 Savage but I use 117 grain SSTs at ~ 2750 fps. They drop in their tracks if you put the bullet half way between the shoulder and the ear with them broadside to you - similar to what someone else said. That shot placement has a decent amount of room for error. I get the same results with my .243 Win, 100 grain pro-hunters running at 2950-ish fps. Even with a bigger round like a .308 they are going to run a ways if you don't hit them along that line from the shoulder to the neck or behind the ear.

I use what ever I have. I do stress bullet placement with the Grandsons. They have done well with the .223/556. Shot placement is the key.

It ain't the headstamp that kills 'em, it's the right bullet (and there are MANY) moving within the correct velocity range taking the right path through the critter that kills 'em .

I guess not everyone got the memo.

I like the .260 myself. I have yet to kill anything too dead with it.

I’ve killed a bunch with a 22LR in the ear. I’ve also used everything from 222 to 30-06.

Until recently, I was loaded with them. Went there today and didn’t see but one pig track.

Been looking for this chart since this thread started. This should clear up yall's confusion.

sir you put a big smile on my face after a harrrddd friday!!! lots of wisdom there for sure

Thank you

Dave

It's all about shot placement and margin for shot placement error. Sure a .223 will kill hogs effectively, BUT it doesn't give you much margin for shot placement error. After shot placement it's bullet selection. The better the bullet the smaller caliber you can use with a decent margin for shot placement error. Based on killing 4000+ hogs over the past 40 years I've determined that bullets that shed approx 40% of their weight AND the base penetrates deeply kill hogs the quickest. Examples are:

Hornady SST
Hornady interlock
Lehigh Controlled Chaos or Tipped Xtreme Chaos
Nosler Ballistic Tip (best at velocities under 2600fps)
Remingon CoreLokt
Winchester Power Point (NOT Deer Season because it doesn't have enough penetration)

High weight retention bonded and solid copper bullets will kill hogs effectively, BUT they just don't put them on the ground as quickly, nor do they give you as much margin for shot placement error as the above.

Assuming you are shooting a good bullet then good hog calibers start at 6.5 Grendel and get bigger.....

Darn, do I have to get a 45/70 to hunt? How about a Long Ranger 308W with iray TX60 IR?

In the last 5 yrs I’ve lost one pig using an AR15 using a 64 TGK for about half of those years and a 75 gr interlock. That puts me somewhere around 74 for 75. From good sized boars to shoats. Vast majority neck/head shots with a few chest shots mixed in. The chest shots sometimes ran 10yds or so. First one my son shot a couple years back was a fairly good size boar. Hit him about center mass with the first shot, he ran maybe 15 ft and fell over kicking and squealing. Grabbed the rifle and put another 3 in him. To my credit, I did end up finding the one I lost about 3 months after the fact (or at least his skull and bones). Hit him a little lower than planned, little behind his lower jaw. It’s worked for me and my son just fine but we’re hunting known distances out of a blind. I see no reason to switch to something else at this point, strictly for pigs. I made him shoot a 6.5 for deer this season. It’s not that he’s terribly recoil shy, just happens to be that the NV is on an AR and no reason to switch, really.

Not a 45/70. Sorry. Won't work as well.

Darn.

Where I live there are opportunities to shoot hogs almost every day, if a fella so desires. Most people just don't realize just how tough hogs are. The skin on their shoulders and down their ribs is very tough and thick, about 3/4" thick. I shot a boar last November with my .41 Magnum. It took three shots to put him down. Here you can see just how thick the hide is-



Even the solid SWC's can't "make the trip" because of the extremely thick hide-



I have a feeder a little over 100 yds. down in front of my house. I keep a Savage Axis II in .223 in the laundry room gun rack for visitors to the feeder. For a while I just used 60 gr. Hornady SP's and 69 gr. MatchKings, but like so many .224" bullets they just weren't working as well as I liked. So a while back I switched to handloaded Sierra 65 gr. GameKings. I'm very careful with my shots and only take broadside shots. These bullets work much better, but even with perfect shot placement a hog will typically make it 100 yds. or so before giving it up. I've found over 30+ years of shooting hogs that almost any caliber over .22 works reasonably well with the right bullet, meaning NOT varmint bullets.

Yup, nice thick fat layer. Shot one (dead) with 30/30 from < 5 feet - gut got pass-through, shoulder - nope. The reason they say hit the line from ear to shoulder.

6.5 grendel