Minimum Caliber for Feral Pigs

[ejcrist]

I'm planning on taking one of my flintlocks on a feral pig hunt in Texas in a few months. I'm currently building a 58 caliber Christian Spring rifle but I don't know if I'll have her done and ready to go in time for the hunt. In case I'm not finished I have two other flints, a 45 Pedersoli and a 40 Late Lancaster that I built a few years ago. I know the 45 would be the default choice of most since it's the larger of the two calibers but I shoot my 40 a whole lot better and it's a lot more accurate. I only shoot PRB's. Does anyone think a 40 prb is too light for feral pigs of around 150 lbs max? I know it'll work with a head shot but would it be sufficient for a heart-lung shot up to about 50 yards if a head shot didn't present itself? I shot one last year with a 45 colt and 280 grain cast semi-wadcutters cast from wheel weights and I emptied the cylinder into him from a tree stand height of about 15' before he went down. That's why I'm asking. They're tough little buggers.

 

[Curt]

Gc
I would get real busy on the 58 if I were you but its your hunt.I think last years episode might be a good indacation on how tuff a hog can be and killin it quick is the whole idea at least for me. I am not a fan of small bore guns for big game although they can work under IDEAL conditions but when its your own hide thats at stake I say bigger is better.Only a dumb hog will stand around an let you shot him twice. Curt

 

[Wes/Tex]

NO kidding about hurrying up with the .58! I've done one serious one up in Tennessee many years ago and had a shiny new Dixie Gun Works "Penntucky" rifle then. Being the smart type, I decided to use a big thumping PRB for the first shot and fast reload with the .445" HB Minie's they had then. Long story short, "Boom...oink...run and jump over log...reload...Boom...oink...bark-bark-bark from dogs...jump back over log...reload... Boom... oink...bark-bark-bark..." You get the picture! He finally decided to fall over after absorbing 4 .45's the first of which severed an aortic artery...he was dead and didn't know it. Any of the 4 shots should have knocked him down but 'oinks' are a tough bunch. Take all the gun you can find or carry!
Oh, and if anyone tells you after the shot to hod still they won't know where you are, is lying! Be sure to know where the nearest substantial mesquite is...you may just want to practice your climbing techniques if something goes Murphey's Law direction! :rotf:

 

[Carl Fowler III]

If you have to use the .45 be sure to keep shots close and angled forward into the vitals avoiding the heavy shield covering the chest area, although on young hogs like your talking normally won,t have a real heavy shield. Do heed the warning of having a tree close by as they will come for ye, teeth a popping! Had a narrow miss from a charge of hogs while hunting with a bow...short story is I ran out of arrows and was standing there with nothing but my bow when a herd of 12/15 hogs spotted me (after my last arrow flew) turned and came for me! Nothing but spindly trees close and with nothing to climb I lowered my bow tip and charged right at em...they split around me and kept running with no damage done....so don't let no one tell ye it can't happen! :shocked2:

 

[Katahdin]

I read you have answered your own question,,, FirePower and Multipal shot placement could make the difference in a BBQ and a very bad day,,,Only hunted feral hogs once in Ga and I was impressed with the punishment they can take and just keep coming,,,When in doubt go bigger.

 

[daniel collums]

the head shot is a hard target to hit unless your close and the hog is very still. i got some hog skulls and will post a picture in a couple days or so of the ideal skull hit. the heart shot is a hit that is sometimes even harder to hit because of the big front leg bone hiding it. the leg needs to be forward so you can see the hogs armpit to make the perfect heart shot. the lung shot needs to be perfect also because of the thick hide and gristle and ribs. if you go for a spine shot remember that the spine is about 3 to 4 inches below the hairline on a hogs back towards the front of their body. they have that high ridge bones that sticks way up on the lower neck and back. you can shoot right through the neck and hit nothing but meat and bone and they will vanish. the .40 will work as will a .22 rim-fire but shot placement is key with these small rounds, bigger is always better when shooting hogs. pigs that are in good physical condition are thick and meaty and full of stamina and don't go down without a fight. a spine or brain hit will put them on the ground instantly. if you just throw up and aim for center mass thats what you will hit, a center of mass, and then he will be gone, might not even bleed. even with the .58 all shots need be right on.

 

[Patocazador]

If you take the .40, aim for the ear. If you can't hit the ear from the side, then borrow a bigger gun and practice with it.

The trouble with ear shots is foraging hogs seldom stand still. I found that out while bowhunting.

My advice is take your .45 with maxi-balls and carry a Ruger Old Army on your hip. The Old Army will kill a hog.

 

[Yankee Doodle]

Been there, done that. I always use my T/C .58 Renegade with a 555 gr. Maxi-Ball in front of the heaviest charge the gun will shoot accurately. Have take 7 so far. All shots under 50 yards. Never had one go more than 20 feet or so after being hit.
Go heavy, and have a ball.

 

[ejcrist]

Thanks much for the opinions gents. I'll hustle it up on the 58. You're all right about the grit they have. I was thinking the same thing after emptying my 45 Colt last year and don't want a repeat of that situation.

 

[satx78247]

Fwiw, I've come to believe (after being "treed" more than once) that my .58 Zouave carbine just is NOT "enough gun" for BIG hogs & thus I'm looking for a heavier caliber rifle or (preferably) a 12-bore Cape-gun, with the second barrel loaded with a maximum load of 000 or 00 buckshot.

Just because you believe that you're going to be hunting for hogs to 150# does NOT mean that you won't find a MONSTER of 500# or more & that you will HAVE TO STOP or end up at the ER or morgue.
(Fwiw, I prefer to take young pigs that dress-out about 60#, as they taste GREAT on the BBQ.)

just my OPINION, satx

 

[nwtradegun]

min. 54 cal with 100 gr. powder

 

[Thing]

I shot a 410 lb boar in Tenn. About 15 years ago. Used a 54 cal flinter . Powder charge was 140 grains. PRB. This boar came in with a sow and about 7 little piglets. He was real upset when he seen me. I was treed twice by him. However. When the shot presented itself it was at roughly 40 yards. The ball hit him in the left shoulder breaking it. When we skinned him out this is what damage there was. The left shoulder was broken. The ball then went up along his neck just under the hide. hit his jaw and went thru the neck. Down the neck on the opposit side and lodged in his right shoulder cracking the bone area. The Boar dropped were he stood . Thrashed around a minut or two. I was, and still am amazed at the distructive power of that ball.. I have the head mounted in my den till this day. Keep in mind this was 140 grain charge. 230 Grn ball. Normally I shoot 80/85 grains for deer etc. I new how tough thsese Hogs are as I used a 44 magnum on one prior to this hunt . My friend used a 44 mag . Shot the boar head on in the forhead as he was being charged. The slug actually bounced off the skull of this hog . When he was finally taken down ,we seen the furrogh of hair the bullet took out on his head. Showing the path of the bullet. I would frown on any straight on head shot. Head shots should be taken from the side . The angle of their skull when coming at you is sort of like the slope of a tank turret. Hard to hit square . Good luck and have a safe trip.

 

[satx78247]

BIG boars often seem "bullet-proof".
As some here have read in another of my posts, a post game warden at a local military base fired all 8 JSP rounds from his issued M1 Garand rifle into a HUGE boar (from the relative safety of the bed of a pickup truck), with all 8 rounds striking the boar in the chest, neck or head and from 25M or less.

While the boar finally "bled-out", I would not have wanted to have been afoot & armed only with a single-shot ML rifle, while facing that monster of a Russian/feral cross boar.
(As I said, I've come to the conclusion that I'll buy a 12-bore Cape-gun & load the other barrel with buckshot as a "last chance stopping or turning shot". = A heavy load of 00 buckshot is considered by African professional hunters as suitable to turn or knock-down a charging/wounded Cape Buffalo at less than 10M.)

just my OPINION, satx

 

[Patocazador]

A load of 00 big enough to turn a cape buffalo will knock the shooter down too IMO. :grin:

 

[flyfisher76544]

.50 cal with 70 grains of 3F, 490 PRB.



This female was rooting in some river cane along the river bottom. Popped her at about 20 yards. Broadside shot, punched through both shoulders with no issue.



This boar was shot at 60 yards coming head on down the trail. Same load, .50 cal 490 PRB with 70 grains of 3F. The ball went in right above his left eye.



Same boar as above.

 

[lonehunter]

Ear shot with whatever you have. Killed pleanty with .22 shorts in the ear. Play the wind, move slow and get close.

 

[satx78247]

Actually a fairly standard Dynamite-Nobel 12-bore x 70mm max load of 00 buck is the generally accepted "turning load", according to the Game Department of the RSA.
(Fwiw, I used to know a COL of EN who stopped a charging/wounded Cape Buffalo with an Ithaca 10-bore Roadblocker loaded with 000 buck. - Had the photos/"home movies" to prove it, too.)

Btw, I cannot resist quoting the words of W.D.M. "Karamoja" Bell: "I'm little impressed with how well a hunter kills Cape Buffalo at 200 yards but rather more at TWO YARDS."
(emphasis: mine)

yours, satx

 

[Patocazador]

Oh, so we're talking smokeless powder not black powder?

 

[satx78247]

There would be little or no difference in potential individual pellet velocity/energy, regardless of powder.
(Thus the "dram equivalent" markings on shot-shell boxes)
Further, Lord (Colonel) Robert Baden Powell thought a 12 bore BP double to be good medicine for big game. - One of his letters "home" mentions how effective that his 12-bore was with "heavy shot" when hunting lions.
(Lord Baden Powell also had a 8-bore BP double rifle, with which he often hunted elephant & buffalo with when he was posted to Cape Colony.)

yours, satx

 

[nwtradegun]

72 cal musket. 715 rd ball 12 th patch, 85 gr. of swiss 3f. dead pig.