Does anyone hunt feral hogs with a .223? If you do what success do you have with that caliber? I want to use a .219 Zipper and think it might work well with correct shot placement.
Does anyone hunt feral hogs with a .223? If you do what success do you have with that caliber? I want to use a .219 Zipper and think it might work well with correct shot placement.
Years ago I shot feral hogs with an M16 and M193 Ball ammunition and it did OK with good shot placement, but an M60 machinegun was much better.
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.223 kills them dead as hell but they will likely run off a ways. I've shot 3 hogs in the past 5 years that we lost until the buzzards found them for us. 30-30 is better - 45-70 drops them like a hammer.
My nephew kills them regularly with .223. Likes the tough bullets like Hog Hammr.
Last edited by fastdadio; 03-25-2022 at 09:51 PM.
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I shot a few with .218 Bee a long time ago, but the only place to hit them was midway up the neck, right behind the head. Even that could need topping up.
My Dad had a .222 when they first came out - same story with the Remington 50 gn factory ammo of the day. Better .22 bullets are now available, heavier and stronger, and a lot of pigs have been shot with .222 and .223, but runaway pigs are the rule unless it's a head shot or a good neck shot.
I'm with Larry - .308 is tops, but .30-30 is pretty good too.
PS The best THS I've ever seen was done with a .222. Three of us were cutting up meat for a dog baiting campaign - the local Authority organised the poison and coordinated the participants so the whole district was done on the same day. Where we were cutting up was about 50 metres from a molasses feed trough that I intended to watch for pigs later that evening. Anyway, the pigs arrived early. I got to my .30-30 and shot the sow. As the suckers ran off, one of the others nailed one with his .222 - not a mark on the sucker. Size (pig size that is) matters.
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I have killed hogs on the ground, while they were running, with a Mini-14 in 223. Killed them dead, 53g Sierra JHP went right through both sides, just behind the shoulder. I grabbed the Mini because I just finished an accuracy build on it, because I could, went from a 4” to a 3/10” rifle.I have shot a couple with a 16” AR and 55g Hornadys. All those 223 hogs were under 100 yards.
The 223 works, but do not bet the farm on it if you have bigger bullets and a better cartridge available. I also have 6.8 SPC AR guns and the 90 SST makes more sense than the 53-55 223 for hogs.
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Like with any other cartridge, bullet placement is key. I've killed a few deer and hogs with the .223 with no problems. I will shoot hogs with whatever I have with me at the time if in range. The last one was with a 22-250- he ran about 50 yards after the lung shot and fell.
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I’ve shot a couple of hogs with a .223. One was small but the other weighed about 200 lbs. Neither were 1 shot kills. I have a friend that has a lot of hogs on his farm. He likes to use his AR and shoot them through the ear for a quick kill.
223, Good Round for all intended purposes. But due to bullet weight it doesn't penetrate well into bone & heavy tough body mass. Sure a good lung shot will work & work well, but on the not so perfect shots there will be less penetration & far less blood trail because the bullet didn't exit. I've killed several at close range with a 30-30 & it worked well. But all around use especially at longer ranges Larry chose the medicine 7.62 NATO (308).
I've shot a few hogs, and a .223 will do the job well with the right bullet used. Weight and expansion are key. Use a heavier bullet and push it fast for me. Anything will work, but when you're on the ground and Mr Wiggley objects to the exercise, using enough bullet is a good thing. I've taken them with a ML pistol and had 'em drop right there, but I had a 10mm in reserve for the just in case event. Good luck.
ANY FIREARM, BOW, SPEAR works with CORRECT SHOT PLACEMENT. Something that works when shot placement is NOT correct should be considered. How big a hog do you expect, Killing a hundred pound critter is a lot different than a 500 pound critter. If you must use a 223, I would want one of the Barnes or other 'solid copper' bullets or the Nosler 60 grain Partition. Shot placement can exceed power but more power seldom causes problems when killing critters.
I prefer the US Rifle Cal. 30 M1. If it was good for killing fascists and communist it is good for killing hogs.
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As others have said placement is everything. In the 22 calibers I’ve used M193 Ball, Remington factory load in 222 Mag and 22LR. All one shot kills and dead on the spot.
I like the idea of using a pig on a pig. You can mow the grass with a 60.
Steve
As many have said placement will be key with a head shot if you don't want them to run off and die. If your taking chest or shoulder shots you'll need something else for DRT. I occasionally use a 220 Swift with a 60 gr Partition at 3,650 fps. Even at that speed and a superior bullet, I still head shoot them. Don't shoot them looking at you in the forehead unless they are small hogs as the bullet might glance. Typically i use a deer rifle. Where I typically hunt i can get shots further than I can take a clean shot.
When I hunt in the swaps, most shots are 20-50 yards. When hunting there i use a 45-70 marlin guide gun with a ghost ring and a 405 FN boolit at 1,300 fps.
What I've found with hogs is small holes fill with tissue easily and they dont leave good blood trails or bleed out quickly. So go for big holes or keep your bullet velocity up to introduce shock. I've killed them with 22 mags shot behind the ear. But that is not my preference as the shot must be well placed and kept at about 75 yards or less. I only do this when I'm "squirrel" hunting on federal land and that's the largest cartridge that is legal.
Last edited by SoonerEd; 03-28-2022 at 09:27 PM.
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