Topic: The Best Calibers for Hog Hunting in 2022 (Read 110 times)
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Key Features
Why It Made the Cut
This straight-walled cartridge has greater velocity and better terminal performance than the .300 Blackout with far less recoil than the .450 Bushmaster.
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Product Description
The .350 Legend was designed by Winchester to be the world’s fastest straight-walled cartridge and function in every type of rifle action, and it quickly gained a following. The numbers tell the story: a 150-grain Deer Season XP load steps out at 2,325 fps with 1,800 ft-lb of energy, which gives it a significant advantage over same-weight .300 Blackout and even .30/30 Win. rounds. It has the muscle to kill hogs reliably out to 200 yards or so. Beyond that, velocity and energy fall off quickly.
Should you doubt its effectiveness, I recently returned from a hunt in Canada where some very large black bears were taken cleanly with the .350 Legend. Although the bullet’s sectional density indicates it shouldn’t be a great penetrator, I’ve found the opposite to be true. The 150-grain Deer Season load was designed specifically for deer, but if you want a little more punch, you can step up to Winchester’s 180-grain Power Point .350 Legend load.
Key Features
Why It Made the Cut
The 6.8 Western is what the .270 Win. Short Mag. should have been. This load has very good accuracy and a bonded core for deep penetration but is designed to expand at extended range without sacrificing close-range performance.
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Product Description
The 6.8 Western employs .277 caliber bullets that are longer, heavier, and have higher ballistic coefficients than bullets co*monly used for the .270 Win. and .270 WSM. Due to the scarcity of heavyweight .277 bullets, Winchester worked with Sierra and Nosler to create new bullets for the cartridge, and this has resulted in several new factory loads that elevate .277 caliber bullet performance to levels that, in some ways, equal or beat the downrange performance of some 7mm and .30 caliber magnum cartridges. Unlike some target cartridges that were later adapted for hunting, Winchester set out to make the 6.8 Western a great long-range hunting round from the start.
Terminal performance on game has been impressive. The 165-grain Accubond load, in particular, expands well and achieves good penetration. The cartridge has the added advantage of fitting in short actions without sacrificing accuracy. As of this writing, Winchester and Browning are the primary ammo makers, and most rifles chambered in 6.8 Western wear the same brand names.
Key Features
Why It Made the Cut
Whether you love or hate the 6.5 Creed, Hornady’s 143-grain ELD-X load raised the bar for all ammo makers in delivering match-grade, long-range accuracy with good terminal performance and mild recoil. It also works in AR-10 platforms.
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Product Description
Unless you’ve spent the last decade locked up in a gun-free Gulag, you likely have a passing familiarity with Hornady’s 6.5 Creedmoor 143-grain ELD-X load. This round, more than any other, has been responsible for the meteoric rise in the popularity of the 6.5 Creedmoor, and with good reason. It is simply a great hunting cartridge.
It is inherently accurate, as are the best rifles that shoot it, and it’s a proven performer on deer-sized game, which happily includes hogs. I’ve shot a number of pigs with this cartridge, and I don’t recall any of them taking more than a few steps after being hit. Thanks to its mild recoil, it’s also a cartridge that most anyone can shoot well. Haters gonna hate, of course, but many detractors are the same people who have been predicting the 6.5 Creed’s demise for more than a decade. They’re going to have a long wait. The 6.5 Creedmoor has beco*e a global standard, and it isn’t going away.
Key Features
Why It Made the Cut
Some rifles favor copper bullets and some despise them, but you’ll likely find most rifles to be more tolerant of Hornady’s new CX bullet design.
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Product Description
When copper rifle ammo first became mandatory in California, you couldn’t swing a dead piglet without hitting a hog guide who would co*plain at length about copper bullets “penciling through” hogs that kept running off. While I never had that problem, there is some truth in those co*plaints, notably with early copper ammo and hunters who insisted on taking heart/lung shots with the stuff.
Proper bullet placement on hogs with a monolithic bullet is through the shoulders. A hog pinned through both shoulders with a reasonably sized copper bullet isn’t going anywhere. A newco*er in this category worth considering is Hornady’s new CX bullet (loaded primarily and initially in the Outfitter line), which improves upon the co*pany’s GMX bullet. In addition to the Heat Shield tip, which helps the bullet maintain a high BC throughout its flight, the design employs specially designed grooves in the bullet that maximize aerodynamic performance while reducing bearing surface and fouling. In 6.5 PRC, Hornady’s 130-grain CX load offers a significant velocity advantage over its 6.5 Creedmoor sibling.
Key Features
Why It Made the Cut
It’s hard to go wrong with a .308 Win. on pigs, especially when you’re holding an AR-10 rifle and have multiple hogs in front of you. Federal’s Fusion MSR (Modern Sporting Rifle) round delivers good accuracy at a reasonable price with reliable feeding in AR platforms.
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Product Description
With a host of newer cartridges co*peting for hunters’ attention, it’s easy to forget about the old plain-Jane .308 Win., and that would be a mistake. The “baby ought-six,” is one of the finest cartridges ever employed to dispatch hogs. I’ve killed my share with rifles chambered in .308 Win., and so have legions of other dedicated hog hunters.
The .308 Win. has long had a reputation for delivering good downrange accuracy, and that’s partly because it fits in stiff, short actions. Ample testimony to the greatness of the .308 is the fact that it has served as the parent cartridge for a host of other cartridges. The .308 is one of the best calibers for hog hunting and has the power to put them down cleanly. Not to mention, you can find rifles chambered in .308 Win. in lever actions, bolt actions, single shots, and semi-autos. Federal’s Fusion MSR 150-grain load is one of my favorites. Designed specifically for use in AR rifles, it typically delivers one-inch, 100-yard accuracy and is more affordable than premium .308 Win. loads. I have yet to see a hog hit with this round do much of anything but drop.
Key Features
Why It Made the Cut
This round co*bines the flat trajectory of the 6.5 Creedmoor with a proven stopper of a bullet, the Nosler Partition, which has few equals in putting down game.
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Product Description
It can be difficult to determine distance to a target at night, so flat-shooting, hard-hitting bullets are a good choice. Many a hog has been killed with cartridges like the .223 Rem. at night, in the light-and-fast category and with heavier, slower rounds like the .300 Blackout, but I prefer the accuracy and flat trajectory of the 6.5 Creedmoor co*bined with the proven performance of the Nosler Partition.
I’ve killed quite a few hogs with Partition bullets over the years, and I don’t recall ever having a problem with bullet performance. It may not have the flashy appeal of more modern bullet designs, but it’s a great choice when you absolutely, positively want to anchor critters in their tracks. That definitively beats having to look for wounded hogs in thick brush in the dark.
Key Features
Why It Made the Cut
A great choice for hunters on a budget, highly affordable Power Point ammo has been getting the job done reliably for more than 60 years.
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Product Description
Winchester’s Super X Power Point ammo has been around for a very long time and shows no sign of going extinct, despite its old cup-and-core design. That’s because everyone can’t afford premium ammo, even if they can find it during the current shortage. Power Point ammo, in co*mon chamberings like .270 Win, remains one of the more available and affordable centerfire rifle loads.
I killed quite a few hogs with the 130-grain .270 Win. load when I first started out and had no desire to buy expensive ammo. The ammo never let me down. I did, from time to time, recover bullets with the jacket and core in separate locations, but even those bullet “failures” resulted in the rapid deaths of lots of hogs. Cup-and-core bullets have been killing game for quite a long time. They’re not suddenly going to stop working just because they’re cheaper than premium cartridges.
Key Features
Why It Made the Cut
It seems like Power-Shok ammo has been around forever, and with good reason. It delivers solid performance at a reasonable price and, under normal circumstances, can usually be found most anywhere rifle ammo is sold.
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Product Description
This is the second entry on this list in .308 Win., and that’s because the .308 Win. is one of the best cartridges ever employed for hunting hogs. Despite the current ammo shortage, you can usually find Power-Shok ammo with a little effort. Federal’s 150-grain load uses a traditional soft point bullet that’s best-suited for heart/lung shots. The bullet launches at a bit more than 2,800 fps and, when zeroed at 200 yards, strikes just eight inches low at 300 yards.
While the bullet design might be old school, there’s no denying its effectiveness. Power-Shok ammunition offers proven performance, decent accuracy, and consistent velocities at an affordable price.
Key Features
Why It Made the Cut
In testing, Bore Driver bullets turned in some of the tightest groups I’ve ever shot with a muzzleloader, improving upon earlier designs well known for performance on game.
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Product Description
One of the largest hogs I ever shot fell to a .50 Cal. 250-grain muzzleloading bullet, and that hog didn’t take 10 steps after being punched through the boiler room at 40 yards. That bullet was once my favorite for hunting with a muzzleloader, but I have now switched to Hornady’s Bore Driver FTX bullet because it impresses me even more.
It offers the same lethality but considerably better accuracy. This bullet’s unique design does not employ a traditional sabot. Rather, it has a polymer gas-seal base with a post that extends into the bottom of the bullet and expands upon firing to engage the inside of the bullet while short, polymer petals grip the boattail bottom of the bullet as the base engages the rifling. This expanding post causes the bullet to expand slightly, better e