Rifle selection poll (pig gun)

[Fugaloo]

Going off of the responses from the current post "rifle selection", What would you get for hunting hogs. I am going to leave the brand names out of it, Savage, Howa, Tikka, Remington..etc There almost all priced within a few hundred dollars of eachother and I am sure we can all agree that most of them are good quality. If your choice wasn't on the list write it in below. Remember now, this is just going to be for pigs, so deer, coyote and other animals won't affect your decision.

 

[16onrockandroll]

I voted 300 win. Can't go too wrong with any of them (243 is supposedly a bit light, but I would be comfortable with a heavy bullet, maybe a Barnes X. I am looking for meat though, a trophy pig might need something with some more mass.). I shoot my 300 regularly, and would feel comfortable with it out to 250-300 yds, and know it would knock them down with a decent hit. But it mostly came down to thats what I am reloading and shooting right now, and I have always been impressed by the cartridge.

 

[freezer]

I would have prefered a lever action in 308! I don't care for the balistics of the tubular magizine rifles. A pump would have been ok but thay tend to be a bit heavy. For my taste I prefer a light rifle when hunting rough terrain for pigs.

 

[Shmave23]

I went with 30-06 bolt with 3-9. Thats what I have and what Im stickin with. Ill use it for everything from squirrel to elk. Cant go wrong with it.

-Dave

 

[jerryt]

I went with 30-06 bolt with 3-9. Thats what I have and what Im stickin with. Ill use it for everything from squirrel to elk. Cant go wrong with it.

-Dave

I second that. Shot everything with it. Wolves, Coyotes, Deer, Pig, Elk, Squirrels, Bobcats. From 5 yards to 550 yards. With just a straight 3x9 Leupold scope

 

[bisonic]

+1 to the 30-06 with 3-9x to answer "What rifle would you use to hunt (fill in the blank) in North America". If you had to just have one, that's the gun to get.

With that said, if I could have two rifles I'd add a lever action 30-30. Use the scoped '06 for open country/rolling oaks, the 30-30 for thicker brush where shots aren't far and a quick second (or third!) shot is more important.

Most of my hog shooting is less than 100 yards so a super accurate gun isn't that important.

 

[myfriendis410]

You don't have any combo I own or use except the 7mm r.m. My .300 is fitted with a 4-12 X 40 with a long range reticle, and my 45-70 is a Sharps with a peep sight. (see above)

 

[BigSurArcher]

If you hit the same pig in the same spot from the same practical distance with each of those guns, there probably wouldn't be more than a 3 second fluctuation in kill time. I chose the '06 because thats what I've killed the most with, besides the bow.

 

[DirtAddict]

I guess it depends on your style of hunting. My vote was for the lever action with open sights. When I hunt pigs I always seem to find myself busting some cover; at times it's really thick. I need an easy handling gun in the woods that doesn't get hung up on branches etc. that I can pack in/out easily. The lever action I have fits that bill. Next is the caliber. I chose the 30-30. With that caliber, The gun is accurate with open sights out to 100+ yards. This is plenty enough for me and that is why I stayed with a peep sight rather than add more bulk to the gun by adding a scope.

After 100 yards or so, accurate shot placement starts to become an issue for me without a scope, but I'm sure there are folks out there that can accurately take it further. And if my situation changes and I need more distance, I could easily scope the gun. The round certainly has enough energy to drop a pig if you put it in the right place.

Still, if I hunted more open terrain and needed something with a little longer range potential, and didn't mind the extra weight, I'd go with the 30-06 bolt with 3X9 scope.

Both the 30-30 and the 30-06 are great multi-purpose rounds for almost any game in North America. These are very common rounds that are easy to find and cheap to shoot, so you can practice those longer distance shots at the range without breaking the bank.

 

[STICK&STRING]

.300WM. I own one with a VX3 4-14x40 LR, I also own a Browning BLR in .243 for when I get talked into playing in the brush.

 

[559hog]

.300wm leupold mk4 4.5.-14x50

 

[sancho]

'06 with a 3x9 is the swiss army knife of rifles. any walmart in any town will have ammo.

from jackrabbits to elk..not an issue.

 

[asaxon]

Now this is a hog hunting rig!

I showed this to my wife and she, like myfriendis410, said she can't find her favorite hog hunting rig in the poll so she asked me to just put up a picture. What she really likes about this set up is the sausage is INSTANT. She picked it up for a song last year in China last year...

 

[catchdog]

any of them will work. i picked the 06 with 3x9 cuz i have and use one. but i have killed more pigs with a 7mm08 and 2x7 scope. and did you just forget the .270 win or what. i dont have a .270 but its a fine round and alot of people use it.

 

[Dain V]

I was going to vote for the 308 bolt rifle, but then noticed you included the AR chambered in 308 and changed my mind. I love the ergonomics of eugene stoners design and if CA recognized the 2nd amendment, would be hunting hog with an AR platform in 308 topped with a 1X5 optic.

 

[Fugaloo]

I was going to vote for the 308 bolt rifle, but then noticed you included the AR chambered in 308 and changed my mind. I love the ergonomics of eugene stoners design and if CA recognized the 2nd amendment, would be hunting hog with an AR platform in 308 topped with a 1X5 optic.

You can buy an AR-10 if you want, you just can't have more than ten round mags, and you need a bullet button.

 

[HOGHUNTER714]

Good Topic.....I have been using my .270 (3.5x10) for years. It always worked well for hogs. Just got a Win Mdl 94 in 30-30. Been hunting a brushy 3200 acre ranch, so an open sight weapon really is ideal. Headed up Thursday, hopefully get to try out the Hornady 160 gn FTX's...

 

[Fugaloo]

Yes I forgot the .270, Also I listed 3-9 scopes on all of them because they are the most common. Of course there will be variations on scope power but if you scope your rifle with a 3-9, it is not that much different than a 4-12 when comparing to open sights. Personally I think most pig shots will be taken on the lowest setting unless you spot one way off in the distance. All of the hog hunting I've done gave me a maximum shot of about 250 yards. At that distance I would have ramped up to the highest setting. But with that said, all of the shots I've taken on hogs have been within 60 yards, the closest being around 15. I was using a scope on all occasions and at close to medium range on a fast moving animal that doesn't like to stay put I would prefer open sights. Additionally, a lot of hog hunting is rough, and it's a lot harder to bang your irons out of position than a delicate scope. I picked the 30-30 W/ irons but I would use any of the guns if given the chance. But the question was whaat would you pick for ONLY hogs, and the 30-30 inmy mind is the most suited for the hog hunting I've done.

 

[catchdog]

most of my pig hunting has been in Texas, so a avg shot has been about 125 - 150 yards. longest was 221 yrds shortest was 40 yrds. so i picked the 06 with 3x9 cuz it works well on the avg shot. but for close moving hogs i really like my scope set down on 2 power. i find that i can pick up moving game fast with the scope turned down to 2x .

 

[3056_HUNTER]

Well.....guess im the only one who uses shotgun exclusively! actually I use my 20g Remington Sportsman semi-auto with rifled slug. ever shot a pig with a slug? It does some damage!