Boar bullets what calibre?

Beowulf

Well-Known Member
Hi big Boar hunting chaps,
Can I ask you a question please concerning calibres for Boar shooting. What ammo/calibre/grain do you use and what is the minimum calibre you would advise using on these marvellous beasts?

Thanks in advance. :D
 
Hi Beowolf,
I’m no expert and can only speak from experience. The trips I have done are mainly driven and I used a .270 on the first trip with 150 grain Nosler Partition ammo and they worked fine, but I always felt under gunned, when I looked around the guys on that trip, the range of calibres’ was very varied from my calibre up to the 9.3mm over and unders with open sights.
After that I used a 30.06 with 180 grain Nosler Partition ammo, again this combo did the job just fine, 30.06 and 308 seemed to be very popular with guys who do quite a lot of Wild Boar shooting be it driven or high seats, But like most things it is personal preference, but if were to pin me down 30.06 or 308 are fine and for longish shoots from a high seat they may have the edge from some of the bigger calibres but watch this someone will not agree its just my opinion.
Good look

Smithy
 
Hi steve

My own personal preference is for 180 gn hornady interbonds in a .308 or a .30-06 or maybe even a .375 Double.

Gerry
 
.308 x 180gn round nose have done the job on several occassions for me.
I too have noticed a trend for people just lately to go for the larger calibres which is fine as a dedicated Boar rifle, also I've noticed the second shot on the larger calibres seem to be a bit errattic! not very useful when you have more than one Pig coming towards you!!
The .308 is ideal as a Deer rifle using 150gn bullets and the 180gn does for the Boar.
 
Thank you all for your replies. I shoot a 308 for deer using Sako 150 grain. I also have a batch of 180 grain coming that have been loaded for me by a very good friend who is also a member of this site. So I think that I'm all set! I'll get them zero'd and get back to you all.

Thanks again. Mr B :D
 
i use 180grain soft points out of a 30-06 and on ocassions hav took my .375 HH using speer hot cor 235grain semi-spitzer not shot a boar with this yet but there is still time
stone
 
Umm .. well possibly shouldn't metion this but well hey ho
When I was a young twenty something me and my mate used to hunt pigs and anything else that got in our way in the woods above St. Tropez where the cork trees grew.. my weapon out of necessity was a 30-30 winchester with whatever shells the local supermarket garden centre sold and my mate used a shotgun with what I think was a type of SG shot they were not big animals but they all ended up very dead.. in those days we were a lot less concerned with correct calibres.

The locals told us they ussually used shotguns or whatever they had to hand.. when you saw them go out for a days hunting a looked more like a drunken lynch mob than a hunting party..lol
They never seemed to miss much though, I suppose it depends on how big your pig is?
Did anyone see the guy on TV this weekend has been all in the papers saying about the Matriarchal nature of boar society and if you shoot the herd mother? then it would lead to probs maybe this is something that needs to be considered while the boar is fairly new to our present day eco system.
 
Hi Mr B
I would prefer any 30 cal using 165 +, Gary shot his with a 308/165 grns hit slightly high it dropped on the spot but I had a lung shot Boar shot with a .375 H&H run about 80 yards???
Andy uses a 8x68/200grn and I as you know use a 375 H&H/235 or 250 grn. I'm sure some some slightly smaller cal's would do the job but in the Uk most of us don't have a pack of dogs following a "runner" and I personally don't want to crawl into a nice bit of thick cover with a torch looking for one :rolleyes: (so I would push Andy in :lol: :lol: :lol: )

Wayne
 
I'm a new boy to this boar shooting, but none of the ones I shot in Poland complained. I used Sako 150grn hammer heads in 7x64. Shot one in Italy using a 30.06, but interestingly the five rounds in the mag were all different makes and weights! I guess as most shots are taken sub 50yds, and all at moving targets, pin point accuracy is not sought after.
Mark
 
Beowulf, you just beat me to this topic, we have got boar showing up on the odd occasion here in Mid Devon, at the moment i use a .243 for my deer stalking, but i will have to consider moving up to a .308 in the near future for the boar, just need to get around to applying for the variation and saving some money!
cheers
Richard
 
legaleagle69 said:
Did anyone see the guy on TV this weekend has been all in the papers saying about the Matriarchal nature of boar society and if you shoot the herd mother? then it would lead to probs maybe this is something that needs to be considered while the boar is fairly new to our present day eco system.

That guy was Dr Martin Goulding who is an ex-DEFRA scientist (left because he didn't like the way that DEFRA operated) and now owner of the British Wild Boar website.

He is probably the leading expert on British wild boar and hunter friendly. If he suggests that shooting matriarchal sows is a bad idea it probably is.

He is currently quite concerned that the FC have effectively been given carte blanche to heavily reduce boar numbers.
 
Beowulf
Could use any of the following:
308, 30-06, 8x68s, 300 winmag, 338 winmag, 7mm rem mag, 7 stw, 8mm remmag, 308 norma magnum, 7x64, 338 federal, 350, 35 whelan, 9.3x62, 338-06 and 45-70. This is just a few of them but all of the above will do the job.
Just a little more confusion. A word on 338 federal, its simply the 308 case that is necked up to accept a 338 bullet, it is getting good reviews, if your already using 308 and want something a bit harder hitting this could be a good alternative. One of the main advantages is the amount of recoil generated around 20ftlb's compare that to 8x68s which has around 37ftlbs of recoil. Hope this helps :lol:
 
Dalua
I am told they will but if your going to use them I would suggest that you stalk the boar and not use it for driven boar you need something a bit heavier for that as shot placement is not as predictable.
 
Dalua mate, don't rub it in! I sold my 6.5x55 the day I met you at Minsterley. :( I miss that gun..... :cry:

Anyway Alled, enough of the talking you have got to get into training for the charity March and Shoot! :eek: :lol:
 
As I posted elsewhere, I am looking at some 180gns for my 270. :lol:

At the IWA show I had my hands on some "9.3mm RSM" these are a 325 WSM case necked up to................ you guessed it 9.3mm. Pete Roedale has designed them and has had the brass produced in Germany with the correct head stamp "Roedale Short Magnum." They are going to Sammi to be listed as a standard cartridge.

My only concern would be the feeding of the Short Magnum case in a bolt action rifle. :confused:

Best rgds

B-b
 
Thar
Sako now produce their much admired 85 in .338 federal and it is saami registered. Federal definetly produce ammunition for this calibre and i believe hornady do. The col of 338 federal is almost identical to that of 308 so it should stop any problems of feeding from magazines mate. Check this thread for more info
http://www.chuckhawks.com/338_federal_first_look.htm

As for you beowulf, I have no need to practise naturally talented mate lol :D . Just going to make up the numbers and have a bit of fun and provide you with decent thunder stick. Looking forward to hearing all the old war stories over a glass of malt and then a brisk walk round a museum to clear the head and learn something.
 
Dalua said:
I wonder whether 6.5x55mm using 156grain bullets would do the job?
hello dalua,
i lived in the northern territory in oz for nine years , and in that time shot literally hundreds of wild boar. some were in excess of 120 kg. the average was about 100kg though.
the vast majority were shot with my 6.5x55 carl gustaf . using pmc 139grn factory loads. whilst using that rifle and load i never had a single boar run off!!! i can remember two that got a few paces before collapsing.
the 6.5 kills out of all proportion to its size, im not a ballistics nut and believe paper stats can sometimes be misleading, i speak from real experience . we also shot boar in thick cover with a shotgun . mainly a winchester 1400 semi , {before the buyback} loaded with sg or solids . though the solids were savage .
i really cant see why people are advocating calibres like .270 and above for boar . most boar in oz are taken with the .243.
as with any game its all about shot placement .
i use a 6.5x55 here in england now with 140grn winchesters and just dont believe thers not a creature here, whether red stag or big boar that its not capable with my guidance ,of taking.
 
I have used 12 bore slugs and a .308 with 180 grs on boar which will do the job with out being under gunned but this year i am taking my .444 marlin with 265 grs as in the case of shooting at driven boar the bigger cals seams to work best at stopping pigs on the move. As for erratic shooting with a second shot from a heavy caliber rifle that is most likely due to not practicing enough before hand and not the rifles fault!!
If you what to shoot boar from a high seat then a .243 may well do the job with a well aimed shot but it will not be legal in most of Europe.
Boar in Europe can get up to 400 lb and above which is a lot of pig to try and stop with 100grs of .243 it is possible but why take the chance.
 
:243 is not legal to use on boar here in Sweden. 6.5x55 is the minimum caliber. I don't think that many people here would go shooting boar with a 6,5. No doubt the 6.5 will kill small boar. There is an article in this months Jakt & Jägare about a chap who shot a 172kg boar with a 9.3x62 and Norma oryx bullets. The boar was hit through the lungs with both shots niether bullet exited. Both bullets lodged under the gristle plate on the shoulder. The boar ran a fair way into cover .It was found dead but only after they had sent in dogs trained to hunt boar to make sure it was dead. I have only seen really big boar when we have been beating on the Pheasant shoot. If i had my .308 with me i would have felt a bit undergunned. lb for lb they are the toughest animal we have in Europe and the most dangerous when wounded.
 
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