A gun for pig hunting and fun.

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natedog

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A gun for California hunting and fun.

I am interested in a gun for hunting medium size game in California, particuarly boar and possibly deer. However, I don't think that I have a gun that is appropriate for either. Right now, I own

*Mini-14 Ranch, 3x9x40mm scope

*Winchester Model 12, 20 gauge

*Marlin 795 .22LR

*Colt Officers Model .38 Special.

Would any of these be enough gun for boar? If not, reccomend me a good gun for boar hunting. Price shouldn't be too much, around $600 or so.
 
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I'm sorta prone to think of some .30 for boar and deer. Lots of other stuff will work, of course, but the smaller diameters or the higher-trajectory cartridges require a somewhat higher level of skill.

A Wal-Mart Savage or a 700ADL in .308 is guaranteed to work. They aren't "exciting" rifles, but they'll collect anything one commonly hunts in the lower 48. The $350-ish price-tag leaves lots of room for a decent scope and mount and a sling and other hunting paraphernalia.

And .308 practice ammo is the cheapest of all big-game hunting cartridges.

Art
 
Just can't go wrong with a .30-06 or a .308..........Period.
 
30 rnd clips for the m14 should provide you all the firepower nessesary to knock a boar down... oh wait, you pry wanted the meat off that..
 
If I had to use one of the guns mentioned, then it would be the 20 guage with slugs. The .223 is almost definitely out of the question unless you can be 100 percent assured of a head shot in the proper location. Even then it would be with the heavier soft point loads. The protective shield that hogs have make it pretty hard to punch a bullet though at times.

I'm with Art on the Savage or Remington bolt action rifle, but if you are in a money crunch you can get a new Marlin or Winchester for under $300 in either 30-30 or .35 remington. I much prefer the .35 remington.

Good Shooting
Red
 
Winchester or Marlin 30-30 Lever gun.

Dicks Sporting Goods has a Marlin on sale now for $299 with scope and rings. I don't know if there's a Dicks in your area but I'm sure some of the chain stores in your area offer similar deals. At that price you can get a 30-30 and a Savage bolt action in 30-06 and still come in just under the $600 wire.
Rupe
 
That 20 Ga. with slugs should work.

A 30/30 lever gun would be a good ticket. One in .44 mag, .444 Marlin, 45/70, would also be great

A good bolt gun by savage/remington/win. in .308/30.06

A remington 870 in 12 gauge would be good also.
 
45/70 has never failed to drop any piggie in his tracks.

any good .30cal will do the job well enough.

.2X need good shot placement but can suffice.

Pigs are a problem, thin them out as much as legal/possible.
 
I don't have any advice, but out of curiosity, how big do them piggies get out there? Might make a difference in gun choice.
 
Loose hawgs

FutoÑIn TX, I understand that years ago, a movie was made starring a number of Russian boars. (No idea what movie.) After the filming, the movie company just opened their pen and said "Shoo!" to them (This being many years before the EPA or any such.) Combine that with the occasional truckload of swine that goes off the road and crashes, and escapes from pig farms, and you have the start of an ongoing nuisance animal in any of the warm-winter states.

Swine are smart, they are omnivorous, they are good breeders. All they need to more than hold their own is a consistent winter climate they can survive.

The wild ones make just as good eating as their farm-raised relatives. And it's OK to shoot them! Even encouraged!

While I'm on the subject, does anyone know where I can get an anatomy chart (muscles, organs, and skeleton) that INCLUDES THE HEAD of a porker???
 
7.62x39

Interesting. After years of being a "shooter", I am only now beginning to explore the possibility of becoming a hunter and I have no clue if I am properly equipped to do so. I have an SKS and an M1 Garand. Good to know that the 7.62 round may actually work.
 
The SKS would be plenty medicine for pigs or deer, especially inside of 100 yards.

Be sure to use only hollow point or softip ammo. Check you local and state laws, of course.

A 30-06 should handle just about any American game animal short of Kodiak Island brown bears.

Of course, with bigger stuff like moose, shot placement will be an issue no matter what you use, unless you hunt with a .50 BMG.

But a two-rifle battery of 7.62X39 and the venerable '06 is about all you'll "need" for American game.

But then again, is it every really about "need" anyway?

hillbilly
 
My choice has been made: A Swiss K-31. Excellent iron sights, accurate, powerful, eregronomic, quick action, and good, comforatable slinging position (the swivels are on the side of the stock, like a like them, so that it can be slung across the back diagonally without having the mag/trigger group sticking you in the back).
 
Two points: 1. The Schmidt-Ruben K-31 is a buttery-smooth operating bolt action. "They don't make 'em like that no more." I think you'll enjoy using it. Fine medicine for deer; should be OK for the piggies; place your shots carefully. If you wound 'em and they go off into the brush to die, you dassn't follow them; they bite. But that's not a knock on the K-31; the advice would be the same if you were using a .50 BMG.

2. For 7.62x39 ammo, if you don't have softpoints, grind a couple hundredths off the nose of the FMJ's, and bingo, there's the lead core and you do have softpoints. The fellow who advised this said he used a belt sander, just touching the nose of each round to the belt for a short time. Good way to utilize all that FMJ milsurp ammo. Yes you do have to keep it inside 100yd. with the 7.62x39. Further out, the performance of this round varies from dismal to worse, depending on the gun that fired it. Remember, the round was developed specifically for "spray and pray" wartime use; no single well-aimed shots intended. (I think in a decent bolt action the 7.62x39 could do much better, but I never saw nor heard of a bolt gun so chambered.)
 
You don't need a gun to hunt pigs....

:D
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:D
 
FWIW...

there's a specific Hog Hunting forum at http://www.huntamerica.com

Most of the guys there end up using something pretty heavy.....30 cals in the 308 range and up, tho some swear by something in the range of 280 Rem.

Answer varies as the hogs go anywhere from the 40# range to over 400#. About anything will take a 40 pounder. I'd be hesitant to try a 400 pounder with the home-made expanders. Large hogs are extremely tough and have a poor attitude.

I'm going to try to go on a hunt next Spring. I'll take a .45-70 Marlin with Speer 405's over 52 grains of Varget. 405's at about 2,000 fps should be adequate.

Also depends on the hunt method. Spot and stalk takes a longer range shooter (30-06, etc). With dogs the shots are probably closer.
 
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