Backup Sidearm for Pig Hunting

[Kestrel]

I would like one for emergency backup. I've been thinking about a .44 DA revolver, with 300 gr. hard cast bullets.

(I suppose a Glock 20 10mm wouldn't be agood idea for a backup sidearm for pig hunting? It's appealing, since it's lightweight and can hold 15 rounds, but would this have enough horsepower?)

I would appreciate any suggestions or advice.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[DigMe]

I'm sure you could kill pigs with a 10mm but I have no experience with them and wouldn't know what rounds to recommend for it. The .44 mag is always a good choice though. Cast loads would work well of course but with a .44 you'd also be good to go with some JHPs. Hornady XTPs have great penetration.

brad cook

 

[sturmruger]

There was a guy who was shooting pigs with a 10mm here on THR. He said it worked pretty good.

 

[Dr.Rob]

Depending of the size of the pig...

I've seen a .44 with Winchester 240gr Soft points work well... also saw a sow Russian Boar mix that took 5 hits from a hot-rodded Ruger Bisley 45 colt and keep going. The 6th one was the charm though.

DW .357 Max with 180 gr bullet would do the trick if placed right, though maybe not as effective as the 300 gr rebated XTP dad and friends developed for the 44 mag.

 

[PowderBurn]

Others agree...


http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=81002

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=47713


Actually, I just noticed the poster in the second link is you! From November 2003.

 

[Kestrel]

Ha! I forgot I ever posted that! Funny how things go on the backburner and then you think of them again a couple of years later...

I'll go back through those threads.

Thanks.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Well, I prefer to hunt hogs with the 10mm as primary, not backup

I suppose it would work OK as backup too......

 

[DigMe]

also saw a sow Russian Boar mix that took 5 hits from a hot-rodded Ruger Bisley 45 colt and keep going

That's called either bad placement or poor ammo selection. I put them down with my .357 mag easy.

brad cook

 

[Dr.Rob]

I assure you that was 5 in the 'boiler room'. The hog was a LOT bigger than the hunter who is 6-3 and 250+ lbs. have a pic of him somewhere sitting on the dead hog... its enormous. Not like hogzilla big but BIG.

I think that hog just didn't want to go. It could be his loads weren't penetrating enough, and only hitting ONE lung... if you don't get them both an animal can go a long way.

The boar my dad killed took exactly ONE sierra 165gr spitzer boat tail through the neck side of the shoulder and dropped dead in his hoofprints. No handgun is a .30-06.

 

[Greybeard]

The lawyer answer: "It depends." Size of hog, angle, shot placement, etc.

I recently chronoed the following Double Tap "hunting" loads from new Glock 29 (compact 10mm).

200 grain XTP: 1,137 fps

220 grain cast: 1,028 fps

I've never had the need to use it as "back up", but still have confidence that even my 3" Ruger SP-101 loaded with Ferderal's 180 grain cast bullets would have done the job at short range on typical pigs - if the shooter did his part.

Yea, the old "I really need a powerful back up gun." line sometimes works well on The Wife. It did the job a year or three back for .454 Casull. And flew one more time here recently for the G29. ("Lighter to carry and more firepower if a bunch of 'em have me up in a tree. Heck, from all the tracks we saw last trip, I may need to carry both.")

P.S. It helps too to let The Wife see pictures of Hogzilla(s), tusks, and such.

 

[Lennyjoe]

I carry my S&W 1006 10MM stoked with 180gr XTP bullets pushing 1340fps. I think thats plenty for a hog.

If you want blazing speed and dont reload then Doubletap is your ticket.

 

[H&Hhunter]

My two favorites are a S&W 329 .44mag with 240 gr soft points at about 1200 or 1100FPS or a G-20 shooting 180gr XTPS or 200gr TSP at nominal factory velocites of around 1100fps. Either one of these will killm a hog quite nicely.

Of course when speaking of a back up gun on hogs we are not really speaking of a "stopping" gun as hogs are not very aggresive animals. We are talking more of a gun to finish one off with. BIG difference.

OF course it has been reported right here on THR that in Hawaii the hogs are more agressive than a Tasmanian Devil on crack and that several dozen people are maimed, and or treed in any given day. So all of this information is null and void in Hawaii.

 

[Greybeard]

Yea, I may need to get The Wife to read about those Hawaiin hogs one of these days to make the "I really need ... " line fly one more time.

 

[DigMe]

OF course it has been reported right here on THR that in Hawaii the hogs are more agressive than a Tasmanian Devil on crack and that several dozen people are maimed, and or treed in any given day. So all of this information is null and void in Hawaii.

brad cook

 

[Mannlicher]

I carry my handloads in my Ruger Bisley Vaquero when hog hunting. Never have had to use it, but I carry it. Course I carry it deer hunting too, and turkey hunting, and squirrel hunting, and even to the minute market

 

[Richard.Howe]

Well, if you already have a 1911, you don't have to worry about buying a whole new gun -- just get a 460 Rowland conversion and blast away.

230 gr. hardball or XTPs at 1350 fps (931 ft-lbs) or 185 gr. at 1550 fps (987 ft-lbs)? Beautiful! You're up there in 44 magnum territory. ( http://www.sixguns.com/tests/tt460r.htm )

Course...you have to reload.