223 enough for a Hog?

[BufordTJustice]

70gr GMX, 70gr TSX, 62gr TBBC, 55gr GMX, 50gr TSX, 62gr TSX. These are the preemo loads.

Hunt away.

[Royalflush]

hog copy.jpg

It will, I've killed about 70% of the ones I've shot with this 10.3" suppressed rig and a 1x red dot. I think that percentage would go up if I had a magnified optic and a little more barrel length/velocity.

The larger hogs (300+ lbs) will take a .223 round broundside like a champ.

I have been shooting Black hills 77gr OTM (Mk262). Behind the head/ear and they go straight down. I've had one skid off a sow's skull from a head on shot.
I would disagree with the shot placement picture above when shooting .223/5.56- it really needs to be right behind the head for a guaranteed kill.

Edit: I read that the lighter soft point bullets do better, but have not tried them. Switching to 77gr TMK by black hills (poly tipped match king)

[rocsteady]

How many people that actually hunt hog with an AR hunt the animal from the ground?

Those of you that say "yes, I hunt from the ground and not a helicopter, or at night with night vision", will you tell us your thoughts on caliber choice and bullet type?

I can kill anything with a semi auto from a helicopter.

Finally got a chance to try out the ASYM 70g TSX rounds, BCM and Aimpoint on something other than water bottles this weekend.

At end of a business trip to Dallas, got out to hunt some hogs and see for myself how the round performs. Went out here: http://www.bouldertexotics.com/. They were fantastic.

First morning got my opportunity and didn't waste it. Shot ended up being less than 50 yards so I don't have any heroic sniping story to post.

Thanks to SkyPup and his anatomical pic of the hogs he posted a while back, I had a pretty good idea where to aim and upon further review, he was right on.

Pig was going from my right to left and I put the red dot basically right up from that front "elbow" and let one fly just as she was leaving the clearing I'd spotted her in. She bolted through the brush but made it only about 10 yards before she dropped.

Later as we opened her up, I got a good look at what the bullet did inside and can now say that any doubt I had about the 70g TSX or ASYM is gone! Opened up almost immediately as the round went from tiny entry wound on outer left shoulder to what appears to be full expansion even before it penetrated the outer "sheath" stuff that these pigs have just under their skin. First time I'd seen one being gutted so I wasn't too sure what was what but there was no doubt when the heart (or what was left of it) was pointed out to me.

Round continued through the body before leaving a pretty substantial (compared to the size of the unfired .223 bullet) exit wound.

Afterwards, I went out two more times and passed up a couple slightly larger boars hoping for that monster/trophy hog but didn't happen.

Guess that means I have to go back!

Thanks to you guys at M4C for all the info as it helped me get a jump on what was going on for my first hunt. See post #117, page 17 of the ".223 Barnes 70 Grain TSX Performance" thread in the hunting section for picture.

[BufordTJustice]

Finally got a chance to try out the ASYM 70g TSX rounds, BCM and Aimpoint on something other than water bottles this weekend.

At end of a business trip to Dallas, got out to hunt some hogs and see for myself how the round performs. Went out here: http://www.bouldertexotics.com/. They were fantastic.

First morning got my opportunity and didn't waste it. Shot ended up being less than 50 yards so I don't have any heroic sniping story to post.

Thanks to SkyPup and his anatomical pic of the hogs he posted a while back, I had a pretty good idea where to aim and upon further review, he was right on.

Pig was going from my right to left and I put the red dot basically right up from that front "elbow" and let one fly just as she was leaving the clearing I'd spotted her in. She bolted through the brush but made it only about 10 yards before she dropped.

Later as we opened her up, I got a good look at what the bullet did inside and can now say that any doubt I had about the 70g TSX or ASYM is gone! Opened up almost immediately as the round went from tiny entry wound on outer left shoulder to what appears to be full expansion even before it penetrated the outer "sheath" stuff that these pigs have just under their skin. First time I'd seen one being gutted so I wasn't too sure what was what but there was no doubt when the heart (or what was left of it) was pointed out to me.

Round continued through the body before leaving a pretty substantial (compared to the size of the unfired .223 bullet) exit wound.

Afterwards, I went out two more times and passed up a couple slightly larger boars hoping for that monster/trophy hog but didn't happen.

Guess that means I have to go back!

Thanks to you guys at M4C for all the info as it helped me get a jump on what was going on for my first hunt. See post #117, page 17 of the ".223 Barnes 70 Grain TSX Performance" thread in the hunting section for picture.

Thank you for sharing and GOOD HUNTING!

That plate is a cartilage plate. They can be over an inch thick in bigger hogs. You saw that a bullet has to get through that before it even reaches bone or the heart/lung cavity.

People who talk about the heavy OTM's being the bee's knees haven't seen what a 70gr TSX or the 70gr GMX do to the inside of a hog.

The 62 gr TBBC is also an excellent choice, though not as accurate in my experience. I anchored a 280lb hog down here in Florida a few years back with a 62gr TBBC at 70 ish yards from my old BCM 14.5" middy. It fell out like it got unplugged from the matrix. These tough bonded and all-copper rounds are truly impressive in the real world.

[mwbutcher]

....without any problem at all. Razorback XT 64 grain and 62 TSX.

[mwbutcher]

Game ranch had hogs get under the fence and needed help. About 250 as near as we could tell on 500 acres. Wasn't as easy as it sounded. We took over 50 in one day all using 223.

[mwbutcher]

We also tried 12 gauge but too slow for the most part. Most of the pigs were hold up in dense brush and shots were fast and furious. The 12 just couldn't keep up but we did down a couple - they didn't die any quicker being hit by a one ounce slug than a 64 grain bullet.

[mwbutcher]

[mwbutcher]

From an afternoon hunt. This was all .223 and 5 guys.