What .223 bullet do you use for Hog Hunting?

[robbf213]

Head shots are not that easy on a hog because their heads usually don't stay still very long. Especially because they're usually feeding.

Middle of the neck between the head and front shoulders in a very lethal shot and much easier to make.

Also keep in mind a hogs lungs are significantly more forward in the chest cavity than a deers. On a broadside shot on a hog a hit much more than 3" behind the shoulder will likely miss the lungs completely.

[kcmo83]

Barnes TSX, any flavor 50 gr. or above.

[Robb Jensen]

I used 77gr BH Mk262Mod 1 and BH 5.56mm 50gr TSX this year on hogs in FL. Of the 4 hogs I got I shot two in the head with Mk262 and one with 50gr TSX in the head, all three where DRT like I flipped off a light switch. The fourth I shot with .300BLK using 110gr VMAX through the front shoulders which resulted in a DRT too.

[jpipes]

I shoot 75 amax @3000 fps with my 223ai. Devastating on anything from deer down to hogs. If I had to slum a 9 twist, I'd look at the 50 TSX loaded as hot as I can get it.

[SkyPup]

Barnes TSX 70 grain works wonders on squealing swine

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=94628

[Stephen O]

Our writer Brian McCombie had great results with DTR Ammo on a hunt sponsored by S&W. This is what he had to say about it

"I was using a 79-grain Terminal Shock .223 round made by Dynamic Research Technologies (DRT) of Grant City, Missouri. The DRT round is lead-free and frangible, made with a highly-compressed core of metal powder inserted into a copper jacket. The bullet punched through a good inch of hard gristle covering the pig’s ribs, the ribs themselves, and then essentially exploded (as it was designed to do), delivering all the round’s terminal energy into the boar’s chest cavity." http://shwat.com/ArticleIndex/tabid/...Hog-Rifle.aspx

We anticipate doing a full test for accuracy as well as live media for this round in the near future. When it's complete, we will of course write it up.

[OkieOutlaw]

I hunt hogs, deer and coyotes almost exclusively with the 223. I reload and the best deal I have found is the Rem 55gr PSP bullet in the 100 rnd bulk packs at Cabelas. I usually give 12.95 for them and stock up with at least 10 bags at a time. I load them with 20.3 grains of IMR4198 powder and CCI 400 small rifle primers that I picked up on sale at the same store for 22.95 a thousand. This load has proven very effective with everything it encounters, but like has been said before bullet placement is CRITICAL. my ar and the Savage model 11 both shoot this round extremely well with the Savage producing ragged cloverleaf groups at 100 yards while the ar produces slightly larger .5 groups at that distance.

[Shokr21]

I killed an ~185 lbs boar last week with a shot through the eye with an exit wound blowing out the back out of his head DRT.

Bullet used was a .223 55gr federal nosler ballistic tip.

[ccoker]

We took two guys hog hunting over the weekend and they got one this morning
Nice boar, 250-275 I would estimate
They got it walking through the thick woods and lit it up at about 40 yards
One guy with an AR in 556 shooting 55g FMJ, the other an AK shooting FMJ
They Opened up on it and fired 6-8 rounds and it took off
They found it about 400 yards away and it took off again and they lit it up again
Said in total it took a good 20 hits and one spin hit dropped it and the back legs stopped but it kept going and finally a shot behind the ear put it down for good.

Both are experienced hunters and I watched them shoot a bunch yesterday and the could both shoot well.

Yesterday the guy with the AK shot another boar at about 40 yards and hit it a few times but no recovery
Pretty sure from the discussion he hit it in the lungs of guts and it just pencilled through and it ran off and probably died later.

Shot placement trumps everything of course but they ran the wrong bullets we all agreed afterwards

I like a 68 with 95 or110 barness because even a marginal hit will out it down fast 99% of the time

If I was going to hog hunt with a 556 I would run the 70g TTSX as hot as possible.

[SkyPup]

Shot this 450 pound sow at 225 yards at night with a PVS-14 and Eotech 557 NV using 70 grain TSX over 25.0 grain of Hodgdon BLC-2 and Wolf SRM primers in LC '09 brass.

One shot through the head two inches below the ear, dropped dead in its tracks and quivered a bit, but basically DRT.

I normally take lungs shots but knew at that range with a hog this big a head shot was going to be the only thing that worked, Barnes 70 grain TSX went through both sides of here skull.