Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk AL HOGS Hog Hunting Rifle

Right now I’m using my deer rig .308 Bolt with a light on top of day scope which isn’t great system. So if you were setting up a dedicated hog hunting rifle, what would you pick and what accessories. Semi versus bolt? What caliber? (.223/5.56 vs .300 Blackout vs 6.5 Grendel vs .308), and thermal vs night vision. Curious what the dedicated experienced hog hunters are using and like. May add suppressor later but not definite due to economy budget. Thanks.

The times we went we have used .308 bolt action and a sfar.

Buddy has a 300bo ar shooting subsonics that is suppressed topped with a thermal. That would be perfect

My go to hog rifles for close quarter hog hunting are my ARs in 7.62x39 and the 350 legend. They do a good job. Also having a choice of 10,20,or 30 round mags for the 7.62x39 is an added bonus. I hardly ever use anything other than the 10rd mags. The 20 and 30 tend to get in the way. Both these rifles have almost zero recoil so it’s great for follow up shots if needed.

When I was getting after them I was using a 300 BO AR with a 1-4x32 scope. I was mostly stalking and most shots were close. Before that I used a Ruger .44 carbine with the same scope. It would hammer them.

If you are trying to clean them out at close range and don’t care if they DRT, a semiautomatic 12 ga with buckshot. Otherwise extremely suppressed with a thermal at distance.

My dad has one for sale if mw2015 wants to go that route

Bolt action too slow for me
I use lever but I'm stalk hunting

A good AR in 450 Bushmaster is hard to beat.

I think it would depend on how you plan to hunt them. There is a member on this site (Elkhunter - Barry Estes (Alabama Hog Control)) that guides hog hunts and IF he is willing, could probably give you some pretty sound advice.

I have an ATN night vision monocular with an EOTECH holographic sight - bought it years ago, BUT I believe there are MUCH, MUCH better options available now and a lot less expensive than my setup.

IF I was still into hog hunting - I would go thermal and I would go with the best that I could afford. I would go with a quality AR that could reach out and touch one accurately (personally, I'd choose a AR-10 - w/Picatinny rail). I don't know much about subsonic rounds - I've never used them; but if others believe they are better; then maybe they are (I don't know). We've killed multiples in a single shoot - the best we did was my son killed three and I killed three (not to brag, but my son killed two with one shot - a head shot that passed through one and killed the 2nd).

I will say this and it is an ABSOLUTE fact - a large boar that is shoulder/lung shot WILL NOT be DRT with a .223 or even a .308. You'll absolutely kill it with a shoulder/lung shot (you'll knock it down, but they are going to stagger off). If you want to recover it, you'll be tracking it and you WILL NOT want to track a pissed off boar. I've done it and seen it done many times - blood everywhere, bloody snot bubbles, pieces of lung or whatever they are retching up, watched them stagger away into the brush or swamp, heard them growling like a dog...etc. To be honest - it is a Hell of a thing to witness and if I am being completely honest - it'll make your hair stand up walking up on one in the dark that is still alive, covered in blood, and pretty chapped about what happened.

When I was MUCH younger (back in the mid/late 70's early 80's - growing up in Arkansas) - we'd kill most of them with buckshot during dog drives, while deer hunting when they'd come tearing across the road.

If you want low recoil for follow up shots, 300 BO, 6.5 Grendel or 6 ARC. The only accurate shot will be the first and follow ups will be on runners. Even suppressed, after the first shot all bets are off.

If you know you will have 200+’yard shots and you are buying a 640 or better resolution thermal then I MIGHT consider an AR10 class rifle. But it’s going to suck carrying it very much. I think you get better bang for the buck with an AR15 in the chamberings mentioned above.

I’d shoot a 100-120 grain bullet either a mono or tipped lead core. Nosler Varmageddon Hornady Vmax do well at Grendel and BO velocities. TTSX and TAC TX do well as well.

Great information. Probably going with 384 resolution as shots under 150 yards and budget. Leaning towards a 6.5 Grendel upper to add to existing AR in 5.56. Of course I only have 3 boars coming in now. The big sounders of sows have disappeared since February. Someone probably trapped them on an adjacent property.

I'm in the process of building a 300 BO for this exact purpose. Still saving up for the thermal, but probably also going with the 384 resolution as it's good enough and more affordable. I plan to shoot suppressed and I want them to run off so that I don't have to fool with the nasty things.

The Hornady Black 123 gr ELDM is readily available and performs well in the 6.5G. Federal Fusion 120 gr works very well but not an easy find. I’ve shot reloads with 95 grain Vmax over Benchmark that do well.

Depending on how I'm hunting them .223 or 300 blk, the 300 is a lot better for multiple shots but I'm not a fan of subs they just don't group well

I have a custom built 6.5 grendel i had built for hogs. Ive killed more deer with it than hogs. To me its a perfect hog rifle except for ammo prices. You can sometimes find deals on bulk ammo tho

Yeah I’m going get an upper in 6.5 Grendel and use that. Probably pick up a PSA and put it on my Rock River lower. After reading info on here and online it just seems like the best option to use for both hogs and deer. Other than another .308, it just seems like a good choice in an AR platform. Appreciate all the information as it really helped.