.300 Win Mag for Hogs?

Pigs can be tough if not hit right.

The 300WM in that gun is gonna be a handful.

Take the brake off.

My main pig gun is a .22WM. No problem knocking them down with it.

The 300WM should be good for a far as you can shoot 'em.

Did I mention take the brake off?
 
20" barrel on a 300 has to take a big M.V. hit, and be Turrible Loud! May as well have a 22" 30-06, overall lenght would be pretty close.
 
I am going on a pig hunt at the end of the month in Oklahoma, it will be stalking through the brush. Will a .300 Win Mag be enough power to keep the pig down? What kind of load should I use on the pig, and what type scope would be best for stalking in Oklahoma brush?
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I think I would use the lightest round possible, which is what? 150 gr? You should get devastating wounds and lots of through and throughs for plenty of blood loss.

With that said, all that power means nothing if you can't shoot well or you develop a nasty flinch. As I chided a buddy of mine on missing with a 12 ga slug on a deer, you can't bring enough gun to miss.

What type of scope? Are you really going to be in the brush? If so, a 1x red dot with a 2 MOA dot would be more than sufficient. That will get you out to 100 yards on a small hog, no problem and a big hog at 200, but if you are "in the brush, you aren't going to be seeing 200 yards. You might be seeing 50, if that. It just depends on where you are hunting.

If you are going to be in open country, I would go with a 1-6x variable scope with long eye relief, like a scout scope, maybe 2-8x.
 
Howdy. I've been hog hunting for several years, and have used everything from a .17HMR to a 300WM to a Bow to a Shotgun. As it turns out... the largest hog I've killed was a 47yds with a .22mag and he weighed in at just over 400 lbs. It is all about bullet placement. My favorite hog gun is my AR15 loaded with 55gr DRT ammo. I have yet to have a hog run after being hit with one of those loads. I like the ability to have fast followup shots on the other pigs at the feeder too.

To answer your question though... 300wm Is a fine rifle and cartridge... if you are willing to spend the $$$ on ammo.

Keep Calm and Hunt On
 
I've never heard of a hog being too dead. However, why would you want to buy a 20" .300WM? You won't get near the maximum performance of the cartridge with the short barrel
 
However, why would you want to buy a 20" .300WM? You won't get near the maximum performance of the cartridge with the short barrel
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Totally agree, you might get more velocity from a .308 in a 22" barrel, and it will be much quieter without a brake.
 
However, why would you want to buy a 20" .300WM? You won't get near the maximum performance of the cartridge with the short barrel
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Totally agree, you might get more velocity from a .308 in a 22" barrel, and it will be much quieter without a brake.
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I agree that a 20" 300 WM is kind of pointless, but 2 extra inches of barrel isn't going to make a 308 faster.

I totally agree about the brake.
 
I've never heard of a hog being too dead.
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LOL, never too dead, indeed. I have seen 4 "dead" hogs (went through the Curly shuffle, the stilled) get up and try to get away. All 4 got up. Two made it. I don't think they made it far, but I never found them.
 
natman: "I agree that a 20" 300 WM is kind of pointless, but 2 extra inches of barrel isn't going to make a 308 faster."
Yes it will. It will increase with each inch out to about 26-28 inches, maybe more, but I never had a rifle that long so it's a guess.
 
I think he meant faster than a 300. On this I agree, the 300 would still have a mv advantage. Should look pretty awesome going off in the evening though!
 
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I don't think a .300 Win Mag is going to smack a hog too much harder than a .308 or .30-06 would, but I know it's going to smack you and your wallet to do so. A .308 (or maybe even something like a 7.62X39 or .300 blackout) should be more than enough to do the job. If you're stalking and looking for high numbers, I'd be looking at something with a relatively high capacity magazine and preferably a semi-automatic. Something like an AR-15 in a slightly larger caliber, SKS, Mini-30, VZ 58 etc. If you want a bolt action, I'd be looking at something along the lines of the Mossberg MVP .308
 
natman: "I agree that a 20" 300 WM is kind of pointless, but 2 extra inches of barrel isn't going to make a 308 faster."
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Yes it will.
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Yes, a 22 inch 308 will be a bit faster than a 20 inch 308, but neither will be faster than a 20" 300 WM. Hope that clears things up.
 
The point is that a .300 in a 20" barrel is wasted energy because you aren't burning all the powder or building the velocity capable with the cartridge. Buy a .308 in the bolt gun or as suggested in an AR10 platform. Cool looking rifles with bad configuration and components are doorstops that are hard to get rid of. Efficiency and practicality trumps cool when it comes time to make the shots.
 
While "I want one." is reason enough to buy anything, there's no game in North America that requires a magnum of any kind to kill.
Porky is not armour plated and .300 Win Mag out of a 20" 8 pound rifle are just not fun to shoot all day.
Oh and if a few hundred or more illiterate Russian conscripts couldn't damage that Mosin, neither can you. snicker.
 
There's no doubt it would be capable of killing hogs, but between the muzzle blast, recoil and ammo price, is more than necessary. If that's what you like get it I'm not one to discourage someone from getting a gun (hence my screen name, lol) that gun would be capable of hunting everything in North America if that interests you. But as many have said it comes down to shot placement. Any thirty caliber should be capable as well. I'm not sure what size hog you plan on shooting or the range, those would also be factors to consider when picking your caliber. So many smaller calibers could be used.
 
The cost of ammo will be ridiculous. You can still get Green Box Remingtons for $18 a box. Other than that, a 20" 300WM is also ridiculous. Besides, you don't want a bolt for close quarter encounters.
 
I wouldn't not use your Mosin for your reasoning. We're talking about a tough cheap plentiful gun that thinks clubbing a freezing nazi to death is a sign of extreme affection.

A semi .308 would be very good. I'm very partial to the FN SCAR because it is an 8 lb. piston rifle as opposed to most but they aren't cheap.
 
A 300 mag is WAY more then you need.

So what?

If you like it, use it!

I have killed a number of deer with 375H&H a few with 458s and 2 with a 460 and 4 with a 50-140. A few with a 62 caliber flintlock too.
All were dead after I shot them.
Some were hunted because I liked the rifles and wanted to carry and use them, and many were killed when I was after bigger game and the shot was offered.

But if the shot is safe, there is nothing wrong with using "more than needed."
No one would say you were foolish if you needed groceries and stopped in a large pickup truck to get them at the store. You don't need a 3/4 or 1 ton truck to get groceries either.
But no one would care, or even notice, except maybe an obnoxious fool.

Only fools will care if you safely shoot hogs with a 300.
Or an 8 bore if you'd like.
 
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