Charging Boar...

J

jakeatsamford

Inactive
I am interested in getting a revolver to carry with me hunting just in case one of the 300 lb boars decides to slice and dice. I dont know if I need a 44, or just a 357. I occasionally travel to bear territory, but mainly would carry this hunting as protection, but I would want it accurate enough to kill a hog open sights at 40 yards. What about the ultralite aluminum or titanium guns? My dad recently was attacked by a small 140 lb hog and ended up with a 2 inch gash in his leg. Thanks for your help and opinions.

>>-Jake-->
 
I wouldn't wander around without a 44 Magnum and a 6" barrel in boar country. I saw a guy drop a boar with a Colt Python 357 Magnum once. He ran over and the boar came up ANGRY!! WHO SHOT ME? I don't like to think what could have been. I had a sight picture with a Hawes 44 Magnum single action. A third member of the party had his 6" M29 sighted also. Two 44 Magnums put the boar into a spin. The last we saw of him, he was headed away from us. Boar are tough.
 
I'll second the above

For the purposes you outlined in your post, Id recommend going with the .44, .357's are the best one-shot stoppers when it comes to humans, but that heavy .44 slug will put paid to any large animal on this continent intent on injuring you. Jacketed hollowpoint or hydroshoks are the way to go. Dont sweat the penetration issue, there is enough energy behind the .44 mag that penetration becomes a non-issue. Besides, youll want to rock the sucker back on his heels so you can get a follow-up shot if necessary, which might not happen if you go with FMJ's.
 
Penetration is a MAJOR issue on boars...dont buy a quick expanding hollow point(hydra-shoks, gold dots, etc). Ive shot large hogs with similar loads and they pretty much laughed at them...some took 4+ shots to keep then down. The fat layer and grissle is incredably thick and very tough to penetrate...you would be surprized what little most hollowpoints will do...even at full house 44 magnum levels. I personaly would use a hardcast HEAVY(at least 280 grains) bullet with a large wide metplat. The wide metplat will do just as much damage as a hollowpoint but will penetrate WAY more and shatter bone. With that 310 grain Lee bullet i showed in another post, i can shoot clean though an elk lengthwise...bone and all and the wound channel it leaves is just something that needs to be seen to be believed! I shot a hog with my 2400 load a while back...got a good shoulder hit. Thing spun around, squeeled a little bit and fell like a sac of potatoes. There was litterally nothing left of his shoulder on either side. Drops most anything dead in its tracks.
 
Whut Jeffro sed. My minimum hog handgun is a 44 mag loaded with a 336 gr. WFN cast bullet over a stiff load of H110. If you can afford a Ruger 480 or 454 Casull, all the better. When dealing with animals that can do serious damage to the hunter, bigger is better.
 
With that 310 grain Lee bullet i showed in another post, i can shoot clean though an elk lengthwise...bone and all and the wound channel it leaves is just something that needs to be seen to be believed!

I bought one of those 310gr moulds, too. I don't like using gas checks, so I bored out the gas check ring on a milling machine, calculated the area I just added to the bullet and shortened the mould that amount. With straight wheelweight alloy, it throws a 307gr bullet. Pretty close anyway. After my wrist recovers from surgery, I'll have to do some accuracy testing with it and see how it works out.

Back to what the post as originally about, I wouldn't venture into boar country with any caliber that doesn't start with a "4".
 
I'd take a .44 Magnum loaded with Winchester's 250 gr. Supreme Partition Gold.

Edit - From their website:

Suggested use: Hunting
Description: Massive Energy Deposit, Accurate, Optimum Penetration, Consistent Expansion
Application: Thin skinned game such as Whitetail Deer and Boar

Bullet features include: Proven Partition Technology
Consistent, Dramatic Bullet Expansion
Deep Penetration Regardless of Barrel Length
Maximum Weight Retention

Handgun Ballistics
Distance (yds) Muzzle 50 100
Velocity (fps) 1230 1132 1057
Distance (yds) Muzzle 50 100
Energy (ft. lbs.) 840 711 620
 
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