....oops Nevermind

[video:youtube]https://youtube.com/shorts/rU_5XJSewBY?si=k-2wy2T1qauZeWda[/video]

Head shots with a pellet gun will do the same. I’ve killed a bunch of piggies with an AR15, but all shots were head shots and within 75 yards max. I prefer something with a little more oomph behind it so I don’t have to wait for a head shot every time and can reach out there a little farther. But if that’s all I had to shoot’em with, I’d just empty the mag and what I couldn’t find, I’d let the buzzards tell me about kills over the next few days.

Technically not a head shot , those where CNS shots bigger targets then head shots,

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You can kill pigs with a .223, you just wont find many. Switch to a .308, kill and recovery goes way up.

Yeah, I still call them head shots. They drop hogs generally without a squeal. Great shots for up close and personal and stationary critters. Heck I still shoot there with the 7.62 and it drops them the same. It’s when they start moving or I don’t have that shot where the larger caliber shines. Heck I’ve hit them dead center of the body so I wouldn’t have to drag them off and they’ll fall within 10yds and I still have to drag them off. Running hogs don’t tote a 7.62 like they do a 5.56 either.
Again, not knocking the .223, just saying there’s better calibers out there that will do the job more efficiently.

shot placement , shot placement , shot placement
it he had been using a 308 he could have had 2 more pigs not waiting for the perfect shot on those trotters
make that a semi auto 308 and you could have had 3-4 more

at the end of the day is it about eradication & making meat or doing it with the limitations you put on yourself.

I have shot lots of stuff with an AR in 223/5.56. From deer to squirrel. They work but are no longer my choice for much of anything. I prefer something bigger in 308 based rounds like 243, 260, 7mm08, 308 ect...
I don't think you need 180 gr bullets or a 300 mag to kill deer but after several years and lots of animals the results are in and I get better results with the larger rounds.

I’ve killed many hogs with my 223 ar-15 Barnes 70gr TSX bullets work great on hogs and deer. The standard 62gr green tip M855 work great too. I seem to get quicker kills with the M855 than the Barnes. You will not get much of a blood trail compared to a larger caliber but it works great when you have 12-15 hogs feeding and you need to put as many down as possible.

Sounds like the .223 is the way to go.

… have no idea what “CNS” is … but we were raised to shoot them “right behind the ear” … 22 mag

We kill a lot of hogs. 308 is better. 223 works fine if you hit them right.

CNS Central Nerve System
the only guaranteed down right on the spot hits
you short circuit the spine between she shoulder and the brain and they can't move much of anywhere just kick some
you don't even need to break the spine just get close and it shocks the system so much that they go stiff and tip over
there is enough for arteries and veins surrounding the base if the skull to shoulder section that your going to cause the bleeding also.

right behind the ear is the brain stem the least protected spot of the spine.

50 bmg

the pressure wave makes it hard to suppress or come back on target fast.

you want to get out the other side but any extra out the other side is just wasted energy also

you can get a 180gr 30cal with very little recoil suppressed that will make exit almost every time.

I have killed a ton of hogs. .223 works under the right conditions - shooting single hogs in open ground. A lot of folks say if you get a bullet in them, what difference does it make if they dont drop right away. I shoot a lot of hogs and I want the hog to act like it has been hit when running off - so I know to switch to another. I want an AR 15 platform - because it is lighter than most AR 10’s. I see no use for a bolt gun where I hunt. My favorite caliber is a .450 bushmaster. I think the .350 legend and .400 legend would also be fine. The new Ruger .308 in their new AR platform intrigues me.

A good bullet in a small caliber trumps a poor bullet from a bigger caliber.

it takes more break in than many guns but it is very cool my son has one with the 20 inch barrel

I see one in my future - but would probably go with a 16” barrel so wouldnt be so long with suppressor

I agree a AR10 is heavy. Had the spare thermal on it and said the heck with it. Maybe for hunting fields or wide open places where the pigs are seen from a distance and can be easily snuck in on I might could see a use for it.
I prefer a bolt gun for the areas I hunt. Flat ground you’re getting one shot with all the brush. If I do it right I’ll get more shots when they filter back in.
With a little elevation I can get multiple pigs, even with a bolt. Best was night was 6 out of one group. They even gave me time to reload the magazine.
I’ll carry 8-9# all day before I carry 12-13#. My Ruger hasn’t failed me yet, lol. Waiting on the Gen II and my suppressor to come in and see what they can do.

On another hunting site, there was a long running thread about big game hunting with a .223. One fella insisted it was a suitable moose caliber. When asked if he had any real life experience hunting moose with a .223, never got an answer. I took that as a no.

I know two people that bought a rugged 308. Both had a lot of problems. One shot 5 shots and destroyed the gun rugar replaced it the new one also was so over gased it sheard off the last shot hold open latch . He sold it for a loss .

The other guy is in TX and messed with It a bunch to try to get ti to function properly .


The 16" barrel short gas tubs and over sizes gas ports are the problem even running it on the lowest setting. The guy in TX swaped out a different adjustable gas block and did some other things in order to get ti to function properly. These are both very knowledgeable fire arm guys I have know over a decade
Their experience is why I have not bough one.


At this point I'd an AR is something I decided I "need to shoot" it will likely be in 6mm arc in a standard area.

the ones I have heard of having issues were 16" the 20 functions fine on the higher setting they recommend for break in it abuses brass on the lighter setting it is easier on the brass I wouldn't count on many reloads on the brass but if you feed it factory and aren't picking it up it won't matter.

the spring guys played with some heavier buffer springs they were able to slow down the bolt with a heavier buffer and springs and still get good function

my son things there will be a Gen 2 out with a more adjustable gas block , there is already a company making one.
there is a lot of variation in 308 ammo for 2 settings and an off

Well I buy a gun, vehical, tractors, ect I expect them to work properly. Not have to mess with them to get them to function. If I chose to upgrade or modify them to my tast that's my choice but it better function from the start or it goes down the road. I don't think I would buy a rugar semi auto at this point

As tar as 20" working with the longer gas tub whan they sent my friend a new gun after the receiver blew apart on the first one he requested a 20" planing to cut it to 18" if it functioned properly . But it also had issues.

You can argue this thing around to hades and back and won’t reach a conclusion
I for omen shoot squirrels in the head out to 80 yards with my squirrel rifle that prints at only a tad under 1 MOA
A couple of my 223 ‘s shoot better that half MOA and the brain box on a hog is a bit bigger than that of a squirrel
You draw your own conclusions from that
PS. I have not seen a hog or deer or anything else I shot argue with me about the 223 size lomp of leat tattling around in its head

I look at it this way , a 223 with a decent bullet is more capable than a bow an arrow and we allow that.
as long as you treat your 223 shot like it is an archery kill it should work.
I wouldn't do it because you might see that moose for 20 seconds and it may never give you a perfect shot I don't even like 223 for deer because you can't take some shots and if all your being given is those shots your going to have to accept tag soup and I hate tag soup.

does that make 223 ideal , not at all far from it .
are we going to tell archery hunters to get a rifle ?

Your going to kill a moose if you put holes in important parts with a223. But your going to have a bigger hole and better blood trails and chance of recovery with an arrow.

I can kill anything in North Amarica and drop it on the spot with a .22lr and a head shot. Just becuse I can and have taken very large animals under percict conditions and ranges does not mean I'm going to think a 223 is bigger if a .22 will do it a 223 will be more better. Can it work absolutely. If you want to wait for perfect shots and be limited on what distance and shots you can take.

I have shot nearly 1000 hogs - a lot of them with a .22 mag. If I have a hog standing still inside 100 yards, I will probably kill it with a .22 mag. Hogs are easy to kill with any rifle if standing still. BUT, I shoot many hogs on the run, sometimes four or even five at a time. I have yet to meet anyone who can consistently put a bullet in a running hog’s head at 75 yards. That is when you need a caliber that has enough energy to make it obvious you hit them. I used to use a 6.5 grendel. While a great caliber when a hog is standing, they are pretty weak on a running hog. You spend too many shots shooting at a hog you have already hit but didnt know it. .308 is a great caliber if you dont mind and AR 10.

I have killed multiple hogs with each of the following - .22 lr, .22 mag, .223, .224 valk, 6mm creed, 6.5 creed, 6.5 grendel, .308, and .450 bushmaster. I once killed 153 hogs in 6 months. All around, for my hunting - usually with a thermal at night - an AR 15 in .450 bushmaster with a 7 rd mag is what I pick up.

You should read that entire thread. There's multiple moose kills posted on there, with field necropsy photos. Necropsy photos for the majority of the kill shots on there. A 77 TMK out of a 223/5.56 will kill any pig on this continent in short order. You wanna subscribe to the Fudd mentality of bigger is always better, that's fine. Bullet design has progressed so much now that hard recoiling magnums and non-magnums are not needed. You can spot your shot through the scope and stay on target. It's a proven fact that everyone shoots a lighter recoiling rifle better than a high recoiling rifle. That's not even debatable.

You folks shoot a lot of hogs in Idaho?

Cuts down on the blood left in the trap when shooting them in the trap.

I think what a lot of people are failing to understand, is yes, you can kill the biggest hog dead as a hammer with a properly placed round from almost any caliber rifle with a well placed shot. I have killed a number of them with a .22 lr. But, hogs are also one of the few larger animals that are often shot in number. I commonly shoot two to four in one shooting. Other than small game, most hunters are not shooting two to four deer or elk at a time. This is where the larger caliber rifles outperform the smaller calibers. I bought a 6.5 grendel - which has about 40% more energy than a .223 - and I had trouble telling I even hit them as they were running off. I took my thermal off it and put it on an AR 10 .308. It did a good job, but i dont have a thermal scanner and an AR 10 with a thermal scope gets pretty heavy when scanning. So I put my thermal on my .450 bushmaster AR 15 - which I had used with a red light for years, and it was superior to all those calibers. Even with it, I dont always know I hit them - but I can tell it a lot more often than the grendel and for sure my .223. You dont want to be shooting at and hitting the same hog three times when there are a dozen more to shoot at.

Also, lets not forget, the skull is the trophy on a feral hog. Dont want no bullet holes in the trophy. I live in Arkansas where the college mascot is a Razorback. On a forum made up of a lot of folks who are trying to turn a dollar off the animals they have taken - Razorback red boar hog skulls are pretty popular in my home state

LOL

OMG! I'm rolling on the floor right now!! Nice one!

All I can say is, very nice shooting!

I repectfully disagree.

I would suggest a small bullet - .223, 1437 ME - in a poor shot location is not nearly as effective as a larger bullet - .450 bushmaster, ME 2800 muzzle energy - in the same shot location.

50 CAL muzzle loaders and 12ga slugs tell me big holes through both sides make a difference

you couldn't get a much worse bullet design than a 1/2 inch lead marble

or a .720 lead thimble

.22 shorts have killed untold numbers of hogs, but that doesn't make that don't make a good choice for hog hunting.

there were times he had shots in the video that would have worked with something heavier but he waited for the shot that would work with the bullet he had


better bullets are better but it is very hard to make up for 3x the mass at nearly the same speed

I have been killing hogs since the early 90s. Like White Cliffs. I have killed 1000s of them as well. We used 223 300 BLK and 308 in AR 10 platform when I guided thermal hog hunts. The 308 was usually give to the poor shot. Or the inexperienced. 300 BLK was my go to for a while. We didn’t try to hunt pigs. We tried to eradicate them. So we used traps and thermals. Later I found the 6.5 Grendel. It worked well in A 12 inch AR 15 pistol platform. 100 gr bullets at 2600 fps did well. We were trying to kill EVER pig in the sounder when we walked up on them. So 223 took = Multiple rds per pig. 308 was to heavy AND hard to stay on target and kill fast while walking. BUT 6.5 Grendel was the ticket. Didn’t take you off target. Fast walking up in 12 inch AR 15 Hits well. Kills good. Can use 100gr FMJ Wolf cheap

Id sure like to eradicate some hogs. The chopper "hunt" looks fun.