Need hunting rifle advice

[OffWithTheirHeads]

My brother wants to take me hunting for wild Boar. Of the guns I currently own, My short barrel 12a. riot gun loaded with slugs has the stopping power but it kicks so much that precise aim is nearly impossible. I know I could hit the target someplace But I want to drop it, not piss it off. My 9mm walther, though highly accurate, would proably just annoy a Boar and I'm pretty sure who would lose that agrument. Suggestions?

[Redneck Socialist]

1. Don't know much about boar hunting

Can you give us some more info? How far is the typical shot? Hunting from a stand, stalking or still hunting?

30-06 should do the trick, but it's not too interesting.

[krispos42]

2. Well, the magazines point to something powerful and compact

Many people use hunting revolvers. Apparently boar hunting involves a lot of brush, where longer guns are at a disadvantage. They also involve close-range, fast-action shooting, and some danger, as boars have a bad temper and are known to charge. They also have a pretty heavy body structure.

In the articles I have read, a .44 Magnum seems to be popular, like a Ruger Redhawk or Blackhawk, loaded with a good hunting bullet. Powerful, with fast shooting ability.

Marlin also makes short-barreled big-bore lever-action rifles. You can get them in .44 Mag, .45-70, and .450 Marlin. A nice one is the M1895GS, which is what Marlin calls a "guide gun". It has a compact 18.5 inch barrel, 4+1 magazine capacity, comes in regular or stainless steel, and fires the potent .45-70 cartridge. With the Guide Gun concept, you can mount about halfway down a barrel a low-powered scope. This setup is generally considered very fast and accurate for close-to-medium range shots, because you can see around the scope to bring the gun on target, then quickly sight through the scope for the shot.

http://www.marlinfirearms.com/firearms/bigbore/1895GS.aspx

If you want the lighter (not light, but "lighter") .44 Mag, the gun holds 10 rounds with a 20" barrel.

http://www.marlinfirearms.com/Firearms/1894Centerfire/1894.aspx

For either gun you can buy the the scout scope mounting bracket for about $60, or just use the included iron sights.

Oh, and Ruger also makes a .44 Mag semiautomatic carbine. It also has a short barrel and 4+1 capacity, and it will shoot faster and easier then a lever action. It's called the Deerfield.

The muzzle energy of a rifled slug from a 12-gauge runs between 2400 and 3000 foot-pounds. A .45-70 cartridge runs about 2400 ft-lbs. A .44 Mag fired from a rifle runs about 1600 ft-lbs. A .44 Mag fired from revolver is about 750-850 ft-lbs.

By contract, your 9mm Walther can run about 350 ft-lbs or so. And they dont' really make any deep-penetrating hunting bullets for the 9mm because it's not really a good hunting cartridge.

[benEzra]

3. I know next to nothing about boar hunting

but a number of boar hunters post on the High Road. I know that several of them use SKS's (inexpensive self-loading rifle in 7.62x39mm, comparable to a .30-30). Anything along the lines of a .44 or .30-30 lever-action, an SKS or civilian AK lookalike, or some other fairly quick-handling carbine would seem to me to be a good choice.

You might want to get in some practice at the range on getting a really QUICK sight picture at close to moderate ranges, as I understand.

I think the 12-gauge with slugs and the 9mm would probably be less than ideal choices, for exactly the reasons you state.

[TX-RAT]

4. I've taken many hogs

Forget the 9mm, Any good center fire rifle should work depending on range and conditions. If all you have is a 12ga and full house slugs are to much for you, check into some reduced power loads, same as used in some law-enforcement departments. I would definitely try to take rifle of 25 cal or larger, even that may be a little light for a larger hog (300+lbs)

[Deep13]

5. I'm pretty sure my Marlin 0.357 Mag. could drop a boar.

It is a really nice carbine. The 18" barrel makes it easy to handle plus it gives you about 200 feet-per-sec. over a revolver. I get pretty tight groups at 50 yards with a red dot sight. At 100 yards with the open sights I can consistently hit a 5" target, though not in a tight group. I shoot Federal Am. Eagle jacketed soft point at the rifle range. Hard to imagine anything smaller than a black bear surviving that. It holds 9+1 rounds or 10+1 in 0.38 Sp. It is blued with a straight, checkered walnut stock, side ejection and predrilled for a scope, if you want it. The hooded, open sights work just fine in daylight. There is a stainless model too, but only in 0.44 Mag.

9mm Luger is about as powerful as 0.38 Sp. It would probably work eventually, but it might not drop the boar instantly. Boars, unlike deer or ducks,get pretty pissed off if they've been shot.

[benEzra]

6. I haven't measured this for myself...

but I have been told that .357 out of a rifle-length barrel gains enough velocity that it approaches 7.62x39mm energy levels (and more frontal area to boot), but that may depend on bullet weight. I agree that a .357 carbine would also be a good choice.

[krispos42]

7. It gets close, but fall short by about 350 ft-lbs

I checked the Winchester Ammo site. The .357 Mag in a rifle sends a 158 grain bullet at 1,830 ft/s for a muzzle energy of 1175 ft-lbs, a boost of about 600 ft/s and some 640 ft-lbs. Guess there's a hell of a difference between 4" and 18"...

http://www.winchester.com/products/catalog/cfrdetail.aspx?symbol=X3575P&cart=MzU3IE1hZ251bQ==
http://www.winchester.com/products/catalog/handgundetail.aspx?symbol=X3575P&cart=MzU3IE1hZ251bQ==

The 7.62x39mm lists a 123-grain bullet at 2365 ft/s for a muzzle energy of 1527 ft-lbs.

http://www.winchester.com/products/catalog/cfrdetail.aspx?symbol=X76239&cart=Ny42MngzOW1tIFJ1c3NpYW4=

The 7.62x39mm shoots flatter, which only increases the differences in bullet energy at longer ranges. However, for close-range boar hunting, this should not be a factor to consider. The .357 (about 9mm) definately would make a bigger hole.

Winchester only lists the one load below in both rifle and pistol examples. But you can get some real heavy stompers in .357 Magnum which should have similar numbers in a rifle to the load mentioned above. For example, Winchester makes a deep-penetrating partitioned bullet that weighs a whopping 180 grains, and boar is specifically mentioned in the "Application" section.

http://www.winchester.com/products/catalog/handgundetail.aspx?symbol=S357P&cart=MzU3IE1hZ251bQ==

There are probably a variety of other ones available from Remington, Federak, Buffalo Bore, etc., but I happen to like the way Winchester's site is laid out and use it a lot.

Hope this helps.

[progressivegunowner]

9. bullet design

With the differences between a .357 rifle and a 7.62x39, it all depends on the bullet. If you can find some really tough bullets loaded for the SKS, it would probably be good, but seeing as the bullet weight is rather light for a .30, bullets probably wouldn't be designed to go through tough skin and bones. In other words, I wouldn't want it for boar hunting.

The .357, while it has less energy and velocity, can use heavier bullets, and the 180 grain bullets, or even heavier if they can be found, would probably be good for penetrating tough skin and bone.

Even though I think both would be trumped by a .44 magnum rifle with 270 to 300 grain bullets that are designed for that type of work.

[benEzra]

11. Heaviest 7.62x39mm hunting loads use 150-grain bullets...

I think Brown Bear makes a hunting load using a 150-grain softpoint at around 2000 fps. (Typical 7.62x39mm load is a 123-grain FMJ or JHP at ~2350 fps.) But you're right, a .357 can throw heavier bullets than that, with considerably more frontal area to boot.

[krispos42]

12. Are standard FMJs tough enough?

They don't expand, so they would penetrate deeply if they held together. I wonder if they typically tumble or rupture in flesh. If they don't, standard FMJs might give the good penetration you need. But if they do tumble and/or fragment, they might not hit the vitals, especially since boars are prone, not upright.

Wikipedia says the newer (made since the '60s) ammo has an air gap that causes the bullet to yaw after about 6 inches, while the older solid bullet took twice that before destabilizing.

I suppose if the older design is still made, that might well penetrate deeply enough. But you would still have a much smaller frontal (crush) area then a limited-expansion heavy .357 Magnum.

I think I'd take a fast-shooting .44 Magnum semiauto or lever-action, all things considered. I don't know if buckshot is legal for boar, or if the pellets would penetrate deep enough on a front aspect shot. I think you can get hardened buckshot, and 000-buck is pretty dam big, but you would lose your longer-range target ability due to the scatter of the pellets.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7.62x39_mm

[RebelOne]

8. I have never been hunting, but I am a copy editor for an

outdoors magazine. I am currently working on a story about boar hunting. Here's an excerpt from the article. This info should help.

"First, don’t take a knife to a gunfight. Make sure that you have a weapon suited to the task. Wild hogs, both boars and sows, have a tough leather shield about the shoulder area and it takes a heavy .30-caliber bullet, at least, to penetrate the hide deep enough to create a mortal wound."

[Lefty48197]

10. How about buckshot?

Does anybody hunt boar with a shotgun?