Pig Rounds

[Gaznazdiak]

It seems we have a pig problem at my place and my landlord has asked me to thin them out.
The only choices I have is either 12g slugs or my 24" barrelled .223.
After doing quite a bit of reading on the subject, there seems to be 3 predominant schools of thought.
1: .223 is too light under any circumstances.
2: 12g slugs are the ducks guts.
3: A bonded or a solid copper .223 will provide more damage via hydraulic shock than the brute force of a slug.
Several people on a US forum had spoken of slugs going straight through allowing the pig to bolt into the scrub and disappear to bleed out.
Has anyone used anything like the .223 Barnes Triple shock?
With my 1:9 twist, a 62gn is the heaviest that Barnes recommend.

[pomemax]

your 4th choice
https://www.usedguns.com.au/Product.aspx?p=118683
or something along the lines of

[AusTac]

A .223 would certainly not be my first choice but it depends what you have access too, not much a shotgun can't take care of at close range though, between slugs or buck shot i can't imagine it being in great shape after receiving the good news from a 12g, otherwise step the rifle calibre up to a 30 at least, a large caliber guide rifle would be perfect in this instance

[Oldbloke]

Been a long time since I shot a few pigs.

IMO I'd say mainly depends on size.
SSGs and the 223 with 62gr should be fine for smallish pigs. Shot placement is naturally very important for the 223. One ounce 12g solids are now legal in Vic for sambar, so I would not hesitate to use them. Should be fine for the big buggers out to say 50-60 meters. With a hole that big in them they won't go far.

[tom604]

depends how close you can get close ,use the shottie, not so close use the 223, head/neck shot , not much will walk away

[albat]

.223 will mop up those hogs without too much drama if you know where to put them ,dont worry too much about the bullet

[Gaznazdiak]

@ Oldbloke
Thanks for getting back to me.
Several reasons for looking at the .223 over the shotty or getting a larger calibre.
They appear to be only about 35-50kg.
The areas they have been rooting around in are completely open with no cover so any shot would be 150-200m minimum.
Having mounted my Howa 1500 .223 in an XLR Element chassis, I was hoping to get one of the new 26" Creedmore barrelled actions and put the .223 back in it's original walnut stock and the Creedmore into the Element, but with all this uninformed nonsense about appearance seemingly getting worse in here NSW, I need to keep the walnut handy for when the Rozzers want to drop in for a bit of persecution. Also, getting another would entail a new safe as well as I already have four rifles in a three gun safe and it's tighter than a frogs bum in there with what I have now.
We managed to trap a couple but word seems to have got around and the trap has been sitting empty for over a week now.
Even though a couple members of the local rifle club are police weapons instructors and say I shouldn't have a problem with appearance, they aren't the ones doing the confiscating, so I figure better safe than psychotically angry about losing it.

[wrenchman]

there is not much that a 12g 1 oz slug wont kill i think most pigs you can kill with the 223 lot of guys shooting them with a ar 15 typ guns

[Gaznazdiak]

As to solid copper projectiles, anyone used them? Are they worth the asking price of $1+ each?

[Oldbloke]

I haven't used a 223 on pigs. But I'm inclined to think 200m will be stretching the barrel. Any chance of setting up a hide at say 100m?

[Wombat]

there is not much that a 12g 1 oz slug wont kill i think most pigs you can kill with the 223 lot of guys shooting them with a ar 15 typ guns

If it were a Semi Auto .223 there would be no question regarding suitability. Semis are not readily available for 99% of Australian shooters.

[Gaznazdiak]

@Oldbloke
Never thought about a hide, good point though.
I've been knocking bunnies out to 500m using 70gn Berger target HP and was considering using those but have been dubious about their ability to expand enough to do the job humanely, even right up close at 100m.
Maybe it's time to swap the 24" .223 for the 26" Creedmore, I doubt the rabbits will notice the difference.

[Corn]

Pigs are smart. Watch a few Jager Pro pig trapping YouTube videos to see how smart they can be.
Move the trap around.

I’m sure a 223 with good shot placement should do the job ok.

When you trapped them, what did you do with them?
If you dispatched them, how was that done?
Did you turn them into food for yourself, your family, the landlord, the dog or cat?

Good luck.
Please post pics

[Gaznazdiak]

@corn
Those that took the bait were dealt with at less than 5m with a 12g slug to the back of the head, 1st or 2nd vertebra. No pics, and all too wormy for anthing but fox bait..

[duncan61]

I have dropped a few pigs at 80m with my .222 using PSP 50g Remington doing about 2700fps while out kangaroo shooting.I hit them in the neck just behind the head and they all dropped on the spot.A big boar will have shoulder pads that a .243 will struggle with.Your .223 with 62gn pills doing nearly 3000fps will do the job out to 200m

[deanp100]

Don't overthink it. Just shoot them in the pig with the 223 . If you have thick country walk them up with the shotgun.

[Gaznazdiak]

Thanks to everyone for your advice, I'll build me a hide and give the Remington PSP projectiles a try, they are about 1/3 the price of Remington copper solids and from a little more research the terminal ballistics look pretty good.
I'll post a brag, if I have anything brag-worthy that is.

[Daddybang]

.223 will be fine just make sure ya shoot straight!

[duncan61]

I used Remington Pointed soft points because they were $17.95 a 100 and they were perfect for headshooting Kangaroos as they blow up on contact and take out a good size hole.If you hit anything in the neck it wont go far there is to much vital for life stuff in there.Look forward to a report soon

[RoginaJack]

Best pig gun's a .303! If in doubt, re-read rule 303....

[Gaznazdiak]

Further to the pig bullet question:
Has anyone tried Hornady's ballistic tipped solid copper GMX projectiles?
They look good "on paper", but at over $1 each, are they that much better than Sierra Gameking?

[albat]

Dont get hung up on the bullet in the head is dead

[Gaznazdiak]

You gotta love serendipity.
I was talking to an old mate on Thursday who gave me a pile of unwanted projectiles last year, some military SS109 penetrators, various target rounds and some soft nose.
I mentioned my intent to get some SGK for the pigs and he asked me if I'd used all the ones he gave me.
Turns out the ziplock bag of soft points I've used several times for goats are actually SGK.
If they work half as well as they do on Billy, Porky is in trouble.
Shame I didn't find this out until after I'd ordered more.