.45 ACP vs wild boar

It worked....eventually. Would I ever take my .45 hog(hawg) hunting? No. For handgun, it would be my Desert Eagle .44 Mag.
Usually, I use a bow or my 45-70.
Was the fellow in the video and idiot? Maybe. Did he load up the .45 with some JHPs and decide to go hog hunting? Well, then he is an idiot.
Was he trying out some new hard cast ammo, limiting his range to 15 feet, and the camera man got sick? Maybe he was not an idiot.
If I am carrying my .45 through suburbia one day, and a wild boar comes charging, will I not shoot it with my .45 cause I know it is not the ideal weapon of choice for wild boars? You bet your blind side I am shooting that boar.

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Originally Posted by Stubborn

Death is a nasty business...whether it's a human or an animal.
It doesn't always fit in the nice, clean, bloodless, no suffering box most people like to keep it in, in their minds.
Even the most humane, ethical hunters can find themselves staring an ugly situation in the face.
It's easy to point a finger when you hire all of your meat killed by the supermarket.
No true "hunter" wants to see an animal suffer, most have far too much respect for the animals they hunt... but it happens, if you hunt long enough, it WILL happen to you, all you can do is end it as quickly as possible.

:soapbox:

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So true. I pride myself on accuracy. All of my deer kills have been one shot drop affairs except this 7 pointer that stepped out just before legal shooting hours were ending. I placed the crosshairs of my scout scope behind the shoulder and squeezed off a 325 gr. 45-70 round. The deer dropped and I thought it was over as usual. Then, he started trying to get up. I was perplexed. I tried in vain to see if my shot was lethal through the little 2x scout scope. Just couldn't tell so, I put another shot through his neck at the base of the skull. Checked out the deer and found the first shot had broke the spine. How could I have missed that much? Back to the stand and noticed I had shot through a limb that had deflected the bullet some 12". I didn't see that limb in the fading light. I felt bad but ended it as quickly as I could. I also learned to pay more attention to shooting lanes.

Many years ago a local casting company gave us free samples of a 155gr LSWC in .45, along eith their load data. We loaded them and killed a few feral hogs pretty cleanly with 1911s and one old 1955 target S&W 25. The hogs didn't seem to think that oddball load was inapropriate when hit with it.

Hogs can be hard to kill! I've been put a tree before by hogs because I left the gun in the truck while filling up the deer feeders, its not fun to be chased by them. This guy was lucky that he at least had a pistol on him! Because of the grissle plate over there shoulder I carry a 10mm. Working on some 240 grain jhp and some 250 grain jsp to see if I can get them to work.

About 6 or 7 years ago I went on a boar hunt with my 45. I was using CorBon DPX+P. The boar went down with the first shot but took a love tap to put it out of its missery. This was at a game reserve and the boar was at 257 pounds. Here are a couple of pics.

Charging hog,time for the claymore

I'll pass on going after a wild hog with a .45 ACP. As a back up maybe, but definitely not a primary hunting caliber.

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Originally Posted by taseal

boars have protective cartilage? never knew that.. interesting

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I am a biologist and I promise you boar's do not have protective cartilage over their vitals. What they do have is very thick hide made tougher by rubbing against trees and large rocks to create a calloused "shield" which is to protect them while fighting with other boars over sows and territory.

This is the internet. Don't believe everything you read.

Pigs, as with people and any other vertebrate, it's still ALL about where that bullet goes. I've killed a lot of hogs with a .22 behind the ear.

If you're using a handgun on a hog you're gonna want to go with CAPACITY over CALIBER.

Better yet... use a SHOTTY!

Range (distance), angle, type of ammo (target semiwad, fmj, hp, lead, etc,), and most importantly, placement all play a part in how fast an amimal goes down. Between Florida and S Georgia, I've killed more than my fair share of feral hogs. And yes, I've killed them with everything from 22lr to .44mag. Including 556, .38spl, 30-30, 30-06 and even, ................wait for it............45acp. I assure you a shot placed just below and behind the ear, from the distance proper to the firearm, will nearly always drop one stone. I can also assure you on a 300lb boar hog, shot just behind the shoulder in what on most animals would be considered "the pocket", may absorb a 30-30 LeverEvolution at 65yds and continue to stay upright. Had a 300lb'er take a 30-06 LightMagnum in the pocket at 100yds and require a finishing round.

Yes, boar hogs have a shield of grissle (edit, to say more properly, scar tissue buildup) behind the shoulders for protection from other boar hogs. If you look at a boar's tusks and cutters, they are designed to stab in and cut by hooking upwards. When boars fight, they drive into one another shoulder to shouler and hook at the other, attempting to cut into the other's vitals behind the shoulder. It is incredibly tough stuff, per measure. Take into account a tough hide, designed to withstand briars, thorns, and other environmental nastiness that prevents other animals from traveling as deep into badlands as hogs will, and depending on the food sources and availability of food, the amount of sub q fat on the animal, an incredibly dense set of muscle and bones, and you have yourself a rather tough- to- bring- down with- one- hit puppy.


Broadside shots, standing still (shooter and hog) are higher probability one shot stoppers. Behind the ear, thu the eye, top of the shoulder and thru the spine, will generally drop a hog instantly, tho not alway KILL one instantly. Versus a wedge-shaped, very thick boned skull (lighter handgun rounds can and have hit the skull and traveled under the hide of the head and come to rest under the skin at the neck or shoulder) coming at you. Moving targets are difficult enough, but the wedge shape of a hog makes driving a projectile into it's brain even more challenging.

If I can find some of my photos from last year, I'll try to post a the 300lb'er I took with the LvrEvltn at 65 yds. I'll also try to find the photos of the shield after the hide is removed. \
Bullets can suffer from 'chaos' theory: theoretically, we know how they should work. Practically, not so much.

dan

The problem with hogs are that someone showed them inet forums with a bunch of crap on it. Until then they did not know it took a 105 howitzer to stop them. I am so glad they didn't know how tough they are when I was a teen in the Ocala National forest dropping them with a single shot .22, or surely I would not have survived!

Last week I dropped one in Texas with one head shot from a 44 handgun. I saw others put down with shoulder shots. My hog weighed 270 pounds, and was not one of the big ones.

So please, let's not tell game animals how incredibly tough they are to kill, because apparently from what I'm reading, some are taking this information to heart! It's getting dangerous out there since they have gained access to the Internet.

gm10mm,

I don't think anyone has made out like hogs are unstoppable, but just from this vid, we see that bullets don't always give us the desired results. I believe you could agree in this situation (op vid), a 22lr would not have been what any of us would want to be using at the time. Even the mighty 44 may not have given the shooter his hoped for results (instant drop).

Like you, I've put many on the dirt w a 22lr. But not under the circumstances in the vid. But, in contrast, I've also had large hogs NOT do what I thought they'd do after a well placed shoulder shot, others dropped like a rock.

Point I'm making I guess is, I don't necessarily fault the op vid shooter too much. Other than maybe worrying less about the camera, and getting both hands on his pistol for optimum control.

dan

Dan,

That video is an example of Nimrods in the field, at its best. I noticed a hole in the left rear leg, in the belly, and his final head shot was under the jaw bone of the animal.
Bad shooting, plain and simple.

And yes, I think I could have done much better with a .22 rifle than he did with his one handed shooting with the 45. The shot angle was perfect for a head shot with a .22, or anything else.

The trusty ole 44mag with just about anything over 240 grains for a projectile and a healthy dose of h110 is pretty solid for anchoring hogs.

I'm sure 45 acp is capable but in my case my 44 mag is just all around a better gun for the task. Hogs can get pretty frisky in some situations, so I want something I know is going to reach the goods.

However, I have heard there is a new breed of cyber hogs that will laugh at anything shy of a .500 mag.

sent via iCarry

My only point is that the 45 ACP is not the right tool for the job. I also prefer a 44 Mag, although I would be happy with a 10mm.