Hunting & Fishing Factory .45 ACP ammo suggestions for hog hunt

[AK4900PA]

My uncle and I are going hog hunting in February and while I will be taking my .308 as my primary if I come across a hog within a reasonable range (<150lb + <25 yards) I'm curious to see how my recently acquired Shield 45 works on them. Some of the offerings from Underwood such as the Lehigh defender/penetrator and the 255gr hard cast look appealing. Any other suggestions for factory offerings worth looking into?

 

[big_matt_duq]

I have never shot a pig. Heard they are tough though. I would treat it like shooting a bear. With a big bore, I want penetration not expansion. Hard cast or fmj would be what I would load. Preferable wide meplat if it feeds well. I would rather have my 10mm, 44 or 454 than my 45 though. Better shoot cns if you need to stop one. I would a pissed off pig with holes punched in it would take a while to expire.

 

[AK4900PA]

I went to the same ranch last year with my uncle and took home 7 hogs between the two of us ranging from 94lb to 196lb. I used my .308 shooting 168gr A-Max and my uncle borrowed my wife's single shot 300blk shooting 110gr Barnes Tac-TX. All 7 hogs were one shot kills. I'll primarily be using my .308, but if I happen across a smaller pig at a reasonable distance I'm pretty interested in seeing how the .45 does. I think I'm going to pick a couple boxes of 230gr-255gr hard cast and see what shoots and feeds the best.

 

[HoustonB77]

Just about any 45 will do. Shot placement is key. The biggest one I ever killed with a handgun I was using a 200 grain gold dot.
That would be my first choice but it got the job done.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[chorizo]

I have shot numerous hogs with a 357 mag with the sierra 150 gr Hollow cavity rounds on up to a 44 mag wityh 225 gr hollow points. The best results I received was with a 45 ACP with the 200 gr Gold Dot hollow point. Every one was disabled and went down almost immediately when hit. That includes "kill" hits from all of the other rounds where the hog kept moving on past me for at least 25 yards

I only went to the 44 mag as it provided me with a DA capability.

 

[AK4900PA]

Well, maybe I won't buy any ammo then. My CCW ammo is the 230gr Speer gold dot short barrel. Maybe I'll just give those a shot.

 

[chorizo]

Well, maybe I won't buy any ammo then. My CCW ammo is the 230gr Speer gold dot short barrel. Maybe I'll just give those a shot.

That will work. 230 GD HP weren't out when I was pistol hunting hogs. They should penetrate nicely and expand nicely. All of the 200 gr flying ashcans expanded to almost 50 cal when I dug the out...usually under the skin on the far side.

 

[JG26_Irish]

A few years back I took a hog hunt with some friends. We took 7 hogs on that trip ranging from 200-380lbs. Used a variety of rifle and pistol rounds. I took one with a .308 custom load using a Nosler ballistic tip in 165g. It was a perfectly placed shoulder shot that went thru and thru. I was only 5y away. That tough old pig ran over 40y before it realized that it was dead. The largest hog was killed with a single shot from a 45 acp at point blank range. Used a 230grain Win HP. It dropped like it had been hit by lightning. 44 mag had similar results. I would stick to heavier bullets so you do get good penetration. +P Loads.

 

[Pesekcw]

I speak from experience, if you aren’t shooting a light fast bullet, you have to be damn close to penitrate. Be ever so careful I have skipped them off of heads if the boar was 250 +. I typically carry a 9 now for that reason, last time I cape upon a big pig down here in south Texas, if it wasn’t for my dog I would have been gutted. 9 rounds in the head and chest from my full size 1911 and he kept charging, dog rolled him KABAR finished it, then I changed my shorts. YMMV, but have a backup plan

 

[K-tech]

I'd give Lehigh Defense 200gr Xtreme Penetrator a look, the are expensive as all get out but I believe they're one of, if not the best options out there.