Hunting & Fishing New hog AR caliber choice?

[Maelstrom]

I am looking to build an AR-15 to use hog hunting in Florida next year. I just got back from my trip this year where I used an AR-10 chambered in .308. The .308 worked very well taking 4 hogs with the longest shot being at 481 yards. The properties that we hunt are large ranches with the smallest being around 3,700 acres. We do a lot of walking as well riding from pasture to pasture looking. Depending on the ranch we have access to a side by side and an elevated swamp buggy. I like my .308 for the longer shots but want something a little lighter and faster to swing especially for close shots of fast moving pigs. I missed 1 this year when a group took off after the first shot. I cleaned missed right behind it at about 30 yards moving from my right to left. Most of the others I hunt with are using .300 BO or 6.8 SPC with a couple .270 bolt guns and even a .17 WSM thrown in. I have watched both the .300 BO and the 6.8 SPC rounds effectively drop hogs and also watched hogs run after being hit with both calibers. I know there is no perfect caliber but for those with experience with either which would you prefer and why? I will be reloading for whichever caliber I go with. If you have other calibers you recommend please let me know.

 

[WB300]

In a smaller frame AR, 6.8SPC, 6.5 Grendel, and 300 Blk (not sub sonic) have worked well for my buddies out to about 300 yards (they dont reload). I can't offer much beyond 300 yards but would guess shots beyond that are the exception to the rule. Choose a good bullet.

Inside 50 yards when they are scattering gets interesting. At that point, its more the skill of the Indian than it is about the bow or the arrow.

Where's the pics??? Don't leave us hanging.

 

[mkollman74]

458 SOCOM for up close and personal...

 

[msstate56]

I’ve used 6.8 SPC with Hornady 120 grain SSTs for years. Works very well on deer and hogs. It’s accurate out to 500, but I limit my shots on deer to about 250. On hogs, I let loose at any range. They are pests, and I’m not “hunting,” just eliminating them.

 

[Rerun7]

Relevant to this post as I am currently trying to figure out this same question for hogs.

Any notable difference in availability of 6.5 vs 6.8 for factory ammo? I’m guessing with the military adopting 6.8 it’s going to get way more popular but that may take a while.

I’m currently using 5.56 but would like a little more thump for the big pigs.

 

[msstate56]

I have no problem finding 6.8 SPC factory ammo. I even see it in box stores, on the rare occasion I even go in one. The military “possibly” adopting that .277 Fury will have zero impact on 6.8 SPC.

 

[Rerun7]

I have no problem finding 6.8 SPC factory ammo. I even see it in box stores, on the rare occasion I even go in one. The military “possibly” adopting that .277 Fury will have zero impact on 6.8 SPC.

Ah! Good clarification. I thought it was the 6.8spc. Too many 6.something rounds floating around nowadays, haha.

 

[sea2summit]

Grendel all the way.

My son (13) and I did a predator comp this weekend, won with points on hogs and he was using 556 FWIW. Loaded up V-Max for for the first time to use in the comp as we normally only deer hunt and he were crushing them. DRT or very solid blood trails if not DRT.

 

[ccasanova]

My 11” 6.5G has noticeably more impact “thump” out to and past 300yds than my 16” 5.56. I haven’t lost a hog with either though.

 

[Punkur67]

Sounds like a 6.5 Grendel would be a good choice. Especially is you already have another AR-15. You can just slap the upper on and go. I took two hogs in texas with my Odin 6.5 back in November.

 

[Laser1]

I've used both a 6.8 and 458 Socom. Had shot hogs run off after being hit with the 6.8, especially the big ones. End up finding them dead later. Never had one move an inch after being hit with the 458 Socom with 300 gr Barnes TTSX out to about 100 yards. Same lower for each. YMMV

 

[diggler1833]

I walk 90 percent if the time, covering a couple of miles on each trip.

I use an Ambush Arms 6.8 unsuppressed. Plenty of firepower, and the rifle weighs about 7lbs without optic or ammo. Other hog hunters usually comment about how light my setup feels compared to theirs. Killing quickly is all about placement, but the bigger calibers do work better on runners. I've seen hogs take a half-dozen hits with a .308 and still take a while to die.

I'm presently building a 6.5 Grendel as a companion rifle. Not because I like it more, I just want one of each.

6.8 SPC or 6.5 Grendel...you won't see a difference to 200 yards, and there are several good bullet options for each. However there are more options for the Grendel if you reload. Unfortunately, I see no real reason to go out and purchase a 300BO. If that us what you already have, run with it, but don't go monkeying around with trying to become a subsonic hog slayer. Our inside joke is that the 300BO guys spend more time looking for the hogs they shot, instead of looking for hogs to shoot.

If you are routinely hunting hogs past 200 yards, stick with the. 308...but most of us usually stalk a lot closer for opening shots.

 

[Maelstrom]

I walk 90 percent if the time, covering a couple of miles on each trip.

I use an Ambush Arms 6.8 unsuppressed. Plenty of firepower, and the rifle weighs about 7lbs without optic or ammo. Other hog hunters usually comment about how light my setup feels compared to theirs. Killing quickly is all about placement, but the bigger calibers do work better on runners. I've seen hogs take a half-dozen hits with a .308 and still take a while to die.

I'm presently building a 6.5 Grendel as a companion rifle. Not because I like it more, I just want one of each.

6.8 SPC or 6.5 Grendel...you won't see a difference to 200 yards, and there are several good bullet options for each. However there are more options for the Grendel if you reload. Unfortunately, I see no real reason to go out and purchase a 300BO. If that us what you already have, run with it, but don't go monkeying around with trying to become a subsonic hog slayer. Our inside joke is that the 300BO guys spend more time looking for the hogs they shot, instead of looking for hogs to shoot.

If you are routinely hunting hogs past 200 yards, stick with the. 308...but most of us usually stalk a lot closer for opening shots.

I have thought about a 6.5 Grendel vs the 6.8 SPC. Most shots stay under 150 yards but sometimes we will walk up on a pasture, flag pond, or field and they will be in the middle or along an edge. My long shot this year was in the middle of a pasture. I walked out of a patch of woods towards the pasture and she was right in the middle with her piglets. I really don't want to fool with 300 BO and probably won't be using a suppressor since we are flying down vs driving next year and I don't want to risk losing it at the airport. I have used a 5.56 AR in the past with mixed results.

 

[diggler1833]

I have thought about a 6.5 Grendel vs the 6.8 SPC. Most shots stay under 150 yards but sometimes we will walk up on a pasture, flag pond, or field and they will be in the middle or along an edge. My long shot this year was in the middle of a pasture. I walked out of a patch of woods towards the pasture and she was right in the middle with her piglets. I really don't want to fool with 300 BO and probably won't be using a suppressor since we are flying down vs driving next year and I don't want to risk losing it at the airport. I have used a 5.56 AR in the past with mixed results.

The last hog I anchored with my 6.8 was a 120lb sow. Hit her in the spine at 241 yards (Google Earth). She already had taken a round through the back of the lungs, so she was dead by the time I walked up to her. Still, the Grendel is just a little flatter shooting at further ranges.

I started hog hunting with a 16" 5.56mm, using the Mk 318 Mod 0/ Federal T556TNB1. It worked great on initial shots, and I killed several pretty big hogs with it. It was also great on coyotes too. However, mediocre hits on runners had little effect, and I did have two boars turn on me...requiring a volley of fire before they piled up just a few yards in front of my feet. I'm not into that much excitement when I'm out alone in a pasture at 3am.

Two of the most effective overall AR-15 combinations I've seen are the 6.8/120gr SST, and the 6.5G/123gr SST. Both can be had for about a dollar per shot. You can go more exotic on the bullet, but I haven't seen an increase in performance.

 

[USP45]

We have a ranch in East Texas, I have killed 300+ pigs over the past 10 years. Most of those, I would say 90% have been with a normal 5.56 AR the other 10% being split between .308, 30-30, .243, 454 Cassul and more recently 300BO. From my experience the most critical aspect is shot placement plain and simple. With that being said I am using the AR10 .308 and the AR15 300BO more often now, mainly due to having suppressors that make them much more livable to shoot. The cost of ammunition is a consideration as well since we drive around on 4 wheelers or the Ranger to find them most of the time, very little stand hunting so I normally cannot recover the brass to reload.

The 6.5G or the 6.8 will both work well on pigs, but again, shot placement. I shot one a few years ago with the 454 but hit a little too far back, that thing ran over 100 yards with the entrails strung out between its legs before it dropped even with the massive damage due to a bad shot and when I found it I could have put my fist into the exit hole. Just go with what you are comfortable with and can afford the ammunition for. We shoot so many of them that the cheap 5.56, .308 and 300BO just make the most sense for us.

 

[txguero]

I've had good luck with a 16 inch in 5.56. I think an 18 or 20 inch would be outstanding, especially with some speer gold dots. My father in law only hunts with a 223 now and drops every deer he shoots on the spot (neck shots only).

 

[Hobbes442]

i started with 30-06 , went 300 blk, then scar 17 - 2 shoulder rotator cup surgries later went to 300 blk 10" barrell and trash panda with pulsar thermion xp50. 300 pistol i built weights 5.2 pounds before scope and can
shot this one last Sunday NE Texas

 

[HOOFER]

Another vote for for 300 blk out or 6.5 Grendel with a slight preference to 6.5 Grendel of shooting SuperSonics. I run both. I have a 12.5 and 18” 6.5 Grendel and they are my primary deer/pig guns now.