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Forum Index > Rifles general discussion > Bullet selection for wild boar

Bullet selection for wild boar

26 Jul 2017
@ 04:18 am (GMT)

Charles Turner

Hi All,

I've booked a trip to Hungry for wild boar in February next year. We'll be foot stalking for trophy boar for a few days, with a day of driven boar shooting. The trophy boar will be big, I guess around 200 Kg, and there's a good chance of poor shot placement in driven hunting, so I want something wide wounding and deep penetrating. all shots will be around 100yrds or less.

So, bullet selection... I have two suitable cals, a .308 and 7mm RM. My immediate thoughts are a 160 Partition in the 7. Would a 175 Partition be more of a good thing? Another option is a 170 Vulcan.

Or I could use a softer heavy bullet in the 308 like a 200gr ELDX... Or a 200gr Partition...

What do you guys reckon?

(I've got all of Nathans books already before someone tells me to go away and read the cartridges one)

Replies

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26 Jul 2017
@ 09:52 am (GMT)

Nathan Foster

Re: Bullet selection for wild boar
Hi Charles, the Rem mag with Partitions is extremely violent in action, especially in close. The 175gr pill would be the go, loaded to 2900fps or thereabouts. Expect internal wounds to be 3" in diameter, perfect for snap shot work.

The .308 could be loaded with either of the bullets you suggest. A 200gr pill will go around 2450fps or so. Of the two bullets, the ELD-X is the more violent at these impact velocities. It does not produce the same level of penetration as the Partition but is somewhat more forgiving with regards to shot placement- especially in the absence of high velocity. The ELD-X can certainly work very well in the .308. However it may not exit a large boar with forwards shoulder shots. Not many bullets do. Nevertheless, the heavy ELD-X will reach vitals, and break offside shoulder bones.

With driven game, width of wounding is a primary concern. It may help if I offer a comparison here. Of late, forum member Bob Mavin has been using his .30-06 with the 168gr Z-MAX (AKA A-MAX, AKA ELD-M) to tackle large boar, fully shielded. The bullets go in, the pigs go down. Some bullets exit, some don't. This depends on the size of the pig and exit angle. I have done the same and used the 168gr to cull tough pigs on the run. In these instances, width of wounding is put ahead of penetration. having said this, mild impact velocities help a great deal with penetration. The small change down to the 155gr A-MAX and slight increase in speed can result in epic failures, especially on mud encrusted pigs.

The soft 168gr Hornady bullet may not be ideal for extremely large specimens but my point is that it can be done and that to go too far the other way (all out penetration over wounding) should be avoided.

Reading over your post, I can see you are on the right track. Any of the bullets you have suggested will do the job. You will need to spend some time practicing your offhand shots and see which rifle feels better under these circumstances. For general practice, I would suggest you make up a good batch of ammo with Trail Boss powder (full case charges). Start at 50 yards and work your way to 100 yards (clay birds etc). Shoot often until you have your timing sorted, work on keeping your POA low. You can utilize my Shooting book to help with all of these factors. Moving targets can come later. You may even be lucky enough to visit one of the virtual reality shooting centers and experiment with lead.

168gr versus wild pig:
https://youtu.be/k7MwLfr49Mk
27 Jul 2017
@ 01:43 am (GMT)

Charles Turner

Re: Bullet selection for wild boar
Thanks Nathan. I'll give the 175 Partitions a go then I think.

I've been to one of those shooting cinemas you speak of in Sweden. Lots of fun!
30 Jul 2017
@ 10:17 pm (GMT)

Vince Le Sabre

Re: Bullet selection for wild boar
I've toppled several wild hogs with my .308 shooting 180 grain round nose core-lokt ammo. With the round nose design you get rapid expansion like the faster 150's but deep penetration from the 180. It's a winner for shots less than 200 yards or so.

Vince
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