Originally Posted By: GCLot of hogs killed with .223/5.56 AR rifles. Precise shot placement at the base of the ear works with about any ammunition. Lung shots probably could use a decent deer capable bullet like the TSX, Nosler Partition, Federal Fusion, Speer Gold Dot, ect.
I had a bolt action .243. I'll admit that I was wishing for my Marlin lever .45-70 and those thumb size 405 gr. bullets.
I had helped with predator control on several family ranches since 2003; my rifle of choice was a Bushmaster Predator with 55 gr. NBT. Occasionally the rancher would ask me to cull whitetail does and one year they wanted rid of as many hogs as possible. For the most part, the .223 remained my rifle of choice for all.
If I was specifically targeting hogs, I sometimes switched to the Dtech 243 WSSM with the 87 gr. Hornady load, but for the most part, I continued to carry the .223. I first carried a magazine loaded w/62 gr. NP's and would switch mags, time permitting depending upon the quarry. After a while, I didn't bother; the 55 gr. NBT's performed every task asked of it, save one.
On one occasion, I was sitting at a water hole moments before dark when a sounder of hogs, led by a large boar, crested a 4' rise at about 40 yards. They were trotting straight toward me so I put the crosshairs between the boar's eyes and saw the red splash as the bullet found it's mark, knocking the boar to the ground. Unfortunately, he rebounded and was back over the rise before I could get a followup shot. There was no blood trail and the hogs entered an impenetrable thorn brush thicket.
Hindsight is 20/20 and I'm sure the bullet, hitting the sloped forehead splashed and never penetrated the skull. Have never taken a frontal head shot since.
Have taken several longer broadside shoulder shots with the 62gr NP's on medium sized hogs effectively, but as Gary said, I like a line between the eye and ear on a broadside hog; puts 'em down with even the light 55's.
The night I unexpectedly found myself on the same side of a hogwire fence with this boar running toward me, I was wishing I had more gun than the Bushmaster, but fortunately, he was planning to run past me, not at me. I never shoot running animals unless they have been hit, nor have I ever practiced instinct shooting, so a lot of luck was involved in that running shot, but the 55 gr NBT .223 dropped him at less than 5 paces; as they say "I'd rather be lucky than good."
As has been stated, shot placement with the 223 is a bit more critical than with larger guns, but even the big boomers will fall short with poor shot placement.
Regards,
hm