Tenessee,

What the fellows are trying to delicately and not so delicately tell you is that you often don't think out your response before you engage the key board. No doub't you have it in your head but it doesn't make it to the key board.

I have killed pigs up to 70-80 lbs with a .22 LR with a shot in the soft spot at base of the ear. I was squirrel hunting each time and I waited and carefully set up the shot. We don't always have that opportunity in field when opportunities may not allow such placement.

In this case the person asked for info on loads for the the 30/06 and hogs. Trying to one up the person with the .22 mag story didn't provide the information they needed and might lead others with less experience than you to conclude that the .22 Mag is a giant killer in its own right. They very well could get hurt.

When someone asks for advice we need to make sure the advice we give them is sound and that there is some margin of reserve or error in the case of shooting something as unpredictable as a hog.

A local fellow who had the utmost confidence in his .243, his rifle of choice for almost 30 years. He was walking to his deer stand last season and encountered a very large boar. He made a what he thought was a good shot on the boar which ran into a thicket. He immediately went into the thicket confident that his giant killer had done the job with it's 90 grain slug. The pissed off boar with a grapefruit sized crater in its side tore him a new rear entry and several more entries as well.

He told me he would never ever shoot a hog with a .243 again. I would call that experience talking!

Let me add something. A shot in the lungs will kill almost any hog in place. Smaller hogs are not hard to kill at all but can have lots of mud stuck to them making penetration difficult at times as lighter bullets open up too much on the hide.

As I said I've killed lots of feral hogs of all sizes and I've learned to discount light for caliber bullets. Even with a Barnes X I'd start with the 150's. Larger hogs are heavily boned and often come with enough mud to plant a crop of corn in. The shields (gristle plates) on the shoulder absorb "soft", lite bullets. You also never know when you will end up with a sizable old boar in your sights. At that moment I don't want a sub weight bullet up the spout. I've also found that hogs typically are not dazzled by velocity. Ruark's famous quote stands true here except in this case use enough bullet!

150-165 grain Nosler Partition, Barnes TSX (or TTSX)

I have literally killed tons of them with a hand load using 165 grain Remington Coerlokts. The load duplicates the factory load. I've also rendered many inert with 150 grain Barnes X bullets including a boar that tipped the scales at over 500 lbs. I put four of the X's through his shoulders and ribs at 50 yards, all passed through. The first round would have killed him but on a hog that size if he is standing you had better be shooting.

I'm working on some '06 loads now using the the Barnes 168 grain TSX Boattail. It looks good so far and the velocity is surprising. Have not pork tested it yet but the time is near. That slug might just end up as my new all around '06 load.

Another "ready, shoot, aim" by our resident Volunteer State deer expert.....

I've had good success with the Winchester 150 grain Ballistic Silvertip. You have to pick your shots with the big ones, however. The ones with enough mud to plant a crop of corn in.

I like 165 Hornady Interlock bullets. Been around along time -still work great. Killed lots of critters with these bullets before they told me I had to have the fancy X bullets, partitions, balistic tips, TSX's, or TTSX's to kill anything. Nobody told those critters not to die.

I've only reloaded the 150 grain Hornady Interlocks, but I would like to ask this in relation to the asked question...

With the high power of a .30-06, do you want the heavier round, since it will probably be closer than most game?

I throw this in because of Sarge01's quote.

Jeff,

When I was doing hog depredation work on crop fields I used the 165 grain Remington Corelokts because they were and still are a good bullet. For that period of time (1980's and early 90's) they were one of the best out there that did not cost and arm and a leg. I could buy 500 of them at the time very reasonably and I loaded them to equal the factory loads. It was not unusual for my partner and I to kill 8-12 hogs per stand. With the 165's we killed hogs from 10 to 400 pounds. Most of the hogs were 200 or less and a pass through was normal. Even on 300 plus pounder the 165 at ranges of 50 to 150 yards would pass through broad side at a MV of 2750. I also loaded and shot some 180 Corelokts at the time and could tell no difference in them as far as penetration and lethal effect. On the bigger boys we tried to ear hole them if possible. The 165 could be angled up into the lungs behind the shield and I've seen the slug exit at the base of the neck with that shot.

We also shot or should I say sniped hogs with .223's, 243's and 25/06's. Those were carefully placed shots and they did kill. But... we found that small, slight and fast bullets tended to open up too quickly on tough muddy hide and pork fat. If I were to use one of these on larger porkers I'd opt for a Barnes X and still place my shots very carefully...

For 99% of your swine hunting a good 165 or 180 grain bullet from the old naught six will do anything you want.

i used 150, 165 and 180 gr soft tip. less expensive bullet which ever one is on sale. i always aim for the head.

you can use 150, 180 barnes or partitions, a more expensive bullet only if you like body shots or a little bigger target.

DARN woodsmanj35, JUST NUKE THE SUCKER WILL'YA! LOL!

Not going to have much rib meat remaining!

You going stand dar or you going to shoot with what you got!

150 would be alright but ive killed hogs with a 22 mag