Hunting

Choosing Ammo For Hogs

It is no secret that feral hogs are becoming more of a threat to native wildlife, farm crops and even urban landscapes in the Texas Outdoor Nation and beyond. Our editor in chief, Chester Moore has done a ton of work bringing this issue of the growing feral hog population to our audience here at Texas Fish & Game. More on that later. In my writing, video and podcasting work, I am often asked what the best ammo is for feral swine, so I wanted to highlight some ammunition I have had success with in the past and some others I am in to process of testing when I’m loaded for boar and packing for pork chops.

Remington Hog Hammer Featuring Barnes TSX: I picked up a box of this ammo at a gun show one weekend and was immediately impressed by the components of this round. The Barnes TSX bullet is at the core of this ammo and it is engineered for rapid expansion when it reaches its intended target. The all-copper make-up of this bullet means more penetration than your standard lead-core bullets resulting in 100% weight retention. What’s more is that it utilizes a low flash propellant for low light or night hunts, so you aren’t blinded or disoriented by muzzle flash. Now that is a smart idea! Learn more here: https://www.remington.com/ammunition/centerfire-rifle/hog-hammer

Federal Fusion: This has been one of my go-to ammo picks for my AR-15s chambered in the standard .223 Rem caliber. I have brought home both native Texas whitetail deer, exotic game and wild pigs with this ammunition and for good reason. When I started hunting and before I got into groups that focused on handloading, Fusion was one of my picks for my bigger caliber rifles due to its excellent performance and accuracy  where the rubber meets the road. Using a molecularity fused jacket and a pressure-formed core, this ammunition delivers an incredible blow in any caliber and is one of my top picks for the modern sporting rifles of today (AR-15s, AR-1Os, etc). Fusion was one of the first rifle ammunitions Federal made specifically for deer hunting and it serves an equally powerful role in the pork procurement department. What’s more is that they even make a MSR version of this ammunition especially for peak performance in modern sporting rifles. What a great idea! Learn more here: https://www.federalpremium.com/products/rifle/fusion/fusion-rifle/f223fs1

Allegiance Ammunition’s Hog Strike: You may not have heard of Allegiance’s brand before but they are a company I invite readers to learn about as what they do with powder metal technology is second to none and they are an up and coming player in the ammo industry. Their bullets have a dense frangible core that will penetrate through thick hide and bone to reach the vitals and then fragment. This releases all the bullet’s energy inside the soft tissue of the animal and the results of this are devastating to a hog of just about any size. If you have been looking for a round that shuts down a mean wild boar in its tracks, while it’s staring at you like you owe him money, this round is of high consideration. I am currently testing this round on some summer hog hunting adventures and preliminary results have been very favorable to say the least. What this company is able to do with powder metals is very unique. Right now, I have some of the Hog Strike in .308 Winchester. For my next package, I am stocking up on their .223 Rem./5.56 round which comes in 62, 80 and 110 grains loadings! Yes, you read that correctly. That is some of the heaviest grain weights I have ever seen in this lighter caliber ammunition spectrum but it is possible with the powder metal material used in the manufacturing of these rounds. Their claim is that a .223 can hit like a .308 and that is a massive accomplishment for a small round. Learn more here: https://allegianceammo.com/product-category/extreme-hunting/

Hornady Full Boar: Once again, premium, super tough ammunition is the name of the game with the GMX and MonoFlex bullets that come with these loads. Hornady Full Boar rounds use monolith copper alloy bullets that deliver 95+% weight retention and controlled expansion for solid terminal performance. This ammunition is also very versatile, working well in a variety of calibers (including MSR/AR platform rifles and other semi-auto rifles) and performing well on a variety of game animals. Calibers this ammunition is produced for range from the .223 Rem to 300 Win Mag. Learn more here: https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/full-boar#!/

 

 

Norma Bondstrike: This ammunition company is known worldwide for their premium ammunition for game species all over the world and they load in standard and magnum calibers – even their own proprietary calibers like the .308 Norma round. Again, we are presented with a premium ammunition choice and Bondstrike is specifically designed for advance long-range hunting for medium and large game. This particular round has a polymer tip and match style boat tail design which is a wickedly lethal combination of accuracy and terminal performance as they utilize a unique bonding technology to manufacture this ammo. If you are looking for a solid performing ammunition and want to “reach out and touch them” at long ranges, this is a serious consideration. All of my big game kills in the past hunting season were with Norma ammunition and everything I shot dropped right where it stood so this is another solid player for your ammo shopping consideration. Learn more here: https://www.norma-ammunition.com/us/Our-Products/Our-Brands/Norma-Strike/Norma-BONDSTRIKE/

All of these considerations for the procurement of wild pork are usually in the higher end on the cost of ammunition but, keep in mind, you get what you pay for when buy ammunition and, especially for the smaller caliber rifles, accuracy and terminal performance are everything. Another point I wanted to make in this article is that Chester Moore, author of the TF&G published paperback book Hog Wild, has started the B.O.A.R.S. (Boars Of America Record System) which is a great way to get recognized for your wild pig hunting endeavors. Learn more about that here: https://boarssystem.com/

Go “Hog Wild” out there on feral hogs but just be safe, shoot straight and have fun nailing some hogs with these premium ammunition choices.

Story by Dustin Vaughn Warncke

TF&G Staff

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