Backup Pistol for Hog Hunting

[Salty1]

I was recently involved in the same situation, not necessarily for hog but a hunting handgun in general. After lots of research I ended up getting a used Ruger Super Redhawk in 44 mag. It came with a scope but I took it off as it would not be used for longer distance hunting. My decision was based on the fact that if I was going to get a handgun for hunting, then I wanted one that would hunt anything ethically. Is the 44 mag too much for a hog, well that can be debated, especially if it is on the smaller side. Since I am going to Colorado for elk and will be in bear and mountain lion territory I made a determination that the 44 mag would do anything I needed it to and if the luck comes my way and an elk comes within 50 yards then possibly could use the handgun to take it for the additional adrenaline rush.

[muleman]

I would bet if you are charged by a big hog, you wont get a shot off any way so it doesnt matter what you carry. I hunt hogs 3x a week with dogs and a knife, i been charged more times than i care to think about. I usually have a 22 mag single action pistol when we go but not for charging hogs. only used it once when the dogs bayed in a log jam and it was too dangerous for the catch dogs to go in. it drops em like a hammer. I would say use what you have, my every day carry is a glock 23 and I have dispatched hundreds of hogs in traps with it.

[Lonest4r]

I would trust anything 9mm and above. I have witnessed a 40 take a pig from under 10 yds broadside. Dropped him pretty quick. We later tested our 9mm pistol on the carcass to see the penetration and it passed clean through his skull. Definitely a capable round, but it was a solid copper DPX round. Some of the weaker hollowpoints or non bonded might not do the trick. I would say that bullet choice is probably a more pertinent factor.

[chuckybrown]

And for the XDm, I happen to have my own customized "m", in .45 ACP and I happen to have one of the first 5000 "m" pistols made, which happens to make it a .40.

Ah, two of them, eh? I love mine. I started out with a stock XDm, then let http://www.actionsbyt.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; do the trigger and cleanup work. From there, night sights, different springs, & clips. I trust it completely.

Glad to see another XDm fan out there, even if you're a .40 hater.....mwahahahaha!

[Dave2]

sw500!!

Eventually, but not today (nor for this trip, unless I win the lotto or something).

[Dave2]

I think right now I'm leaning towards a .40 over a 10mm. Of the two 10mm pistols that I really want (Gen4 Glock 20 and double-stack 1911), one isn't out yet and the other costs too much. The mag release on the Gen4s are so much better than the Gen3s with the way I hold them. But the old ones are a more proven design... Gah! Now I'm wrapped up in thought again when I should be going to sleep.

G'night, all, and thanks for all your input! Fortunately I still have plenty of time to decide.

[Heartland Patriot]

Aw, c'mon! Give the hogs a sporting chance and load up on .22 rat shot.


Otherwise, 10mm is plenty of power as a backup. DoubleTap has the 200g XTP and has worked great for me (finishing touch to a couple of boars on my father-in-law's place).

Edit: Check out http://brasstard.com/2010/01/11/in-revi ... doubletap/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I was trying to picture a big ol' boar getting hit with .22 ratshot and wondering where the fly was that bit him...

[Heartland Patriot]

sw500!!

I posted above about the .22 ratshot comment...well, this time I pictured the hog exploding like a watermelon...sorry, its just what came to mind thinking about that hand-cannon going boom...

[CC Italian]

A little late but since I own both the .40 S&W and 10mm I thought I would give you my 2 cents. I have dropped a feral hog with a Glock 27 with UMC 180grain ball ammo with a lung shot. It did not stun it! Walked up and put one more in him, dead end of story. Just run 180-200 grain loads in .40 S&W and you should be fine. Double Tap is the only one I know who commercially loads 200 grain rounds for the .40S&W (someone please correct me if I am wrong). It is no longer the xtp bullet but a nosler hp, which will work just fine or they also have 200 grain FMJ flatpoint or Hardcast. Those two will penetrate over 25inches easily.

Most of the time I carry my Glock 20 with 6inch factory barrel and load 180 grain or heavier and that will do the trick. I personally carry Hornady factory 200 grain xtp. I runs about 1125 from my 6inch barrel and is very easy to shoot and get back on target. I have seen ballistic media test showing 21-26inches of penetration and that is more then enough for a boar or feral hogs.

Also, something to consider is the eurasian boar. I have only seen one and it was shot with a .30 .30 win., not a pistol. There are very few of these compared to feral hogs. They have a much thicker hide and shield then your standard feral pigs or feral pig/ boar hybrid. My buddy who hunts hogs regularly said they have grown in numbers in the past ten years because hunters have specifically reintroduced them into the wild. I would want at least a 10mm in semi auto or .41 mag or better in a revolver for these porkers! They are not as common because they usually breed in with feral hogs but if newly introduced they are pure boar and should not be taken lightly!

[7075-T7]

Ruger Super redhawk Alaskan .44mag with Doubletap 320gr hardcast. The hog will bleed.... so will your ears

[comp73]

FYI Cabela's newest add has a Glock 20 with both 4.6 and 6 inch barrels on sale for $699. I have no idea if that's a good price or not, but I can't find another listing for a G20 that has both barrels.

[G.A. Heath]

Let me enumerate the reasons I feel the .40 is a poor choice for this application.

1: If you plan to use a back up gun to stop a wounded animal (The feral hog) from attacking what wounded it (this would be the hunter) then you want as much power as possible to dispatch the animal as quickly as possible. If you can't do this with your rifle then the animal is too close and shot placement will probably be less than ideal. A hog from a sounder that has never been hunted is more likely to charge when wounded than one from a sounder that has been hunted, there are not many sounders left that have not been hunted but hogs still charge on rare occasions. I believe Sheriff Jim Wilson has a real good story in a magazine about coming face to face with a wounded hog, IIRC that animal was hit with a rifle round and still got away from the hunters so Sheriff Jim went and tracked it down.

2: Handgun cartridges are not an ideal solution in most cases. With people it often takes multiple shots to stop the attacker who OFTEN survives. As a hunter you are ethically bound to dispatch your prey as quickly and painlessly as possible, taking a firearm that will require multiple shots does not fill the bill. Hogs are tough animals and can take punishment on par with humans, sometimes they can take more.

3: The .40S&W is NOT, I repeat NOT, a death ray. It is a downsized goldilocks caliber that was created because somebody thought the 9mm was too small, the .45 was too big and the 10mm was a little too much. This means that it is just another pistol caliber that has it's own ballistics. There is a reason it is marketed for self defense while the .41 mag, .44 mag, and even the 10mm as well as the .357 magnum are marketed to hunters (with the latter two being marketed for self defense as well). It can be used for hunting, like the .44 mag can be used for self defense, but it is not the ideal solution. Kinda like you can represent yourself in court, but that is not an ideal solution either.

[Keith]

Buy the Glock 20 and use Buffalo Bore 180 bullets moving 1350 fps and problem solved. Heck change barrels and u can shoot 40 in it. He chrono this round from a Glock 20 and still above 1300 fps. Love the 44 but u will be much faster with follow up shots with the 10mm and BB rounds.

Odds are u will miss first shot. 6 rounds of 44 or 15 rounds of true 10mm/41 magnum power give me the Glock plus its a cheaper gun to buy.

No Glock 20 in Gen 4 only Gen 3 buts its a proven design no issues. Can buy one from 525 to 575 range.

[Dave2]

No Glock 20 in Gen 4 only Gen 3 buts its a proven design no issues. Can buy one from 525 to 575 range.

The Gen4 frame fits my hand way better, and AFAIK they've fixed their glitches with the new recoil spring assembly. Are there other Gen4 issues that I'm not aware of?

I thought I'd found a way to fit a 10mm 3rd party (Lone Wolf) slide to a Gen4 21SF frame, but their CS rep just emailed me back about 30 minutes ago and said that she was having their IT update their website because what I wanted to do wouldn't work. :bang head:

I'll likely end up ordering a Gen3 20SF frame and a Lone Wolf 20T slide/barrel for it. Or maybe full-on long-slide with the 6" barrel... Haven't decided yet. I'm not opposed to having a dedicated woods gun, but I'd like to be able to CC it if I wanted and I think a proper long-slide might be a bit much even for me. I suppose I'll have to handle one some time.

[Keith]

Gen3 in the SF frame is the same as the Gen4. All Gen 4 are SF frames or slim frames. So if u get a SF gen3 u have the same feel as a Gen4.

To shoot 10mm u need the G20 due to recoil spring and heavy slide. It soaks up recoil feels like your shooting a 9mm.You cant go wrong with a G20 they have no issues ive owned 2. Reg Gen 3 traded for the SF G20 gen3 both worked flawless.