357 enough for hogs?

jamn

I wanted to take my father hog hunting (with revolvers) and the largest caliber he has is 357. Our range will be about 40 yds, will this be enough for say a 100lb hog or larger?

Thanks,

James

Texas Hunter

Go for the head shot whatever you do.
Hogs are incredibly tuff animals that will take a behind the shoulder shot better than any animal i have hunted.
They die sure,but not right then and there.
And who wants to stumble onto some pissed off wounded boar!!!
I am not much of a pistolero to comment on the .357, but i have killed a bunch of hogs so please be careful with those nasty things.

mike

ern98

An expert hog hunter could probably make do with just a 357Mag. I know one guy who claims all he uses is a 41Mag, but he is a well know bullpoopter. If you do this, I suggest that you try for hogs on the smaller side. Hogs are known to be real tough to put down sometimes. Personally I'd take my 45-70, a 400g slug at 1800fps sets them right down

gap1916

For hand gun hunting I believe bigger is better. 10mm, 41 mag 44 mag 45LC hand loaded. The .357 will probably do the job. I would take a back up with a good rifle for plan B. My 2 cents [8D]

Greg
Former Marine
2nd A N G L I C O

Randy Smith

I carry a .357 Magnum Ruger GP100 as a backup to my muzzleloader or 7.62X39 or 8mm Mauser for hog hunting. I should think that the caliber is adequate at close range. I have put several down with .45 Long Colt and it worked OK. Most of these hogs were in the 200-300 pound range. I like shoulder shots to break them down. They will run and a .357 will not leave much of a blood trail.

john in jax

Stay away from hollow points! You want the most powerfull JSP (jacketed soft point) you can find and shot placement will still need to be good. A .357 is more than enough for smaller pigs, but 100 lbs is pushing the limit IMO.

Last year a friend of mine shot a big hog from about 50 yards with his 7mm-08 rifle. Used his camera phone to send me a pic of the stretched-out, dead-looking pig and then took his rifle etc... back to the truck so he wouldn't be encumbered when dragging it out of the woods.

When he got back the pig had apparently regained consicousness and escaped. I think he took the photo of the "pig playing opossom" from about 4 or 5 feet. Moral of the story is to be very careful

BOBBYWINS

Best spot to hit one is in,or just behind the ear.

Drops'em like a rock.[xx(]

BW

IT'S WHAT PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THEMSELVES THAT MAKES THEM AFRAID.

jamn

Thank you, gentlemen. I think I will take a back up as well.

allechalley

Thanks for this question. Not a hog hunter and from what these
experienced fellas and others have said, it might be just a little more excitement than I may want, but dang it, may have to try it anyway. What I was going to say tho, is that for years the .357 mag had the best one-shot-stop record of all hand guns on 'biped type hogs' because of it's penetration. You WILL want to check for the best possible bullet for this application and hopefully a fair amount of practice and familiarity with the ammo/gun combo. Some of the hard cast and less expansive jacketed ammo, like CCI, Federal hard cast, ect. come to mind. There are lighter loads and the old traditional, balls-to-the-wall loads. I would surmise the latter would be preffered. Thanks again for the topic.

buddyb

I have killed hogs in the 200 pound range with a Super Blackhawk .44 mag and it did a good job.The best bullets I've used,and would probably work best in a 357 is hard cast semi wad cutters.They easily break bones and stay together while cutting a round entry so the critter will usually bleed out fast.

johall

never used a 357 on hogs but put down a buffalo with one once...well
more then one shot to kill but put it to its knee's with the first shot.

only winchesters

Good morning all: I have to second what bobbywins said behind the ear! I would not try a "between the eyes" shot. That will just upset a big boar! The guides I've hunted with usually carry pistols as back ups, I've only seen them used once and that was on a boar that was hit in the shoulder, and that was at about 10ft behind the ear!

Regards to all, Dave

joel_black

This is a boar's head. If they are facing you, aim for the middle of the chest. From the side a head shot or shoulder shot will work. That thick sloping skull is the reason people think boars are so tough to kill. Bullets tend to deflect off of it.