Question: .357 carbine enough for hog hunting?

[Guest soe]

I have a .357 lever action with a 16" barrel. Should Hornady 140 gr be enough punch to hunt hogs?

[Chris]

With good shot placement you should be fine.

[I_Like_Pie]

Yes...out of a rifle barrel a .357 it is nipping on the heels of 30-30 power.

The problem will be getting bullets that won't blow apart at those velocities....the front end of a pig is pretty tough. Has to be hunting bullets and not SD ones.

[Handsome Rob]

No problem at all, as long as you stay at 'sensible' distances. Remember to keep your shot low & forward.

[Guest Republican]

It will kill a pig no problem.

[Guest 1shot]

I would go with with a much heaver bullet than a 140. The 180 gr Hornady XTP out of my 10" Contender pistol barrel does a great job on deer out to 107 yards which is as far as I have shot one with it. It should do good on hogs inside that distance.

[Will Carry]

I'll +1 the 180 gr Hornady XTP. I'm thinking about buying a lever action .357 16" barrel myself, for hunting the bush. I've been looking at Marlin, Rossi and Henry.....among others.

[whiskey]

I have seen many fall to my Florida buddy's GP100 and Marlin .357's. He shoots XTP's but not sure what grain. Any of the heavier choices should work fine.

Low and forward in the chest if you want a boiler room shot. I prefer the neck shot on hogs. Center mass of the neck. Usually makes tracking easy enough for Ray Charles. I will warn that I have never had one run off from a center of neck shot from a gun, but I have had them still alive when I walked over.

If you are shooting a REALLY big boar, then you may want to try to get a quartering away shot and slip one in behind the front leg. Just keep it as low as you can. You have to be a lot lower than you would on a deer to get heart and lungs. Hogs have little bitty lungs.

[Chris]

It's all about shot placement... low and forward, like whiskey says. I put a 45/70 through both lungs of a 300 lb hog and he stayed on his feet ready to fight until I put the second round through his pump house. They are tough animals.

[Guest soe]

Thanks for the info guys. I just started & went to scout some lease property with a friend who has been huntin them for about 5 yrs. We found enough tracks to get us both fired up.

I've got the Rossi 16" carbine and can hit fine with it at 50 yds with just steel sights. Can't wait to go back.....

[Cherokee Slim]

I agree that it's all about shot placement, and that .357 is enough for a wild pig. I've used my Rossi 1892 lever action for SASS and pigs.

Cherokee Slim

[Guest mossyoakman]

i wouldnt have a problem using one but then again i also huntem with a knife lol.