AR for hog hunting

[ScottW]

I am thinking about using a 16" barrel AR for hog hunting and would like some input. I have three options that I am considering: .223, .300 Blackout or 6.8 spc. I have compared Hornady Full Boar ammo specs for all three calibers at 100 yards.

.223 50 gr 24" barrel has 2872 fps and 918 ft lbs. I'm sure the numbers would drop from a 16" barrel. No gun modifications are needed. Ammo is the cheapest of the three, but seems to be light on power.

.300 Blackout 110 gr 16" barrel has 2084 fps and 1060 ft lbs. I would need new barrel and bolt, but could use current mags.

6.8 spc 100 gr 24" barrel has 2276 fps and 1150 ft lbs. I sure the numbers would drop from a 16" barrel, and might be similar to the .300 Blackout. This would be more expensive to convert that the .300 Blackout. I've read and heard the 6.8 spc provides 80% of the power of a .308, but based on Hornady Full Boar specs it more in line with 55%.

I'm leaning toward the .300 Blackout. But, would like input.

 

[saddlebum]

Obviously 6.8 will be the best caliber out of those 3 for hogs although I have never used it. I have used 300blk and 223/556 on a bunch of hogs and if you shoot them in the right place no problems. I did have one 300+ boar that took several 223 to put down 5 good body shots before 1 behind the ear dropped him

 

[MrShooter]

If you already have a 16” AR-15 just use what you got. I wouldn’t over think it at all. Just blast em.

 

[lasher]

6.8 was designed for 16" barrels. i get 2700 fps out of 110 grain bullets. the published data for 6.8 is the from the old badly designed chamber from remington. all 6.8 barrels are now spcII which has the correct chamber. but get the one you want

 

[swampratt]

Hog and other critters are not bulletproof.
36gr 22 LR will kill them dead as dead can get.
You must stick the bullet where it will kill the sucker.

I tossed stones at the little .223 for many years and always thought 30cals were king.

After getting my first .223 and doing a lot of shooting and experimenting on penetration in different substances and then carry on the penetration tests to meat.. like deer necks i saved for such purposes i found the little .223 may not be as bad as i thought.

So the last 2 years i have used it to take many hogs .deer and coyote along with a lot of other critters.
I have only used 55gr bullets as they grouped very well for me and less drop at distance than heavier ones and for deer 55gr was minimum legal size.

I used the 55 V-Max # 22271 at first and after shooting many hundred i wanted to try the 55gr Hornady #2265 soft point.

The SP penetrates deeper but does not hand grenade as well as the V-Max. And this allows the critter to travel a few yards before falling over. The V-max has not let any of my shot animals go any farther than 15 feet.
3198 fps from my 22" barrel and much less in the 16" and no difference in how it kills.

But realize shot placement is key...The V-Max goes in about 2" then starts to come apart and the wound channel looks like an auger or paddle bit passed 8" through the hole it made.
Right in the neck where the spine is at 400+ lb female hog.. DRT smaller hog and deer behind the crease of the shoulder right to the heart bang flop. One little piggy went 15 feet in a circle before he ran out of squeal, quartering away right through the crease and took out the heart.

If the bullet pencils though the animal because of a strong constructed bullet you will be tracking the animal.
I had some bullets like that in my .308 and seems the 30-30 at 2200fps is too slow to make my flat points expand well at 100-300 yards.
That is when You must hit spine or nervous system if you can't track. a critter with small hole in the heart can go well over 200 yards before it expires.
You explode the heart or rip the top all the way off and 80 yards max traveling distance is what i have seen.

Some critters shot correctly sometimes will just not die though. so do not give up on a bullet combo on just 1 shot.
I gave up on a 155gr Sierra after 3 critters shot and bang flop on me and then 8 seconds later get up and run off 200 yards.
Pencil hole in and out Zero expansion.
Those were moving fast also 3176fps from my 30-06.
When they got hit it would pick them up off their feet and pound them to the ground. it was impressive.. probably muscle contraction doing that from the shock load they absorbed.

 

[tRidiot]

On a side note, the .300 will not require a new bolt. It's a .223 case face, so no change required.

This is correct. Although most people seem to want a full .300 upper, as it makes for a 10-second swap. If you're going to fully convert a rifle to .300 and leave it that way, a new barrel and flash hider, and you're into a new caliber for well under $100. Just swapping back and forth takes 10-15 minutes and a vice and block for the upper. Kind of a pain, if you ask me, building a new upper is cheap these days, probably $200-300 depending on your handguard and if you want, a different optic. Swapping optics out means re-zeroing.

 

[D. Hargrove]

.223/5.56 has worked for me for years, son uses a 300BLK and has success as well. the .223 will get them at a greater distance say across the wheat field. I have found in our experience that the 300 drops significantly after 200 yards. The 300 we use is a 200gr Super-X subsonic and drops 34 inches at 200 yards. YMMV, but if you are shooting pigs further than 150 yards, I would recommend the 223. I have no experience with the 6.8.

 

[bigred1]

.223/5.56 has worked for me for years, son uses a 300BLK and has success as well. the .223 will get them at a greater distance say across the wheat field. I have found in our experience that the 300 drops significantly after 200 yards. The 300 we use is a 200gr Super-X subsonic and drops 34 inches at 200 yards. YMMV, but if you are shooting pigs further than 150 yards, I would recommend the 223. I have no experience with the 6.8.

I always enjoy reading these kind of posts since I'm a newbie to the AR platform.

 

[lasher]

i only shoot paper these days but they're killing lots of hogs in texas with suppressed 6.8 spcII all tricked out with night vision. i call it the 270 short LOL

 

[undeg01]

223 will get it done, but 300 BLK and 6.8 SPC tend to get it done better. If I had all 3 at hand, all with the same optics, etc, the only factor to consider would be the conditions you would be hunting in. Knowing the conditions, I.e. terrain, cover, weather, etc, I would grab the one that best suited that particular hunt. If you are only going to have one rifle that is devoted to hogs, and then possibly using it for other applications, you would want to consider what else you would be using it for.

Short of it... “IF” I didn’t have all 3 rifles and never would have the desire to add the other calibers to by collection, i would go with the SPC. Big enough for Oklahoma big game and not too big to use for varmints. Proven round in accuracy and lethality.

Personally, I like options. I don’t go to a restaurant to only get a burger, but if a burger is what I want, that’s what I want. I’d rather have the choice of all 3 calibers and pick up the one that best suits me for that day.