9MM for hogs?

[T3hK1w1]

The deer lease my father and I hunt on has a large feral hog population, and i am about to start carrying a 9mm semiauto as personal defense. Any suggestions on what sort of round would be a good defense against pigs? JHP, FMJ, hardcasts, etc. getting a more powerful gun is not currently an option.

[Yithian]

Fully Jacketed Hollow Points.

You want the pig to know that getting any closer will hurt it just as bad as the first shot you hit it with.

You need penetration as deep as possible and you need to ensure expansion.
Continue shooting until it is out of sight, dead, or you run empty.
No varmint is worth loosing your legs or life over.
If they get close enough for a pistol, consider that meat ruined.

Actively hunt down and remove the pigs if you can.
Many people are hungry. If you clean it to quarters, the Salvation Army will gladly take what you don't want.
Its good practice for you. Good meat in the freezer untill deer season. And, the deer, quail, dove, and turkey populations will bloom.

Two pigs this spring, can mean 18 pigs next spring.

[T3hK1w1]

Yeah, hog eradication is something we work towards. My only concern with hollowpoints is that between the fur, thick skin, fat layer, and the heavy bone hogs have may stop a hollowpoint before it hits something vital.

[Charles S]

If I had to use a 9mm. I would select either a 124 FMJ in a NATO configuration or the Double Tap or Buffalo Bore 147 +P loadings. I would select my shot carefully and be prepared for a follow up.

Hogs are not that hard to kill when they present and ideal shot, I just find that when I am hog hunting, even up close I rarely get an ideal shot.

http://www.doubletapammo.com/php/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_37&products_id=121

http://www.buffalobore.com/ammunition/default.htm#9mm

We try to kill all the hogs we can on our lease, and for 95% of them (at least what we see) you wont have problems. I just don't want to start shooting a 250+ # hog with a 9mm.

Good luck.

[45Marlin carbine]

I've killed small/medium sized ones with .22LR, one took 10 shots of Super-X. That said I think you wil be OK, just have good cartridges and more than one.

[nutty ned]

Unless your bow hunting deer why would to put aside your rifle/shotgun and use a 9mm pistol on a hog? I expect you want something bigger than a 9 mm.

[T3hK1w1]

This is more along the lines of what I want in my gun if I am out looking for sign, finding new trails, or just generally walking around the place and a 300lb boar hiding in a bush somewhere decides to take exception to my presence. Not hunting, SD only.

[FirstFreedom]

What Charles S said. But upgrade as soon as you're able, to a bigger gun. :)

[roy reali]

If a pellet gun can kill a pig a 9mm surely can.

[Yithian]

I don't mean to always be a pragmatist, but limbs and life could be at risk...

Vitals on a pig don't mean much in a SD event.
I liquefied the lungs and heart on a pig with my rifle. It ran to a hidey hole 70 yards away.
The only exception with a pig is a bone or brain/spine.
All three of those will be destroyed just as easily with a FULLY Jacketed hollow point.
Neither hair, hide, nor fat can hinder damage to whats just under it.

What the hollow point does do, is damage more of the animal where his nerve endings are.
You are more likely to get a "[color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color]?" response in a pig. Rather than a "Knumb, still attacking" response.

I have seen the bloated carcasses of pigs that are just plumb full of FMJ holes.
They were perforated so much because they didn't stop.
From one story on a charging boar, they broke one of his shoulders. And, it still kept running, just in circles. It stopped when it was finally hit in the head.
They didn't even bother to count holes. But, needless to say, clips had to be reloaded afterwards.
I believe it was a 30-30, a 30 Carbine, and a 45ACP pistol, that was used on that one boar.
Two humans involved.
The boar was reported to be about 300Lbs.

FMJ pistol ammo is great for hunting but, a SHTF event with a boar is not a hunting event.
They are tanks with tusks and they can remove anything on your body from the groin down with just one side-swipe. And I don't mean gear.
Who cares what the meat tastes like if your in a hospital eating Jello?
It is an event where you want that pig to run the other way, if not die where he is.

I would even go so far as to use a revolver and place a shot-shell as the first round fired. No need to be an exact shot.
If it has no face or eyes, it can't find you. Just be sure and run sideways.

Rather expensive ammo but so is the other stuff mentioned... Federal : Hydra-Shok
http://www.federalpremium.com/default.asp?menu=1&s1=7

Be safe.