On the use of the rifle for wild boar hunting and the most suitable calibers to be used in it, dozens and dozens of articles have been written in all specialized magazines, both on weapons and hunting.
Why does it happen that punctually, all the holy months (not one is skipped), in the space that the magazines dedicate to the "Expert answers", there is always some reader, perhaps not very faithful, who asks: "which rifle should I buy? and what caliber to hunt wild boar? " and again: "Are 30.06 and 308 w suitable for wild boar hunting?". The most beautiful are of this type: “To hunt wild boar I use a 30.06 caliber with 220 grain RN bullets, where can I find 250 grain Barnes bullets?”. Better stop it here. At this point, those who, like myself, have been using rifled rods for hunting wild boar in all its forms for more than twenty years (beaten, look for and look), feel the duty to express their opinion, especially thanks to their experiences. in the field and on your skin. Once in a beautiful magazine I read that the "expert" on duty, to a reader who asked him, as an aspiring wild boar hunter with a rifle, which were the most suitable weapon and caliber, replied: " I also killed someone with the white weapon "; (which I would give to see him struggling with a "thunder" of 50 kg. healthy and without being besieged by twenty dogs).
However, in order not to be "underarmed" and wanting to use a semiautomatic weapon, I do not feel like using a caliber lower than 338 WM with a 275 grain bullet, while if you intend to use a Bolt action the ideal caliber would be the 375 HeH Mag .; but better play it safe: in case the boar loads, it is good to have a good 416 in your hands (Rigby, Remington, Weath, Hoffman, Taylor). These very personal opinions would make me laugh if I read them in "Famiglia Christian", but they piss me off ... like a beast if I see them written in a specialized magazine. And please don't tell me that the wild boars of Eastern Europe can weigh 300 kg and more! (but who has ever seen them?), because in decades and decades almost all "non-EU" hunters, including the deceased Ceaucescu, who had a hangar-type shed to keep the trophies of the wild boars he killed, used the 7 × 57 (by far the most used, even in the R version) the 7 × 64 and the timeless 8 × 57 J (also JS and JRS).
Personally I have struck several wild boar with the 243 W and this does not mean that I consider it the ideal caliber, especially for a large solengo, but it seems only right to me to try to clarify the ideas, to those who want to listen to me, once and for all. First, let's see what are the best weapons to successfully hunt wild boar and I take it for granted if they are used in good hands. It is only right to start with the rifled weapon par excellence: the rifle with rotating sliding bolt. If well balanced and equipped with a suitable aiming system, which can be of the metal, optical or electronic type, it can easily be used also for driven hunts, but considering that we do not usually shoot at a boar every time we go to hunting, when the opportunity arises to have a face to face meeting with the "king" it is good to have a weapon in your hands that can offer an extra chance.
Unfortunately there is no bolt-action capable of guaranteeing a repetition speed such as to be able to double a wild boar "at the Carrareccia jump".
I have often heard it said that only Prince Torlonia with his Mannlicher Schoenauer (needless to say 30.06) can pull two shots at an animal, while jumping a highway. This will be possible, in addition to the innate skill of the hunter, also to great practice. The western films seen in his youth and, better still, those produced recently, (don't forget how correctly weapons were used by Steve McQueen in "Tom Horn" and by Kevin Costner in "Dances with wolves"), there they left a morbid desire to own a lever-operated Winchester and, why not, to be able to use it for hunting. But listen to me, there are very few people able to masterfully handle a lever-action on the hunt. It happened that during a buckshot joke, my dear friend Baghini Sandro threw three shots at a male, while jumping a fire stop, with his Winchester Big Bore cal. 375, scoring two; but they are more unique than rare feats.
The few pump-action rifles available on the Italian market, chambered in a caliber sufficient to hunt wild boar, require a lot of practice in order to be used profitably; therefore same speech as above. These guns have been designed for the US market and it is right that they use them when hunting, as they have a lot of experience in the field. The tilting, express or combined weapons, they can be used for any form of boar hunting, including appearance; since lately, also thanks to the new attachment systems for the optics, it has become quite cheap to equip the weapon with a telescope. The combo can be used as an Express, as long as you load the smoothbore (strictly 12 gauge), with a well-made and slightly under-calibrated bullet, because it is usually full-choke (one star). In drilling, we can allow ourselves to load one of the two smooth rods even in "weeks", for a hypothetical use on the fox. The Express are experiencing a second youth; there is no manufacturer of swing arms, which does not have at least one Express model in its catalog, often overlapping but also juxtaposed. They are unquestionably weapons that have a romantic appeal and, lately, they all fire pretty well. These weapons, in addition to allowing a very fast repetition of the shot, if equipped with automatic extractors, also allow a quick reload of the two barrels, essential when you are lucky enough to have set in motion a good herd of wild boars. For the same reason I do not recommend those Express (among the most expensive), which in the opening-closing phase, insert the safety automatically.
And here we are at the weapon that I consider to be of choice for wild boar hunting: the semi-automatic repeating rifle.
When I bought the Browning Bar in cal. 270 W there was little to choose from on the market; only the Remington with the model 742 and the Ruger 44 magnum made up the competition; there were also some Winchester mods. 100 and the very rare Harrington and Richardson in cal. 308, but they could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Today there are many manufacturers of semi-automatic hunting rifles; moreover, there has been a massive entry on the market of many models ex ordinance, with questionable good taste when used for hunting. Most of them are very well made guns, they shoot well and have remarkable reliability; unfortunately it is rare to find some well balanced, especially if with long barrel. The calibers that interest us and are chambered in modern semi-automatic rifles range from 243W. At 338W.M. At this point I take the liberty of expressing my personal opinion on the calibers that I believe are “really” suitable for hunting wild boar. We start our little studio at 243 W. I have personally used it on all large Italian game with excellent results, using original 96-grain RWS KS cartridges, I have also shot down large wild boars (84 kg!) without any problems. In the USA I read that the 243W also gave a good test on the black bear with the 100 grain ball. Anyone who owns a rifle of this caliber, perhaps a beautiful Winchester mod. 100 luxury, use it quietly and do not feel impaired in any way. Another family of large calibers are the 6,5 mm. , for the use that we have to make the choice is limited to 6,5 × 57 R in combined weapons. With an original RW KS 127 grain bullet, I've seen everything from mouflon to red deer done, without ever needing a second shot. And we come to the huge overused 270 W, whose countless ballistic qualities we have always praised. Personally I have used it a lot on the boar, appreciating its reduced recoil (essential when firing more consecutive shots) and the excellent terminal yield. With 150 grains bullets it always has excessive penetration, so it's good to use 130 grains such as Balistic tip, Core Lockt, Spire Point etc… I couldn't test the 140 grains directly, but on paper I think they are very valid. Arrived at 7mm. I would immediately discard the 7mm. RM in automatic rifles, because considering the normal firing distances and the average size of a boar it would be like using a hollow load against a small car. The 7 × 57 R remains. and the 7x65R. that we will use without reserve in swinging guns, using balls around 160 grains the 280 Remington (identical to the 7 × 64), recently renamed 7MM Remington express, will use it who still owns an old Remington Woodmaster (if it doesn't get jammed) and the same goes for the 284 Winc. chambered, in the homonymous carbine mod. 100. I have often seen the latter in action, making good use of the 150 grain ball, making me fall in love with the weapon-cartridge combination.
I will treat 308 and 30.06 on the same level since, using the same balls, they have an average speed gap of around 30 m / sec. They are dismissing calibers with a respectable military history; have been fired by the billions, from the Bar submachine gun to the Vulcan Minigun, the 308 W with its shorter length boasts even greater reliability in semi-automatic weapons. Both calibers are loaded with bullets of varying weight, from 110 to 220 grains, the 110, as well as the 55 grains "accelerators", I don't understand what they can ever be used for. The 220 grains, pushed to just over 700 m / sec., Can be good for animals like a moose, even if Jim Zumbo, a well-known American hunter and great expert in weapons, has always used, to hunt the Canadian deer (Elk, Wapiti) a carbine in cal. 30.06 with 165 grain balls! Returning to the European wild boar (at least I also include the Carpathian), a ball of 150 grains at over 900 m / sec. , it is good and right in any situation we may find ourselves chasing the hirsute. I know, he fears a little, like everyone else, however, the foliage, the 150 grains given the high speed, in practice it is better to put in our rifle a 150 barrel type Tig, Balistic tip, Bronze point etc ... And then in the magazine there will be some 180 robust grains, able to reach the "black lightning bolt", which has jumped the road and has already returned to the woods. It is necessary to complete the restricted range of suitable (and above all tested) calibers for wild boar hunting, remembering and recommending two calibers for tilting weapons: the 8 × 57 JRS and the 9,3 × 74 R. combined or express is the best choice ever, the best of itself is given with ammunition reloaded with 150-170 grain bullets; I don't understand why ammunition companies don't produce 8 × 57 JRS bullets with bullets weighing less than 187 grains. The 9,3 × 74 R is an exuberant caliber for the wild boar; I can hardly promote it as the first bore gauge in Express; often those who want to buy a similar weapon see it proposed in that caliber and buy it without thinking too much about it, I would order the overhead in 8 × 57 JRS I do not agree with who produces and who buys an overhead in a Rimmles caliber , when there are excellent Rimmed alternatives, we avoid complicating our lives.
I want to dedicate the ending to magnumania. When the FN technicians put on the market the BAR in cal. 300 and 338 WM believed they were responding to the request by many American and Canadian professional hunters to have a semi-automatic to hunt big bears and moose in the far north. They would never have imagined that someone would have dreamed of using such weapons on animals weighing less than a hundredweight and often shot within 10 meters. Italian law requires 5,6 × 45 as the minimum caliber for hunting, but does not prohibit the use of an Express 700 NITRO caliber or a semi-automatic Barrett cal. 12,7 (50 BMG) for wild boar hunting… A few words to the good connoisseur.
Mark Benecchi