[BackWoods Billy]

Hey guys.I'm getting closer and closer to my 1st pig hunt. What I would like to know is which one of these guns you would use for a back up gun. I'm going to be using a 7.5" Super Blackhawk .44 scoped. I'm going to be hunting in Central California so I have to use solid copper bullets that I'm not to sure of.Barns 225 gr. over as much H110 as I can get in there.I have a SP101 .357 3", 4 5/8 SBH and a full size Springfield 1911. Which one would you use of the three? Do most of you carry a back up for pigs? Thanks.

 

[unclepaddy]

Really big pigs from that area can stop a lot of bullet if hit in the shoulder. I would use whatever kept the velocity up on those Barnes bullets. I'm very curious about how those work on game. Give us a report when you score on a pig with one. I had some and they looked like they would open way up, but I never used them on an animal. There is often good quail hunting in Central Cal, so pack your shotgun if allowed where you're hunting. I got my first pigs around Hollister, just north of the pinnacles. It's excellent hunting around there. I usually don't carry a back-up gun unless I'm visiting Oakland. However, when I do, it's usually my old .38 S&W loaded with 200 grain flatpoints from Beartooth or Cast Performance. Too bad you can't use lead where you're going. I wonder if cast zinc would be legal?

 

[broom_jm]

You're hunting pigs with a SBH in 44 Magnum, and you're thinking you might need a backup?

I've got this image of some two-fisted shootout at 20 feet with a highly ******-off boar trying to find the thing that bit him.

Seriously though, if you've got the full-length 44, are you really going to be significantly better served with a smaller handgun, at some point? They're wild pigs, not a swarm of jihad-crazed terrorists.

 

[MikeG]

Can you even get non-lead bullets for those guns? Does it matter?

I usually have a snubbie .357 in the pocket as a matter of course, whether it's rifle hunting, bow hunting, or just driving down the street. FWIW......

 

[jmortimer]

Yes - I'd go with Cor Bon or Double Tap - Here is list http://www.barnesbullets.com/products/loaded-ammunition/

 

[BackWoods Billy]

First off,thanks for the smile this morning with the humor. I'm taking my girlfriend to the Winchester House that is in San Jose. So I was looking around that area for the best pig hunting. I've been reading that there's good pig hunting in the Salinas Valley. Unclepaddy,You said that there's good pig hunting around Hollister. That seems to be around the same area.Any help to narrow it down would help.I'm only going to have a day maybe two before I have to get back south.
I guess the best back up is to pull that hammer back down as fast as I can after my 1st shot. Thanks.

 

[jmortimer]

Winchester house is too cool. Well worth seeing.

 

[2Bits]

Backwoods Billy, I don't really hunt hogs with a handgun but I do use a backup pistol for my .444 Marlin or .45/70 Marlin. The backup is a model 29 Smith & Wesson in the .44magnum caliber and I use FMJ bullets in that pistol. I must say, lately I have been tempted to try out my Glock model 20, with 6 inch barrel, using 200 grain FMJ bullets in it also.

 

[bldsmith]

My back-up is a 44 super redhawk so I guess your already there. Carry what ever you have. If you need another gun after the 44 mag you are shooting at one big hawg. Some of the best pig hunting is up around Clear Lake and Santa Rosa. Humboldt County has a huge population also. It can be hard to find land to hunt unless you pay a trespass fee. Good luck I still want to take a pig someday.

 

[wallerus]

I personally have never been pig hunting. I have talked to a numeber of folks that have and are pretty good at it. If I were to go I would take My S&W 500 with Corbon 440 solids. It is my understanding that with a large pig if you don't shoot it right, it will be rather pissed when it figures out you shot it. Remember, pigs can't climb trees.

 

[Capt Rick Hiott]

Thank God Ive never had to use it,,,but I carry a Glock .45cal on my side while shooting a 454 Casull

 

[Ole1830]

Given your choices, I would use your SP101 with a hard cast 158/180 grain lead bullet @ 1100-1200 fps.

 

[BackWoods Billy]

Thanks Ole1830. That's what I was thinking...Have to use pure copper bullets where I'm going to hunt.. Bummer ha?

 

[JPaulF]

My backup guns are either a 1911 or a 1917 revolver, both in .45acp and both with FMJ loads. Now, I can't tell you I've ever used either or razorbacks (Russian Boar), but I have used them on feral pigs and Javelina. I have never had either get up and try to eat me. I do like both the Colt and S&W revolvers for hunting backups better than the 1911's, too.

 

[kirk edwards]

Sp 101 Bug

I vote SP 101 for straight BUG and .44 Redhawk in a 4" barrel if you actually want to hunt boar with it once in a while. You can fire very hot loads out of the little .357 3" barreled SP 101 that will do serious damage to a boar, but some Buffalo Bore .44's will flatten it clean off its feet with a Redhawk. No questions asked. I had a nice Ruger .44 Carbine for years. Now THAT is the ideal boar rifle. It has a 14" barrel and is deadly accurate without a scope. Mine loaded like a shot gun with 5+1. Or was it 4+1? Can't rightly remember. But it was a really really fun rifle to practice with. A friend of mine really like it, so I sold it to him. Them thar piggies would not get close enough to big yer leg if you had any type of .44. In my opinion a .357 of any caliber won't have the stopping power of a .44. Have you seen the videos on Youtube of Aussie boars charging and biting hunters? Some of those Aussies are crazy. Of course, their boars are smaller than North American boars, I think. I would not play "chicken" with a wild boar. No way I would risk getting a silver dollar sized dollop of flesh ripped off my thigh for some funnin' around on camera. If I were going boar hunting, I would take my .44 Redhawk 4" and leave my SP101 at home. But that's just me.