I have been asked about hog armor a few times. Yes it can be tough enough to stop expanding bullets. I borrowed this pic but it is a good example.

I've killed many a pig. Some boars with insanely thick shields that couldn't even fold over while skinning.

But.............I ain't never seen one stop a jacketed bullet from an acceptable pig hunting cartridge.

Pigs be tough..........but, they ain't bullet proof.

;-)

One interesting thing I've noticed............and might aid in the "bullet proof" stories oft heard...........is that when they have access to a good mud hole, they can be caked in an inch or more of dried mud as well as the shield. That assuredly helps to jack with bullet performance. Depending on the thickness, hardness, and viscosity of the mud.

So then, if that stopped a bullet what was it shot with? Caliber, weight, velocity, etc?

Looks like an old piece of buckshot more than a bullet

What exactly does a hog's shield consist of? Is that just its hide?

I've never had a problem destroying the shield and laying the smack down on a hog/boar...go heavy for caliber = no problem

As noted what ZEE said about the mud being caked on a hog. The mud will act as a sealant to dry up blood and soak it up. I have seen a marginal shot and the pig run off, and there be no blood trail.
I have seen good placement with smaller cartridges and bullets, do the job with what looked like ease.

Shooting through the shield is not the most ideal position of shot placement and I see no reason to go for the area. The real game changer is the size of the animal. Juvenile hogs (100LB) VS a real Boar (350-400LB) Things are very different.
We all need to remember that just because we have shot 5 or even 20 hogs with same gun and bullet, does not mean that it is going to do the job every time. Mother nature will throw you a curve sooner or later.

I've killed a truckload of hogs and I have seen light for caliber expanding Bullets work abismally on mature boars (the only hogs with shield - for the uninitiated). No, they aren't bulletproof, but they are considerably tougher to penetrate through than a whitetail deer. Of course, I'm only talking about mature boars.

I've killed a truckload full of hogs with a 45 grain .223 and only had one get away; he was hit poorly with an AR10 and ran into a thicket. I went in after him until I heard him growl and pop his teeth. Waited it out until dark and heard him move off. That's a bizarre feeling.

**Hadn't read your post Whitworth, wasn't trying to be a smarta$$!

Around here, most of the 'bullet proof' boars are full of adrenaline from being ran by dogs. A calm head will take care of most of those even.

I killed a big boar that had a some buckshot pellets lodged in his hide.

But, I attribute that the the fact that buckshot penetration pretty much SUCKS EGGS at anything but close range and he was probably shot at too great a distance for the load.

Otherwise, I too have killed quite a few with simple little .223 Remington bullets.

62gr Speer Gold Dot to the shoulder & spine.



The bullet vaporized to lead dust while passing through the spine of that big boar. So, technically.......it failed. But, it failed in the process of dropping and killing the pig. So.....

Back to the original concept. Put a proper bullet in a proper place and watch the results.

Here's one I shot years ago with a .416 Remington loaded with 300 grain TSXs at 2,900 fps. It ran off and not a drop of blood was found. I located him the next morning only about 25 yards from where I shot him.

Some people like the Barnes bullets, I'm not one of them, and this picture shows why....little to no expansion and little to no tissue damage in most pistol length barrels....they are just too hard and the hollow point isn't deep enough....that's just me though

Franchise, I missed the pic of the bullet hole, can you point it out?

At 2,900 fps (if it isn't a typo), there shouldn't be any problem with expansion, If it is a typo and 1,900 fps, then I would guess it was probably at the lower limit of the recommended velocity range. Most of the standard Barnes rifle bullets need more velocity then specialty pistols can deliver. As always, do you homework choose wisely. A few months ago, someone talked about shooting a hog with a 223 (T?)TSX load and finding that the bullet shattered on impact and never penetrated. THAT is something I found amazing.

I was at Caryonah several years ago and watched them do an autopsy on a giant boar. The hunter had put 3 180gr Nosler Partitions in the shield and none of them made it to vitals. The boar probably weighed 600lbs and the shield was about 6" thick. He finally shot it in the head and killed it. On that same hunt we were bow hunting and one of the boys hunting with us shot one in the shield with a expandable broad-head and it didn't penetrate 2". I have pictures of that hog walking around with the arrow sticking out none the worse for being shot. After chasing it for about an hour he finally got a arrow in through the ribs and ended it. I have also seen the younger boars shot right through it that just died. I talked to Eric at Wilderness that has probably gut,skinned and butchered more wild hogs than any man alive and he told me that the older they get the hard the shield gets. He also told my that he had seen many bullets stopped by the shield.

Karl, I don't need a picture of the bullet hole to know that it didn't do a lot of internal damage...just saying...massive internal damage typically leaves a decent amount of blood, particularly on a relatively small animal and when using a 416 Remington Magnum rifle. The Barnes bullets are a lot better now than when the first versions came out....I know Doc really likes them, and that's cool, but i don't. There is a HUGE difference in a .223 bullet and one that is .416....The Rifle Journal #242 goes into an in depth analysis of why solid copper expanding bullets leave less than ideal tissue damage in large African rifle calibers for soft tissue game up to African Lion sized animals. See the bragging board for an example.

It actually did quite a bit of internal damage. I have seen exit holes on wild hogs plug up with fat tissue. David is right, it was a rifle and the muzzle velocity was 2,900 fps. Judging by the internal damage, the bullet did expand. The point I was making was that a mature boar can be one tough customer, but each animal is a law unto itself.

Hey, all I know is that I'm gonna keep killing pigs. Armor or no armor. And I'm gonna use as many different guns, cartridges, and bullets as I can.

Because................Science!!!!

And.........they taste good.














And, it's wicked fun.

Can I get an AMEN?!

I totally agree Zee. Anyone who hasn't hunted wild hogs has really missed out.

I agree with Zee too! Keep shooting and killing them....I didn't like them in my 376 Steyr, but just because they didn't work for me, obviously they do for others. I know the handgun versions work really well....keep killing them and grilling them

All of my pigs have been killed with a 6-284 and 284 Win XP's and a 308 Win using Hornady TAP ammo (168 A-Max)...Everyone of them died.
Looking forward to doing more of it in the future.

X2

I'd like to shoot a hog end for end with a 460 S&W. Or a coyote, either one. Think it would be a fun autopsy.

Shooting a hog end to end sounds like it would really test the XTP-Mag's performance.

Amen!!!