The 30-30 is a great deer hunting cartridge, but how does it fare against hogs? When would you want to use a different caliber on hogs? And are there any cons to using a 30-30? In this article, I will answer all those questions.
Here is the short answer:
The 30-30, while old, is a great hog hunting cartridge. It has plenty of energy to kill a hog at close range and even drop it. As long as you are within 200 yards and hit a good shot, the 30-30 is more than enough to kill a hog.
Now that you have the short answer, let’s take a closer look at this cartridge, like why it’s so good at killing hogs, and the best bullet and bullet grain weight for hogs.
Why the 30-30 is so good at killing hogs
So the 30-30 is good at killing hogs, but why?
As many people know, the 30-30 is an iconic deer hunting cartridge. It has high energy at close range, lending itself well to hunting deer size game at close range, and that’s exactly what hogs are, a deer size animal. Other than being a little bit more stocky, a hog is just a big deer.
But just how much energy does the 30-30 have? While it doesn’t have good energy at long range, it has almost 2000 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle with a 150-grain bullet. And the 30-30 doesn’t start to lose much energy tell 150 yards so it will keep that energy under that range. This round has enough energy to punch through both shoulder blades and the spine of a hog at 50 yards.
The nice part is that most of the wild hogs range is thick swampy brush. So when you take the fact that the 30-30 has high energy at close range and in most hog country you will not be shooting far, it makes this round very effective at killing hogs. Not to mention that most 30-30 are open-sighted lever-action rifles, lending well to fast follow-up shots at close range.
Best bullets and bullet grain weights
So now that you know you can use a 30-30 on hogs, you may be asking: what is the best grain weight? Well, it depends on the situation.
To answer this question, you need to ask yourself a few questions.
- How big of hogs will you be hunting
- How far will you be shooting
- Are you hunting out of a treestand or spot and stalk
If you are hunting big hogs (180+ pounds), then you will want a 175-grain soft point bullet. The extra 25 grains will help boost the energy of the projectile by almost 200 foot-pounds. This extra energy will help take down those bigger hogs.
If you are hunting hogs where 150 yard+ shots are common, then you might want to change calibers entirely to something that shoots flatter like a 308 Winchester, 6.5 Creedmoor, or a 243 Winchester.
When treestand hunting, you probably won’t be shooting far, so you will be fine using a 175 or 150-grain bullet. If you are spot and stalk hunting, you might have to take a further shot. In that case, you want the higher energy of a 175-grain bullet.
Cons to using a 30-30
While the 30-30 is a great hog hunting caliber, it still has cons.
Range. The 30-30, while awesome at close range, does not have much energy past 150 yards. The 30-30 only has 30 grains of powder and is made for lever-action rifles so it uses flat bullets. Because of this, it does not have the energy-carrying capabilities of other cartridges.
Limited ammo choice. One problem with the 30-30 is that you are pretty limited when it comes to ammo. The 30-30 typically only comes in 150 or 175-grain bullets; The problem with this is that you can’t get the wide range of applications you can with other cartridges. For instance, with a 30-06, you can use bullets that range from 110-210 grains, making it so you can hunt everything from prairie dogs to moose. So if you wanted to go shoot prairie dogs, you would be forced to use 150-grain bullets instead of 110.
Conclusion
The 30-30 is a round perfectly capable of taking down hogs of all sizes. With 150 to 175-grain bullets, you will be able to take down any hog. So next time you go hog hunting, don’t hesitate to grab a 30-30.
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