Henry Rifle Forums

I am pretty much limited to hunting in the Wildlife Management Areas here in my area of South Carolina. Big game season is over now, but I can continue to hunt hogs there during the small game season that continues for another two months. The only catch is I can only carry a rimfire weapon. I have usually carried my hunting buddy's spare .22 mag bolt action. I am considering getting an inexpensive rimfire of my own.

My question is this: what caliber? .22 WMR is the most common used. Some folks swear by .17 HMR. The newer .17 WSM is probably the most capable out there, but there are few rifles available chambered for it. Not sure ammo will be readily available in 10 years.

I realize that regardless of caliber chosen, I will have to be careful to put the round in a vital area, such as the brain, spinal cord, or heart. There isn't much room for a sloppy shot to get a clean kill. This brings up the next question of what action to go with. Bolt action for consistent accuracy, or semi auto for quick follow up shots, if the animal doesn't immediately bolt following the first shot. FWIW, I have a Henry .22LR, but am not comfortable trying to take a hog with one. I hear of plenty of folk that do just that, but not sure it's for me.

I would love to get a Henry lever action .22 WMR or 17 HMR, but the cost is a bit beyond what I want to spend for the limited use I would get from it.

but I can continue to hunt hogs there during the small game season that continues for another two months. The only catch is I can only carry a rimfire weapon.

Question - after your 'small game season' can you go back to carrying a centerfire ?
If so I think I would wait .

I Have NEVER hunted hogs before (and would LOVE to) however having seen them I cannot imagine hunting them with ANY rimfire.

They seem pretty tough and I have shot much LESSER animals with a .22 only to see them run off and have to track them down.

Just my inexperienced opinion....

I've witnessed first hand the damage a wounded hog can do to a pack of bear hunting hounds .... thus, I must admit that the concept of hunting wild hods with a rimfire caliber rifle sounds pretty far out .... so please consider any recommendation I make under a very skeptical light .... as noted, there is no question shots need to be well placed, make that very well placed .... for me I'd not be comfortable hunting with a firearm that isn't designed to get off a quick followup shot .... my choice of a caliber would be based on finding the rimfire round that is capable of delivering the highest knockdown power .... once that choice was made, I'd immediately eliminate a single shot .... a lever would be fine and I'd most likely go in that direction

Gotta agree with the others here. Never hunted hogs but want to. I know there tough as I have seen them in action via Youtube. I know for a fact I wont be toting no rimfire. But if I was making a choice in your case clovishound Id opt for a semi-auto in 22 mag.

There is a one week hog hunt the first week of March that allows me to carry centerfire, otherwise I have to wait til mid October. This would mean no chance to get into the woods until Oct.

I could just small game hunt with the Henry, but my buddy isn't into small game and I need his truck to get the hog to the processor if I get one. I could go by myself, but much of the fun is getting out there with a good friend.

JEBar wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 01, 2020 10:23 pm

I've witnessed first hand the damage a wounded hog can do to a pack of bear hunting hounds .... thus, I must admit that the concept of hunting wild hods with a rimfire caliber rifle sounds pretty far out .... so please consider any recommendation I make under a very skeptical light .... as noted, there is no question shots need to be well placed, make that very well placed .... for me I'd not be comfortable hunting with a firearm that isn't designed to get off a quick followup shot .... my choice of a caliber would be based on finding the rimfire round that is capable of delivering the highest knockdown power .... once that choice was made, I'd immediately eliminate a single shot .... a lever would be fine and I'd most likely go in that direction

I must agree with Jim.
Personally, I would never go hog hunting with a caliber that will likely just make it mad!
Hogs are aggressive and will charge. One of my old co- workers used to go hog hunting in SC quite often and once had his right leg gored.
22 will take most anything with a PERFECTLY placed shot, but does not have the shock factor to drop the creature.

Well, with a concealed weapons permit, I can carry a sidearm. I just can't hunt with it.

That sidearm is a .45 ACP 1911, so I should be able to take care of a hog bent on doing me harm. That would be self protection, not hunting.

FWIW, my buddy's son took a 130 lb hog a couple years ago with a .17 WSM. It was a chest shot. Hog ran a very short way and collapsed. I can get a B mag Savage chambered in .17 WSM, again just not sure about whether I will be able to buy ammo for it in 10 years.

clovishound wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 01, 2020 10:41 pm

Well, with a concealed weapons permit, I can carry a sidearm. I just can't hunt with it.

That sidearm is a .45 ACP 1911, so I should be able to take care of a hog bent on doing me harm. That would be self protection, not hunting.

FWIW, my buddy's son took a 130 lb hog a couple years ago with a .17 WSM. It was a chest shot. Hog ran a very short way and collapsed. I can get a B mag Savage chambered in .17 WSM, again just not sure about whether I will be able to buy ammo for it in 10 years.

Good point on the 45! I would certainly carry a back up.
Almost bought a .17 WSM but opted for my Henry SGC instead. Soo, can't opine on that, but good for your buddy's son.

clovishound wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 01, 2020 10:41 pm

Well, with a concealed weapons permit, I can carry a sidearm. I just can't hunt with it.

That sidearm is a .45 ACP 1911, so I should be able to take care of a hog bent on doing me harm. That would be self protection, not hunting.

for me, that most certainly changes the equation to one I'd be much more comfortable with

clovishound wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 01, 2020 10:41 pm

I can get a B mag Savage chambered in .17 WSM, again just not sure about whether I will be able to buy ammo for it in 10 years.

given a rifle I really like, I'd make it a point to stockpile as much ammo as possible for as long as possible .... given hunting as its main use, one could fairly quickly stock pile a supply that could last for a long, long time

I can get a B mag Savage chambered in .17 WSM, again just not sure about whether I will be able to buy ammo for it in 10 years.

I buy some whenever I can. I have almost 1000 rds of lead free rds.

With your back-up plan in mind, I would likely choose the .22 Magnum, and since you mentioned inexpensive, likely a bolt-action repeater...either the Savage 93G, or the Marlin XT-22M. Both have a reputation for accuracy much better than the price point would suggest. If I went with the Marlin, I would try to find one of the tube-fed models.
For hunting, I would suggest trying the 50 grain hollow point round from Federal.
I just picked up a Savage 93G in 22 Mag, but haven't had a chance to shoot it.

I have a Savage 9317bv .17HMR. A vert accurate rife. Could easily handle any of the shots, brain, neck....
Not a pig of course but explosive damage on ground squirrels.
Whatever rimfire a sure shot placement is important.

Well, I went ahead and picked up a Savage 93 F today. Got tired of overthinking it. LGS had one in stock, a little over $200. This model has iron sights. I will probably go with that at first, then figure out what I want to do for sights a little down the road. I might pick up a set of scope bases and mount the 4x9-40 Nikon I have on the Henry H001 and see if I like that. I don't plan on making 150 yd shots with it.

Called DNR today and verified I can carry my .45 when hunting the WMAs during small game season.

Got the scope mounted today, and took it to the range. Accuracy was decent. This is a lot more fun to shoot than a .22lr IMO. I need to find a good local source for range ammo.

Another update. Found some CCI maxi mags, 40 grain HP. These seemed to feed very well. Price was much better than the Hornady personal defense rounds I picked up when I bought the rifle. It was the only .22 WMR on the shelf then.

LGS has the 5 round mags for this rifle for less than $20. That is cheaper than most internet sources, before shipping. No 10 rounders on the shelf.