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Here's my hog killers, and of course my favorite is my 556R. Sadly, it is my lone survivor of three. #1 was a "New Englander", a Classic without a flash suppressor. It was my first SIG and I bought it new, in Oklahoma, just days after Sandy Hook, back when things were flying off the shelves and I just wanted an AK. Thankfully the store steered me to the R. I used the factory red dot for years and killed a lot of hogs. The dot died in 2017 and SIG supposedly sent me their last one as a replacement. While surfing GunBroker I found another Clasic R and paid upwards of $1,500 for it (#2 cost me $350 more than #1). It was stock and didn't come with the 3 classic Pickatiney handguard mounts. It was very lightly used.
Then, I bought a no-ring / solid-base scope for #1, mounted it, and during boresight the clicks were almost bottomed out to the left. I sent the scope back for exchange and it's replacement was the same. frustrated and still thinking I had a scope issue, I grabbed another scope (with traditional rings) and mounted it and it too was way off. Only then did I notice that #1's rail rolled off to the right as it progressed rearward. Took pics and called SIG. I sent the upper in to be repaired, which should have been very simple to perform. I was told it couldn't be repaired and I could get a Virtus Patrol 5.56 as #1's replacement. I already own two SIG 556s and other ARs so I didn't need yet another. I fussed, but to no avail. Then my brother-in-law died and I had to rush out to California. Concurrently, my best friend from California had just visited weeks before and I took him night hog hunting. Boy did he catch a bug using #2. He had really longed to own a SIG 556R, he was a good friend, so when I rushed to CA, #2 went with me. (I somehow lost #2 during that trip)
Fully expecting to receive a Virtus Patrol in 5.56, it was my plan to sell it NIB and the search was on for a #3, and I was seeing high prices for the few available. Then, while visiting Oklahoma City I met a policeman and I told him my story and offered the Virtus 5.56 I would soon get, to him at a great price. He didn't need it either, but he thought he could possibly get me an R. He came through in spades with a beautiful 556R SWAT. He helped me load it into my truck and after 5 weeks at the gym, I was finally able to pick it up myself. ( …This is my way of poking fun at hands-down the heaviest weapon I own!) I mounted a Konus scope, ND3 laser designator, SIG 300 Tac-Light, and I ditched the coupled SIG mags for a 10 round mag, all to keep it under 95 lbs. When I sighted in #1 I got battle rifle accuracy. #2 was a smidgeon better. #1 & #2 both were minute-of-pie-plate accurate with Rus-crap soft points, so I used Hornady's almost exclusively thereafter. I received a call from SIG and they were now going to offer me a Virtus Patrol in .300 BLK, but only if I paid the difference, which I did. Finally, I got #3 to the range to sight it in. Same Same. Shot Hornady's well, maybe even a tad better than #2, but what the heck, with all that weight #3 should shoot better, right? Now going back to Sandy Hook / #1 days, I had bought two boxes of Winchester CPX II ammo during the great ammo hoard. Since then these two boxes had just sat around, (why sight in for something ya don't plan to use regularly, right?) Now in 2018, I thought I'd shoot some just to see where they'd group. I'd just finished sighting in #3 and I fired 5 of the CPX II's then looked through my spotting scope. Wow! Thinking that just as we can have bad groups & flyers, what would be so unusual about a sub-MOA grouping as a fluke. I went back and loaded another 5 and IT REPEATED! I switched to the second box and fired 3 from it and again -WOW!! I fired 6 more of the CPX II's this June just to impress at the range and to show that this 556R could debunk a lot of 7.62X39 myths. I've hunted several times with #3 , but using the Hornady's, but again it's only good/battle-rifle accurate. Good enough to drop hogs.
The moral of the story is long known, but infrequently practiced. Just as you must pattern a shotgun for turkey, a battle rifle - with the right ammo, can be quite a shooter.
Rossi 92 - .454 Casull
556R - w/Konus AS-34 & ND3 laser
556 SWAT
Thompson Contender 30-30 w/Nikon EER
Ruger Super Redhawk .454 Casull 9-1/2"
SIG Virtus Patrol .300 BLK w/Leupold VX-R
