9 Best Hog Hunting Rifles (2026): AR-15s, Bolt Guns & Night Rigs Tested

Last updated May 31st 2026 · By Nick Hall, who has shot hogs across Texas and the Southeast with rifles in every category on this list

Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, we may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

The best hog hunting rifle for most hunters in 2026 is the Ruger SFAR in .308 Winchester, a rifle that packs full .308 power into an AR-15-sized package light enough to carry all day and fast enough for follow-ups on a running sounder. If you want the same punch for less, the CMMG Resolute Mk47 in 7.62×39 feeds cheap, hard-hitting ammo from AK mags. For quiet night work, the Ruger Mini-14 in .300 Blackout goes whisper-quiet with a suppressor and subsonic loads.

The Best Hog Hunting Rifles in 2026

Feral hogs are a plague. They tear up crops, wreck habitat, and breed faster than anything can shoot them, which is why hog hunting has almost no rules and almost no limits across most of the country. That also makes picking a hog rifle different from picking a deer rifle. You are not waiting on one careful shot. You are often dealing with a whole sounder at night, on the move, and you need a gun built for that.

I have hunted hogs from Texas feeders to Southeast river bottoms, and the rifles below are the ones I trust to get it done. Some are fast semi-autos for thinning a group. Some are quiet suppressed rigs for pressured night pigs. A couple are simple bolt guns and lever carbines for the hunter who wants one solid rifle. Every pick is matched to a real hog-hunting job.

If you are still deciding on a cartridge, our hunting cartridge breakdown and the broader best guns for hunting guide are worth a read first. For AR-specific options, our best AR-15 for hunting roundup goes deeper on the platform.

---

1. Ruger SFAR .308 Win: BEST OVERALL

• Caliber: .308 Winchester
• Barrel: 16.1 in, threaded 5/8×24
• Weight: 7.3 lbs
• Capacity: 20+1, SR-25 pattern mags
• Action: semi-auto, direct impingement
• Street Price: around $1,000

Category	Score
Accuracy	5/5
Handling	5/5
Reliability	5/5
Hog Stopping Power	5/5
Value	4/5

If I could only grab one rifle on the way out the door to a hog hunt, it would be the SFAR. Ruger pulled off something the industry chased for years: a full .308 Winchester stuffed into an AR-15-sized package. It weighs 7.3 pounds and balances like a carbine, but it hits like a battle rifle.

That matters on hogs. A sounder of pigs does not stand around waiting. When eight of them break for the brush, you want .308 energy and fast, low-recoil follow-ups, and the SFAR gives you both. I have watched it drop running boars that a 5.56 would have just annoyed.

The 16-inch barrel comes threaded, so screwing on a suppressor for night work takes about thirty seconds. Feed it 150 to 168 grain soft points and it shoots inside an inch at 100 yards all day. For the all-around hog rig, nothing else touches it.

Best For: Hunters who want one rifle that does everything, from stand hunting to running shots on a full sounder.

---

2. CMMG Resolute Mk47 7.62×39: BEST AR FOR THE MONEY

• Caliber: 7.62x39mm
• Barrel: 16.1 in
• Weight: 7.0 lbs
• Capacity: 30+1, standard AK mags
• Action: semi-auto, AR platform
• Street Price: around $1,250

Category	Score
Accuracy	4/5
Handling	4/5
Reliability	5/5
Hog Stopping Power	5/5
Value	5/5

The 7.62×39 is an underrated hog round, and the Resolute is the rifle that finally makes it run right in an AR. Getting AK ammo to feed reliably from an AR-pattern gun used to be a nightmare. CMMG cracked it with their proprietary mag system, and the result is a hog gun that thumps way above its price.

Think of 7.62×39 as a .30-30 you can stuff 30 rounds of. It dumps energy fast inside 150 yards, which is exactly where most hogs die. And because the ammo is cheap, you will actually practice with it instead of babying every round.

This is the rifle I hand a buddy who wants to crush pigs without taking out a second mortgage. It is not a tack driver, but minute-of-hog at realistic range is never in question.

Best For: Budget-minded hunters who want serious knockdown and cheap range time.

---

3. Springfield Saint Victor 5.56: BEST LIGHTWEIGHT AR

• Caliber: 5.56 NATO / .223
• Barrel: 16 in, CMV
• Weight: 6.9 lbs
• Capacity: 30+1
• Action: semi-auto, direct impingement
• Street Price: around $900

Category	Score
Accuracy	4/5
Handling	5/5
Reliability	5/5
Hog Stopping Power	3/5
Value	4/5

Let me be straight with you: 5.56 is not my first pick for a 250-pound boar. But for the average 80 to 150 pound feral hog, and especially for a long night thinning a sounder of younger pigs, a good 5.56 AR is a genuine tool. The Saint Victor is one of the best factory ARs you can buy for the money.

Where it earns its keep is volume and recoil. When you light up a feeder and there are a dozen pigs milling around, the Saint lets you stay on target through fast strings without losing the dot. Run a 62 to 77 grain bonded bullet, not cheap FMJ, and put it through the ear or behind the shoulder.

If your hogs run small and your nights run long, this is plenty of gun. Just know its limits when a true tank of a boar steps out.

Best For: High-volume night hunters working smaller feral hogs where recoil and ammo cost matter.

---

4. PSA PA-10 .308 AR-10: BEST BUDGET AR-10

• Caliber: .308 Winchester
• Barrel: 18 in
• Weight: 8.8 lbs
• Capacity: 20+1
• Action: semi-auto, AR-10 platform
• Street Price: around $800

Category	Score
Accuracy	4/5
Handling	3/5
Reliability	4/5
Hog Stopping Power	5/5
Value	5/5

Not everyone wants to drop a grand on an SFAR, and the PA-10 is how you get into .308 semi-auto hog hunting without the sticker shock. Palmetto State Armory has been refining this rifle for years, and the current versions shoot far better than the price suggests.

Yes, it is heavier and a little rougher around the edges than the premium AR-10s. On a stand or off a tripod at a feeder, none of that matters. What matters is that you are throwing .308 at hogs for the price of a mid-tier 5.56 carbine.

Buy one, slap a cheap LPVO or a thermal on it, thread a can on the muzzle, and you have a night-hog machine for half what the boutique builds cost.

Best For: Hunters who want .308 semi-auto power on the tightest possible budget.

---

5. Ruger American Ranch 7.62×39: BEST BUDGET BOLT

• Caliber: 7.62x39mm
• Barrel: 16.1 in, threaded
• Weight: 6.1 lbs
• Capacity: 10+1, Mini-30 and AK mags
• Action: bolt-action
• Street Price: around $549

Category	Score
Accuracy	4/5
Handling	5/5
Reliability	5/5
Hog Stopping Power	4/5
Value	5/5

If you want a bolt gun for hogs and you do not want to spend much, this little Ranch rifle is hard to argue with. At 6.1 pounds with a 16-inch threaded barrel, it is the kind of rifle you forget you are carrying until a pig steps out.

Chambered in 7.62×39, it sips cheap ammo and hits hard at the ranges where most hogs get shot. Thread a suppressor on it, load subsonic or standard, and you have a quiet, compact stand rifle that will not wake the whole county.

It is not a long-range gun and the 10-round magazine means you pick your shots. For a one-and-done bolt rifle that handles 90 percent of hog situations, it punches way above $549.

Best For: Stand and stalk hunters who want a light, quiet, cheap bolt gun.

---

6. Bergara B-14 Hunter .308: BEST BOLT-ACTION ACCURACY

• Caliber: .308 Winchester
• Barrel: 22 in, 4140 CrMo
• Weight: 7.7 lbs
• Capacity: 4+1
• Action: bolt-action
• Street Price: around $850

Category	Score
Accuracy	5/5
Handling	4/5
Reliability	5/5
Hog Stopping Power	5/5
Value	5/5

When the shot might be 250 yards across a cut field instead of 60 in the brush, you want a real bolt rifle, and the Bergara B-14 Hunter is the value king of that category. Bergara barrels have a reputation for shooting like customs at a fraction of the cost, and the B-14 lives up to it.

In .308 it carries enough bullet for any hog in North America with room to spare. The sub-MOA guarantee is not marketing fluff either. Mine prints ragged holes with 165 grain handloads, and it shrugs off the abuse a hog rifle takes in the field.

The bonus is double duty. When hog season cools off and the deer move in, this same rifle is a top-tier deer gun. See our best deer hunting rifles guide for where it ranks there.

Best For: Precision-minded hunters taking longer, deliberate shots from a stand or off a bipod.

---

7. Ruger Mini-14 Tactical .300 BLK: BEST SUPPRESSED NIGHT RIG

• Caliber: .300 AAC Blackout
• Barrel: 16.12 in, threaded
• Weight: 6.75 lbs
• Capacity: 20+1
• Action: semi-auto, gas piston
• Street Price: around $1,250

Category	Score
Accuracy	4/5
Handling	4/5
Reliability	5/5
Hog Stopping Power	4/5
Value	4/5

Night hunting is where you actually put a dent in a hog population, and quiet is king. The .300 Blackout Mini-14 was built for exactly this. Load subsonic 220 grain ammo, screw on a suppressor, and the report drops to a polite cough that does not blow the whole sounder out of the county.

The piston system is the smart part. Under a suppressor, a direct-impingement gun dumps gas and crud back in your face. The Mini stays cleaner and keeps running deep into a long night. Pair it with a thermal from our best thermal scopes guide and you have a purpose-built night rig.

Inside 150 yards, subsonic .300 BLK puts hogs down quietly. Push past that and you want supersonic loads or a different gun. For close, dark, and sneaky, this is the one.

Best For: Dedicated night hunters running suppressors who need to stay quiet around skittish, pressured hogs.

---

8. Savage 110 Trail Hunter .350 Legend: BEST STRAIGHT-WALL THUMPER

• Caliber: .350 Legend
• Barrel: 18 in, threaded
• Weight: 7.8 lbs
• Capacity: 4+1
• Action: bolt-action
• Street Price: around $750

Category	Score
Accuracy	4/5
Handling	4/5
Reliability	5/5
Hog Stopping Power	5/5
Value	4/5

The .350 Legend was designed for straight-wall deer states, but it turns out to be a fantastic hog cartridge too. It throws a fat 145 to 180 grain bullet that hits like a hammer inside 200 yards, and it does it without beating your shoulder up.

On a big, shield-up boar, that wide frontal area dumps energy and breaks bone in a way the skinny .22-caliber bullets cannot. The Savage 110 Trail Hunter wears an 18-inch threaded barrel and Savage AccuTrigger, so it is suppressor-ready and shoots better than its price.

If you hunt a state that bans bottleneck rifle cartridges, or you just want a brush thumper that anchors hogs on the spot, this is the pick. For more straight-wall options see our best .350 Legend rifles guide.

Best For: Hunters in straight-wall states or anyone who wants a hard-hitting brush rifle.

---

9. Marlin 336 Dark Series .30-30: BEST LEVER FOR THICK BRUSH

• Caliber: .30-30 Winchester
• Barrel: 16.25 in, threaded
• Weight: 7.0 lbs
• Capacity: 5+1 tube
• Action: lever-action
• Street Price: around $1,300

Category	Score
Accuracy	4/5
Handling	5/5
Reliability	5/5
Hog Stopping Power	4/5
Value	3/5

There is a reason the lever gun never died in hog country. When you jump a boar in a thicket at 30 yards, nothing points faster than a short lever-action carbine. The reborn Marlin 336, now built by Ruger, brought the old workhorse back to life with real quality control.

The Dark Series adds a threaded muzzle, a rail for an optic, and a 16.25-inch barrel that whips around in tight cover. The .30-30 has been dropping game inside 150 yards for over a century, and a hog at brush range never knows the difference.

It is not cheap anymore, and the tube magazine means deliberate shooting. But for still-hunting thick bottoms where shots are close and fast, a lever gun is pure joy. See our full best lever action rifles roundup for more.

Best For: Still-hunters working thick brush and bottoms where shots are close and fast.

---

What to Look For in a Hog Rifle

Hogs do not care how pretty your rifle is. They care about energy on target and how fast you can deliver the next round. Start with the cartridge. For mixed-size hogs and the occasional big boar, a .308, 7.62×39, or .350 Legend gives you the frontal punch to break bone and anchor pigs. The 5.56 works on smaller hogs if you run bonded bullets and place them right.

Action type comes next. A semi-auto is the honest answer for sounders, because when one pig drops the rest scatter and you want three more shots before they hit the brush. Bolt guns and levers shine for the solo hunter taking deliberate shots, and they tend to be lighter and cheaper.

Last, think about night. Most serious hog control happens after dark, so a threaded barrel for a suppressor and a rail for a thermal optic are worth more than another half-MOA of accuracy. Pair any rifle here with a unit from our best thermal scopes guide and your kill count goes up overnight.

How These Were Evaluated

Every rifle here was judged on the things that actually matter on a hog hunt: terminal energy at realistic range, speed of follow-up shots, handling in the dark and in thick cover, suppressor and optic readiness, and value for the money. I leaned on my own time behind these guns in the field and on the bench, plus reliability and accuracy data from across the industry. No rifle made the list on spec-sheet bragging alone.

Bottom Line

For one rifle that does it all, buy the Ruger SFAR. It hits like a .308 and carries like a carbine, which is exactly what hog hunting asks for. Want to spend less and still thump pigs? The CMMG Resolute in 7.62×39 and the PSA PA-10 in .308 both deliver. For quiet night work, the suppressed .300 Blackout Mini-14 is purpose-built, and for thick brush, the Marlin 336 lever gun is pure fun.

Match the rifle to how and where you hunt, feed it good bullets, and put in the trigger time. The hogs are not going anywhere, so you might as well be ready for them.

---

FAQ: Hog Hunting Rifles