I was recently invited on a local hog hunt on a local farm, one of the neighbors owns,
he has never used a handgun on hogs, before.
I loaned him a 8" 357 mag and provided him with hand loaded 175 grain hard cast bullets
I went with him and carried my 10.5/8" 44 mag,
but decided not to shoot , as I saw nothing worth shooting on the trip.
I prefer the 170-175 grain version bullets in that 357 mag revolver,
I find them more accurate and cast from 95% lead and 5% tin they penetrate noticeably better
use 16 grains of H110 powder



http://www.neihandtools.com/catalog/index.html
he was used too using a 12 ga with slugs
he was not used to shooting hogs and having them run as if un-touched,
only to see them drop and kick a few times 10 seconds after he shot....
he was using lower chest shots, most punched through and exited,

as a result he had several times fired 4 to 5 times at running hogs,
only to find he had hit them , frequently ,fatally several times,
but a lethal hit with a 357 mag is not always an instantly dead on the spot result
I think I found another guy who really likes using a handgun,
but it took awhile for him to get a grasp on the advantages vs dis advantages
I also suggested we limit shots to under 20-30 yards and try shoulder shots rather than heart shots

Pistol or rifle, if you don't do significant damage to the CNS, you should expect the hog to run when shot. The damage may be direct impact to the spinal cord, brain stem, or brain, or indirect as a result of hydrostatic shock or hydraulic shock, but the latter two are much less sure to produce a stop than a direct impact to the CNS.

your obviously correct, but I'm always amazed at the guys that think,..hell, I shot and they ran as if I missed,
I must of missed ...But the sights looked good???
well next time I better get closer.... never thinking the hog they shot that ran off 40-60 yards as if untouched,
was now dead and 30 feet behind a palmetto brush screen.
you may not always get a reaction you recognize as a good hit,
but if you fire a cartridge and the sights looked go you owe the animal,
the respect too follow and look for evidence, handguns are 100% lethal with good shot placement,
and in many cases will significantly out penetrate rifles,
but they won,t always deliver the shock, or anchor the game as rapidly.
the guy I was hunting with had hunted for decades but always with a 12 ga slug gun
hand-gunning was something new, I had to get across that shot placement was more critical,
and that it was not at all uncommon for a hard cast bullet to pass through one hog,
and punch through or deeply into a second directly behind it.
thus tracking after a shot was mandatory.
he thoroughly enjoyed the hunt and I watched carefully,
he was rather amazed at the fact I watched where the hogs ran,
and found a couple he shot , that he thought he missed.
theres a learning curve in every endeavor, he was impressed,
and enjoyed the hunt, in fact he offered several times to buy the revolver,
I suggested he visit the local gun store and might want to look at a 357 mag, 41 or 44 mag with a 7.5"-8.375" barrel
he was very impressed with my 686 S&W

BTW
1" x 1/2" rectangle cross sectioned by about 6"-10" long strips of preferably smaller young hog,
soaked over night in 75% pineapple juice and 25% apple cider vinegar
then drained and liberally coated and frequently re-brushed,
with your choice of barb-b-que sauce, slow roasted on the grill or bar-b-que
and placed on a toasted onion roll makes decent sandwich
many time I wrap a couple well coated strips in tin foil and grill over low heat
this works
Ingredients

1. 1 1/4 cups ketchup
2. 1 cup dark brown sugar.
3. 1/2 cup molasses.
4. 1/4 cup pineapple juice or you can sub apple cider vinegar.
5. 1/4 cup water.
6. 1 tablespoon worchestire sauce.
7. 1/2 cup of bacon bits
8. 1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion

IMO bang flops are rare with Hogs, most of what I shoot are around a hundred-hundred and fifty pounds. The vast majority run 40-60 yards after being body shot. Most of my shots are crossing shots, so exact aim isn't likely. I could use a hollow (or really soft) point bullet I guess and do more damage, but there is always a compromise between effectiveness and meat damage. One oddity I've noticed is a larger slower bullet 9 MM (35 caliber 200 grain semi round nose soft point) at a little over 2000 fps, seems to slow them down better than a faster smaller bullet (30 caliber 2700 fps). Best guess is the faster smaller bullet is usually a through and through, which is wasted energy. IMO Hogs are less prone to hydrostatic shock than Deer are. Not always, but often enough to be noticeable my 35 Remington will stagger a hog (more chance of a second shot) and the bullet won't exit, while my .308 seems to often ( most always be a through and through) just puts them into afterburner until blood loss puts them down. Not a rule just a tendency.