Which bullet for hogs

[.243hunter]

Was wonder what would be the toughest available 243 bullet for very big hogs. Thanks

[denton]

You might consider the Barnes X. Without going to really, really expensive bullets, that's about the best choice I know about.

["yote"]

Use a bigger gun. The 243 is marginal for big hogs. 12ga with a
rifled bbl is very good as is 308, 3006, 44 mag with heavy bullets.
And my favorite, 45-70. That HEAVY gristle plate over the shoulders
and vitals is tough to punch through. A broadside shot
at 100 yds, the small calibers can work. But if you have any type
of quarting shot and that 243 might not do it. Wounded boar is
like a wounded Grizzly; they will turn around and hunt YOU down.
I know, I got treed by one! You have to anchor boar good and
solid. A pissed-off boar will blast through a pack of hounds like
a bowling ball through pins on his way to eat you!!!

P.S. Lever-guns, pumps and autos are preffered over bolt guns.
You want that fast follow-up shot. One buddy likes his Spring-
field M1A 308 loaded with 200g round-nose bullets for hog.
You can skip a scope for the most part too unless it is 1.5-4X
maybe 2-7X. Hog shooting can get up close and personal REAL
FAST and a scope can sometimes get you into trouble!

[Ken14]

From being around a hog hunting operation for quite a while..I have learned that shot placement is the key. For the .243 Id suggest a good 100gr bullet and a head shot. I have killed my share with the .243, .308 and even the .223 in this fashon. IMHO the big bore "hog buster" rounds dont work as well as good shot placement with a lighter caliber. I made a perfect shot in the shoulder with a .270 loaded with 140gr bullets and still lost the hog...so im a firm beliver in the head shot theory. Back to your question and stop my rambling...I use the Hornady 100gr BTSP. It has done well for me.

["yote"]

The 4 trips to Tenn that we have been on were in pretty thick
cover. the action is many times fast and very unpredictable. IMO,
it has been no place for anything less than a fast handling rifle
(or shotgun) shooting anything less than 140-150 gr bullet. The last two
I shot were less than 50 yds. The last one at 30 yds on a fast charge.
In more open ground, the small stuff might be ok. Personally, I have had
the best luck with my 45/70 Marlin shooting 300g Sierra HP's at 2300fps.
With all 4 pigs, the first thing to hit the dirt was their snout. As for using
a 223 on pig? IMHO a person would have to be nuts to go after mean, pissed off 400lbs +
animals with a 223 rem. Would you go after Black Bear with a 223? Not me.

[Dom]

Very big hogs, especially the European boar, do not mix well with small calibers, and head shots are not always in the cards.

My advice, use a bigger caliber, say a 30 caliber with premium 180 grainers or even 200s, and put it in the boiler room. Boar can take a hit and keep on truckin -- and an aggravated problem with smaller calibers is lack of or nonexistent blood trails. Even with 30 cal bullets blood trails can be nonexistent or not start for 50 or more yards due to the fat and thick hair on a boar.

Yote's 45/70 is also a good ticket. .270 minimum is my recommendation, with Partition 150 grainers. And better yet the venerable 30-06 with 180 grainers. If you're just dyin' to use a .243, don't be disappointed if after a good hit you never find the boar, JMHO, Waidmannsheil, Dom.

[Ken14]

Nuts....well I respect your opinion...but I have seen plenty taken with small calibers...as far as bear with a .223...yes I would IF I had shot placement on my side. Please see the attached link on wher I base my experience. If you feel that using a monster caliber makes you feel good then do it...I honestly believe there is nothing in my part of the country that I need to be hunting that a 6mm caliber wont handle.

http://www.bigwoods.ws/bwhunting.htm

["yote"]

There we go Ken14, "the shooting of running hogs is discouraged".
That is exactly the type of shooting that
that we have to do in TENN. Up close, fast and personal.
There is no place for mouse guns in this game. Like I said
before, I've been treed by those critters. Come up north
to the heavy cover hog hunting. Hit the right hog in the
wrong place with a pop-gun and you "might" live to regret it.
The Good Ol Boys that guide us have the scars to prove it.
(and so do their dogs). Personally I consider the .243 a MARGINAL
deer round. I had to use one for the first 4 years of my
deer hunting years. I hit 3 big MN Whitetails in a row in my first
3 years. 2 were shoulder socket hits and one was dead center
lung hit. All needed 1 or 2 more shots to finnish the job. And you think
that I am going to use something like that on dangerous
animals???? JMHO.

[Rocky Raab]

Here again, there are two VERY different situations - or more.

The much more common "wild hog" is actually a domestic pig gone feral, or a descendant of such. The huge and quite uncommon Russian boar is almost a different animal altogether. The difference is like comparing a Wisconsin whitetail with a Florida Keys deer. Both technically whitetails, but....

Then there's the cover aspect. I've hunted feral hogs in Florida where one sits in a tree stand and watches an open pasture in late evening. The hogs come out and feed, and one can pick a hog and shoot with almost benchrest precision and safety. A light caliber works fine.

But try to walk one up through a palmetto thicket where you cannot see five feet, and it's a whole 'nuther ballgame. When those snapping tusks are right at your shoelaces, you want the biggest cannon you can carry!

[Dom]

Ken, I think at that link he's mostly talking about ferals.

I will have to disagree with him and his small caliber head shots, whether they be ferals or boar, they deserve respect. I don't know what he means by bringing a cannon, but I hardly consider a 30-06 a monster caliber.

Now, if you really want some fun, why fiddle around with any rifle -- go after them tuskers with a knife!! Just kidding, I think most times it'd be all right shooting them varmint Texas ferals with a .243 and a Barnes X.

[Catfish]

I`ve never hunted wild bore, but I can tell you that a well placed lite bullet can kill a hog where he stands. I killed a bunch of hogs with a .22 rimfire handgun. Most around 200 to 250 lbs., but some up close to 400 lbs. Never was the gun barrel more than 3 ft. from the hogs head. Every hog I ever shot dropped like a rock. I`m sure a .243 in the brain would do the same thing as a .22 Long Rifle at greater distances. The thing is you have to put the bullet in the brain, any other head shot will just piss them off. Had a friend of mine shoot a hog in the face 3 time without putting a bullet in the brain. The pin it was in was not to large, but you can bet he was not slowing down and would not look at you. I shot him from behind and put the bullet behind his ear down into his brain and he skidded to a stop. As Rocky said, shooting from a stand and a rest, up nice and high, I would not be afraid to use a .223. Now if I were going to be down on the ground with them I would want a gun that would punch a big whole from end to end through the biggest hog out there. As I said, I`ve never hunt wild hogs, but I have seen what domastic hogs can do when they get mad.

["yote"]

The hogs that we hunt in TN are feral with a mix of russian boar
blood. approx 20-25 yrs ago, about 15-20 boar escaped from a
hunting farm about 45 mi east of the farm that we hunt on. All
that I know is that they are NOT easy tempered. Three of the
seven boars that we shot last year were between 425-440#
animals. Only one of seven was under 400#. (369#).

P.S. The sows are the ones that you REALLY have to worry about.
All of our hunts are in the spring when they have little piglets
in tow. Momma tends to get upset!!!

[8X56MS]

I hunt hogs in South Fl, North Fl, and in Georgia. I have had the best results with a Marlin 1894, and hand loaded Speer 270 GDSPs. Thirty Thirty works well, with the 170 grain Remington CoreLokt bullets. Recently, I have been converted, and will be using my Springfield M1A SOCOM with an EOTech holo red dot sight. Wow, talk about a Hog gun !
Note that all three of these are larger caliber guns than the .243 Win. There is a reason. While head shots, and such can work, its rare that you get an ideal shot. Most of the time, where I hunt, its dark, in thick cover, and your shot is usually a quick shot at a running animal. The smaller rifles just don't cut it for me.