tap1912, I'm not by any means an expert on wild hogs, but having worked in my father-in-law's custom meat business many years ago, there is a thing on some hogs called a shield. It is plenty thick and tough on some of the ones that were brought to the butcher pen. Some had been killed in the woods and some were caught and brought to the shop and processed like a domestic hog, most had some degree of shield over the shoulder/neck area. Some were several inches thick and just might keep a .243 bullet from being lethal. I deer hunt with a .243 and have not experienced problems with its' ability to put a deer down. Some of the hog hunters will probably fill us in with some better information, but if you do a web search on "wild hog shield" you will see some interesting things. Treefarmer
.243 or .223 with hogs i'd go for head shots instead of conventional vital's at those 2-300 yard distances.
has the original poster of this thread purchased anything yet??
I d' look at the bullet type used. also deer have a much softer coat that is not as often covered in mud and sand and sun baked hard. under that you have thick coarse hair and thick bones and a shield. plus it's possible to deflect any bullet. try a better bullet before changing guns imo. if you like and shoot the 243 well, use it. that being said, I do believe you would have a little more wiggle room with a rushed or less than idealy placed shot with a 308 or 30-06 if you can handle the recoil and shoot it as well.
For all of you 243 naysayers, I just killed 1 about 250 pounds. Stumbled maybe 20 yards will take pics of the carnage. Bigger than any of the other hogs I have killed so far this year
