Can u help me out?

[m57jager]

I have a 300 win mag that I usually use for pig, but I've had my eye on the new Ruger compact .243. ###Kind of small, but with a well placed nosler it should be just fine, right? ###Really could use some good advise on this one guys. ###Thanks

[Kernhuntr]

It will work, although the way I've been shooting lately a .416 Rigby couldn't kill one.
I have friends that use that cal. for hogs, and everything else they hunt short of elk or bear. Shot placement is vital.
Will it work, yes..would I personaly use it, no.
Kernhuntr

[songdog]

Yes, definitely. ###Use a good bullet like a Partition and keep the shots well placed and under about 200 yards and you'll be just fine. ###I've taken at least two with the identical configuration.

Your .300 is a better "pig gun" but like Kernhuntr says, you still have to hit them.

(Edited by songdog at 6:29 pm on Mar. 4, 2002)

[THBailey]

Sometimes I use my .243 Win for hogs. ###I shoot 100 gr Hornady btsp bullets. ###The two I have shot I have shot with it, a 150 lb sow and a 200 lb boar, both dropped pretty quickly when shot broadside at and just behind the shoulder.

[kellyg]

With good placement you should do fine with the .243. I have never used anything but a 30" carbon Epsilon tipped with a 125gr. Thunderhead. The wife and I are going after javelina and hog this weekend, she with the 06 and myself with the bow but I might try out the rifle if there are some 'mounters' out. We have never been to this place so I am not sure what to expect. Either way, shot placement is the most important part of the puzzle regardless of what you are using. Good luck!

[yotegetter]

Songdog is right on with this one. I just bought a Ruger .243, not the compact though. I mounted a springfield armory on it. Ruger gave me the wrong rings for it, but I called them and they sent the right ones out in 4 days.

[Chapped Lips]

A 243 is a good cartridge to use with pigs along with a good bullet it should work fine, I would personally like to use a bigger bullet in the 30 caliber range, that allows heavier bullets for more energy or knock down in case I hit in the shoulder.

[EVAN III]

### ### Chapped lips,
Welcome to Jesse's, Better watch out though this place is addicting. Anyway glad to have you. Best bunch of guys on the web.
### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ###EVAN III

[Speckmisser]

M57,

I've been reading along, but now I'm gonna kind of disagree with these guys, but only on a technicality. ###The .243 is certainly capable of killing a pig, especially with good placement and good ammo. ###

BUT... ###

You said you had a heavier weapon, a .300 or something right? ###In the words of the African pro hunters, Use Enough Gun. ###That doesn't mean barely enough gun, which really defines the .243, but enough gun to kill with a marginal hit. ###

I'm the last person to knock the .243. ###I love mine, and I know that with well placed shots it will kill anything in the lower 48...maybe excepting Grizzlies and big black bears. ###For that matter, a .22 will kill most of the continent's large game, if the shot is placed properly...but I digress.

I won't preach what YOUR responsibility is as an ethical hunter, but at the same time, I consider it to be any hunter's responsibility to make sure they get a good kill and don't leave wounded game in the woods (recall the list reaction to our boy who wanted to wound a pig so he could kill it with his knife). ###I'm not saying that shooting with the .243 is in the same league as that yahoo, but it's really only a matter of degree. ###

If a .243 was all you had, I'd be the last one to say you couldn't go hunt pigs with it. ###But if you already have a more adequate rifle, I'd strongly recommend against moving down the ladder to something that is just sufficient. ###

I'm thinking this response over carefully, because I can imagine the initial reaction it'll cause. ###I can almost hear the retorts now. ###But I'm not advocating overkill... ###I just think it's a better call to use a gun that will definitely do the job rather than one that will do the job with a bunch of qualifiers (well-placed shot, premium ammunition, moderate range, etc.). ###We just don't often find all the factors just right in the field, and it'll be your own loss when conditions conspire against you. ###

Pigs can be hard to kill. ###When wounded, they are usually very hard to track. ###Even when hit with a larger caliber, they don't always leave a lot of blood trail, due the the heavy layers of fat between the skin and the muscle. ###

Finally, if you do decide to go with the .243, practice a lot, and make danged sure you CAN perform when the time comes to place that bullet. ###

[shaginator]

Hi m57jager,

Personally, I don't have the confidence to put a well-placed .243 on even a 120lb. hog at 150 yards. 100 yards would be my upper limit. I think I'd have to cut that distance to much less than half if I hafta deal with stalking in brush, just because the bullet is pretty light.

I use a .44 Mag carbine with 300gr JSPs @ 1300fps from the muzzle. My upper limit of confidence for an ethical kill is 75 yards for a 120lb. hog with the sweet spot at around 50 yds. I think I'll need a LOT more range time to get that out to 100 yds.

(My assumption being that I won't have a bench and sandbags with me out on the field. :crazeye

If I'm dealing with bigger hogs at a greater distance, a scoped .308 or a .300 Win Mag like the one you already have is a no-brainer. Have you considered a Ruger compact in that .30x-class or even a more accurate and durable Browning Micro A-Bolt in that caliber?


(Edited by shaginator at 10:04 pm on Mar. 5, 2002)

[songdog]

Just a point of clarification as I go back and re-read...

If all you have is a .243 and you know how to shoot it and have some good 100gr Partition type loads for it, I'd say go hunting and bring home the bacon. ###

If you have a .260, .270, 7mm, 06, etc. I'd grab that first as they're just plain better pig guns.

There are a couple of areas that I hunt for coyotes that have (supposedly, never seen them myself) pigs as well. ###Rather than grab the .223 or .22-250 I'll grab the .243 and throw a few extra 100gr Partition loads in my pocket "just in case". ###

I wouldn't choose that as my primary pig rifle but if I were on public land and had a chance to take an incidental pig with my .243 I wouldn't hesitate for a moment.

Clear as mud? :wink-yellow:

[Rimrock]

Gotta agree with Speckmisser and Songdog's last post. There is a difference between pigs and HOGS. I have shot a few pigs with a .243 and 6MM and they worked fine. I have used an .06 on a couple of hogs and was glad that I had it.

Remember, you have a responsibility to retrieve any shot game. if you wound one and have to go in the brush after it that 300 Win. would be mighty comforting.

Play fair.

[Hntrjohn]

I hunt wit 165 grain 7mm mag. But a well placed shot with a GOOD 243 bullet is better than a bad placed 300 and above anything mag.

john

[Chapped Lips]

Hey Evans III thanks for the welcome, this looks like a fun board and very informative. thanks again, Kim

[kellyg]

Rimrock is right, I shot a pig that was just right for BBQ in South Texas last year and that country is solid thorns. I was on my hands and knees for about 40 yards before I found the pig and was thinking as I was crawling along, "Now what am I gonna do if I come up on a pi$$ed off hog in here?" A knife, which I did have, is the only thing you would have a chance to use that close especially since the ranch didn't allow firearms(.45 usually goes along). I decided not to go back to that ranch....

[nextrodeo]

Killed a lot of hogs with a 243, it doesnt really matter what cal. you use when you shoot them in the eye at 50 yds. When a client wounded one and it went into the brush, you can believe me,I didnt crawl in there with the 243. Nothing runs through the muzzle blast of a 44. magnum with 245 gr. hollow points, even if you miss they arent going to get you, kinda like rolling grenades at them.

[m57jager]

Thanks for all the good info. ###Gave me some things to think about that I hadn't thought of. ###I think I'll go ahead and get the 243, but only use it for KA deer and other critters. ###I've said it before and I'll say it again. ###It's nice to have an info forum with so many ethical hunters and not a bunch of yahoos. ###Thanks