Hogs And The .243 Winchester

The interest and popularity surrounding hog hunting has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years. Practically every hunting-related Internet website has a section devoted to hog hunting. The shift, although gradual, is nevertheless noticeable and steady to a more organized, sought-after game-type animal. A recent study revealed that in western states such as California, the wild hog has surpassed the whitetail deer in popularity as a game animal.

This is not really surprising. Hogs can be hunted year round, at least in Texas, and fairly economically. A big-toothed boar hog is an awesome trophy. He’s hunted by firearm, archery equipment, with dogs, and even knives and spears. Probably the most common means of hunting hogs would be with a firearm, specifically a rifle. Everywhere hog hunting is discussed, whether around a campfire or over an internet board, the question always arises as to a suitable firearm and caliber combination.

Hog hunting, even with firearms, takes place in a couple of different ways. As for myself, I hunt hogs both for sport and for control purposes where they are making nuisances of themselves on area ranches and hunting clubs. A rifle that I may choose for one pursuit may not necessarily be up to the task for the other. In the arena of sport hunting, most hog hunts take place from a stand of some type over some sort of bait, usually a feeder. To narrow that down a little more, a lot of hog hunts occur as an added bonus to another hunt. For example, if a fella is sitting in his stand during deer season and a big hog walks up, well then that fella might be hog hunting all of a sudden. Although as mentioned earlier, this seems to be changing. Most hogs are shot in this manner. As a result, the rifle of choice would be the one at hand.

With that in mind, the .243 Winchester is a widely used and highly popular round and is found in many deer stands (and thus hog stands) across the state. This popularity is fairly well deserved, as the .243 has many merits that heighten its appeal. It’s available in a wide variety of action types, recoils little, and is easily handled by youngsters and other recoil-conscious hunters. As an added bonus, the .243 is probably, in my humble opinion, the finest coyote caliber ever designed. The fact that it is capable of handling deer-sized animals, should the situation arise, causes a .243 of some description to be often found in my truck.

Now most riflemen would be familiar with Robert Ruark’s famous dictum “Use Enough Gun”. This is sound advice. The problem might arise when one tries to define the concept of “enough”. There are web pages, for example, where the users are firmly convinced that nothing short of a .375 H&H Magnum is sufficient for hogs. Keeping in mind that I firmly support the idea of a person using whatever he or she desires or has at their disposal, there remain practical limits. If a person has the choice, he or she should certainly use a caliber that has sufficient power for the task being asked of it.

I would offer, for the purposes of this writing, that the .243 Winchester is the smallest combination that falls into that category when being considered for serious hog hunting and only then under certain controlled situations from a stand with a solid rest. I’m fully aware that comment will incur the wrath of those who regularly shoot hogs with varmint rounds, like a .223, and the likes. Before you get started, I realize all that and have shot many with a .223 myself; some really big ones. Certainly those rounds will work under ideal situations, but many times, at least for me, the situations I find myself in are less than ideal. In those instances where those rounds were used, hogs were not the intended target. Using a caliber and more specifically bullets designed for varmints is, in short, asking for a train wreck.

Just recently I participated in the aftermath of one boar hog that single-handedly killed five dogs, three of which were pit bulls with cut vests on. I was thankful to have a .45-70 handy. Remember, we are talking about a combination that has sufficient power. That is not the same concept as barely adequate power, or even excessive power. In short, when hogs are known to be a possibility on the menu, let’s use the .243 platform as the minimum starting point. There are three primary areas, I believe, that need to be addressed when using the .243 as a hog gun.

The merits of the .243 Winchester round are well-known and have already been touched on. So next we’ll move on to what makes a .243 an adequate hog round. The point where we’ll eventually wind up is with the bullet. This area is what makes a .243 shine under certain circumstances but casts a little tarnish in others. There are some wonderful premium bullets available for the .243 – most available in factory rounds – that really turn this round into a different racehorse. For the purposes of this discussion, we are going to exclude the bargain basement “typical” factory ammunition available most anywhere. These are fine for sighting in and practice and some limited hunting applications, but I have had some dismal failures with these rounds on deer, much less something as potentially troublesome as a big hog. Forget all the hype you may hear to the contrary. A .243 as a hog round needs a well-constructed, premium bullet designed for big game.

When I use a .243 for hogs, I regularly use the following: Hornady Light Magnum ammo in either their 100-grain boattail spire point or 95-grain SST configurations, the 95-grain Federal Fusion bullet, and a 95-grain Swift Scirocco factory loaded by Remington, although not necessarily in that order. I checked this week and, save for the Hornady stuff, all of these premium bullets were available in a couple of high-end sporting goods stores. The Hornady ammo was available either online or in a hunting-specific “gun” store in Houston. They are all available in factory ammo. While I love to reload, and always will, with ammo like this available off the shelf, reloading makes little sense and shows little improvement in most cases. None of these selections are cheap, but bullets are the cheapest component of any hunt. If I were going to scrimp on any area of any hunt, it certainly wouldn’t be with ammunition.

First, the lineup from Hornady. Published ballistics tables for these rounds show them to have a muzzle velocity of 3,100 fps. That almost duplicates the much-hyped .243 WSSM. If you look at the velocity tables in most reloading manuals, 3,100 fps is not all that far behind the famed .240 Weatherby Magnum, especially when you factor in that most Magnum rounds have to utilize long barrels to achieve their potential. I realize that the published velocity for the Weatherby rounds are a lot higher, but I’ve found these to be a little “hopeful” in nature. Certainly the reloading manuals that I own do not show these published velocities possible. The .243 WSSM (which I have no experience with) and the .240 Weatherby (which I do) are both reported to kill like lightening strikes in hunting situations. Using this ammo from Hornady, which produces similar practical ballistics, kills exactly in the same way – just like lightening – provided that the other two conditions we’ll touch on in a minute are met as well.

Next in line would be the 95-grain Swift Scirocco bullet as loaded in a factory round offered by Remington. I have the most experience, to date, with this bullet in a .243. As of this writing and counting the 2005 -2006 hunting season, I have two big whitetail bucks and numerous large hogs to my credit with this bullet out of a .243 Winchester. In addition, my wife killed an 8-point buck with the same combination. These shots ranged from about 75 yards to close to 200 and all with one exception were hit in the heart/lung/shoulder area. The exception was my wife’s buck, and she hit him far enough back that with a "regular" bullet from a .243, this hit would have resulted in a long tracking job and a questionable recovery. Even with this exception, all of the animals shot shared one common trait – they all dropped in their tracks. The damage and wound channel was, without getting too graphic, best termed as extensive. For quite some time, this was the only bullet I shot out of a .243 at anything.

Then I got a box of Federal Fusion ammo in .243 for Christmas. I’d read about these bullets with interest and even saw a special on a television outdoor channel about them. I was anxious to try some. A week ago as of this writing, I shot my personal best hog with a 95-grain Fusion out of a Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in .243. The sound the bullet made when it hit could best be described as hitting a soaking wet carpet draped over a clothesline with a 2X4. The hog literally dropped where he stood and never moved, not one twitch. It was almost as if he just lay down. When I opened him up, it looked like a grenade had gone off inside. He weighed over 280 pounds and had almost 4" of exposed tusk. He was a dandy. His head now resides at the taxidermist.

So I hope the point has been made that if a .243 is used, either by design or by coincidence, use a premium bullet. There may be others available. Certainly Nosler makes some fine bullets, as do all of the major bullet manufacturers. However, these are the ones I have personal experience with and are typically available in factory ammunition. As a side note, let me state that in my experience at practical hunting ranges, these bullets do not exit a large hog when hit in the front shoulder area. They remain in the body, expending all their energy and not plowing through and careening off across the county. This is a huge plus in situations where the rifle is used on control work and livestock may be nearby. Many of my hunts are just for this purpose, and a .243 serves me well in these situations.

Next, when using a .243 as a hog gun, something needs to be said about hunting conditions. A .243 is just about perfect for hunting from a blind or a stand of some type. Under these conditions, a good solid rest can be utilized and the time taken to make a precise, well-aimed shot. This is important when using a .243. Good as it is, I wouldn’t use a .243 when tracking or stalking, or when hunting wounded or otherwise troublesome hogs. However, from a stand, even if a 300-pounder walks out, you can take your time and get off a good shot. Use a rest, take your time, and put that bullet where it belongs, and you’ve got a hog.

Which brings us to the third point, and that is shot placement. We all have heard that preached, but never is it more important than when using a smaller cartridge. A hog’s vitals are more forward than are a deer’s, and time needs to be taken to view one of the good charts that show this. The short of it is that when using a .243, there is less margin for error. Personally when shooting at a hog, and if he’s close to broadside, I lay the vertical crosshair just forward of the front leg, about mid-neck area. I cannot overstress this when using a smaller caliber. The shot must be precisely in the area where it will do the absolute most damage the fastest. Fortunately, the light recoil of a .243 lends itself to this. Shoot him too far back with a .243, and that is a recipe for trouble. Big hogs can go a long way even with big bullets, and they don’t bleed much. Small bullets tend to irritate them. What you might be able to get away with when using a .45-70 or even a .270 Winchester, you won’t with a .243. So is a .243 Winchester a viable hog gun? Indeed it is, if you use a premium bullet, control your shots, and place that bullet in the correct spot.

As an added bonus, there are many wonderful varmint-type bullets available for a .243 as well. In my experience, most shoot close to the same point of aim as do the game bullets mentioned, at least at normal hunting distances. If you are in the woods armed with a .243 and a coyote howls or a bobcat prowls by, a quick bullet change puts you in a different game.

With the increase in hog hunting popularity, the .243 just increases its status and versatility by a notch or two. Not all may agree, but I believe that a .243 Winchester makes a fine minimum hog cartridge, as long as these conditions are met.