I just noticed you can hunt wild boar in my state all year around. I have a .243. Would that work?
ByI am a very small, slightly built man. I don’t like recoil. I hunt deer with an ancient .243 Winchester Model 70 (Actually Labeled Sears Model 53.) My Dad bought it, and decided it “was too weak,” and later bought a .30-06. My bigger, stronger brother got the .30-06 when Dad died. I got the .243.
I have shot two deer with it, in Angeles National Forest. (I have a friend who is a Ranger, and he locates me the spot—I am myself not much of a natural hunter.)
But I have been looking at the Hunting Regulations. I notice here in California, you can hunt Wild Boar all year around. You simply need a pig tag. And unlike the Deer Tag system in California where you can only hunt in a certain country sized area, you can hunt wild boar anywhere you want. And there are lots of guides, for people like me with no natural hunting ability.
So my question is, would a .243 work on wild boar? I am recoil sensitive, and anything much larger would be sort of out of the question for me. Also, I already have a .243, and I don’t want to spend more money on another gun. I also inherited a .30-30, but that kicks like a mule,nearly knocks me down, and has no scope, so I can’t hit anything with it past about 40 yards (I am not that great a shot, particularly with open sights.)
8 Comments
March 8th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
sure
March 8th, 2010 at 5:40 pm
No it doesn’t have enough power to get threw the tough skin and thick bone i use a M1 Garand which is a 30-06 that i can get 2 quick shots off at 1 and maybe another shot at another boar.
Your 30-30 will work good if you can take the kick but if you absolutely have to use your .243 you will have to be very accurate with a brain or heart shot which will be very hard to get that small bullet into an area where there is no bone.
March 8th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
It will depend on the ammo you use and the size of the pig. A fully grown boar can top 200 pounds and the combination of skin, bone and muscle mass may be more than a 65 grain.243 bullet can penetrate and put down the beast. However, if you are after meat, you’ll be looking for a younger, more tender animal (say 100 pounds or so, possibly a yearling female), then a 100 grain bullet may be more than sufficient to do the job.
I shoot and .30-30 (marlin 336c). I found the addition of a ‘limbsaver’ slip on recoil pad significantly reduced felt recoil and greatly enhance accuracy out to 75-80 yards. I use to be able to handle 100 yards with the open sights of my marlin, but the ‘ole’ eyes are not what they use to be.
March 8th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
I used to hunt with 6 mm Remington, which is only a couple of hundred fps faster. I gave up on it for the occasional bullet failure, but it was pretty close to being satisfactory. If you’re careful in selecting your shots and use a premium 100 grain bullet that won’t fall apart too soon, you’ll be fine at least nine times out of ten. If you were going to be a bit more serious about it, I’d suggest one of the 6.5 or 7 mm non-magnum cartridges, but it sounds like it wouldn’t be worth it for you to buy a new rifle.
March 8th, 2010 at 6:51 pm
the .243 should be good for any hog you find in california, they don’t get huge like in the southeastern US, maybe 250lb is the normal high average, very rarely over 300lbs, the bullet to use is a solid lead type of bullet like a soft point, 100 grain is what your looking for.
about the 30-30, I’m not such a big man myself, but I’ve used bigger then the .30-30 winchester, you need to learn good form, since your saying it’s kicking so much, try pushing it into your shoulder, fairly tight, you’ll notice a huge different in recoil, if the gun has no space to gain momentum, the recoil isn’t much, this is the main reason people exaggerate the recoil of a gun.
my choice in your position would be a .308 winchester, the recoil is almost identical to the .243(the .308 is the parent case of the .243 winchester), just a little more, it’s farther shooting and has more power, allowing bigger game choices like elk.
March 8th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
Good if you get a clean headshot. try a 270, save some cash, remember pigs/hogs have thick skins. I’ve seen guys hunt hogs on public land with a 243 and 223 and seen them never recover there hog cause it ran off. 243 won’t cause enough damage for fast kill on a hog unless you get the perfect shot. Other than that if you got good tracking skills give it a go.
March 8th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
I do not believe that it would be ethical.
March 8th, 2010 at 7:31 pm
I’ve got friends that hunt feral hogs here in Texas with .243s all the time. Just make sure you get a good solid head shot or you might be tracking them for a while. The .30-30 carries a lot more punch, especially at shorter distances, but since the recoil bothers you, try getting a slip-on butt pad (recoil reducer like this:
You might also look for lower-weight bullets for the .30-30 because lighter bullets also produce lower recoil.Notice on this page there are 150 qnd 170 grain bullets. The 170 grain have more power but the 150 grain kick less.