Well this subject usually sparks some debate. Many people use different rifles for pigs and they all have their own opinion as to why their choice is the best, here's a few of my thoughts.
Ideally a pig rifle needs to be robust as they get knocked around a bit, and because pig shooting is usually done at close to medium range there isn't much use having any fancy sites. Though night shooters may prefer a scope. About the most commonly used pig rifles I've seen are the old 308's. Ex-military bolt action jobs with fully wooded stocks. They're as tough as nails and you can pick up ammo just about anywhere. Also ex-military ammo can be bought cheaply in bulk, although it's not really designed with the old pig in mind. Other types of firearms used include 12 gauge shotguns (with solids); real close range stuff, 44-40, 30 caliber M1 carbines, ex-military 303's. Generally any rifle with a big bore, the fancy high powered small bore rifles such as 243 and 22-250 really aren't much chop - in my opinion, and the bigger 30-06 or 300 magnum are more suited to bigger game like buffalo and a bit of an over-kill with pigs.
I use the Winchester 30-30 model 94 lever action carbine; 30 caliber with 30 grains of powder. With a 170 grain round it pulls 2160 feet per second muzzle velocity, which is effective on medium sized game (pigs) at medium range. That's 1860 feet per second at 100 metres and 1580 at 200 metres. I have my critics but there are a lot of reasons why I stand up and defend the old 30-30 as good pig rifle. It's not a rifle for beginners, and those that say they can't hit anything with one just don't know how to use model 94 properly.
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The Winchester model 94 was first manufactured in 1895 as the "30 WCF" (Winchester Centre Fire), and over 5 million have since been manufactured. The rifle itself is lightweight, robust, with fine handling. The 30-30 round is well balanced and provides sufficient velocity for expansion and penetration without bullet "bustup" or seperation of core and jacket, as I have seen on many occasions with soft point bullets in ex-military rifles. This is particularly important on pigs if you want to sell the meat. The particular round is recognised as an outstanding performer and has also been chambered in other rifles by different manufacturers, in Europe it's known as a 7.62x51R (7.62mm caliber x 51mm case length).
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