Lots of good advice here, but plenty of bad too. As mentioned by several members, the .243 will kill anything you want with an appropriate bullet and good shot placement. For large hogs, someone already mentioned sticking with a premium bullet such as a Partition or TSX. That's what I would shoot through a .243 for hogs. Getting a rifle in 6.5x55 would be another great option for the original question here. Factory ammo is pretty tame so recoil isn't bad at all, and those 140 grain bullets will kill hogs like lightning. Also, the 6.5'sshould recoil slower. Recoil velocity is often perceived as much as or more than recoil energy.

Someone else mentioned muzzle blast/noise. That's a very important thing to consider. A longer barrel will decrease muzzle blast/noise a little bit, and also provide better ballistics. Some other things to consider with making a rifle more pleasant to shoot would include having a slightly heavier rifle, a better recoil pad, and a proper fitting stock.

My first hand experience to support my recommendations would include my Stevens 200 in .243, my Savage 110 in .338 mag, and my old Swedish 1896 in 6.5x55. The order I just listed them is also the order I percieve them in unpleasantness to shoot. The Mauser isthe mostpleasant gun to shoot because of its long barrel, decent weight, and mild ammunition. And the .338 honestly just feels like a big thump compared to the .243's abrupt crack. That's because it has a longer barrel than the .243, it's longer laminated stock fits me better, it weighs about a pound more, it shoots a slower bullet, and I put a Limbsaver recoil pad on it.