Best antelope caliber

P

prarierocket

Guest
I'm just curious what the antelope addicts prefer to shoot. I've always loved my 270 winchester, in 130gr for the fast,flat shooting and knockdown capability on pronghorn. THis year I'm switching to the old .264 win mag with 100gr nosler partitions. I'm hoping to have a combinatio0n that is faster and flatter on the longer shots if needed. What do you guys like best?
 
I shoot a 7mm rem mag. for all my hunting. Deadly on prairie goats; flat shooting, fast, plenty of power (obviously). I use 150 gr. ballistic tips for goats for better expansion. Sure it's overkill but I use it for all my big game hunting.
 
.25-06

period, paragraph.


Of those two, go with your .270.

And It aint cause I don't like the .264,
cause I do.

You'd be well served with either.

fyi
lrv
 
Not saying it is the best but I have shot a .240 Wthby at sheep, deer, and antelope. Great success. A 100 grain bullet is dropping only 8 inches at 400 yards. Hold right on at 300 yards. The same energy as a .270 Win with a 130 grain bullet. Good Luck
 
Only took one antelope but it was with a .338 with 200 grain Ballistic-Tips, 78 grains Reloder 22. About 3,150 fps. Some might think its overkill but that gun kills.
 
I have seen antelope killed with everything from a 300 Win Mag to a 220 Swift. My experience is that Antelope are not hard to knock down and either of your guns would be great! Certainly your 264 will shoot a little faster and flatter and any well constructed 100 grain bullet will kill a "goat" if it is placed in the right place. Personally I have used a 257 Roberts, 270, 7mm Rem Mag, and 308 on my 15 or so antelope. I like the flat shooting calibers the best because it's real common to only be presented shots at extended distances. The caution for the 264 100 gr. bullet might be wind drift. The prairy wind can sometimes be brutal, and with the lighter bullets wind drift would be a bigger problem. Good luck
 
I like my .257 Roberts. I loaded up some 100 gr. barnes triple shocks that I clocked at 3125 FPS and also groups very good. I have seen the .338 win mag used as well and It works very well. Lots of calibers to chose from, most any out there will work. I think you would be fine with either caliber your looking at using.
ismith

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when i draw a antelope tag, i will be carrying a gun that starts with 270. it will either end with "winnie" or "wsm" either way it will be shooting 140 accubonds into tiny holes.
Casey
 
I second the 25-06, I have one just for antelope. Flat, quick and accurate. 115 grain nosler partition, killed 5 bucks with that round and does them in every time.

Rich
 
Another vote for the 270.

Although someday I hope to own the 257 Weatherby Mag.
 
Kilo,

I knew a man of your wisdom would have to
shoot a .280. What is your rifle, if you don't
mind me asking. I'm a big .280 fan.

Larry
 
Bought my Browning SS Stalker w/ Composite Stock in .280 Rem back in 1992. Put Leopold Matte scope rings and a Leopold 2x7 Matte finish scope on it. Even went as far as ordering a leather tooled sling (Basket weave) and had it stained Black too.

The prior year I had my Custom made 7x57mm with me in Wyo and really scared the finish as it was bubbing against the metal frame of a "buck bike" on the way out of the hills in Greys River area. Made me so mad I retired it after 20 years of using it.

This Composite stock I could care less what happens to it.

Brian
 
I'll give another vote for the .264. I like it with 120 grain noslers, and in my gun they shoot very accurately. I've shot more pronghorns with 140s in this rifle, but like the 120s quite a bit better. That is one of my favorite rifles.
 
I have taken over 25 antelope and every one was with my 25-06 loaded with 120 gr. Sierra or Nosler Partitions. Only one of those animals required a second shot when I hit farther back then I wanted on a running animal.
Antelope are not hard to drop and mags are overkill, so use the caliber you shoot best with.

RELH
 
LAST EDITED ON May-04-07 AT 12:29PM (MST)[p]Use what you shoot best...For me this fall I will be using a Kimber M84 in 7mm-08 with handloaded 120 Noslers. Just have to finish fine tuning the load.

Deadly and flat with little recoil out to 300 yards. 99.9% of us can't (shouldn't) shoot farther than that.
 
I can't disagree with you, RELH. Nobody needs a magnum anything to hunt pronghorns, deer or a lot of other smaller game animals. The .25-06 is an outstanding pronghorn caliber.

I just shoot the .264 because it was my father's rifle, and when I re-stocked it, it shot very well and has very little recoil. It's an old Pre-64 model 70 Westerner with a 26" barrel, which Winchester used to coat with iron so they could blue the stainless barrels. Nowadays, nobody would ever think of treating a stainless barrel to make it look like anything other than what it is, but back then Winchester perceived it to be a sales problem for a barrel to look like it was stainless. How times change.

RELH, if you think about it some, the two calibers are very similar in many aspects.
 
My 25/06 is the optimum caliber for speedgoats. It is fun to shoot and so accurate you can call your shots. The result is antelope drop on the spot with one 100 grain Barnes X TSX.

My 257 Roberts is almost as good...the 25 calibers are the way to go for deer and antelope!


TM
 
I've taken a couple with my 6mm Remington. Seemed to work fine. I've also taken a couple with my .300 Win. Mag. If I get drawn this year I think I'll wipe the dust off the 6mm.

Eel
 
I really like my 6mm-06 imp. before that it was a 264 win mag, i haven't used the 264 in years, i think i will have to this year, it is a round that should be much more popular IMO.
 
What ever you shoot the best. In Wyoming, nothing smaller than a .23 is legal. Alot of people talk long range shooting. If your into that its okay, but I've never seen the necessity. Goats are not hard to stalk and that is half the fun of the hunt.
 
264 is a great caliber.

Careful you don't burn out that classic rifle. Sounds like a keeper.

I like 6.5x284. Use the heavier bullets and the wind won't push them around as much.
 

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