Antelope Rifle?

 I figure this belongs here instead of in the rifles section but it's a toss up so here goes. First off, I've never been antelope hunting but I've got tags for this year. Second, much of the ground I'll be hunting is walk in only. Thirdly, I'll be hunting the third weekend of the firearms season which, I presume, means the goats will be a bit stirred up. Where I need advice is in rifle choices.

I currently shoot an 8mm Mauser loaded with 195 gr. Hornady interlocks for whitetails. This gun shoots the 195s very well, shoots 180s reasonably well and absolutely sucks with 150s. It wears a 3-9X40 scope. It is fairly heavy with a 1960s style Bishop stock.

I also have at my disposal my son's 270 Rem. Auto. I've never reloaded for it as I'm a bit worried about how hot I can safely load and not damage the auto action springs, recoil buffers etc. All it's ever been fed are Rem. Core Locts. It wears a straight 4 power scope and is far from light.

One of the guys I'm hunting with uses an AR and thinks I should bring my .223 'mater stake. It's a straight Savage model 10 sporter. Wood stocked with a 6-24X50. I bought it for walking up varmits but have used it PD hunting with good success. I just give it a little extra time so as not to over heat it. It shoots very well and I have about 40 rounds of Nosler Partitions loaded up for it as I had planned to try for a doe with it last year but never got the opportunity.

Which one should I use if I take one of these three? Second question: Should I just go and buy a used .270 bolt that's calling my name at the local dealer?  RD

2d on the 223, I've seen too many lost to .22s.  It'll kill them, but you may lose them first.  I would consider .243 on up, fine for Antelope.  If I was you, I'd go with 270 or /06.  The 8mm would work, the trouble is, bullets that heavy have a hard time expanding well in antelope.   270 auto would be Ok, a bolt would be better, as you are used to your Mauser.

270 doesn't need to be loaded hot for antelopes, most times you can get within 200 to 400 yds anyway, even late in season, a 270 with 130s is good for 500yds+.   If you went with /06, I'd go 150s or 165bts.  Remember an antelope buck is 40 to 50lbs lighter than WT buck, close to WT doe in size.  Most people tend to overestimate range on lopes, they are smaller and closer than you think.  Remember the wind also, if you're not used to shooting in wind, you'll be amazed just how far it'll move bullet.  If you miss, most times you're shooting over them.  I would say with 270, sighted in for 200 yds, I would not hold out of the hair on first shot.  It is also considered bad form to be shooting at running antelope.  That will get you the most flak of anything.

I would also say, invest in a Harris bi-pod, most people will tell you it's worth the weight.  Also if you're driving bring a game cart, wheel barrow or like, if you're flying get one when you get there, when you are bringing antelope back miles, you will want it.  It's common to have a couple mile or more stalk on antelopes.

RC

I'm sure others can weigh in here also.

Edited by RobertMT

I think the 25/06 is the beat rifle for lope!

 BUT we have used 223 with a 55gr many times for them any of the mentioned ones will work very well. The thing YOU need to remember is YOU need to be able to shoot with confidence!!! Take the one you feel the best about. An antelope is just a bit bigger than a jack rabbit and go down easily IF it's shot good !!!! A walk in ONLY hunt for them will be a very difficult hunt they have 10X24 eye sight, and they live out in the open prairie and can cover 10 miles in 10 seconds flat. So carry the lightest rifle your confident with and try to get as close as you think you can. A lope at 500 yards looks like he is only 200 so try to have a range finder too. I have shot them out to 450+ but most are with in 200.Good luck and were did you get your tags??? MONTANA?????

I have used all three calibers and will give you my 2 cents worth.  The 223 will work fine with the correct bullet as long as the range is kept reasonably short and shot placement is right on, however, there is very little margin for error.  The 270 is just about perfect for a lope gun. It has plenty of power and shoots pretty flat.  The 8mm Mauser actually works pretty well. I have shot 170 Speers and they work pretty well as long as the range is kept reasonable.  I have found that once the 8mm 170 grain Speers get past about 300 yards they start to have expansion problems. Inside 300 yards the 8mm Mauser with 170 grain Speers is one of the deadliest loads I have seen.

If it was me I would take the 270 and if I wanted a little bit more of a challenge I would take the Mauser.

 

Rocky;

I've hunted the goats all my life.  Proper hunting methodology will ensure more meat than whatever caliber.  I've knocked 'em over with everything from the .257 Roberts to the .338 Winchester magnum.  However, I've never had to resort to the .30-06's bastard stepchild.  Longest kill I ever made on a goat was 470 lased yards with a .30-06 using a 150 grain bullet.  Shortest was  something around 60 yards, twice, both with a Roberts.

If you find an open basin with a knoll in the middle, set up about 100 yards from the knoll.  Mid-day, they'll go to the elevation & park for the heat of the day.  The scouts will be out, but if you're already there & still, it's not really a problem.  Work slow & smart, the result is usually bang-flop at reasonable range.

900F

d4570 wrote: I think the 25/06 is the beat rifle for lope!

If you use Barnes 110 grain T-TSX in .270 Win that would be like using a .25-06 Rem.  But I have to agree, I'm building a .25-06 for a pronghorn rifle.  I like my .270 but want to try something a little differnet for a change.

Rockydog: For anyone to blanket blasphame the 223 Remington as per its usage on Antelope is just plain erroneous to the MAX!

I have seen many dozens of heads of medium game harvested cleanly with the 223 Remington.

I have NEVER seen a head of medium size game lost when the 223 Remington was used on it.

I observed my dear friend Burt Schultz (now departed) of Cody, Wyoming kill an Antelope back in 1969 with his custom 223 Remington Rifle - back THEN, I was amazed and aghast! That was the first of like I say MANY dozens of heads medium size game I have seen taken with a 223 Remington.

My close friends from Twin Bridges, Montana use the "family" 223 Remington to harvest at least a dozen Whitetailed Deer, Mule Deer and Antelope EVERY year. Four members of this family of six use this Rifle for their game harvesting purposes! The other two are not old enough to Hunt as yet.

I have never heard of or seen one of this families game animals being "lost"!

DON'T sell the 223 Remington and a good 55 gr. bullet short for medium size game harvesting!

Indeed the youngest Huntress in this family killed a dandy Mt. Goat with ONE SHOT from this family 223 about 3 years back! That Goat is lifesized mounted on their den's wall! That same daughter killed a 31" Mule Deer Buck - again with ONE SHOT - this was done on a nifty ranch I found some years ago over in Powder River country!

I measured that FULLY mature Bucks antlers myself! 31" - ONE SHOT!

Indeed there are some attributes of the 223 Remington that NEED attention paid to them! Like good range estimation and range limitations and attention to wind and GOOD bullet placement. But once a 55 grain bullet enters the boiler room of a Mule Deer, Antelope or Whitetailed Deer from a 223 Remington that animal will be brought to bag! PERIOD!!!

Over the years I have used 22 centerfires on Antelope several times with great results. These also included 224 Weatherby, 22-250 Remington and the 220 Swift! I have also taken Antelope with the 243 Winchester, 6mm Remington, 240 Weatherby, 6mm Remington Ackley Improved, 257 Roberts, 25/06 Remington, 260 Remington, 270 Winchester, 7mm Remington Express, 7mm Remington Magnum, 280 Remington, 308 Winchester, 30/06 and a 300 Winchester Magnum! One hole in the boiler room with a rapidly expanding bullet and you will have your Antelope! That includes ONE bullet from a 223 Remington!

Having said that in the last decade I have used 4 Rifles to harvest Antelope each year, they were Rifles in 240 Weatherby, 25/06 Remington, 260 Remington and 270 Winchester. This fall I will be using my Remington 700 Sendero in 270 Winchester caliber "backed-up" with my Remington 700 VLS in 260 Remington caliber!

That 270 auto with a 3x9 scope should work very well indeed on Antelope! Bring the 223 as a back-up Rifle and to Hunt Varmints with.

Best of luck this fall.

Hold into the wind

VarmintGuy

 

VarmintGuy
In WY a .22 is not a legal cal for big game period. 

In MT it is legal to use a .223 and I've killed a few myself with 22/250 55gr and would assume .223 would do the same.  MT regs 2008 "General season; there are no rifle or handgun caliber limitation for the taking of big game", while you could legally hunt with a .17rf for big game, I wouldn't consider it very ethical.   I wouldn't be shooting over 200 yds or so with one though.  I do still consider .243 with 90gr+ bullets, as a min cal for big game.

Don't assume because it looks flat that you can't lose a wounded antelope, I've spent a lot of time finding  bang flop dead antelope and deer in knee high grass, you sometimes have to get within feet of them to see them, same as waist high sage brush.

This is where I've found most use for my rangefinder.  I mark where I shot from, say 425 yds and start making sweeps, ranging back to spot I shot from, if I don't find it right away.  If a second person is with me, I'll have them spot for me, from where I shot.  Sometimes the BFD are the hardest to find.

RC

I have shot Pronghorn with 243 Win, 270 Win, and 308 Norma Mag rifles. Any flat shooting round shooting a 90 Gr bullet to 165 grain bullet will do the job. I have used a 22-250 on deer but I like a little more gun when I am shooting in the wide open pronghorn country.

The rifle saga continues: I think I posted elsewhere that I bought the 270 Savage that the local shop had for $300. It's like new with the old style tupperware stock and the package gun scope. On my first trip out I shot her at 50 yds to check the zero and the first three shots after a fowler went into a dime. It was doing 3 at a hundred in about 1.25, at 200 they opened up to about 3". I brought her home and cleaned it real good, had a little copper in it and was filthy overall. I took it out of the stock and worked on the trigger a bit, (not an accu trigger model) and got it down to a reasonable pull. It seemed to shoot 4831 a bit better than 4350 so I loaded up a batch and returned to the range. Now it shoots about 2" at a hundred and although very uniform in height at 200, all within 0.5", it spreads then horizontally about 6" across the target, I think a couple of things are going on. The package scope is definitely trash. I can detect at least an inch of paralax at 200. And, the tupperware stock has so much flex that I can actually twist it to touch either side of the barrel. What a total POS stockwise. I'm wrestling with my options. Sell it, trade it, restock it and rescope it, stiffen the tupperware by bedding a couple of carbon arrows in it, etc. Don't know if I can get that all done by season now.

  As a side note, I've been working up a load for the old 8mm Mauser using some Rem. 185 Corelocts and 52.5 of H4350. Three at 100 in .85, three at 200 in 1.75, 5 at 200 in 1.90. Looks like I wasted the $300 and should just lug the old girl along. RD

Edited by Rockydog