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Autumnlovr
04-23-2005, 09:41 AM
My hubby is talking about taking a trip for antelope, and in his mind, that means a new gun. He wanted me to solicit opinions on what caliber you folks think he should get and why. He's thinking 243 for the flat trajectory. Can the 243 reach out and touch an antelope as well as some of the other calibers?
I guess this means I should start a "vacation" fund, huh?

enfield
04-23-2005, 10:47 AM
My relatively uninformed opinion is that .243 might be a bit light. I'd think more along the lines of a .270, 7mm or even larger.

The only time I've seen antelope, you could have shot them 6 at a time if you could get them to stand in line. They tend to herd up a bit.

mkls0
04-23-2005, 10:51 AM
I like 120mm all you need to do is picp up the meat and some may be cooked for you too... O and you can shoot 1 1/2 to 2 miles away :D

Tallbear
04-23-2005, 11:07 AM
.243 or .270 will work fine. And both work for varmit back home. Antalope are smaller than dear and won't take much to bring down.

appliancebrad
04-23-2005, 01:49 PM
I grew up in Arizona where this is quite a bit of antelope hunting. My first center fire rifle, given to me on my 13th birthday was a Remington Model 600 in 6mm. That is the same bullet as the .243. It is perfect for the long range shots needed on the light skinned antelope. The .270 wouldn't be a bad choice either. Get a good scope and have him practice his belly crawls.

BTW, my son received the model 600 on his 13th birthday. :D

RSF
04-23-2005, 06:18 PM
25/06 243 280 270 260 any of the new short ultra mags heck the 30/06 with a lighter rounds 110-150's any of these will work ! your muzzleloader will do it too! there was a guy at the show with his taken at 369 yds with his lauren! and i know a few others taked at the 300 mark

Mr. 16 gauge
04-26-2005, 02:22 PM
I took a nice mule deer and two antleope with a sporterized M96 mauser in 6.5x55 Swede last fall in MT. The guides in camp all carried .270 Winchesters to a man, and the owners son used a 6mm Remington bolt action to take a nice mulie buck.
I would think that a .243 with a heavier, well constructed bullet for that caliber would be more than adequate. Less recoil generally means better accuracy; one of the hunters in camp had a .300 RUM...the empty cases looked like empty soda bottles! After he missed about a half dozen shots at some nice bucks, he finally gut shot one and it wasn't found until the next day. The meat was ruined, but "that's o.k.; I'm just hunting for horns anyway." :roll:

Here are a couple of pics from my trip.

http://www.hunt101.com/img/259245-big.jpg

http://www.hunt101.com/img/259243.jpg

Autumnlovr
04-26-2005, 07:39 PM
Nice pics..nice muley! Well, Mike's been doing a little research himself & is leaning towards the 270. If anyone sees a nice 270 left-handed...let me know, ok?

RSF
04-26-2005, 08:35 PM
dont ask that lauren you know me

OldDoggy
04-26-2005, 09:00 PM
I have hunted Wyoming jumperlopes since the late 60's with a 25-06 . It is built on a Mauser action with a 26" barrel. Couldn't even buy ammo for it till recently when Remington came out with it as a factory load . I like to use .270 brass it is easier to neck down then trim to length . The 117 grain Hornady BTSP is a mighty fine pill loaded on top of 4831 Dupont powder. Before this load I shot various 100 grain bullets from Speer , Sierra , and Nosler. It is also one hell of a good ground hog-dog gun. Just Another Old Doggy , Don