Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Looking to build a new long range antelope rifle

wy260

I have a 22-243 Middlestead I'm going to try on Wy goats next year

Lazzaroni 6.53 (.257) Scram Jet or 6.71 (.264) Blackbird. Don't know whether he is still chambering the Blackbird.

What about a 6.5/280AI?

6.5-300 Wea..

26 Nosler but I could live with a 6.5-300 Weatherby. I just like burning powder.

I agree neither is needed but both would be fun to work with. A loony has no reason to need one wanting is enough.

I believe the best calipers for goats would be a 220 swift 1/8twist with 80gr amax or a 240Wby 1/8 twist with 105gr amax.

Factory 243 in a Remington 700
SWFA 10x
Hornady 105 BTHP
Reloader 17

A good laser rangefinder.

Better than the silliness talked about so far, on open country antelope on the plains of Colorado.

Nothing left to say.

What would a goat need with a caliper?

I'm leaning ttowards the 26 Nosler because of no belted case.I just picked up a magazine that has 6.5-300 Wby loads, maybe that will change mind. I'm curious if the published Wby velocities where done with the typical Wby free bore. May all be moot because I want a hunting weight rifle with a 24" barrel. My 6-284 is a full up varmint weight build and is getting too heavy to carry for long hikes.

What about a 6.5x47 Lapua? 143 ELD-X at 2950 fps would do the trick and stupid accurate too. 24" barrel is perfect.

Brass is kind of limited for the Lapua. If going in that direction might stick to 260 Rem or 6.5 Creedmore

Lapua makes the brass. Not hard to find.

What you choose, is highly dependent upon whether or not you are a turret twister. With a QUALITY turret system, the "caliper" (caliber) that you use is less relevant. I would vote for a moderate 6.5. The barrel will thank you and your reloading costs will, too.


Antelope are not hard to kill, but they live in some windy country and the 6.5s do real well in that respect.

If you don't spin turrets, then the hyper magnum may ring your bell, as the point-and-shoot distance is a bit more.

True.

With turrets, trajectory is ballistics (physics).

Wind... now, that's more of a crap shoot.

Some are better than other reading wind, but the faster the bullet gets there, the less room for error.

That one variable does favor the hyper vel .264's, like the 26 Nosler, even with turrets.

DF

Very true! That's why even though I have a couple of super accurate, moderate velocity rifles in 257 Roberts, 6.5Creedmoor, and 6.5x55SE, I also have a 264 Win Mag. And that tack driving Browning AB2 with 120gr Nosler BTs at over 3,300 fps worked very well on my two antelope this fall due to the wind factor. Because even though I knew the range to the first one was just over 300 yards, I had to deal with the quartering 15-20+ mph winds. And that extra 200-300 fps of velocity sure reduces the wind drift error!

No, antelope can be good eating and unless you're one of those jackasses that intentionally tries long range target shooting on live animals, the reality is you can often stalk to under 300 yards.
And at shortish range with the overbores (long barreled .264 Win mag in my case, 100 grain NBTs pictured) you end up with a mess. I like things like 260s, 250s, 243s, 6.5x55, .308 etc for antelope a little more now.
Popped the head off of a little doe once

Some other gratuitous wound channels from using too much gun



This one below is actually a 140 partition still at short range and driven too fast

I messed up a Pronghorn cape at 385 yds with a 140 gr. SST out of my 6.5-284. I've gotten away from SST's, finding them inconsistent.

With the 26 Nosler, I'm currently into monometals, pushing 120 gr. TTSX/E-Tips at 3,450 fps. The speed still messes up tissue, just not explosive.

DF

6.5 Creedmoor with 120's, 130's or 143's would be my choice. A 257 Weatherby if you need a magnum, mine shoots 110 Nosler Accubonds pretty good.

My .240 Wby does very well with 100 gr. NPT's over MRP.

That's a good speed goat combo, has worked well for me.

It doesn't take a big slug to kill a Pronghorn, just gotta hit'em.

DF

Measured the pressure? Hmm

Back to 'Calipers' to put the brakes on a Speed Goat.
My longest whitetail was LRF 400yds using a 6BR - 105 Amax @2850
Double lunged. Golf ball exit. 20-25 yds before the belly flop.

The 700 above will do or my T3 assuming ranges are like Brads.

Now about those Chevy's - my ole '64 Biscayne had a short action 283 that did far more work than its size. Hint.

The post on meat damage speaks for itself.