Antelope and the .270 Win.

[h20hunter]

So....just looking for some input.....

A few in the family are talking about hunting lopes in 2014. As much as I'd love to get a new rifle with a caliber that begins with 2 it simply will not be in the budget. I have a .270 and see that there are a few options for bullets in the 110 gr range. Does anyone have any experience handloading the ligher offerings for this caliber?

[Mike450r]

To answer your question no,  I don't have experience loading that light for the .270 but to offer an opinion I wouldn't go that light if it was me.  Stick with a good 130 grain bullet and you will get all the velocity you need and better performance at distance than a lighter bullet.

The .270 is a very good Antelope caliber.

[BULLBLASTER]

I would just shoot what you already shoot with that gun. Will.work great!

[arrowflinger]

  x2

[JLS]

To follow up on what's already been said:

Antelope are fairly small critters with light bone structure.  You don't have a lot of meat to start with.  The last thing you want is a light bullet that is going to fragment and ruin more meat.

Any decent hunter can get with 300 yards of an antelope, and you'll likely have breezy conditions during your hunt.  Go with the 130 grain bullet.  The 270 is an outstanding antelope gun.

Have fun, they are a blast to hunt.

[h20hunter]

Thanks for the input.....very good points on the frag aspect of some of the lighter bullets...thanks.

[headshot5]

Yeah H20, 130's should serve you well.  Definitely flat enough shooting to get you way out there in the 270.     Anything smaller, and they start dropping off fast (low BC), and energy levels drop off quick too.  Plus you get a lot of bloodshot meat.  Pick yourself a decent 130gr bullet, and you can use it for deer too.     

Don't overlook 140's either. 

[h20hunter]

Excellent....lets open up the converstation to this. So if I'm loading for antelope what bullets do you suggest. I've had good accuracy and down range "on game" performance with Barnes, Honday Interlock, and the Combined Technologies rounds.

[jackmaster]

dont know what everyone elses thoughts are but jack o'connor killed everything known to man with a .270 my pops has been using a .270 since he was 17. i think you can get a 100 grain bullet for them, even a 150 would be fine for a speed goat and the .270 is a flat shootn gun. i aint no ballistic expert but i am sure you can git-r-done with the .270  good luck to ya

[GUscottie]

I would encourage you to use what ever works best in your gun. Having shot 4 antelope with my 270, I suggest accuracy over anything. I predominately use Nosler Accubond and Ballistic Tip Hunting bullets (130 grain). The average of shots taken by myself and friends last year on antelope was about 175 yards... Think of them as small white tailed or black tailed deer. Whatever your choice, good luck.

[headshot5]

All of those will work for antelope.  The question is do you want to use those same bullets for bigger game as well.  If you might hunt bigger deer, bear, or elk I would go with premium bullets (barnes TTSX, Nosler Partitions or Accubonds), and would probably pick 140's.  If this is antelope only whatever shoots best in your gun will work fine.  Don't overlook Sierra game-kings/prohunter bullets either they tend to shoot pretty well in Ruger's.     

[h20hunter]

Thanks....so far I've used the gun on whitetail and two bears. With 130's I've got a ton of selection of bullets that will get it done on deer, bear, and lopes.

[BOWHUNTER45]

Now I may go to the 130 gr SST 

[JLS]

My personal opinion would be a 130 grain Barnes TTSX.  One load for all.

Edit:  My antelope load is a Barnes 85 grain TSX in my .243 Winchester.

[bearpaw]

Antelope go down pretty easy, but they are a small target. More important to possess good shooting skills than a new rifle! Hit em good with any centerfire and you are golden.