The ultimate mule deer and antelope rifle?

[Guy Miner]

Fun question - and I think we all know there is no single answer. Many, many different ways to take mule deer & pronghorn at longish ranges. I tend to think that the typical "western" hunting rifle grew out of such hunting, deer & antelope at 300 - 400 yards... Hence the popularity of scoped, bolt action rifles, in good cartridges such as the .270 Win, etc...

For me, it's been just mule deer, no pronghorn hunts yet. I've had a good string of luck the past few years with my .25-06 Rem 700 CDL, topped with a simple 6x Leupold. Flat shooting. Accurate. Very lethal. Very light recoil. It's worked in Wyoming and Washington, very well.

My .300 WSM Model 70 is heavier, more accurate, more powerful, and likely a better choice as the ranges stretch out - but it hasn't produced for me - yet.

Nothing wrong with a good old .30-06 or .270, or one of the 7's or a .30 cal magnum for the chore either. Or, if you go by "Pop" you just might think a .416 is the ideal rifle! :grin:

 

[Songdog]

I hate to admit it Songdog, but you are probably right. The best coyote, deer, and antelope rifle ever to come down the pipe was probably the 25-06 with the 6.5-06 right there with it .

Ahhhh... music to my ears... now, can you please teach my wife to reply in such a fasion?

You do have to admit though Songdog that by using a good, make that fantastic bullet, the 90 gr. E-tip in my son's 6mm Remington, with good shot placement, that cow elk of his he got this year didn't stand a chance at 350 yards and she was a big cow! It chronographed at 3180 fps in his 22" barrel on his Ruger MKII and has a BC of .403. It worked and would continue to work, but there is better for the bigger stuff, okay I admit it! :shock: :grin:

That did enspire quite a bit of confidence in my 100 grain E-Tip load for my .25-06. Taking it to chase cow elk next month in Utah... and that will be what I'm shooting. With a BC of .420, and the digging power of a monolithic... it's probably the best all around load for the .25-06 that I've ever found... could say the same about your 90 grain E-Tip load.

 

[BK]

We're going a little off topic here, but if I were hunting cows or spikes, I wouldn't mind using a .25-06 or .257 Weatherby, given decent bullets... Partitions, eTips, TSX/TTSX, Accubonds. Wouldn't be the first choice out of my safe, but I'm sure it would work!

 

[FOTIS]

If I were rolling in dough, a Dakota #10 might do it for me, in .25- or 6.5-06.

Yup every day, and then I wake up!

 

[nodak7mm]

Further exploring the root cause(s) of RADD, it is the different hunting scenarios one may find themselves, which gives the individual logical justification for an additional rifle. As a result, I will state unequivocally, there is no one "ultimate" deer/goat rifle. I will challenge you to say otherwise?

To bolster my position.... :lol: Ask yourself if the same 6.5# rifle with the 20" barrel that is the ultimate "pack rifle" when in the hills is the ultimate when you are able to drive almost to a set up on a small rise overlooking 6 sq sections of grasslands and your best shot just may present itself at 400yds? At that time I think a 10-12# long barreled, larger caliber rig would be the cats butt....

You tell me? Is Radd justified? :mrgreen: Works for me........ :lol: :lol: :lol:

Rod

 

[longwinters]

I guess I lean a bit towards the medium calibers, or what used to be considered medium calibers :roll: . Some years ago my 2 boys and I went out to Wy for antelope. A 7mm (150 BT), a 30-06 (150 Bt) and a 7m-08 (120 BT). All shots were right in the 250 yd range. All 3 lopes went down where they stood. I now have a 7m-08 (120 BT), a 308 (165 PT) and a 280 (140 Acc). I don't see a weakness in any of them for mulies/whitetail/lopes/etc...out to at least 300+ yds.

I enjoy reading about all the faster and bigger. But all I need is what used to be considered the medium calibers.

Long

 

[desertcj]

I've also been dreaming about a .300 winchester magnum with a 30" barrel and a 6-24 power range variable for really long range shooting. 200grn AccuBond or 208grn a-max are a couple of nice bullets at 3000fps or 3100fps and they really lay the smack down with about 2000ft lbs left at 1000yds :mrgreen: NOT something I want to be carrying around the mountains all day, but for overlooking alfalfa fields it would be nice.

 

[SJB358]

Song Dog, tell us about your 100gr Etip load? I just happen to have a couple of them on the bench, next to the 120gr PT's!

Need to get the caller charged up and get out after the yotes soon. I would really like the 25-06 to be the primary coyote rifle this year! Scotty

 

[HTDUCK]

Well, right now it would be my 280 AI shooting the 160 AB. Savage 110, 24" Pac-Nor 3 groove, stainless, supermatch. I would love to top it with a Conquest 3.5-10x44 W rapid z800. Soon to be wearing a McMillan. She'll be going from Ugly Betty to just plain Betty.

I just picked up a Rem 700 ADL 7 mag with a 26" barrel yesterday though and am thinking about having it rechambered to a 7 STW! The kid was getting into bow hunting, and selling his rifle. Doesn't have a scratch on it. Would top it with 4.5-14x40LR VX-III and have some turrets installed.

I thought about the same lines as you.
I ended up with a Savage 110 and a Mdl 70 in 7 mag that were acquired with the idea in mind of having them reamed to 7 STW.
Only one problem,neither rifle has an action or magazine long enough to handle the STW cartridge.
Now I've got a real delimma because they both shoot lights out with the same load,64 grs RL22 and 160AB......

To top that off I stumbled across an unchambered 28 inch 6.5 barrel that is presently being fitted on Rem 700 Magnum action and chambered in 264.
One of these days,I'm gonna have that 7 STW :mrgreen:

Oh and as far as the ultimate deer/antelope gun,I guess my 700 in 280 with a 4x14x44 Conquest on top will have to do; until I get all this other stuff sorted out. :roll:

 

[Songdog]

Song Dog, tell us about your 100gr Etip load? I just happen to have a couple of them on the bench, next to the 120gr PT's!

I'm running 63.5 grains of Ramshot Magnum sparked by a WLRM primer... for 3300 and some change. I loaded 5 up just touching the lands, then loaded 5 more backed .025" off the lands, then 5 at .050" off... the .025" off the lands shot the best... right at 3/4". I could spend some time (read $$$ here) and probably get it down into the 1/2" range... but why? I've never had a problem killing stuff for a looooong ways with a 3/4" rifle. I think we'd all prefer 1/4" guns/loads... but I've learned that trying to eeek out that last 1/4" is often an exercise in futility... because I haven't seen where it makes any difference at all on critters bigger than about a rockchuck.

 

[BK]

Well, right now it would be my 280 AI shooting the 160 AB. Savage 110, 24" Pac-Nor 3 groove, stainless, supermatch. I would love to top it with a Conquest 3.5-10x44 W rapid z800. Soon to be wearing a McMillan. She'll be going from Ugly Betty to just plain Betty.

I just picked up a Rem 700 ADL 7 mag with a 26" barrel yesterday though and am thinking about having it rechambered to a 7 STW! The kid was getting into bow hunting, and selling his rifle. Doesn't have a scratch on it. Would top it with 4.5-14x40LR VX-III and have some turrets installed.

I thought about the same lines as you.
I ended up with a Savage 110 and a Mdl 70 in 7 mag that were acquired with the idea in mind of having them reamed to 7 STW.
Only one problem,neither rifle has an action or magazine long enough to handle the STW cartridge.
Now I've got a real delimma because they both shoot lights out with the same load,64 grs RL22 and 160AB......

To top that off I stumbled across an unchambered 28 inch 6.5 barrel that is presently being fitted on Rem 700 Magnum action and chambered in 264.
One of these days,I'm gonna have that 7 STW :mrgreen:

Oh and as far as the ultimate deer/antelope gun,I guess my 700 in 280 with a 4x14x44 Conquest on top will have to do; until I get all this other stuff sorted out. :roll:

Whoa, a Model 70 in 7mm Mag won't take an STW? Ooh, this may put the brakes on my .300 H&H Supergrade ideas! Dang!

 

[nitis]

my grandfather built an 7stw on a model 70 7 mag

 

[PJGunner]

Lots of intersting thoughts. On my next antelope hunt, hopefully next year, I'm thinking of taking my Winchester M70 Featherweight in 7x57. Wither either the 120 gr. or 140 gr. TSX, it should do a numbe ron any antelope of Mule Deer I'll ever run across. perfect? Maybe not but I really like that rifle.
It's been dead nuts accurate with everything I've run though it. Reasonably light weight and it's downright pretty.
One the other hand, if I were to build a rifle experssly for Mule Deerand antelope, I would be looking very seriously at something in the .270 Win. Fifty plus years of deer hunting with at least 35 of those years chasing after the Mule Deer leads me to believe a .270 might be the way to go. I have a commercial FN mauser I bought backin 1973 that has a stock so ugly it would abort a lady crocodileand an extremely slim barrel. (I stole that line from Jack O'Connor. :lol: )I've never weighed that rifle but I'm willing to bet it doesn't make 7 pounds even with scope and sling. I've only shot two deer with that particular rifle using something in 30 caliber for most of my deer hunts in the open west, usually a .308 Win. or 30-06. I didn't like it much becaue the 130 gr. bullets mangled too much meat. A friend's father suggested I use 150 gr. bullets instead. That is what I used on my antelope hunt last year in New Mexico. The 150 gr. Sierra game King over a stiff load of WMR powder hit that "goat" at 75 yards in the ribs on the left side and exited just behind the shoulder on the right side. Entrance hole was about one inch and the exit about an inch and a half. The "goat" ran off in a shore 30 foot half circle, laid down and died. Rife was a Winchester M70 XTR with push feed action. Barrel was 24". I'm thinking that ,270 is going to be seeing a lot more use in the coming years.
I have a very nice custom Argentine Mauser in .280 Rem. that would also be great for the topic at hand but it came out a bit heavier than I expected. It sure is an accurate rifle though.
I guess my pick for the animals in question will be the .270 Win. and that's my final answer. :lol: :lol:
Paul B.

 

[HTDUCK]

my grandfather built an 7stw on a model 70 7 mag

Winchester actually built some 7STWs but thet were made on 375 length actions.
The rifle I have is a Black Shadow and it was built on a 30-06 length action.

 

[jmad_81]

Well, I'm going to be building this STW. Going to take me a few years to scrape the coin together, but thats fine. Looking for a 10-11 lb long range gun that I can still pack if I want to. Thinking about doing a 28" # 6 fluted 1:9 three groove. Don't know if I'll put a break on it or not. Most people that I have talked to about the LR shooting say a break is a must. Think I'll have an extended box installed so that I have some more room to seet the bullets out of the case a bit. Top it off with some sort of 6-18 scope, and another Mcswirly stock. Should be fun!

 

[CAhunter]

For the ultimate I would say the 257wby is hard to beat. Other wildcats that come to mind might be the 270STW!! Would love to build a 270STW. Anyone built one??

 

[cloverleaf]

A 7mm Mag is way enough gun. IMHO. Too Much for me. A 25WSM sounds interesting. Too bad winchester didnt make one. That cartrigein a winchester featherweight sounds like an ideal short action rig. This antelope figured my little 250-3000 was enough at 264 yards. I have up graded to a Leupold since. CL

 

[BK]

CL, I would not turn down a hunt for anything I'm likely to hunt in the lower 48, save trophy elk, just because all I had was a .250 Savage!

 

[cloverleaf]

Yeah, If somebody handed me a Elk tag, I'd grab my box of 100 Gr partitions.....and I'd really, really think about it. It wouldnt be no 400 yard shot, but I'd be really tempted. :grin: As the say the ol'e 250 has a following.....For goats and deer you really cant do much better 300 yards or less. Thats as far as I could hit anything anyway. CL

 

[BK]

Oh, don't get me wrong... I'd pop a spike or cow with a .250 with either 110 ABs, or 100, 115 or 120 Partitions. The big boys, on the other hand, I think deserve a bit more respect (and horsepower).