Antelope Bullet for .243?
 

For those who have successfully taken an Antelope, what is your preferred bullet in .243 and why. I'm also interested in what range you practice for. I'm purchasing a landowner tag in Colorado and think I should practice out to 400???

RE: Antelope Bullet for .243?
 

Any bullet that shoots accurately in your .243 will likely be fine. Nosler Accubonds, Swift Scirrocos, Barnes TSX, are all great bullets, but you don't need that high quality of a bullet for pronghorns. One of the best pronghorn bullets you can shoot is a Sierra. If you can shoot accurately out to 300 yards, you'll be fine. Chances are that you'll shoot a buck at under 200 yards, unless you don't want to stalk him.

RE: Antelope Bullet for .243?
 

I have heard good things about the Sierra Gameking 85 grain boat tail hollow point. As has been pointed out, pronghorn are small animals and don't require a super tough bullet to kill.

One point I would mention, from my experience the behavior of mortally wounded pronghorn is a little surprising. My son hit a buck at about 150 yards with a .25-06 117 grain Hornady. The buck just stood there -- seemingly totally unphased and undisturbed. I was watching from behind a bump of ground and assumed my son had missed on his first shot. About 10 seconds later the buck took a few steps forwards, seemed to tremble, fell down butt first and rolled over dead. The shot was well placed right behind the elbow of the front leg -- where the shoulder blade meets the lower leg. When I shot may doe pronghorn at 240 yards with a .243 100 grain Winchester Super-X bullet, again the pronghorn gave no indication of being hit. I shot quickly again. And then again. The doe dropped dead. I would guess my first shot hit home but I was too impatient/lacking confidence to wait. They don't always drop dead on the spot when hit well. Give them a few seconds if they aren't threatening to walk quickly out of range. If they are standing still you aren't taking any risks waiting a few seconds to see what happens.

RE: Antelope Bullet for .243?
 

For antelope just about any bullet will do just fine from your 243. I personally do not use a 243 in my hunting, however a family member does. 243 does very well for both deer and antelope. Theyprefer theHornady SST bullets. In my expirience most shots will be 300 yards or less,not all times but most. Learn your gun/load doesdown range, you'll find through practice where your "cut off" range should be. I use 3 inches high at 100 yardsdoes very well in mostbig game applications. Enjoy yourhunt.

RE: Antelope Bullet for .243?
 

243 is a great round for antelope. My son and I have taken 4 bucks, 2 in MT and 2 in WY in last two seasons w a 243. This year I took a longer than preferred shot at 340 yards-- w a 95 grain Federal Vital Shok Nosler ballistic tip. High lung shot, the lope walked 20 yards. I also like the100 gr Nosler Partition. I Prefer the 95. We sighted in at 200 yards before the season-- and made sure to know the balistics at 250, 300, 350 and 400. we hunt public land and the big bucks can sometimes get pretty skittishafter that first week of the season. have fun.

RE: Antelope Bullet for .243?
 

The .243 is perfect for antelope. Rather than get too tied up considering which bullet, I recommend that you find something that your rifle shoots well and use it.

Most of my antelope hunting was done before I started reloading and none of this fancy custom ammo was available. The order of the day then were standard, 100 grain CoreLokts, PowerPoints, and Hi-Shoks, all of which my rifle seemed to shoot well and always brought home the venison. But, I'm aware of people using 80 grain bullets and having problems, though I can't attest to whether it was their shooting or the 80 grain bullet not being optimal for big game. I'd stick with the heavier bullets.

RE: Antelope Bullet for .243?
 

I'm currently using 100 grain corelockts and I'm very comfortable out to 300 yards.I typically like to switch to a premium bullet when I'm travel hunting and spending $500 on a landowner tag and $318 on a licence. Perhaps I just need to adjust my thinking:)

RE: Antelope Bullet for .243?
 

Allen, if you're spending $500. on a landowner tag and $318. for a license, why would you worry about spending $45. or so on a box of better ammunition? As long as it groups really well, premium ammunition is about the least expensive thing you'll spend money on during an out of state hunt.

RE: Antelope Bullet for .243?
 

I have used Winchester's 95gr Supreme Ballistic Tips, and 100gr Super X's, Hornady 95gr SST's, and 100gr BTSP's. All have performed well. Antelope in my experience are not too difficult to bring down. I have never shot at one past 300 yards.
caelknuts;I do believe he was saying that he prefers to use premium ammunition when he is spending so much money for his hunt.

RE: Antelope Bullet for .243?
 

Allen - like you, I prefer to shoot premium bullets when "travel hunting". IN .243, I'd always use 85gr Federal TSX on speed goats and 100 gr Noslers on Mule Deer (if I'm not shooting my 308 or 300)