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257 Weatherby or 264 Win Mag

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    Posted: December/11/2017 at 16:23
Going on a hunt with my nephew for antelope. I saw a nice used 257 Weatherby for sale. Does anyone use one for antelope? However, I always wanted a 264 Win Mag since I was a kid. Does anyone use one for antelope? I am asking for a comparison of the two for antelope hunting. Thanks.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DCAMM94 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/11/2017 at 16:31
Depends on if you hand load or not.  All of the weatherby options are prohibitively expensive from a retail ammo purchase and availability standpoint, but the case design will probably give you 100 - 150 fps advantage with the same bullet.  I don't own either, but for an antelope hunt, unless you're just using it as an excuse to get another rifle, I'd go with a 7mm Rem. Mag.  If you've always wanted a .264, then you'll probably find more options for ammo (but not in most stores, either).  Get what you want.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote anweis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/11/2017 at 17:17
You already have a very good answer above. Besides that, i would add:
You don't need either of them for antelope. 90% of all antelope are shot at ranges between
150 and 300 yards. A 6.5x55, 25-06, 6.5 Creed, 270 Win, .243 etc will do just fine.
I shoot a lot, hunt every year, and hand load. I would not get any of the two.
More than a special rifle, you need to practice with one until you hit a 6" target every single time, at 300 yards, shooting prone of backpack, seated of bipod, etc. You need TWO identical 243 rifles, one to burn out practicing and one to go hunt with.
Plus, .243 ammo is cheap.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Son of Ed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/11/2017 at 18:54
I have never had either one of them.....BUT....I would pick the 264 Winchester Magnum because I have heard people say in Wyoming that they were not really impressed with the 257 Weatherby on antelope.....


...that being said my nephew shot antelope with a 243 Win.....

.....I, personally, would go for MORE POWER than a 270 Winchester....



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Son of Ed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/11/2017 at 19:00
I have shot antelope with a 270 and they did not go belly-up as fast as a Mulie! They are really freaking tough!! Better take a 7mm Remington Mag....unless you like to crawl up on them....



 




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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Son of Ed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/11/2017 at 20:04
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Most antelope hunts involve some crawling through the sagebrush.....better bring leather gloves and leather chaps......you can shoot an antelope with whatever you want to.....but I would bring a 30/06!! 


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Son of Ed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/12/2017 at 04:51
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My wife and I lived on a ranch in Wyoming for years.....I would definitely say: USE ENOUGH GUN!  






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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Son of Ed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/12/2017 at 05:14
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote urbaneruralite Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/15/2017 at 14:38
.264 resists wind better. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nralifer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/16/2017 at 06:30
A 243Win with a 70 gr Bulldozer is more than enough gun. Jason and I each had single shot kills on Antelope about 1 month ago at 383 and 405 yds respectively. Bullets went through.




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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Son of Ed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/16/2017 at 06:45
A 243 works. My personal benchmark for success is: The Animal Collapses on the Ground Instantly and Never Moves..... if that doesn't happen I bring a bigger gun next time....If he runs three steps and falls over, I don't get a passing grade....
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/16/2017 at 08:19
Pretty sure you were being facetious, Ed. But just in case you weren’t...there isn’t a shoulder fired rifle on the planet that will always make critters drop in their tracks without so much as a twitch, 100% of the time every time the trigger is pulled. There are just too many variables involved, most of which have nothing whatsoever to do with the caliber chosen. Bullet selection, shot placement, shooter ability, animal adrenaline state, and a host of other factors all play a much greater role than bore diameter and what is stamped on the case head. Nothing short of a brain/CNS shot will 100% reliably anchor critters in their tracks. Break shoulders and animals may not drop right there, right now, but rest assured they won’t travel very far. Too many shooters worry too much about calibers rather than choosing bullets wisely. It’s the bullet that does the heavy lifting. It only needs sufficient velocity to cause it to expand properly and a shooter and rig capable of steering it to the right spot.

Pronghorn ain’t Cape Buffalo. Any cartridge suitable for whitetail deer is plenty suitable for pronghorn, given realistic shot distances.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/16/2017 at 09:11
As to the 2 cartridges in the OP...

Both are obviously way more than up to the task of reliably slaying pronghorn.

Neither would be my first choice, nor even in my top 10 list, unless something like nostalgia or a favorite rifle just happens to be so chambered is a factor.

I’ve long had a soft spot for .257s and dearly love the .25-06 and .257 Weatherby just due to memories from my youth. But both suffer from the same bane as all .257s...they get no high BC love (relatively speaking) from the bullet manufacturers and overall bullet selection is lacking compared to 6, 6.5, 7mm, and .30. So, voluminous case capacity and impressive starting velocity gets handicapped by less ballistically efficient bullets. Variety is the spice of life, and I enjoy having a few less common chamberings to play with, so I get the appeal. The fact remains that more pedestrian chamberings in 6, 6.5, and 7mm at lower starting velocity quickly catch up and surpass .257” bullets at distance despite their launch velocity deficit due solely to superior BC. For this reason, .264 Win Mag has much flatter shooting potential over .257 Wby. However, it’s a pretty obscure cartridge, so if you don’t reload, you’ll have a tougher time keeping it fed.

The biggest downfall of .264 Win Mag is the existence of 7mm Rem Mag. Anything the former will do, the latter will do better, with much greater factory ammo selection and quality brass availability, all while producing the same recoil level. The 7 Mag has all but buried the .264 WM.

If you insist on a chambering that includes the word “magnum,” I’d personally pick one of the big 7s, the choice of which one largely dependent on whether or not you reload. Otherwise, if it were me, I’d go with either 7-08 or 6.5 Creedmoor, as I’m a short action fan. If forced to go with a long action, I’d pick .280/.280 AI, or if I was feeling really tricky — 6mm-06.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Son of Ed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/16/2017 at 16:09
I am absolutely sincere when I say that the 270 doesn't flatten a pronghorn like it does a Mulie! The antelopes never left their tracks......BUT they didn't go "belly up to the sky" like a Mulie!!!  Certainly you can shoot pronghorns with all kinds of rifles......but MY CRITERIA is DOA in their footprints.....




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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Son of Ed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/16/2017 at 16:19
I swear to God I have only had ONE animal run after being shot!  A heart shot doe ran fifty yards before collapsing.....otherwise every animal in MY LIFE dropped in his tracks!!  

.....It's kind of a......TRADITION now.......


....call it an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder......



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nralifer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/16/2017 at 18:46
The best gun is the one that one can put the bullet exactly where one wants it at 400 yds. No one has any business hunting antelope that is not comfortable with shooting 400+ yds with whatever he uses.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Son of Ed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/16/2017 at 19:07
Yep.....but I am fussy.....my animals have to fall down in their footprints!    It's just A THING with me.....
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cheaptrick Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/17/2017 at 06:40
Originally posted by RifleDude RifleDude wrote:

As to the 2 cartridges in the OP...

Otherwise, if it were me, I’d go with either 7-08 or 6.5 Creedmoor, as I’m a short action fan. If forced to go with a long action, I’d pick .280/.280 AI, or if I was feeling really tricky — 6mm-06.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/17/2017 at 07:00
I wish for all my game kills to drop right in their tracks too Ed. All responsible hunters should want the same each and every time. But it doesn’t always happen, and when it doesn’t, the caliber chosen is usually not the main reason.

I didn’t realize there was room for complaint in exactly HOW a critter dies right where they stood...style points, but ok...
In your pronghorn vs mule deer comparison with the .270, how many kills of each species are you using as the basis for your comparison? What bullets were you using? Was shot placement and distance exactly the same each time?e

Shoot enough critters and eventually your caliber performance assumption gets thrown completely on its head.

One of the longest distances an animal has ever traveled after being shot for me was a coyote I shot with .300 Win Mag using 180 gr Hornady SST bullet. I wasn’t specifically hunting coyotes at the time; I was hog hunting, the reason for the gun chosen. As a teenager, I dropped many whitetail in their tracks with a .243 and 100 gr Rem CL. Since an adult whitetail deer has at least 3 times the body mass of a coyote, should I conclude from that that .243 is a more effective killer than .300 Win Mag and the .300 is totally inadequate for coyotes? Or perhaps could there be other factors at play here that have nothing to do with the chamberings used?

Within reason, the caliber chosen is waaaaaaaayyyyy down the list of factors producing DRT game kills. Shot placement and bullet choice has far greater impact on results than the cartridge used.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kickboxer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/17/2017 at 07:13
.458 Lott on squirrels works every time… never had a squirrel run (or walk) after being hit with .458.  Not once…  
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