I am interested in your experience while using a 270 Win for elk. Here is the scenario - Hunter Bob will be using a 270 Win for elk this coming season. He is limited to factory ammo only. Cost is not a consideration. Providing all cartridge/bullet combinations shoot equally well out of his rifle, which cartridge/bullet combination should he select? Thanks.

I've shot two with Federal's Trophy Bonded Bear Claw 140gr. Don't think you could beat them.

If your after penetration you could try the fail safe from winchester, probably don't kill as instantly as a reg soft point, but they won't let you down on raking shots from difficult situations.

cheers 338w

I shot a spike last year with my 270 and Federal's High Energy 140 gr Trophy Bonded Bear Claw. Shot the spike from above him. The bullet went through the right shoulder, and out the other side just below the left shoulder. He was dead on his feet, but didn't go down, so as he was walking away I shot him again. This bullet entered his right side, broke 4 ribs, and clipped his lungs. I recovered the bullet in the skin of his chest.



Here's the bullet, 338 Swift A-Frame on the left, 140 gr Trophy Bonded on the right...





The bullet performance was excellent, though I'm now one who probably won't use a 270 for Elk again. If he had seen me and got to running as I shot, I might have lost that Elk.

JB, in the scenario you describe that elk could have reacted identically to a hit with anything including a 338 RUM... I'd say the 270 worked to perfection! If I were packing a 270 I'd use 150 Nosler Partition's or any of the 140 gr "Super Bullets" (Failsafe, X, BearClaw, etc)... the 270's one heck of a versatile round.

My best friend has used a .270 for 20 years or more. He has taken elk, a moose, and many deer. To the best of my recolection only one deer has fallen to a single shot. The elk have all taken more than one, as did the moose. I'm not fond of it for this reason on bigger animals, it should be great for deer but in his hands, with his bullet choices, it has been less than stellar. Some of the shots were no doubt poor, but some of them were also "in there" so to speak.

I'd recommend a bullet that makes as big a hole as possible. The .270 is no magic wand.

I'll probably catch it over this one, but it's true.

I did my first hunting with the .270 Win. about 26 years ago., mostly for mule deer and whitetails, but also for elk, black bear, pronghorn and stuff. I've hunted with it very sporadically for the last dozen years, but I still love the cartridge for medium-size big game such as deer.

I know one now-retired outfitter here in Oregon plus one life-long friend of the family who have taken over thirty bulls apiece with the .270 Win. cartridge. Talking to these guys about its suitability for elk and moose-size animals is an exercise in futility. It's worked for them, and that's what counts.

My own feeling is that the .270 Win. is an acceptable cartridge for elk if you don't own anything bigger, or if you can't shoot anything bigger well. It does NOT whack 'em as hard as the .30-06 or 7mm Rem. Mag., and certainly not as hard as one of the .300s or .338s. Perfect shot placement is the key concept alright, and the most important part of the whole exercise to be sure, but precise shot placement with plenty of gun is the surest way to get an elk on the ground quickly and surely that I know of.

I agree with Brad, if you're going to hunt elk with a .270 Win., the 150 gr. Nosler Partition and 140 gr. Winchester Fail-Safe are two of the top bullets, but also experiment with Swift and Trophy Bonded. ALWAYS use a premium bullet for elk, and especially with this cartridge.

AD

I would use a 130 grain out to 300 yards and if further out I would go with the 150 grain. For some reason the 150 is supose to be a flater shooting bullet at long range.

I went on a Elk hunt 3 years ago w/ a guy that had a 270 win. and a guy that had a 280 rem. The 270 ammo was Federal Premium 150s and the 280 ammo was Fed. Prem. 140 grners. I believe both were partitions but, not sure.

They both made one shot kills on respectable bulls. Hunter Bob shouln't have any trouble w/ 150s on elk.

If he could get someone to reload for him, I would recommend the 160 grn Nosler Partitions over some H4831 or R22.

Good Luck!

Reloader

Brad,



I see that you live in Montana, and therefore have surely seen more Elk go down than I have, so I won't argue with your analysis. In Washington however, the woods are filled full of people during hunting seasons. If an Elk makes it over the ridge, there is a very real chance of losing that animal to another hunter.



Most of the game animals that I have shot, have been put down with a 300 Weatherby. I'm pretty confident that the Elk would have gone down at the shot from a 300 Weatherby, he may have gotten back up, but that's alright, I'd put him down again. For Elk hunting in Washington, I want the animal down on the ground, and I'll keep shooting until he stays down. I used the 270 so I could see the results for myself. One example isn't a survey, but it changed my mind.



The smallest cartridge that I would hunt Elk again with is a 30-06 loaded with a 180 grain Nosler. I think a 300 H&H, Winchester, Weatherby, etc. is a much better choice, for now, I'll stick with my 338. That's an Elk cartridge.

I have used the .270 on many elk and I really like the 160 gr. Nosler as it will go through and elk lengthwise for all practical purposes and most bullets won't...

That said, I really veryt much prefer my .338 Win. today with 210 Noslers or 300 gr. Woodleighs depending on hunting conditions, followed by my 300 H&H with 200 gr. Noslers....

Use one of the following in factory ammo, hit the elk in front of the diaphragm, and you'll kill it just fine out to 250-300 yards: quoted from a long time AZ elk/mulie guide:

160 partition
150 partition, A-frame, Barnes X,
140 Accubond, partition, Triple Shock, trophy bonded bear claw, or A-frame
130 triple shock, A-frame, partition.

whatever shoots in your rifle.

Tell Hunter Bob to post the picture of his bull killed his .270.

Guys I have killed 5, and watched another 5 elk taken the last 6 years. The only 2 that went right down, and I mean right NOW, were with the 270 Winchester. What does that mean, not a darn thing, except it works. All of the above mentioned elk were one shot kills, some walked a few yards and dropped another ran 50 yards and went down. Other calibers used were: 30-06 with 180 Nosler Partitions, and 35 Whelen with 25 Nosler Ballistic tips. No offense to anyone but, if it takes a bunch of shots to put um down, maybe it's where they are hit, unless here in Arizona, elk hunting is different than elsewhere.

Use a Nosler Partition or some other premium bullet in your 270 and be happy.


Regards

Jerry

Nosler Partition 150. Especially in griz country where you don't want to be carrying something that might splatter in a tight spot.

Thank you to all who responded.
God Bless

JB, I'm a fan of 30 cal (+) for elk on principle, but there's no evidence that your bull would have reacted any differently or died any quicker with the same hit from your 300.



The last elk I shot with a 300 (cow) gave no indication of being hit despite a 180 FS taking out both lungs... it walked forward and stood for another which again went through the shoulders, breaking bone and punching the lungs. Again, it gave no indication of a hit. Finaly it went "all loose" and rolled down the hill.



I have a hunch (only a hunch) that in order to get a consistant reaction to being hit a 33(+) caliber is in order with the shots hitting bone with a moderately frangible bullet that "shrapnel's" (Partition's are the best of all worlds in regard's to shrapnel send-off with weight retention). Even then there's no way to realisitcally predict what an elk will do and I'm not sure there's much need to get a reaction to making a hit. Dead is dead.



I believe that consistantly putting down elk in their tracks is wishful thinking unless spined. I've only put one bull down in its tracks without spining. It was a spike bull shot at 70 yards in thick timber which took a lung hit with a 210 Partition from a 338 WM. Who knows, it might have reacted exactly the same with a 270/150 NP!



I have a friend who's in the position to watch a number of big bulls (320-390 class) bulls go down every year. As a result I put more than a bit of stock in his opinion because he's honest and his observation's are based on much more than a couple of elk kills. He tells me he sees no difference in the way elk die with any cartridge from 270 to 300 WBY (coincidentally, his exact words). Only when the bullets get bigger and remain fast has he observed a difference (ala 340 WBY). He had a hunter season before last hit a 375 class bull five times with a 300 WBY... the bull kept taking hits in the lungs (no reaction) while slowly walking forward. It finally wobbled and rolled down the hill (breaking its antlers in five places... ouch!). The bullet was a Barnes 165 X... go figure.



Despite his opinion's about elk rifles he uses a 270.



Rambling,



Brad

Thanks Brad,



That's food for thought. When a person has observed that many Elk killed, you move from speculation to facts. I haven't seen that many Elk go down. However, what you describe is consistent with the Moose that I've seen hit. The only one that I've ever seen genuinely pole-axed was hit with a 375 H&H. That Bull dropped at the shot. All the rest have acted the same way your friend describes the Elk hits. Moose are supposed to be easier to kill, but your friend might as well have been describing Moose hunting.



I know that I personally wouldn't use a 270 for Moose. Many do though.

I can't see any reason to use a .270 Win. on moose, either. In fact, on any hunt in Alaska or Canada that would include moose, I use either a .300 Win. or a .338 Win. Those are my ideal elk and moose cartridges, and I won't be using anything else.

Bigger cartridges are not necessary, and I don't buy into all of the bullet-proof elk stories that have been laid on me since I was a teenager. To hear some guys talk, elk are the toughest critters on Planet Earth to put down -- tougher even than animals that are more than twice their body size. I've noticed than most such stories originate from guys who haven't hunt much of anything else, and probably never will. Elk get away from bad shooting, bad bullets, and sometime preposterous long shots that should never have been taken in the first place.

AD

Something that never comes up on these threads is the penitration of the super premium bullets...

They are all good bullets and they all expand to huge size and retain their mass and all claim they penitrate because of this and that simple is not true..

Large cross sections stop penitration, regardless of what your told by hypeing companies....A few of them expand less and penitrate more...

Premiums that penitrate are monolithics and Noslers and if your going to take a shot in the timber on a going South elk then use a Failsafe, GS Customs, or a Nosler is my advise....The other premiums like TB, Swift, etc. work well on broadside shots and slightly angling shots and will usually come to rest on the off side skin doing major internal damage and are for the school of thought that a bullet should expend all its energy inside and animal..

I don't buy off on that, I want two holes, one going in and one coming out and lots of blood on the ground....On going away shots I want a bullet to go through them lengthwise or close to it and get the heart, lungs and whatever else is in the way until it hits neck muscle....

I like .308 & up for elk size game but I have taken to the woods w/ the 7mag & .280. I have taken one elk w/ the 7mag 160grNP & feel the .280 would give sim. perf. As always it's the right bullet in the right place. Brad, I suspect your buddy's exp. w/ the 165gr 'X' from the .300wby was a case of a bullet a bit too hard for side to side lung shots. I have only t aken or seen taken a dozen or so elk, nothing smaller was used than the 06. All were down within 100yds.
If I had to shoot a .270 I would stay w/ a good 150gr buulet & liek my .280, get as close as possible & wait for the broadside shot. I'll use my .338-06 in the timber because I think the bigger holes do bring them down a bit quicker.

Well I knew the .270 fans would pick this up! I didn't flame the .270 any more than needed! Notice I recommended a big hole. The bigger the hole the faster the warm comes out and the cold gets in. I favor a .338 WM over anything else I have for Elk. On a combo hunt I'd take the 7mm RM and be fine with it.

Bottom line is people use what they want. Some use as small as the .243, some use a .25-06 year after year. Those smaller bullets are very unforgiving if the shot isn't perfect. The first Elk I helped clean had scare tissue on it's heart and lungs from a bullet wound. It proves perfect placement with a bullet that didn't expand allowed this bull to grow a bit older.

I don't like the Barnes X unless you can make it go fast enough to open reliably. The partition, A-frame, and Woodleigh type bullets that will expand to lower velocity is what I would pick for a standard round. That the .270 is a minimum for elk in my book I'd say load up some 150 gr. Partitions or similar bullet as fast as you can safely and practice more than you think is needed. Not from the bench but field positions at unknown distances. Good shot placement will definately make it work, but is also essential! Placement in my opinion would be into the slats first if at all possible, angling toward the offside shoulder. I don't have enough faith in the .270 to be confident with shooting one through the shoulders.

I don't actually hate the .270, in fact I'd probably buy one if I found a perfect specimen.

Here's a little info on one of those elk that just look at you after the shot. I shot a cow elk with a 35 Whelen a couple of years ago. The shot was 133 yards, I was shooting 250 grain Speer Hot Core Bullets, @ 2650fps. After the shot, and after I recovered from the recoil, the cow was looking in my direction, she didn't appear to be hit. I didn't even chamber another round, as I knew she was anchored. After a short while she walked about 10 yards and dropped. Upon field dressing, I discovered she hade been hit squarely in the heart. The recovered bullet weighed 56 grains. If you don't, as someone else says "spine them", or neck/head shoot them, chances are they won't drop right away.

My advice to any elk hunters, if he is going to fall over the cliff, don't take the shot. I don't consider myself an elk hunting expert, while I have shot a few, I think the old adage goes if you are unsure, don't take the shot.

The 270 while do the job under those conditions.

Jerry