Leaving in a few days for a cow elk depredation hunt. Taking a 270 Winchester with 130 grain Barnes Triple Shock.

Whatcha think??

H T,

I've killed several with that combination. With a well placed shot, you will have no problems.

Your just fine .270+130 = dead cow elk

I'm going out in the morning for a cow in New Mexico with 140 grn. Accubonds from my .270 WSM

Best of luck to you

Cow elk aren't armor-plated, so your combo will do just fine.

Good luck on the hunt...and don't forget to post pictures upon your return.

Should be ok, as long as your shot placement is good.

quote:

Originally posted by H T:
Leaving in a few days for a cow elk depredation hunt. Taking a 270 Winchester with 130 grain Barnes Triple Shock.

Whatcha think??

That combination will take Elk nicely

I've used the .270 Win a few times to kill cow elk. I've always used the 150 grain Nosler Partition with great success. The .270 has been effective for me out to 250 yards no problem. I haven't found a rifle that kills them any deader yet.

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
Should be ok, as long as your shot placement is good.

This my friend is 100% right but it doesn't matter what you use shot placement is the rule!!! With all animals and rifles.

quote:

This my friend is 100% right but it doesn't matter what you use shot placement is the rule!!! With all animals and rifles

.

Shot placement is vital, but so is the bullet. The bullet does all the work and if it is not up to the task, it might not penetrate to the vitals.

The Barnes X, XLC and now the TSX are all I have used in my 270 since about 1992. I use the 130gr TSX on elk with outstanding results. I have only recovered one X bullet from an animal and it was textbook, great expansion and 100% weight rentention. Nothing penetrates like a Barnes.

No question the .270 can get the job done. However, I would take a larger caliber if I had one. Not every opportunity is a picture perfect broadside.

quote:

Originally posted by Buliwyf:
No question the .270 can get the job done. However, I would take a larger caliber if I had one. Not every opportunity is a picture perfect broadside.

Don't need a perfect broadside shot with the .270 and the right bullet. I wouldn't be afraid to take a quartering shots on any elk with my 150 grain Partitions. Unless my entrance or exit was going to guarantee a gut shot animal. I don't take South to North shots or vice versa with any cartridge.

I have no idea why anyone thinks you need more than a .270 to kill elk under 250 yds.....hmmmm people who can't shoot or dont hunt much but read shooting magazines and watch way to much TV.

I love the .270 and .280! If I lived out west I would have to have one of each.
I live where deer are close shots so I sold my rifles to use only my bows or revolvers.
I kept the custom 6.5 Swedish Mauser I built and am sure it would also do a job on an elk.
Good hunting!

sent an awful lot of elk to the other side with a 270 and 130grn bullets of all make and model,
and my father before me...
open country out here in nw wyo,some long shots
or crawl in the dark timber with them and snipe them in their beds.
my family shot elk like alot of people shoot whitetail,it was our primary big game animal and we were serious about it.
243s,270s,30-30s,3006,338s were all well represented in our clan.
none of them made them any deader than another,
later in life i bought a 7stw and have sent an awful lot of elk to the other side with it,
does it kill deader? no
do they die faster? no
to tell the truth,it shoots farther than the old 270 and thats the main reason i carry it.
i guess my side of the discusson would be; most rifles in competent and capable hands, mixed with a generous dose of experience and an understanding of anatomy,is and should be considered an "elk rifle"
it doesn't take much of a "pill" to interrupt the oxygen supply to the brain,properly placed
and elk have a nice big kill zone from most angles compairativly,but as most well know they are known for their toughness when the shot is less than good.
i been killin 'em for 30+ years and lord willing i got another 30 to go,they are special magical animals but not impervious to a well placed bullet.
everyone should get to walk up on a big bull elk at least once in their life,if it doesn't nearly bring you to tears,then i'm the only puss in the room.

quote:

Originally posted by H T:
Whatcha think??

I think if you do your part you best have a good freezer because you will need it.

quote:

Originally posted by ravenr:
i been killin 'em for 30+ years and lord willing i got another 30 to go,they are special magical animals but not impervious to a well placed bullet.
everyone should get to walk up on a big bull elk at least once in their life,if it doesn't nearly bring you to tears,then i'm the only puss in the room.

Here is to another 30+ years for you! I've yet to find my bull of a lifetime, but I will. I've only been chasing elk since 1997, but it has been a fun 11 years and I hope to add at least another 40 to that.

I've used the 140 gr Nosler partitions as well as the Hornady 140 gr Interlocks with no problems. Have a great hunt. Let us know how it went. Good shooting.

quote:

Originally posted by H T:
Leaving in a few days for a cow elk depredation hunt. Taking a 270 Winchester with 130 grain Barnes Triple Shock.

Whatcha think??

I'd use it! But, if your bullet is going 3000+ fps only. If it is doing 2999 or less, it simply will not work at all.

I'll probably get flamed for this but I 've been hunting elk for 25 years and I would never use a 130 grain bullet. They just loose too much energy too fast on the longer shots that a lot of elk are taken. Wounded elk can cover a lot of ground in a very short period of time. But I hunt the Roosevelt Elk and they are pretty tough.

quote:

Originally posted by Pegleg:
I'll probably get flamed for this but I 've been hunting elk for 25 years and I would never use a 130 grain bullet.

No flame from me, as you have 24 more years experience! But, 2 questions do come to mind: 1) how many elk have you killed with bullets, and 2) how many were with a 130 bullet from a 270?

I own 2 magnums...bought for the sole purpose of elk, moose hunting, only to find out they weren't necessary according to the vast majority of elk guides/hunters. One guy I trust a lot is Ralph Anderson, of Anderson Guide Service in Tucson, AZ. Ralph is what I call an elite hunter/guide.

I guess it was around 2001, maybe 2000 when I asked him on the phone what he thought about a 270 for elk. Simply put,

quote:

"it works great, just as well as any other caliber that is bigger." "but, keep in mind, I get my hunters close the majority of the time. longest shot was about 300 yards with a 270."

Doc- I would guess I've killed 15 to 17 Elk and all have been with a 338 WinMag as it is my Elk rifle and "go-to" gun. I can't pull the bow anymore as three shoulder operations dictate that. I have a great shooting Model 70 in 270 Win but have never taken it on an elk hunt. As I remember most have been one shot kills excepting a few that didn't know they were dead. I probably didn't have to shoot them twice but they were trying to get up and I was probably a little hasty shooting again.
I speculate a lot of guides think the average person can shoot the non-magnum cartridges better than they can the big boomers is why they say the magnums are not necessary.
I hope H T has a great hunt and is successful. I would just use a heavier bullet and if not I would avoid the shoulder shot that I love to take.

Thanks to all for the posts. Leave in the morning, and will use the 270. Would like to use 150 grain bullets, but don't have any loaded at this time. Still, the virtually 100% weight retention on the Triple Shocks will help offset the weight difference IMO.

By the way, I've used this on african game, just not elk. Taken a couple of zebras, lots of impala, several kudu and one wildebeest. None, however were particularly long shots, and hunting elk has a fair potential to be longer shots than is typically found on African plains game.

Again, appreciate the input and especially the civility of the responses. Plus, ravenr captured the essence of elk hunting quite well.

Will let you know how it goes!

Good luck on your hunt.

HT

Good luck on the hunt!

I shot a young moose this fall--the guides thought it was in the 800 lb. neighborhood--with a regular .270 at 242 yards. It dropped at the shot and never got up.

I was shooting a 150 gr. A-Frame, w/ a muzzle velocity of about 3000 fps. The bullet broke both shoulders, and, I'm guessing, broke the spine too.

I'd bet the impact velocity was somewhere in the range of 2400-2500 fps. Bullet was picture perfect, but I haven't weighed it.

Given that this moose was in the neighborhood of a bull elk, and also that the Barnes will hold onto most of its mass, I don't think you'll find any difficulty with breaking a shoulder bone and still getting to the vitals.

Mind you, my shot was dead broad-side!

Best wishes,

friar

Your combination of the 270 and the 130 TSX will do very well. I would not hesitate for a minute with that combo. Good luck on the hunt.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Pegleg:
I'll probably get flamed for this but I 've been hunting elk for 25 years and I would never use a 130 grain bullet. They just loose too much energy too fast on the longer shots that a lot of elk are taken.QUOTE]


So let me get this straight, you've never used a 270/130 combo for elk and yet you would never use a 130... makes sense to me!

My son dropped a 49 inch Kudu bull in Namibia last July with one shot from a 7MM-08 and a 140 grain TTSX. The bullet passed completely through both shoulders from 40 yards. Close range but excellent performance. The bull lopped off about 45-50 yards and pilled in nose in the dirt. Your load will work fine if the shots are resonable range.

Back from the hunt, and it went well. Shot was just under 300 yards (later measured with rangefinder), and the elk dropped at the shot.

270 / 130 grain was just fine with the proper bullet - like a triple shock. Suspect one of the other fine bullets would do well too, but I know what my favorite is !!

for the rest of us "believers" there was no doubt.....
congrats and enjoy

I too had no doubt.....not for one second
enjoy your elk.
.