Would like to hear opinions on the actual killing power of a 270 Win large game

[BigHorn]

Living in Elk country and with the majority of hunters not being "Rifle Loonies" a .25-06 and a .270win are fairly common, fairly normal use on everything rounds here. Vast majority are fed the cheapest ammo Wal-Mart sells. Lots and lots of dead elk with them.

Contrary to what the slick magazines tell us, having guided for and killed a few elk myself, I do not find them to be tough to kill at all. They take a shot, teter around a bit and tip over. This is with pointy sticks and with "normal" calibers .... 257, 25-06, 270, 30'06 that sort of thing. A good friend of mine uses a 338, there are a few 300's, but for the most part a .30'06 is considered a Cannon here.

[1happyshooter]

I think the 270 is plenty for anything in North America. Not perfect for every situation but plenty for any.

[handirifle]

I find it interesting that Dakker mentions something I have often wonder a LOT about. When going after elk all the writers say ya gotta use this bullet or that caliber, and I noticed that he even used a 168 in the 308, but only a 130 in the 270. Not sure if this is for BC or what, but I have really been wondering about using the Barnes 130gr TTSX in my 'o6. Currently i have 168gr TTSX's in it, and it is fine, but the little 130gr would be slightly less recoil (not a big deal) and considerably better trajectory. In fact it pretty well outdoes the 270 with the same bullet. It can be pushed slightly over the 3200fps mark, but I figured a trajectory path with under 3100 fps and it is pretty much point and shoot clear to 300yds. With a 250yd zero, it's about 2.4" high at 100, and 3.25 low at 300, with only 14in drop to 400 and still retains over 1500ftlb of energy at 400.

Maybe when this crop of 168's are gone that's what I'll do, then I'll have my 30 cal 270:eagerness:

[thomae]

Woodleigh makes a 180 grain 270 projectile.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/871829/woodleigh-bullets-270-winchester-277-diameter-180-grain-protected-point-box-of-50

Sectional Density: 0.334
Ballistic Coefficient: 0.513
Might be a good, hard hitting long distance bullet.

[flatshooter]

just me two cents...

Shot placement is the key to any successful hunt.

O'Connor shots were, from what I read and heard, open country hunts. Kieth on the other hand was hunting in brush and heavy cover, that why he prefered a stouter cartridge because he took "raking shots".

I recently asked a tech. at Sierra if thier bullets would penetrate heavy bones and continue to do the job. His answer was, "I don't know of any bullet that could"..... , so I took it that he was saying no. So for added assurance I loaded 180 grain Nosler partitions for my .308 pump, for deer/bear, and 130 grain Barnes TTSX for my .270 winchester, for deer/bear.

Barnes did mention that you could drop down a caliber or bullet weight and still get the job done.

[kevin_stevens]

There's nothing wrong with a .270. I prefer the .30-06 because of the wider selection of factory ammo, and its world-wide availability. All of the arguments of the .30-06 superiority at the upper end of terminal ballistics seem moot in your case as you'd be using the .338 anyway.

KeS

[flatshooter]

wider selection of factory ammo...

the 130 .270 can do all.... shot placement.

So the 165 .30-06 can do all... both have the same BC

[kevin_stevens]

wider selection of factory ammo...

the 130 .270 can do all.... shot placement.

So the 165 .30-06 can do all... both have the same BC

:shrug:

I put a 180g TSX diagonally through a zebra and broke the off shoulder with the TSX stopping under the skin. I wouldn't have taken that shot on that animal with a 130g bullet. But like I said, for the OP it's moot as he has a .338 and isn't trying to do everything with the .270.

KeS

[flatshooter]

Kev...

meant do all North America. A zebra.. with a premium bullet the .270 WILL do it.

medium to heavy game.

[bigngreen]

Three bulls and three cows in two days from three hunters using 270's loaded with 165 Matrix or 130gr BTSP, all very effectively killed. The only reason I will shoot my 338 RUM over my 270 with 165 Matrix is when the range dictates a 300gr Berger!

[darkker]

I find it interesting that Dakker mentions something I have often wonder a LOT about. When going after elk all the writers say ya gotta use this bullet or that caliber, and I noticed that he even used a 168 in the 308, but only a 130 in the 270. Not sure if this is for BC or what, but I have really been wondering about using the Barnes 130gr TTSX in my 'o6.

[QUOTE= I recently asked a tech. at Sierra if thier bullets would penetrate heavy bones and continue to do the job. His answer was, "I don't know of any bullet that could"..... , so I took it that he was saying no. So for added assurance I loaded 180 grain Nosler partitions for my .308 pump, for deer/bear, and 130 grain Barnes TTSX for my .270 winchester, for deer/bear.

Barnes did mention that you could drop down a caliber or bullet weight and still get the job done.[/QUOTE]


The reason I use 165's in the 308, is because they work every time. Likewise in the 270, jack killed half of the animals on the planet with them. When I shoot for the 1,000 yard line, I concern myself with BC. If someone knows drop tables and HONESTLY how far they actually shoot big game; BC is irrelevant in hunting distances.

1)

2) WAY more info is needed for that conversation to be usefull, was he talking about getting a GK tip plugged? Barnes has to heat-treat their bullets, to keep them from instantly opening. So, unless you can ask the right questions; you think you CAN go lighter than normal. The REALITY is that you HAVE TO. Call Barnes and ask them what the guaranteed operational velocity window for a SPECIFIC bullet. Then call and ask any other bullet maker, about the same weight class.
Barnes has a MUCH higher velocity requirement for reliable expansion. That is why you heard they penetrate so well, and why you can go lighter. If you don't, you may not get them to open; so yeah, they are going to penetrate....

[kevin_stevens]

T
2) WAY more info is needed for that conversation to be usefull, was he talking about getting a GK tip plugged? Barnes has to heat-treat their bullets, to keep them from instantly opening. So, unless you can ask the right questions; you think you CAN go lighter than normal. The REALITY is that you HAVE TO. Call Barnes and ask them what the guaranteed operational velocity window for a SPECIFIC bullet. Then call and ask any other bullet maker, about the same weight class.
Barnes has a MUCH higher velocity requirement for reliable expansion. That is why you heard they penetrate so well, and why you can go lighter. If you don't, you may not get them to open; so yeah, they are going to penetrate....

Um, lots of questionable statements in there, so I'll ask some:

A) What's wrong with "opening instantly"?

B) So, Barnes has to heat-treat bullets to keep them from "opening instantly", and as a result they don't open at all? Wouldn't it seem that Barnes could develop an intermediate heat treatment if this was a problem?

KeS

[gerard488]

The 270 is adequate for everything up to and including field mice, assuming a good, stout 150 gr. bullet is used, but only for female and juvenile mice. I wouldn't recommend one for a bull mouse as they are much tougher and it is simply not enough gun.

I Have to ask, Have you ever used a .270? Also what is your source of such a wealth of information?
I personally have seen a lot of bull moose taken down with a winchester model 70 in .270. As for the field mice you mention, It is probably accurate enough for those too

[r3dn3ck]

Ahem, gerard: Learn to recognize sarcasm. I know they don't have sarcasm on your planet but the rest of us are familiar with it and hate necroposts coming back because some etymological genius from a galaxy without sarcasm can't figure it out.

[1983Weatherby]

.270 is plenty gun to kill any North American animal. It's all about shot placement. My old man has killed everything in Alaska but a grizz and polar bear with his .270.

He hasn't hunted either yet because they don't taste the best and no point in killing something you aren't going to eat.

Some people are trophy hunters and may disagree, but I don't need a rug on my wall to prove I can hunt.

[Charleslv]

http://nevadahunters.com/images/Antelope/charles2.jpg
Taken at 400 yards one shot and flop

http://nevadahunters.com/images/Sheep2012/charles%20020.jpg
Taken at 50 yards one shot and flop
Both taken with a 270 Win enough said.

[handirifle]

Charles,
Those are nice. Gotta say, that 50yd shot on the sheep is not the norm, at least from what I see on TV. All those guys say you're lucky to get withing 300yds so you need the 300 Ultra Super magnums just to have enough energy to scare them.

A good friend of mine has hunted elk for many years, always used the 270 with the 150gr ROUND nosed bullets. Never had a pass through, but never lost an elk either. He has quite a few to his credit too.

By the way, not all Barnes bullets have the same design parameters. Some will open at speeds over 2100fps and some down as low as 1600fps (LRX bullets) and the TAC X bullets are also designed to open at slower speeds. Most of the bullets are designed to operate correctly at velocities that would fit the ballistic curve of the caliber of cartridges they are expected to be used in, ie. .308 cal spitzer bullets would be expected to perform normally from cartridges like anything from 300 Savage and up.

I am very familiar with those issues, and have spoken with Barnes folks either via email or phone many times on that very topic.

[Hatari]

.270 is plenty gun to kill any North American animal. It's all about shot placement. My old man has killed everything in Alaska but a grizz and polar bear with his .270.

He hasn't hunted either yet because they don't taste the best and no point in killing something you aren't going to eat.

Some people are trophy hunters and may disagree, but I don't need a rug on my wall to prove I can hunt.
I've killed a very big full maned Tanzanian lion with the 270. Two shots were needed, but he was very sick after the first shot and just limped away less than 20 yards to crouch down again on his belly. A lesser but much better maned lion was collected in the same area with 375H&H a year earlier with two shots. The .375H&H didn't kill any quicker. I've killed a griz in Yukon that won my guide the silver buckle. Two elands and two bull elk huge 66"Yukon moose zebra etc. as well as a dikdik also fell to 270 win. Unless you're hunting huge Alaskan brown or polar bear, I feel that 270 with 130gr NosPT is all you need on your continent. I'm not talking LR hunting here. And a 7mm Rem mag with 160gr Nosler PT will have you covered if you limit your shots to 300yds.
BTW I didn't get to eat my polar bear because it couldn't be imported into the US, but the Inuits told me they were good eating. I ate my lion, but I prefer eland.

[mike grant]

Ive killed many a deer with my 270, anywhere from 75 too 250 yards and never had one run more than 50 feet..

[rattfink]

The 270 is adequate for everything up to and including field mice, assuming a good, stout 150 gr. bullet is used, but only for female and juvenile mice. I wouldn't recommend one for a bull mouse as they are much tougher and it is simply not enough gun.

I once took a bull mouse with a .22 LR. True story. Shot placement is key.