Does all this mean that the 270 is no good? Of course not! It means that I asked a bullet to perform outside of its design parameters. The failure was mine, not the caliber, or even the bullet. Now, if I had been using a 6.5x55 with 140gr bullet at 2600 fps, or a 30-06 with a 180gr bullet, or 7x57 with 175gr bullet, I believe that buck's feet would not have left the prints they were standing in at the shot. That would probably also be the result had I been using a .277" bullet constructed to withstand the high velocity of the 270 cartridge and penetrate muscle and bone reliably without blowing to little copper and lead shreads.
Big Redhead is onto it IMHO.
I think the reason I have not experienced any difficulty killing things with a 270 (or anything else for that matter),is because the first thing my rifles get fed for a hunt is generally a Partition,or something equally tough.
Deer are generally regarded as a "soft" animal, and I agree...but the shoulders of a mature buck (which can range from 175 pounds to 400 pounds on the hoof),sets up a pretty fair amount of resistance to a high velocity bullet.This matters less at long range where velocity falls off a good deal, but can matter a lot at closer distances.
A good many folks feel a Partition is not "needed" for deer....maybe not. But I cannot recall having any deer smacked with a 270 through shoulders, at any distance, running off with a front leg swinging.This is because a 130 gr Partition will reliably bust up both shoulders of the largest deer around.
They simply do not go anywhere with such hits.My last large buck ( last year), was shot at the rear of the shoulders,spine snapped,as he ran by at about 70-80 or so yards...as the rifle recoiled I can still see his head dropping into his legs as he fell from sight.He was DOA.The bullet exited.
This is a VERY old story with Partitions,and the reason I am completely befuddled by some folks' never ending quest for the perfect deer bullet....or by 270 struck deer that run for miles and miles.
Even old timer friends without the benefit of the Internet,back in the 70's,loaded 130 gr Partitions in the 270 Win for mixed bag hunts in the Cassiars of BC.They would return home with dead bull moose, caribou, sheep, and grizzly ( yeah!
grizzly! )mostly knocked off with a single shot.Theythought nothing of it all,and if you asked them was such game "tough", they'd look at you like you were an idiot.
I will bet I or anyone else on here can do exactly the same things with a 6.5/06, or 280 Rem loaded with a Partition,and hardly notice the difference between the three cartridges.
But if you keep picking BG bullets because they got little "cool" plastic tips and thin jackets that blow to smithereens,and keep using them from high velocity cartridges at moderate distances,penetration will be compromised. You will get away with it for quite awhile, but eventually, it will catch up to you.And you will wonder how little deer can take a smack, and run off.
