Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Cow tag 270 which ammo

Just go buy the 130 gr. GMX in lieu of the SST and kill yourself an elk.

150 NP will drop Caribou like chained-lightning!

150 don't worry about it ?

Federal sells a factory 150 Partition load that is quite good, but also quite expensive. Still an excellent load.

Federal seems to have some good choices

The 130 grn Remington Cor Lokt has killed a bunch.

Lots of bullets will work, your SST might work fine but based on my experience with a 150 NBT blowing up on a bulls ribs I think you are on the right track going to a stout 130-150 grain bullet in your 270.

For me the Barnes TTSX is the best combination of toughness with great accuracy and performance above its weight on elk. I got lucky with my bull and found him after 500 yards through snow because the shrapnel in his lungs finally did him in. A similar angled shot on a bull with TTSX took out lungs, top of the heart and broke the off side shoulder before it exited. No tracking required.

Don't hesitate to get the bullet that shoots best in your rifle, placement trumps bullet construction every time.

Have dropped large cow elk where they stood with the Hornady Superperformance 140gr SST,one 125 yards, and complete pass through at 288 measured yards, broke ribs on both sides, significant internal damage. That is in my HVA 270. My Ruger ultralight uses only 150 gr. Nosler partition handloads for Dall sheep and one elk, never had any move more than 10 yards. Bullet placement far more important than type of bullet in my experience. That same Ruger dropped my biggest ever mule deer at 35 yards (he was occupied with a doe, actually felt slightly guilty about that with a 140 grain Accubond Nosler factory ammo through the neck and it barely expanded as it passed through. Did the job, but was greatly surprised at bullet performance. Really like Barnes TTSX above others as long as your rifle shoots them well. Try their 130gr factory ammo if you don't reload, or the Hornady GMX or interbond loads. 130 grain solid copper or copper-gilding bullets are equivalent in game performance to 150 gr traditional construction bullets.

Bullet selection is important, but probably not as much as advertising or campfire talk would lead you to believe. Good old 7mm 175gr hornady interlocks loaded to 2900fps in a 7 mag never failed me on moose or bear in Alaska. Ditto on 250 grain Speer or Hornady softpoints in my 35 Whelen or 358 Winchester. Had one from my Whelen break the front shoulder of a 350 lb black bear and recovered it in the rear hip on the other side after treaveling the full length of the bear, still weighed 182 grains. High velocity, especially at closer ranges, does demand more from bullet construction though. Not a good idea to try saving money on ammunition usually.

Honest question:

Do guys use different bullets from their .270 based on the sex of the elk???

I don't but maybe I'm missing something.

(I also use the same arrow for bulls or cows for the same reasons).

No, cow or bull depends n where I'm hunting (either sex or bull only) or whether I have drawn a cow tag or not. Bullet differences strictly which is most accurate in a particular rifle, least that's what determines such for me.

Technically, no.

But bulls usually offer fewer opportunities, which means I would think twice before carrying certain rifle/bullet combinations.

One of these days I'm going to poke a cow through the ribs with my 25-06/100gr Interlocks. Would it work on a bull too? Of course. Would I pick up that gun and head into the mountains if I wanted to come home with a rack? Probably not.

And for the record, to me, cows and raghorns are no different. I'd just as soon shoot a cow as some dinky 4 or 5 point bull with a rack that I'll never hang up on the wall. So when I say "bulls" I mean big 5pts+.

The heaviest grain bullets you can push. Not the hottest and fastest,you don't want it to pass thru.

By the way, my outfitter says that he only eats cow elk, says it's less gamey.

That's not true. I've had some old cows that were gamey and tough as a boot. I've shot young bulls that tasted great.

LFD -

the most important criteria for a bullet is to choose a load that shoots well in your gun.

In factory ammo I would look for loads using the Nosler AccuBond or Partition or the Barnes TTSX.

And I wouldn't worry about whether the bullet exits or not. I've had elk drop at the shot both ways, with exit and without.

If you want good tasting meat don't shoot the herd bull or the lead cow.

The same load you would use for a bull tag--150gr Partition........

Has anyone used the Federal Premium 270 130gr Bonded tip for Elk very little difference between the 130 vs 140.

Don't want a pass through?

Enlighten as to why....I'm dying to hear your best reasons

Something about this whole post stinks.... I call bs...

As other have said any well constructed bullet will work.
My venture 270 shoots 130 ttsx sub moa all day long.
If it was me. it would be the partition or ttsx because things don't always go as planned and if you shoot the shoulder you'll want your bullet to stay together and hopefully get to the vitals.