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

Got drawn for a Cow tag . I will be using a 270 Win. have been using Hornady 130gr SST. I know I can't use SST for Elk. Which would be best choice for cow elk. I would appreciate your experience with 270 Win for Elk.
Thank You

I've shot a bunch of elk with a 270. Cows aren't all that hard to kill. I had great luck with Speer Hotcores, 150 gr. The 150 will shoot to almost the same POI as a 130 and hit a bit harder when it gets there. I've also used Partitions but I really couldn't see any improvement over the Speers. They had about equal penetration and weight retention.

130 gr Nosler Partition

150 partition will get it done all day !

Accubonds
Partitions
GMX
TTSX


Friends don't let friends use SST's

I would go with Accubonds or Partitions.. Which ever shoots best in your rifle.. Either 130-to 150s's.. I have come to like Accubonds very much..

There's no controlled expansion BG bullet in .277" I'd hesitate to use from a 270 Win on an eating sized cow elk. I've personally used ballistic tips and partition's on them from the 270. Have seen them taken with a wide variety of factory 130's.

Your SST will be perfect.

When you say Accubonds that means Nosler or Federal accbond tips correct

After hearing a good friend tell me about horrible bullet performance on several Springbock in South Africa and having an SST one lung penetration horror story of my own I will never use or endorse the use of the SST

Accubonds are a Nosler bullet

Accubonds does thet mean Federal premium accubond tip bullet

Are you stuck with using factory ammo only, or do you reload?

I used Remington "Hypersonic" in a borrowed .270 (serendipitous opportunity) last fall on a cow elk. I was actually pretty impressed with the gun (Tikka T3) and the ammo (140 grain bonded). FWIW

PennDog

factory ammo

factory ammo

130g TTSX Barns vs 130gr Hornady GMX vs Federal Premium 140 accubond tip
270 cal. for Elk is there one better than the other up to 300 yds

If this helps any Nosler loads the 140 Accubonds. This one broke a front leg and a heart before getting snagged on the off side hide.

I'm loading my elk rifles, a CLR and Remington 760, with Winchester/Olin 130 grain PowerMax.

That would be hard advice to fight.

is the Federal Premium 140 Bonded tip the same

Any of the bonded bullets, partition or my favorite the Barnes TTSX will work well. I would pick whichever shot best in your rifle. Practice to way farther than you would normally shoot so you are ready for shots to 4-500 yards because they are shots you have made in practice with your specific set-up.and that 225 yard shot is then a slam dunk.

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.

130 or 150 grain Partition would be ideal but the 130 or 150 grain Hornady inter locks are very good bullets and would do the trick also, if buying premium bullets is a problem. More practice is better, shot placement more important than bullet.

Of the bullets mentioned,you could easily just hunt with the most accurate load in your Rifle and be very well off...ScottyO.

Put any of those bullets in the right spot and the cow will be dead. Don't make this harder than it has to be. Whichever one shoots the best is your answer.

The OP seems to be asking several questions about the Trophy Bonded Tip that no one is answering.

Yes, the Trophy Bonded Tip is an excellent elk bullet. Based on the Trophy Bear Claw, a very tough dangerous-game bullet, the Trophy Bonded Tip was designed with a polymer tip and a deeper lead-filled cavity so it would open up quicker and to a larger diameter on smaller game.

According to the maker (Federal), it still retains an average of 90% of its weight in game and is a deep penetration bullet - what I think of as an ideal elk bullet.

Whether you choose 130gr, 140gr or 150gr - there will be little difference in actual performance on elk, but I always lean to the heaviest weight bullet available that shoots well in my rifle for animals as big as elk.

Thanks I think the Federal Bonded tip should be a great bullet . I called Federal they said the 130gr vs 140 gr that there is very little difference between them

They recommended the Bonded Tip Bullet for Elk.

Use a 150 grain partition

150 Nosler partition

Before I started loading for my wife's 270 we used the 130gr Accubonds with no problem. Any Accubond or Partition load from 130-150gr will work. I have been impressed with the Hornady GMX and Nosler E-tip as well. Find one that shoots well and then taking the time to practice (more than you think you probably need) will make more impact than the "ultimate" bullet.

Last year I decided to change the load in my elk rifle and went to a different bullet/powder combo. Over the later part of the summer and early fall I put about 110rds through my 300 RUM validating trajectories and practicing out to 1200 yds. Then, opening morning I had a limited window to make a 450 yd shot on a 300" bull. After shooting this same rifle/load the months before and practicing to 1200 yds the 450 yd shot I was given seemed relatively easy.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/2...270-winchester-140-grain-nosler-accubond

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/8...-winchester-130-grain-accubond-box-of-20

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/5...ter-150-grain-nosler-partition-box-of-20

He wants to recover the bullet so he can post a picture here and opine on its "effectiveness".

Why in the world would you not want a pass-through? That is pure nonsense.

I have never eaten a bull that I would classify as "gamey". They are not as good as cows, however.

Just add this to a couple other of his "great" post

One post he suggested that a spotting scope was useless for elk out west.

Another he stated he could buy a new rifle for what it cost to take your own rifle to Africa.

.......wow....just wow

I've killed a lot of elk with the 130 Nosler partition in a 270, seen a couple killed with the Accubond 140, and have killed one with the 130 GMX in the Hornady Superformance Ammo, and 2 with the Nosler e-tip.

The Superformance in a 20 inch barrel, 3144 fps. That ain't bad. My new favorite in factory ammo. I can't handload something that fast.