Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting .270 limitations for elk - looking for first rifle!

I got a spike bull last year with a .270. In some circles it would be sacreligous but I used a regular ol' Hornady 130 gr Interlock. One shot & it was about a 5 hour pack off the mt.

The .270 is a versatile cartridge & you will do fine with it.

To give you an idea of how confident I am in the cartridge, if I draw a moose tag this year & cannot use my pistol I will probably use the .270. Again with the Hornady load.

maybe that makes the post above clearer, I never suggested he get anything but a 270 win,
(but Id have selected a 30/06-35 whelen personally)

I have seen close to 100 Elk killed with the 270 Winchester(Grew up as a packers son)...The 130 Nosler/140 Trophy Bonded(My choices) will kill any Elk if you do your part.

Jayco

sorry I wrote that wrong... I meant to mention the display name, not the caliber. I meant the rifle in general, but yes in a .270.

good advice on here. I've taken a few with 150 partitions. Barnes tsx 130s also a great choice. Nice thing about 270 is that you can sight it at 250 and just not worry about elevation for most elk hunting situations. And yeah, blue box Federal 130s have killed about a million elk. The most important thing is choose something you are comfortable with and shoot it enough from field positions, with sticks, etc. etc. that you're confident.

I've taken several elk with my .270, and deer also. It's a fine cartridge for elk and other similar sized game. I use 130 gr. Barnes triple shock X bullets here in AZ where ranges are shorter, and used 150 gr. bullets in Colorado where ranges are longer.

Dang.....and here I thought my 700+ elk killing 150 gr Partitions would've beat you out.........

Ok shooters pro shop, here I come.......



Casey

Dang, I'm sitting on only 250 or so of the 150 Partitions. Plus 150 of the 130s, and 200 140 Accubonds, maybe a couple hundred 130 Interlocks and a few 140 TSXs. Guess I need to stock up before I run out!

I only have 20.

Good enough for 20 elk.

I know a guide in British Columbia who got his first rifle, a .270, at age 12. He is now in his mid-30s and that's the only rifle he uses for elk, moose, deer, sheep, etc., all with the 130-grain bullets; he did't say which brand. The ONLY time he uses a larger rifle is when he guides for grizzly bear, in which case he carries a .458 Winchester magnum. He told me that he has killed at least 10 moose with that rifle and 130-grain bullets and never had a problem.

The limitation for the 270 is no big lions, tigers, or bears, unless you have to.

It isn't an elk, but bigger. And he died about 120 Miles north and west of Edmonton, Alberta to the vanilla Remington 700 ADL in .270 WCF with 130gr Federal Fusion ammo.
I'd shoot anything I felt the need to eat with that combo, including a good bull elk.

For your purposes, I suggest a 30-06. The recoil is very little different than a 270 and ammo is much easier to find on sale. I've killed many deer and elk with the 270 and a few with a 30-06 and find very little difference. A 30-06 with 180 gr bullets is about as good of an all around gun as you can get.

338: Nice bull! Sounds like you got him not far from Grand Prairie....no?

Very nice! Congrats, rem338win!

I'm going to go with a different rifle this year after spending the last 4 years with Kimber Montana 300WSM. My top choice right now is something in a .270 flavor. I only hunt elk, mulies and antelope and really can't think of any good reasons not to run a .270, but can think of a lot of good reasons why I should.

adamrs,
The confidence level to harvest an elk with a .270 is directly proportional to your shooting ability.

just go read his article about how terrible tikka rifles shoot.

My first and only Elk was shot with an older Remington 721 that I had glass bedded. A friend worked up a load with 150 grain Nosler Partisions at abot 2800-2900 fps( I did not have a chronograph back then).... I think he used IMR 4831 or 4350....... Can't remember. I shot a very respectable 5 x 5 bull in Colorado. The 150 Nosler dropped it at about 200 yards. I still have the bullet, perfect peeled back expansion to the partision...........just like it is supposed to work. I gave that rifle to a neighbor that could not afford one and just recently bought a Sako A7 in 270. I can't think of a better all around caliber for what you plan to do. If I have learned anything at all over my 38 years of big game hunting with either a bow, shotgun slug or high powered rifle it is ALL about shot placement with the weapon of choice. I find a 270 very easy to shoot, they kill well, shoot very flat and are chambered in many reasonable priced accurate rifles. I don't think you can go wrong. Anyone who tries to tell you the 270 is not a good round does not know much.........find a better advisor. Good luck with your purchase, and enjoy the great sport of big game hunting. Goodshot

I lost all respect for him when he bad mouthed Tikkas. I have one and it is better than my Rem. SPS and better than my Savage.

Anyway, I think Americans way under estimate the killing power of our rifles.

Chuck Hawke, a legend in his own mind. As for the choice of a 270 as your only rifle at this point in your life young man. Its a good one, I would suggest that you go with a good fixed 4x or 6x scope for it and good strong mounts. I like Ruger's M-77's a lot because of the mounts that are as bullet proof as you can get. The 270 is plenty for elk and has been for decades. Ammo is easy to get. Blue box Federals is about as cheap a box of ammo you can buy for hunting, and they shoot well in most rifles too. Have fun with it, don't over think it, and don't let College turn you into a Communist.