Any use (not hear of, or read about, or have ideas about) a .270 on elk. Range not to be over 400 yards, my eyes and shaky hands are not that good :-)

This question has come up repeatedly. The 270 has is distractors but by far the majority will say it's a good one. I used one for 25 years on elk with great results. I always used 150 gr bullets for a little added oomph at the end.

Do a search on this site and i'll bet there's a couple hundred threads on the subject......good luck!

I assume you mean a .270 Winchester. Two of my children use a 270 Win for elk, deer and antelope. It works. Longest shot so far was an antelope at 405 yards.

Works for Cookie. Her only miss encountered a mid range tree.

It'll work which sucks.. where's the fun in dropping something dead?

Thanks all, I have two M70's, one in .270 Win and one in 30-06. I will likely be using one for the fall hunts here in Northern Nevada mule deer and elk. (yes we got both this year :-) ). I am not up to the 500+ yard shooting some do so I am not thinking I need something with "Mag" in the name.
Has anyone used the Federal blue box "Power-Shok" in 150 grn on elk? I have great luck with this ammo accuracy wise, and in 25-06 it did the job on mule deer.

The 270 Win with a 150gr Nosler Partition bullet is bad juju on Elk - it's a classic combo that's been used for years by lots of people - myself included.
The 270 will also work on them with lots of other bullets, but I wouldn't try to save a few bucks with cheap ammo for an expensive hunting trip, but accuracy/bullet placement is most important.

I've never had a problem with garden variety 130 grainers, let alone 150s, though I think I have only killed 3-4 elk with a .270.

I also took a mature red stag in S America this year with the .270 Win and 130 grain factory soft points. It ran about 30 yards and fell over. No fuss. No complaints.

Use the 270 Win., just for kicks buy 3 boxes of ammo, 1 box of federal with 150 Nosler Partitions, 1 box of 130 Nosler Partitions and 1 box with 130 Barnes TSX's or TTSX's. take the ones that shoot best in your rifle. It'll be worth the time and money spent.

Damn good advice Raybass....

A lot of old time ranchers, locals, use the .270. If you look at the drop, you still have to know how to estimate range and holdover; or fiddle with a bunch of knobs and stuff while the elk moseys into some brush. A larger bullet will carry more oomph but havig agun you know and can shoot is worth more. A bad shot is just that, no matter what kind of noise and barrel burning capacity the bullet has.

+1 with raybrass
But if you have an 06, I'd take that for elk with all those bullet choices and have the 270 as a back up with good ammo.
I shot an 06, 180 gr TTSX as a main gun but the 270 with 130 TTSX is always in the truck or camp just in case. Last year after I shot my elk with the 06, I took the 270 out for 2 days out to gut pile waiting for coyote, bear or cougar to show up.
But if you like the 270, it will do the trick.

I always had mine zeroed for 200 yds. My longest shot in 25 years was a titch over 300 (lasered) and it needed very little hold over. Beyond 300, though, and it was dropping fast. At 400 I'd have needed a transit to figure the holdover.

In the 270, 150 and 130 bullets will hit at almost the same point of impact to well beyond 300 yds. It's a perfect combo of bullet weight and velocity that makes it happen. The 150's will have a bit more oomph when they get there so there's no advantage in using 130's.

3 yrs ago my wife shot her moose with a 270 with barnes triple shock hand loads.125 yrds one shot dead,grave yrd dead. 2 yrs ago my sister got her moose with a 06 with the same bullit. 100 yrds one shot, graveyard dead. last yr. my oldest sister shot her moose with 30-30 with hornady leverevelotion (sp?) one shot dead. placement is what did it. take what you shoot the best. by the way the combined ages of the three girls is 200 yrs. love my gals sorry girls! I was just informed I was fos. combined age is 197yrs. sheesh!

The last elk I killed was about 300 yards..It was a winter hunt in open country..Used a .270 with 140 grain SST..The bullet hit behind the near shoulder and exited the back part of the off shoulder.. It was as I said very open country..I shot and watched the cow run maybe 125-150 yards and go down..I would have no trouble with using it again..But for hunting under all conditions, I would either switch to 150 gr. part. or accubonds..Generally I do favor a bit more bullet dia. for my elk hunting, but it did the job..

I'm a 30-06 slut but would be just fine with using a 270 for elk. It's a pretty classic choice for western hunts.

My dad has killed two bulls with his 270 they're both dead and the meat was delicious.

I've had poor luck with Accubonds. I've had 2 come apart completely and the meat destruction is unacceptable. Partitions, on the other hand, are the best of the best. They were very accurate in my 270 and did a great job on elk.

IMHO bullets have finally caught up with the velocity these cartridges can throw. In fact most are so good that you can really have a standard round that will kill just as dead as a magnum at most ranges. So a 270 whatever the flavor, is a decent choice. Just get a good bullet, bonded, Partition, Mono that will shoot in your rifle and your good to go. I don't know that I could have said that, say 25 years ago. Then I would have said unless you could get close get a 338 Win Mag with 210 Partitions. But its a whole different ball game now. Its a great time to hunt with a rifle as everything seems to have come together with bullets, powders, loaded ammo that actually shoots close to advertised specs and CNC machinery making rifles.

Rock Chuck, Interesting performance on those Accubonds..I have never used them in my .270, but have killed 3 or 4 elk with them in my .340 and .300.. I did recover one from a bull killed with the .340.. It lost wt. but did not separate from the jacket..My next to last elk was killed with a 165 gr. Accubond out of my old .300..I did not recover it but in neither case was meat destruction unacceptable.. I also dropped a big whitetail with the .340 and Accubonds.. It is interesting how bullets work for us sometimes, but someone else has trouble with them..My best friend's son is a 7mm mag. fan..Last fall he killed a big cow with 140 Balistic Tips at long range.. When I mentioned the Accubonds, he said like you he didn/t like the way they performed..As I said for my part, I have had excellent success with them, but as you pointed out Partitions are the best of the best.. Everyone is scrambling to duplicate what John Nosler did 60 years ago..

I had one AB come apart in an elk. I found the jacket in the chest when dressing it. Later we found the core in the heart when we cooked it.

A .270 is adequate for elk, but you have to hit them good. If you're shaky and can't see that well, forget about 400 yards and try 250. Tracking a wounded elk is not fun and can take a long time. Do the right thing and get close enough to kill one instead of wound it.

Odd performance from an Accubond. My buds and I have used them for over 10 years in cartridges from a .300 RUM to .30-06 to 7mm. I shot a bull at 42 yards with my RUM and a 200 grain Accubond at 3200 fps. If a bullet was ever gonna come apart, that would have done it. Not saying they are perfect, but all included, we've killed close to 100 critters with them. I'm going to load them in .270 for my daughter this fall. I trust them completely. mtmuley

+1...and it depends on the shots you are willing to take as well...

Dino, what area did you draw? Congratulations, wherever it is.

Ditto what PaleRider and raybass said.
You can experiment with several different loads to find the one that shoots best, or just get some 150 Partitions and go kill elk.

Area 75 late, any hints will be accepted and kept secret :-)
I have an odd habit of using a "Theme" for my hunts. It's 1940/50's's this year. Wool, leather boots, canvas wall tent, and a 1954 M-70 with a six power scope. And a lot of walking. (no horse)

And a big Thank You to everyone for a very productive and polite thread :-)

Sorry, Dino, not familiar with 75, were it 11 I might have had some info.

I'm sorry, I don't have ANY experience shooting elk with the .270, but if you believe what Ross Seyfried has to say about it, you've made a VERY good choice:

1. "When in doubt . . . get a .270 Winchester!"
2. "The most successful African Safari I ever guided was shot with a .270 Winchester loaded with 150 grain Nosler Partition bullets...He shot two extremely tough animals, a zebra and a wildebeest, first. Each fell to a single shot, as did a huge lion. He broke a sitatunga�s neck (that was the only target) offhand, in the wind, at 300 yards. An elk-sized kudu bull tumbled when the bullet hit the point of his shoulders."
3. "Over the last dozen years my son and I have guided for more than 100 elk here at Elk Song. They have been taken with a remarkable spectrum of rifles ranging from 4-bore to 6.5 mm, with a good selection of .577s, .416s, .375s, 338s and .300s in the middle. Many of them have been taken with .270s and I can tell you that no cartridge puts an elk on the ground more quickly than the .270 Winchester loaded with the magnificent (and now non-existent) 140 grain Winchester Failsafe bullet. (Some of the Barnes X designs are producing similar results.)"

If you want the whole article, see:
http://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/ross-seyfried-busting-the-magnum-myth/

Good luck!

My last elk (spike bull) was taken with a .270 loaded with a Hornady 130 gr Interlock. One shot @ about 125 yards & I had 5 hours of hard work getting him off the mountain.

Hey Dino, need some MREs for that hunt? I've a case or two left if you do.