Nothing wrong with a .270 Win for elk, although if using factory loads I'd probably opt for a 150g bullet.
Here is a comparison of the .270 Win/150g LRAB load I developed for Daughter #1's .270 Win (22" bbl) and a 7mm RM/ 68g LRAB using Nosler data for a 24" barrel. Calculations at 7000 feet altitude, MPBR zero for a 6" target (maximum 3" rise from LOS),
At 600 yards:
...
Have given some thought to switching the 7mm to a high B.C. bullet like the 150g LRAB (.546 G1) or ELD-X (.574 G1), but I have enough 140g and 160g hunting loads on the shelf to last my lifetime. The .270 Win/150LRAB outperforms them in terms of calculated ballistics but they work just fine
....
Shouldn’t you compare apples to apples: 270 150g vs. 7mm 150g?
At 600 yards:
.270 Win/
150 LRAB @ 2910fps,
254 yds = zero point
300 yds = MPBR
52.6" = drop2234fps - velocity
1662fpe = energy
15.5" = drift
17.7 ft-lbs recoil
7mm RM/
150 LRAB @ 3248fps,
280 yds = zero point
330ish yds = MPBR
39.9" = drop2457fps - velocity
2010fpe = energy
14.8" = drift
XX.X ft-lbs recoil (who cares what the recoil is? You don’t feel it in hunting situations when you pull the trigger, especially with winter hunting cloths on for additional padding)
I know petite teenage girls who shoot their father’s 7mags. It is sad to see grown men cry on this site about recoil.
I like the 150g LRAB even better than the 168g for the 7mm RM. I chose the 168 for comparison because I shot 160g bullets for many (20+) years and still have a good stash of them. (Along with the 140's I've been shooting more recently.) As I mentioned in my original post, I've considered switching to the 150g LRAB or ELD-X.
Who cares about recoil? I do. And my daughters do. We see no reason to put up with more recoil than necessary to reliably achieve the goal, which is why the big boomers rarely go to the range. I've hit clay pigeons on the 600-yard berm using my .338WM, .300WM, a .30-06, 6.5-06AI and .257 Roberts. And maybe my .243. The light kickers are definitely more fun to shoot and easier to shoot accurately. Especially so for my daughters.
The .270 load is for Daughter #1, who is more sensitive to recoil than the other two. She will do far more shooting at the range than in the field. In comparing the 150g LRAB for the .270 and 7mm RM, using my 2910fps load for the .270 and Nosler's 3248fps for the 7mm RM, the 7mm RM does have a 12.7" advantage in drop but the advantage in drift, which is much more difficult to adjust for, is only 0.7" using your 14.8" figure for the 7mm RM. (My calculator says 14.5", for a 1.0" difference.) Both cartridges deliver more than enough velocity and energy at 600 yards to kill elk cleanly. The important difference for Daughter #1 is the difference in recoil - a calculated 17.7 ft-lbs for her .270 vs. 23.4 ft-lbs for the 7mm RM - a 32% increase in recoil with no practical increase in killing capability. (You can only kill them dead - there is no 'deader'.) I don't have a .270 and the 150g for my 7mm RM is tempting.
Developing my "Rhino Blaster" loads (460g hardcast @ 1812fps) for my Marlin .45-70 was done in a tee-shirt with the Marlin's original hard buttplate. That's a calculated 51.4 foot-lbs at a snappy 21.7fps, repeated about 30 times in one bench session. No crying, but I'm not dumb enough to do it that way again.
As far as my girls and recoil, Daughter #2 doesn't hunt and probably hasn't shot anything larger than my 6.5-06AI, which she prefers. Daughter #3 has shot everything including the .45-70 with the aforementioned "Rhino Blaster" loads. She normally shoots my .257 Roberts. Daughter #1 has shot a variety of my rifles, normally shoots her .308 Win and killed her buck last year with her hubby's .300WSM. She thought the .50 BMG she shot at the range was a lot of fun, but that was one shot, not a range session checking zero, drops out to 600 and practice from various positions. No crying from any of them, just practical, well-reasoned choices for their preferences.
