Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles .270 with 140 Partitions

Of late I'm using two loads in the 270 Win...
The 130g NPT around 3100fps and the 150g Hot Cor loaded to 2900fps.

Both are using R17 and they're 1moa even on a really bad day.

The 130 NPT shoots just a little flatter but on pigs I have to call it a dead heat on terminal performance. The heavier Hot Cor exits more often believe it or not.

I reckon the 140 NPT would nearly straddle the middle ground. Not a bad place to be. 3000fps is an easy mark.

bsa: I believe some Partitions penetrate deeper than others due to placement of the Partition,taper of the jacket and (like any bullet) how they are built.

Factor in angle of shot,what it hits at what distance,impact velocity etc etc and I think it's almost impossible to say what which one will exit and which one won't,whether it's a 130. 140,or 150. You just never know.

I have a few other 130s plucked from game but they have been few. For the most part it seems a 130 Partition will blow through any animal in the 300-400 pound range with ease. I have no doubt a 140 will do the same thing but I have never seen a reason to change.

If I want a 270 bullet that's "better" than a 130 NPT I load a 130 Bitterroot.

It seem to take big bull elk to consistently stop a 130 NPT from a 270 Winchester. No me but old friends have killed AY moose and grizzlie with them.

Damn nice. Funny how a cartridge designed in 1925 using a bullet designed in 1948, creates so much drama for naysayers.

Did it take two for your bull? Pretty consistant performance.

16: The bull was not mine. My rancher friend from Wyoming killed him a few days after I left that year,and sent me the slugs.

Since I leave ammo for him he thought they were Bitterroots and said they lost a lot of weight (grin). I told him they mast be Partitions because BBC's don't shed weight,or far less than any Nosler expanding bullet at any rate.

Details are a pair of lung shots at 250-300 yards;staggered around a few seconds and collapse. Since I've seen the same reaction from mature bulls with everything from the 270 to the 340 Weatherby, I've concluded bull elk can be pretty phlegmatic.

Any way "which partition" in a given cartridge is not something I dwell too much on. I just choose one and run with it.

Do things halfway right and no animal will get away after a hit with a 130 Partition, that you would have killed with a 140 Partition. It just does not work that way.

People should shoot what they have confidence in but choosing between a 130 and 140 Partition based on some illusion of superiority is a waste of time.

I re-checked velocities and clocked a new batch of brass last week.

140 AB's, CCI 200, 24" Montana.

58 grains of H4831sc made 2970fps(virgin Hornady brass).

58.5 grains H4831sc makes 3020fps(3x fired Nosler brass).

6" horizontal groups at 400 yards in a 10-15mph wind. Vertical was within a couple inches.

Weighed a couple pieces of brass and the Hornady weighs almost the same as the Nosler(Norma).

SamO; I can see Hiaring's Shilen doing those velocities. It's common to see RL22 behave like that.

And I have seen those kinds of results from Douglas, Shilen, Lilja, and other tight spec,smooth buttoned barrels. Just the way it works.Plus 24 7/8", it all adds up sometimes.

It's the barrel, though...not the tight chamber which has almost no effect.

Still when I see a cartridge produce velocities app. 150 fps above what the manuals call for, my antenna goes up to red alert.Especially if RL22 is involved....

Sam, ever use the larger capacity WW brass?

What's your thoughts of it vs. the Hdy if you've used it?

Apples and oranges perhaps... I use new (though vintage yellow box stuff) Winchester brass with the 58 gr H4831SC and the 140 gr TSX out of my 24" Montana and get right at 2950 fps. I did not go any higher as time prior to my hunt did not allow. Since is shoots so well, I will leave well enough alone.

In the 20+ years I've used the 270, I've only ever used WW Brass, which is why I'm curious about the Hdy brass... never used it, but it seems available everywhere.

Brad,
While I haven't used the Hornady brass in 270, it's all I've used in the 7/08. It's good stuff. I'll buy more when a need arises.

Winchester brass is getting to be a real PITA to obtain. i buy it every time I see it, and fortunately I have a lifetime supply of 300 & 375 H&H they no longer make and even though they still make 348 and 300 Savage, I have plenty of the 348, but gave up on the 300 Savage and switched to Hornady with no issues.

Here is my son's first elk from last fall. Roughly a 200 yard shot and it failed to stop three 130gr Barnes TTSX's.

I did some more load testing with the same load and was reaching as high as 3180...warmer day, warmer barrel. So i backed it down to 56.7 and that put me back in the 3140 FPS arena which matches my CDS dial.

As far as Brass life, I have a lifetime supply of 270 brass (1200 new brass) so I am not very worried. Realistically, 3 loading's is probably all I will get.

You say it's not a hot load, but I'd be careful shooting that one on a hot day... Just sayin..

I wasn't worried about you running out of brass.....

I'm more curious about the wisdom of deliberately building loads for which the brass lasts only 3 rounds; and chasing numbers on a CDS dial.

I bet if you ran the 140 AB at a more normal 3000 fps, that you could get the dial to work fine.

But I've done some of this myself, years back running 130's at 3200 fps with RL22 from a 270, so this type of load "work up" is not exactly new. I learned over the years it's not exactly smart either.

If you wanted a 140 well over 3100 fps you should have bought a 270 WSM or 7 Rem Mag.

The first requirement of a hunting load is that it be safe(not redlined). YMMV.

Numberswise the 6" gain in drop, 1" gain in drift @500 is hardly worth the effort. Maybe less than hardly.

I'm glad someone said it...

Brad, I have a couple hundred pieces of WW brass as well. I only have 1x firing on that particular set(loaded with 135 SMK's).


Just weighed a couple empties(WW) and got around 195 grains. The Hornady and Nosler weigh 185 grains.


I had major weight lot to lot variation with Nosler brass and wouldn't buy any again unless it was all the same lot #.


I also chit canned my RCBS sizing die. I fiddled with that thing off and on ever since I bought it and finally ordered a set of Hornady dies for the 270 and 243. Mucho runout improvement with ZERO dicking around.


Depending on the day(moon phase?) I was getting getting .003-.010"(!) runout with the RCBS die. Had to have it set just right or it was terrible.

Spun the Hornady in and made .001" neck runout right off the bat.

I even replaced the decapping stem, tried all the trick and would still get wonky sized case with the RCBS. Not sure what the hell was going on.

Its so simple its complicated. Gotta say I'm taking a much different patth as of late. I'd rather sit alone on a rock, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a cushion.