Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 7 Mag vs 270 Win

.30-06 is what I was thinking but it wasn't on the list.

As is always the case, shot placement rules. Anything from a 270 Win through 375 H&H will kill an elk with a well placed, premium bullet.

donsm70

Yeah, dont overthink it just get a good ol 30-06 in a decent bolt action rifle and go kill Elk.......Hb

30-06

Drop the mic

Plus one

This is a fun threat! I remember oa guide by the name of Bowman.. probably before most of you were born.. But he an 270 O'Conner were great pals. He got O'c a huge elk on a guided hunt, the only kind O made.. Of course a 270 was the weapon used, BUT O'Conner gave Bowman a . 275 H & H mag.. Bowman loaned it to many of his hunters for elk.. He was so impressed w/ it, he got Mike Walker of Remington to develop the 7mm RM... This boy saw lots of game killed and he saw a difference between the .270 & 7mag..

If its a lighter shorter barrelled rifle that he prefers .270win, otherwise 7Rmag.

for typical comparison Nosler data 24" barrels;

.30/06 180gn (SD .271)R22 max 62.0gn = 2812mv
7mmR 175gn (SD .310)R22 max 62.5 gn = 2970mv

+1 on the .270 WSM

Here is a 270wsm, haven't had it too long. It will put 140 Accubonds damn near through the same hole. I think the 270WSM is the best of the short mags.

6.5 creedmoor. LOL.

jest get a .270. skip the belt, skip the bullschit

I'm a huge fan of the 270 and for no good reason don't like the 7mag. Seems when I was a kid everyone around me thought they needed a 7mag to kill our little white tails...I think that's where my distaste for it started.

I like the fact mentioned that factory ammo is much cheaper for the 270 Winchester.

Maybe it is just me, but my experience is that a .300WM and 7mag, punch your shoulder about as hard, but my experience is limited to just a few rifles.

The shape of the powder bottle is a LOT less important then the construction of the bullet.
I have used 270 Winchester, 270 Short Magnum, 7X57 30-06, 308 Win, 8MM Mauser, 338-06 338 Mag and 375H&H.I have also used 44 Magnum and 454 Casull as well as 62 cal flintlock. I have killed one with a wood arrow too.
In my experience the only 2 guns that I can truly see an observable difference in the impact/"shock/ killing power (or what ever name you want to call it) are the 62 cal muzzleloader and the 375H&H.

In the kills I have made from the 270 to the 338 Mag, if I use bullets that hold together, I can't tell the difference.

What I do think is very noteworthy is the fact that of the few I have killed with so-so or poor bullets, the ones that did the worst were the bigger guns. Not because there was ANYTHING WRONG WITH MY GUN, BUT BECAUSE I HAVE USED POOR BULLETS BEFORE I LEARNED MY LESSON!

I have seen bullets blow up from my 338 and from my 300 magnum. When that happens the wound you are trying to inflict often is less deep, and can even turn angles in the animal.

I have always used 150 Gr Remington Core Lock, (1970s manufacture) 150 grain Nosler partitions and 160 grain Nosler partitions in my 270s and I have never had a problem, or anything to bitch about with them. All the elk I have killed with my 270s fell within about 2-4 seconds, and many hit the ground when I was still hearing the noise.

Every single kill I have ever made on an elk in which the elk didn't drop as fast as I would like was with a more powerful gun then my 270s. You could say that the least powerful "elk guns" I have ever used have been 270 Winchesters, but they have been the most effective other then my 375 and my 62 cal flintlock.

But I have ALWAYS used good bullets in the 270s and I have made the mistake a few times of using bullets that come apart in my 30 cals, and my 338 mag.

So I can tell you faithful that the bullet is more important then the shell.

If you use a proper bullet for elk, you can shoot about anything you like. If you like the rifles a lot you will shoot it more, and if you shoot it more you gain skill. Skill is what you need more than anything else.

I find this interesting. I have had similar experience with KY WT's. A truck load of DRT's with 95gr NPT's from a .243Win. And several that have traveled 10-20 yards with holes from 7RM and .375H&H. All similar shot placement thru the ribs. No "blow ups" per se. But not the instantaneous DRT's that I am accustomed to with the .243.

When your friend shoots your two rifles, he will most likely prefer the operation of the action, trigger pull setting, stock LOP, and quality of recoil pads, between the two rifles more than the difference between these two calibers. If they are identical rifles, he may find the 7RM more exciting.

I just don't see the need for 7 mag unless you really plan on shooting heavy and long ways.
For average joe. 270 with 130 ttsx is everything and then some to 400 maybe even 500.
If you don't like mono, 140 accubond at 3000 is no slouch
But the 06 is hard to beat.

Hard not to like the 7mm, I've used one effectively for about 40 years including on elk over 300 yards a few times with the TTSX 150 grain bullets.

These days I like the 300 WSM as a dedicated elk gun, it is just a step up in performance without much increase in recoil.

Other then a 300 WSM i abhor shooting 300 win mags, they have entirely too much recoil for the casual shooter . I see no difference in results between a 7mag and a 300 win mag or 300 wby if you want to go there.

I shot a .270 mostly for about 15 years before retiring it last year for a 7mm rem mag. I haven't been able to tell any difference in the effect between the two. I would go with whichever he can find in a rifle he likes for a price he likes