Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Tough Bullets for LARGE game

I am hoping it doesn't come to it...and for now wont go into details cause I am hoping Leupold can fix the problem... but...

There may be the chance I will be taking my 270 WSM on my Northern BC moose/caribou adventure. This is a very accurate gun that can shoot long, but thats not going to likely be needed on this hunt. Max 400 yards and expect to be even closer on my shots like 2-300. Knowing this, I am wanting to hedge my bets with a super stout heavy bullet and wanted to get your thoughts.

Assuming BC and long range is not a concern, and assuming all of these bullets shoot well - which would you pick. BTW, I will be pushing these all in the 3100-3150 FPS range.

150 grain Nosler Partition - leaning this way
150 grain Swift A Frame - no experience with them
150 Barnes TSX - Not sure if I can push these as fast as the others

I've never killed anything tougher than a whitetail so take this for what it's worth. When I hear anyone mention tough bullet, my first thought is always Barnes.

130 TTSX

I can't find much fault with the 150 grain partition or A-frame but if you haven't yet try the 160 grain nosler partition I know it is very popular with the .270 (both original and WSM) users I know for moose. I also wouldn't be too concerned achieving 3100fps MV either, these loads have killed a pile of moose at .270 winchester velocities. A tough premium bullet is a great thing if it gives you the warm and fuzzies and shoots well enough to give you confidence.

Honestly if push came to shove I would be comfortable with a 150 grain Hornady interlock loaded to around 3000fps. If it shot the best. Now before you discount me for living in moose country keep in mind that here we only have a 5 day season and it takes a very long time to get drawn.

A-Frame. Trophy Bonded Bearclaw. I taken elk and all African PG with DRT. You cannot go wrong with these bullets toughness wise. If they like your gun? I feel these slugs are deadly.

I used to hunt with a 270 Weatherby and loaded 150 gr. NPT on top of large dose of 7828 for bigger stuff and it accounted for a raghorn bull and a nilgai with no problems, neither went more than 10 yards after the shot.
I think a 150 NPT would work in the 270 WSM.

StarchedCover

You just don't find people bitching about or even questioning the effectiveness of Partitions. I should say that it's rare. There are hundreds of threads across the internet questioning the effectiveness of monometal bullets. In each of those threads credible posters share experiences of some level of dissatisfaction. In those same threads, very credible posters heap praise upon them. My comments are not meant to take anything away from them. Anything that could be said for the Partition could be said for the A-Frame. I have read a lot on the A-Frame, and I think the front half is a bit tougher. My experience with the Partition on deer size game is 100% positive.

In Order

150 Partition
150 A-Frame
130 TTSX
150 TSX

I know you didn't ask about these, but they possess characteristics of monos, bonded and Partitions. I have some on order and have confidence in them. I'd put them on your list above the Barnes bullets.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/2...grain-polymer-tipped-boat-tail-box-of-50

The first 3 on that list are the ones I would consider in the same order, there is no way I would even consider the 150 gr TSX.

Paul, you beat me to it. I had just posted that same suggestion, deleted my post after I saw yours.

I agree with gerry, the 150 TSX wouldn't be on my list. The other three, along with the 140 gr. Fed TBT would be in my final 4.

DF

I only included the 150 TSX because he had it on his list.

I set my Montana .270 WSM up with a dual loading with the 160 grain Partition for the heavy side. As luck would have it, when the rifle is sighted for 300 yards with the 130 NBT and Accubond it worked out to a 200 yard zero with the heavier bullet. 3050 fps with Retumbo.

In my 270s I have used the Barnes 140 gr, and the Nosler Partitions in 130 150 and 160 grain.
I have hunted with 3 men using the 150 grain Swifts too.

I have only recovered one of the above bullets ever. That was 2 seasons ago from a large cow elk I killed at about 400 yards. It was a Nosler 160 grain, which I hit her with as she was going away from be. I hit her about 2/3s back on the left side and I found the bullet in the neck under the skin. So it went through the body and up the neck about 12". It only lost about 30 grains of weight. Can't say I was disappointed. The mushroom looks like a magazine advertisement. It's perfect.

Every other 270 bullet from the list above I have killed game with and every other one I have seen game killed with were through and through wounds with good exits. The only down side I can accuse Barnes and Swift of is that they are so tough that they fail to expand much at striking velocities under 2000 fps, but that still gives the shooter of a standard 270 even with 150 grain bullets 1/4 mile of useful range with good expansion. If you shoot a Weatherby or a short mag you will get maybe 75 yards more. At 350 and under they work to perfection.

What my experience suggests is that the Nosler is the best all-around bullet because the exits I see are larger, as are the wound channels, then those made by the X bullets or the Swifts. Now this is just an educated guess because as I said, only one bullet of the 5 mentions above has been recovered. So what I am saying is bases only on the size of the wounds and the exits.

What I see from Barnes X bullet and from Swift bullets are holes about 1/3 smaller in diameter, but when you have exits, you can't get any deeper. 100% is 100%
All of them break bones just fine. All kill just fine. But the Noslers seem to be a bit more quick to put elk on the ground. Seconds only, but it's been something I have seen several times so I am sticking my neck out here and writing what I have seen.

What I am guessing is that the the Swift and the Barnes open up slower, and open up less, so their wounds are a bit narrower. All exit.
If I were shooting moose or buffalo I might give the nod to the Barnes of Swift over the Nosler, but for elk and deer, I think the Nosler is the better way to go by a small margin.

As to the long rage performance in my experience the Noslers are better. Here I need no guess work. This I can say from a great deal of experience.
The Noslers expand at lower velocities then either Swifts or Barnes and usually a lot lower, so you can expect good wounds at longer ranges than we should really fire at game with the Partitions. I no longer do this personally. I have made quite a few kills "waaaay out there" with my 270s in years past, but I grew up some, and realized it was a bit foolish to shoot that far. I was lucky and had a high degree of skill, because I never lost a deer and I never failed to kill. But game is a blessing, not an enemy so I stopped shooting those distances.

I never failed, but odds are that if I kept it up I would.

And I am a good enough hunter that most of my game is killed close. Some have been REAL close! So I see no reason I can't get to within 550 yards of anything now days, and I usually can get within 100 yards. 550 yards is now my self imposed limit for shooting any game animal. That includes antelope, and I do it all the time. In fact I have not killed any pronghorn in Wyoming in the last 22 years beyond 450 and most I have killed at under 150. I have killed 8 at under 10 yards and one at a distance I blew some hair off with the muzzle blast. I think it was about 18 inches. I feel far more pride in that kill then I do in my kills of 700-900 yards on deer.

But if you want a tough bullet for big game that works wonderfully at close range, and still has the capability to work out at loooong range, the Partitions are about the best thing I have used or seen used in the last 50 years.

Some of the new bonded bullets may be as good, but I don't have enough experience with them yet to say for sure.

The TSX. I have killed about 30 or more critters with a TSX and they work very well. I have never recovered one and all critters died quickly. They are tough and they work.

Good post. You may find that the TTSX opens more aggressively and leaves larger wound channels than the TSX did, if you decide to move away from the TSX/X and toward the TTSX/LRX.

Yeah, I didn't mention the LRX.

But agree with Jordan, it should be on the list.

DF

I have a box of 150 partitons and some Reloader 26....Headed to the range this weekend

If the Partitions shoot well, I'd look no further. They are the standard that other bullets are compared to for a reason, they work!

Just for general information:
A 150 Barnes won't normally stabilize in a standard 1-10" twist that most 270s have anyway ; they might at high elevation and fast velocity, but not where I'm at.

-Ted

+1

DF

Agreed.