Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 270 pills for elk?

I'm going to be handloading some rounds for a co worker who is going to Colorado in Oct for his 1st elk hunt. He wants to take his 270. I have 150 & 160 Partitions, old stock (yellow box) 150 gr Speer Grand Slams, 130 gr TTSX, 130 gr Interbonds, and 140 gr Hornady BTSP. I've had a lot of experience with the Interbonds, and while it's a great deer bullet, I would want a little more for elk. I've never loaded any of the others. Which one would you pick of the ones I have on hand?

Lots of good ones there, but I’d pick the 150 gr Nosler Partition. Terrific elk bullet, and Reloader 26 is giving it over 3,000 fps.

Killed a big 6x6 with a 270 Win and Remington 150gr factory load with no issues. Killed a 5x5 with a 130 gr Partiton, took two shots around 200 yards; both exited the bull. Loaded up a bunch of 150 gr Partitions this year for 270, they will do the job!

140 TSX, a slightly better BC than the 130 TTSX, and a little more weight. Should be able to get 3000+ fps! Loading those for the daughters .270 Win. She uses it for antelope, up thru elk! memtb

Sorry, after rereading your post....130 TTSX!

The .270 Win doesn't work on elk. You need a 6.5mm Creedmoor for that.

Exactly what he said. ^^^^^^

Ha, the creedmoor is the answer to all questions......


I do endorse the 160 NP though.. in the gay 270

If the Creedmoor can kill it, nothing else can. It's been proven arithmetically.

I have two siblings shooting 270s that I reload. The Kimber shoots 130 ttsx pretty well and has taken elk. Other brother bought a tikka last year that seems to prefer the heavies. I shot 150 ballistic tips last night which grouped under an inch. I would pick which ever shoots best.

Yeah, you need a .340 Weatherby.

Obviously, just kidding--point being that the .270 is a good option.

I have had the Hornady 140 grain bullets shed their jackets about 12" deep on deer a number of times so I would not pick that one from this "herd" that you ask about.

130 grain Innerbonds are likely OK, but for elk I favor the 150 and 160 grain bullets to gain the advantage of exits and good blood trails if they move after the shot.

I have had outstanding results with both 150 and 160 Grain Nosler Partitions and I have never recovered one of the 150s. I did recover a 160 grain Nosler 3 years ago from an elk I killed quartering away from me. The hit was in the side only about 12" in front of the hip. The bullet went through the elk and I found it in the middle of the neck under the skin on the off side. Total penetration was about 4 feet. Range was about 400 yards. The elk was hit 2 times, one broadside hit that drifted more then I guessed and went through the liver and exited the other side. The elk turned away from me fso I made a 2nd shot. Which is the one I just described. The 2nd shot dropped it instantly

All the elk I ever shot with the 150 grain partitions were at 250 yards and less, and I never recovered a single bullet. I never needed 2 shot either. That's batting 1000 for me.

Speer 150 grain Grand Slams:
I never killed an elk with one so I can't say for sure. I have killed several deer and one bear with them. No problems at all. So because I don't know how good they are in elk for sure I'd go with the Nosler partitions if I were loading ammo for a friend, but if I were to have some of my 150 grain Speer G.S. ammo in my rifle I would not hesitate to shoot an elk with one. I am fairly sure you'd do fine, but with the Noslers I am 100% sure.

Barnes 130 gr TTSX"
This is a bullet I have seen used about 15 times on deer and antelope and I once killed an antelope with one too. No experience on elk, and so far I have never even seen an elk killed with one. I am fairly sure they would be just fine. Everything I have seen killed with them dies very fast when hit right. I am going to guess they would give full penetration too, as these bullets retain about 98% to 100% of their weight when they hit. My Nosler 160 grain I recovered (above) still weighs 131 grains, so I can say that 130 is enough to give good penetration if the bullet doesn't shed weight,........... which a Barnes TTSX doesn't.
I can't say from personal experience with these on elk,--- but if you want to try them I wouldn't say not to.

Any of those will work... 150 NP is great, but not every rifle shoots them well. The 130 Accubond would be my choice failing accuracy with the 150 NP.

Had a good friend take a big six point broadside at 200 yds with Fed Prem 270’s with the 150-gr Nos Part’s that chrono’ed 2850 fps from his barrel. I was a little surprised it didn’t exit but it was under the off-side hide as pretty as can be. The bull stumbled about twenty yards. Very good 270 (or in about any cartridge) bullet for elk.

I have and like the 6.5 Creed, the 260 Rem and the 6.5-06, but i really like the 270......

The Creed lovers are an enthusiastic crowd gotta give them that......

From your list, my first choice would be the 150 Partitions. If those won’t shoot well, then I’d go with the 130 TTSX.

150 NP with any 270 is a great choice. Have yet to try them with RL26 but hope to soon.

I’ll be shooting 150 grain North Forks this fall on my elk hunt. If I didn’t have them, I’d be shooting Partitions without a doubt.

George, I've seen all kinds of bullets fail to punch through elk!

I've shot a couple of 130 Grain Barnes X bullets into a bull elk's shoulder. They both exited. Said elk fell to the ground at the first shot.and the second one wasn't needed really.

I would use the 130 TTSX or the 150 Partition,whichever it won't matter to the elk.