Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting .270 Win or 7mm RM

Atleast I’m reading something while on the thrown versus you having video sex with other males or taking and texting male anatomy pictures to some of your girlieman friends on here.

A buddy and I were having a few cold ones after work today. We got to talkin about hunting elk in a few years as he has a contact in CO and asked if I’d be interested. Neither on of us had ever shot an elk. I was telling him about the new M700 I was looking at and said I was thinking about a .270 since it’s been so long since I’ve had one. He said I “need” a mag if we head west.

Now I know damn well I don’t need a mag and was showing him some ballistics that pretty much meant nothing since he has a 7mag for deer that’s what he’d use for elk too.

I have plenty of others I could use, but not a .270 or 7mag.

For those of you that have used them on elk, which one?

Wow. Quite the fantasy life you have.

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" = drop
2234fps - 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" = drop
2457fps - 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.

Here is where the 7 mag and other flat shooters have the advantage, being able to kill a trophy that comes out on the opposing side of the valley floor or on the opposing side of a large park, when you have only a few minutes of daylight left, and don’t have the time to close the gap.

And when they come out across a valley from you on the valley floor, with nothing but valley floor separating the two of you, no matter how much daylight is left, sometimes you can close the gap, and sometimes not depending on the terrain.

Lastly, you never know where your future hunting will be as far as being invited, getting a group together, etc, so why limit yourself in a future unknown hunting terrain with a cartridge.

TZ, You’d be good to go with a 270 as long as your wearing flaming flame retardant orange from head to boot. Might I suggest dropping a little more horsepower in the engine by ramping up to a 270 WSM. You’ll find some decent BC bullets from Nosler LRAB’s. May give you some extra MPH. 😎

I appreciate your long post. The thread was about hunting, not a lengthy range session. I did see your reference to 150 LRAB, but there was no ballistics posted for comparison sake.

I fully understand and agree with your position on recoil for anyone, long shooting sessions, versus hunting: 1-2 shot, where a person enjoys rather than hate.

I can also understand how recoil would play into a choice on a man having Uncle arthritis or an injury. My “who cares about recoil” reference is for a fit man with a thick hunting jacket who will only pull the trigger 1-2 times when hunting, hopefully.

I’d shoot your 140’s and 160’s up you have loaded, rather than switch to building up a load for the 150’s unless you just want something to do.

I hope you and your family continue to enjoy your shooting, and hunting.

A few comments...

1. The .270 Win load I developed for Daughter #1 beats the snot out of the 7mm RM load I used for 20+ years, which was very effective for killing elk. It isn't the headstamp that counts but the performance of individual loads.

2. Most hunters are in no way prepared for shots much past 300 yards, regardless of the terrain or the cartridge they are using.

3. A hunter is not limiting themselves if they are not prepared to shoot past the capability of the cartridge they are using. Given the ability of commonly used cartridges and average hunters, most are not are limiting themselves regardless of their cartridge choice.

Case in point, we spotted elk at 1100 yards this year. Neither Daughter #1 or her hubby had ever taken an elk and none of use were prepared for a shot that long. We closed to 476 yards, at an altitude (~8500 feet) and wind conditions (essentially none) where Daughter's .308 Win/130g TTSX @ 3045fps MV would have been adequate. While would have been quite happy to take the shot, Daughter #1 was not comfortable shooting at that range. By the time we closed to her comfort range the elk were gone.

Granted, I used this event as an excuse to get her a .270 Win and develop a 150g LRAB load that delivers elk-killing velocity and energy (2000fps and 1500fpe is my rule of thumb) to 700 yards. In future situations, neither a 7mm RM with a 150g LRAB or a .300 WM / 190g LRAB would offer any advantage, although they would extend the 2000fps/1500fpe range to 850 yards and over 1000 yards respectively. The limiting factor will be our level of preparedness, which is in large part determined by a) the longest range at my local club - 600 yards, b) our choice of scopes and c) time spent practicing.

There is one other thing to consider - recoil. The .270 Win/150g LRAB load I developed for my daughter has a calculated recoil of 17.7 ft-lbs. The 7mm RM/150g LRAB has a calculated recoil of 23.4 ft-lbs and the .300 WM/190g LRAB recoils at 36.8 ft-lbs. Although the .270 load will drop about 8" more than the others, the difference in drift is only 2.5". I'll take the 8" and 2.5", you can have the recoil.

Thanks.. I hope you and yours do the same.

A hunter that doesn't spend time at the range cannot be well prepared for the long shots. Heck, many hunters I've seen are not well-prepared regardless.

Wow. Just funnin you a little. Chill. Please forgive. Yer taking this stuff way too serious. Auto correct trips us all up at times. A

[quote=Jordan Smith]
As they say in poker, here's the nuts.

And you can kick that 20 mph up to 40-60, 70 mph when it starts blowing snow sideways at the higher elevations.

Great post Jordan.