Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mule Deer- Know of any .270 brown/grizzly kills?

Mule Deer I am jealous of your pre 64 .375 Win. But I need not be. I have a beautiful restocked CZ 550 American with AA grade walnut from Richards Microfit Stocks(just don't like .375 H&H recoil). The 9.3 is very nice...However, not an ultra expensive status quo gunsmith creation of art. It has a very nice new recoil pad that has reduced much recoil. It has killed two elephants, five cape buffalos, one lion, and uncountable warthogs (one shot kills all). I lost count of the small antelope to large Eland. All Killed with one shot. I only killed a elephant and cape buffalo for dangerous game. All the other animals were harvested by two hunters whose rifles did not arrive in Zimbabwe and South Africa many days later. Their hunt and mine was almost over when their rifles finally arrived in camp. Both the other guys went to the 9.3 x 62 upon return to Belgium and Pennsylvania. Harsh .375 recoil and sufficient performance of the 9.3 was the reason the .375s were traded in. I used a 26" barreled.270 Win. This also kept the recoil down. Used a 140 Barnes TSX at 3150 fps. This 9.3 has given one half inch accuracy with the Nosler 250gr Ballistic Tip Bullet. The 286gr Barnes TSX and solid both(with factory stock) gave three quarters in. groups. Haven't tried the new stock yet. The old stock was stolen.

Read this post very late in the session and enjoyed it greatly. Spent many enjoyable years in Alaska, never deliberately hunted /grizzly with my 270, but was forced to l kill an interior , smallish boar, grizzly on a sheep hunt. One frontal shot at probably 10 or less yards, with 130 grain nosler, hand loaded with 62 grains surplus 4831 did the trick, though followed it up with a couple of insurance hits. We didn ‘t do an autopsy on him but none of the hit’s exited. Became very good friends withEd Stevenson a legendary bear guide ,modern day mountain man, who many on the site, including Phil S, know well, Ed gravitated to large bore lever guns for his back up including marlin 1895’s in 45/70, rechambered Winchester model 86’s and 71, and 95’s. He collaborated at great length with the other legendary Alaskan and gunsmith Bill Fuller of coopers landing on some of Fuller’s great stopping calibers. If I remember right Ed finally narrowed his choice down to the great marlin 1895 in 45/70 stoked with his favorite 400 grain load. I visited Ed several times at both his sheep river camps and gravina river guide areas, though never actually hunted with him had many a enjoyable hours sharing his stories. Ed loved to impress me with his prowess with the lever gun, I believe he could run a lever gun like no man alive. Last I talked to Ed was several years ago , after I retired in 98 , and moved back to Wyoming, after we exchange a couple of good natured insults Ed mentioned he let another bear get ahold of him(as he always put it) . As he related a smallish brown chose to charge him , knocked him down and wrestled him around for awhile then took off unscathed. This scrimish didn’t require hospitalization contrary to another encounter he had years earlier, where the big brown not only chewed him a lot but damn near downed him in the gravina river until his client killed him . That encounter put him in the hospital for a few days and as he told me later “ you know Don that took a little while to get out of my head” typical Ed’s matter of fact way of relating significant events a normal man would consider a life altering event , Regrettably Ed passed a few years ago and with him a tremendous amount of Alaskan lore. RIP my friend

Mohall57... I am age 72 and know that an age/era is passing with each year that I live. Our older, experienced outdoor people are dying, new types of guns, a younger generation is different, it is more expensive to hunt( $2000 out of state Wyoming), can't get ammo or reloading supplies. It just goes on and on, all of these woes. Things have changed. However, I have my memories and I cherish the memories.

Exactly, hunting was our cheap entertainment.
No big expenses, just head out the door and up the mountain.
Luckily, I can still hunt this way .
I actually made money during hunting season working for the various outfitter's First with odd jobs, then cutting trail and setup. Finally as a Guide.
In my 20's we began travelling north for stone sheep, that was done on the cheap as well.
Hunting, fishing , hockey, ball and rodeo were cheap to pursue.
Oh yeah, and a Husky.270, spacemaster spotting scope and heavy10x 50 bins around my neck.
Anyone remember Trapper Nelson # 3 packboards?

Absolutely I remember the trapper Nelson, I still have two, for old time sake, one with bag other without. Damn they were hard on the back and shoulders. The darn things are worth some money now, with collectors of memoribrlyia (sp). I
Have memories all right, as I bet you do as well. Young tough and dumb but bet you , given the chances would do it all over again, as would . Regards buddy

Comerad you perhaps work for Miles and Sherry Bradford out of Dease lake? Or know them! You might have know their boy Leland before he was killed in the auto accident down your way.

Dwayne I've reread your story a good many times. I've been educated here at the variety of calibers used to take the giant brown bears of the far north. Bullet placement in all of these stories is the big secret for all these calibers. But your story is a piece of history now long, long gone. This is a story that brings out a sentimental emotion in me. Thanks for the memories from a long, long time ago. This and other stories made Thanksgiving of 2023 SPECIAL for me. I was so excited about all of these stories.

Glenn---roanmtn(Roan Mountain, TN)

You took an elephant with a 9.3?

I am going by memory...weren't the longs around 29 grains? This is a long, long time ago.

Yep! One shot between between the eye and the ear from the left side of the head. Penetrated through and exited on right side of skull. Mule Deer, compared to the rest of us, is the real 9.3 x 62 guy with a great deal of experience. I've read the history, on the 9.3 x 62 from a lot of sources. Look up Ganyana 9.3 x 62 and you will read a very enjoyable article about it. The 9.3 x 62 and the .375 H&H Magnum are always discussed in African literature. Don Heath(GANYANA) a professional PH, recently deceased, was very experienced with the 9.3 and was instrumental, I have read, for the 9.3 being legal to hunt dangerous game in Zimbabwe. He killed a lot of elephants with the 9.3 x 62. The 9.3 was the king of the all purpose rifles until WW2 messed up the Mauser factory and ammunition supplies. No one could get ammo or new rifles. Winchester was making .375 rifles at affordable prices. Around 1957 most African countries stipulated the .375 would be the smallest caliber for dangerous game. A great many Winchester .375s were imported and the 9.3 rifles were put into the closet and forgotten. CZ later corrected this and manufactured affordable 9.3 x 62 rifles for Africa.Too many European royal sons were killed by inadequate calibers not stopping dangerous game. However, the 9.3 was gifted a reputation for deadly killing power on all African game, including elephant and cape buffalo. I also killed a cape buffalo, one shot. The 286gr Barnes TSX took out the top of the heart, messed up the plumbing on top of heart
He ran about forty of my long paces(short legs). This CZ 550 American was borrowed by two other hunters whose rifles were not delivered with them in Zimbabwe.

Gosh, that's funny !!!!!!!!!

I only worked for one oufitter ,a little west of Dease Lake...it wasn't those folks. I don't recall Leland's death either. Sorry about that.
I would go up north to hunt prior to our season in the East Kootenays for myself. I would work then for an outfitter from Sept to late Nov, they were all 10 day, horseback hunts.
I still have a #2 & #3 trapper Nelson. The #3 has a bag.. Iater graduated to a alluminum / alloy backpoard
One thing for sure, if you used a Trapper Nelson...you remember it. Thanks for helping share the memory

I was talking to Joe Darbyshire today. He killed a grizz orb two with his 270 Wby.

If you spend much time walking or fishing in grizzly or brown country, a heavy caliber lever action becomes a companion. Fast into action, fast on repeat shots. I have an original 1950s pre-64 M-70 in 375 H&H-but
the original pre-war Model 71s both in 450 AK and 450 Fuller get carried regularly. Ed and Phil Shoemaker agree on lever action rifles. Used to carry an ancient TD 1895 in 405. Allen Hasselborg carried one for decades.
Bolt guns work, but are slow in the thick bush. Bears generally require a second shot after anchoring...
A couple were killed in Banf N.P. Canada not long ago. Bear spray depends on wind direction...and the bear. Best have a back up that will work...I carry also a 45 Colt Ruger with 300 gr bullets. Be prepared.

Book on Glasser is great!

I've had most of the Weatherby cartridges and the .270 Weatherby is the one I remember that appeared to have a noticeable increase in wallop over the standard cartridge. I interpreted that as a meaningful increase in pushing the standard bullet designs of the day to their limits of performance. Expansion over penetration was more the goal back then, but with heavier bullets it also performed well.

We had a writer in Oz called Dick Euson who was regularly on the cover with buffalo he had taken with his .270 Weatherby, using 150 or 160gn Partitions. That case size has a lot of merit in several calibers as around 70ish grains of powder seems to suit a lot of calibers from .257 up.

For a number of years I had a FFL & a close friend decided to collect WBY Mark V's in all the WBY calibers. This took several years to secure all of them, ""money & finding them." My fee to him was to fire each rifle & keep one unfired round in each Caliber. I fired them standing, "much more comfortable". The 378, & up had noticable recoil !! DEFINITELY A FUN PROJECT !!!

I am also experienced with Grizzly kills.
I like leverguns alot.
The Sweetest I have is a .450 Marlin, sends a punishing ball forward and a cowkick backwards.
It has a low power scoutscope allowing 2 eyes open while sighting.
Just needs a little practice.
The .270 with 160 Partitions and scoutscope or ironsights is almost equal on the frontend, way easier on the back- a springtime calfkick. Recovering easily for a follow up .
Hey, this is a .270 wcf/ Grizzly thread. Cheers