Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting How far would you shoot an elk with a 270?

A thought crossed my head so i thought i would see what all you think. Whats your limit on how far you would shoot an elk with a 270 win spitting out a 130 grain TTSX?

As far as I was comfortable with my ability to hit where I needed to.

As far as I was sure that I could place a killing shot and expect reliable bullet performance. The actual distance could vary as a result of a lot things related to weather, terrain, my physical condition, the size of the elk, etc.

As far as I could make a solid hit, and still have the bullet impacting over 2100fps.

As far as the bullet retains 1500 foot-pounds of kinetic energy. Bullets with 1499 foot-pounds bounce off elk, as everybody east of the Mississippi knows.

furthest i've personally shot one was 450'ish but i was using 140 TSX's... worked fine but it was a cow and i had just finished it off for my BIL who azz shot it with his 300 WBY...

As far as I'd shoot with any of about 12 dozen other cartridges! The limiting factor isn't foot pounds of energy, nano grams of bullet weight or ballistic coefficient calculated to the 18th place. The limiting factor is a bunch of things, in no particular order- wind drift, bullet expansion, recovery considerations, animal movement during bullet flight and on and on. The percentage of hunters in the general population that can consistently put a bullet in the vitals of an animal past 300 yards is pretty small.
I know there are people here like Scenar shooter, some of the Alaska throng, Mule Deer, that can do it, but they have put the time in learning to do it. Shooting 600 hundred yards is kinda like bench pressing 600 pounds- Takes more than just buying the Tee shirt.

469 yds.
At least thats how far the last elk i killed with my 270 was.
course he was coming out of a wooded draw below me and i had his entire backline to drop one into.
held the top of his head and hit him 3rd to last rib,then he ran out to 505yds and stood broadside and i gave him another.
trailed him 60yds into the trees and punched my elk tag.

Farthest I've taken elk with the 130 TSX is 496 yds, one shot to the point of the front right, the bullet exited towards the rear qtr and said volunteer took a couple steps and pitched over.

IMO the bullets has what it takes to do it's thing a long ways, how far is that...? Well for me I'd use it to 700.

One has to know their ability's as well as the bullets. That said, if you've got the game to go long then the bullet will do it for you.

Personally though, I'd prefer a bit of a softer bullet to take elk when going long (say 500 to 1K). We've used the 130 Sierra BT to take elk to 650. And there's a lot of bullets I'd prefer past 500 if that makes any sense.

Dober

I've shot 2 at a bit over 300 with excellent results.

13 yards farther than I'd shoot one with an '06.

Let the flames begin!!

Tom

Oh, you'll smoke one in hell for that!

I don't know, don't own a .270 and likely won't ever run one of the blasphemous infernal things.

But I do know, you can do better that the 130 TTSX if your goal is to push the boundries of a .270.

463.7290 yds. according to my calculations.

463.730 yds....

About 800 with a 150 berger would be max for me. Now if you step up to a .277/7RUM Improved with 169s easy 1 to 1.2K rifle

Standing broadside 440 yds with a 150 NP. Had the elevation right, but hit her in front of the shoulder instead of behind because I didn't allow enough for the wind. Only "neck shot" I've ever pulled, and it wasn't intentional. Thankfully she was DRT

I would not be affraid of taking a shot with a .270 Winchester at 450 yards, if animal presentation permitted a proper shot, using my handloaded 160grn Nosler Partition bullet at 2800fps.

At least 519 yds with a 130 partition.

441 yds, according to my buddy's rangefinder--but it wasn't with a TSX........