Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Best Elk Cartridge in the World??

I personally feel the .270 Winchester being used on bull elk is fine, provided that hunter can hit their mark and use a 150 grn or 160 Nosler Partition bullet or some other premium bullet. The problem is most can not hit their mark and want to shoot a bull at 400 yards with a cheap plain jane bullet. I do not question as to weather or not a .270 Winchester with a 150 grn bullet, will kill animals under 400 pounds with success but as body weight goes up, so does the chance of that caliber not being able to dispatch said game. Surely not as well as a .30-06 with a 180 grn bullet or the .300 Win mag or the .35-Whelen etc. Thus my feelings for using enough caliber on animals the size as bull elk. The .338 Win mag is no slouch in this department and still reins in my book as King for taking Mr. Wapiti!

I've seen enough elk killed with non-premium 270/130's to totally discount that. Just my experience...

A 270 wouldnt be at the top of my list as an elk cartridge. But if its all I had, I'd take it

If the .30-06 180 kills any better than the .270 150, I've not been able to tell. I love both cartridges and those are the weights I use.

Gentlemen, I do not question the ability of either the .270 Winchester caliber (one of my favorites by the way) nor the 30-06 which I no longer shoot. I do own several .270 Winchesters, one being a Texas made rifle called the Kliengunther. However, the .270 regardless of what Jack O'Conner killed with his, is NOT an elk caliber, even though many have killed elk.

I will never convince, those that are head strong about NOT using a premium bullet, when they truly believe it is a waste of money in the first place. I will say that anyone who hunts bull elk with a 130 plan jane bullet is not making a wise choice. I like larger bullets for any animals over 350 pounds in body weight. My very first lost animal (bull elk) was to a 130 grain cheap bullet that came apart and did not penetrate through the vitals. Then I discovered the 160 NOsler Partion and it worked far better you betcha.

I will stick to my guns concerning the .338Win mag and it's ability on elk with a 225 or 250 grain bullet! It works and damn well to boot, so those those who use a .270 Winchester and want to go the path of a cheap 130 grain bullet on a 900 pound animal, you hunters do as you wish, I hunt elk with my .338 caliber or larger. Those that doubt my words can perhaps pick up a little wisdom from a reloading manual called "Any Shot You Want" and become a better educated hunter.

Well, which is it?

The best elk cartridge is one that you can hit what your shooting at. I prefer a .270 win, my boy .270 wsm, a friend of mine, 300 wsm and another .257 wby and another 30.06. point is shoot what ya like as long as you can hit your target.

Friend of mine went on a premium elk hunt. Another hunter there had a 30-378 wby or a 338-378 wby, he wanted a big gun to take down his bull and too shoot a long ways away if need be. He missed a nice big bull after 5 shots because he couldn't hit what he was shooting at. Finally had to borrow a 300 wsm to get his bull.

Like the seatbelt advertisement..... You can learn alot from a dummy. Is this sometin' you read on tha innanet, or real experience which I doubt you have.

Gun-Nut, great name I suppose your telling us something?

Let me put it this way to YOU Arky! The original .270 way back in 1922 was made for animals under 350 pounds......You do the research if you can. I'll continue to use what I know works best on bull elk and that is 338 win mag or .358 Norma mag!!! Now go call your hogs from the creek!!! Yes, I sure as hell do use premium bullets too.

I used to correspond a bit with the late George Hoffman. George was an African PH and the developer of what eventually became the 416 Remington. Most of our correspondence centered on elk hunting and elk cartridges. George told me he'd taken just at 50 elk... all with the 270. His opinion was if a guy didn't think the 270 was a fantastic elk cartridge they just hadn't done all that much elk killing with one.

So what we can all agree on here is "the best elk cartridge" would range from 270 win and bigger? I'd go for that.

I've killed and seen them killed with the 243 up to 338 WM. Funny how a bullet in the right spot will end life no matter the cartridge. I used the 338 WM quite a bit but later went to the 300 WSM as my primary elk rifle. Also used the 30-06 and 308 quite a bit. Funny how all the cartridges worked when pointed properly.

Ironically, I've never taken an elk with the 270, but have seen more elk taken with it than any other cartridge. I plan on rectifying that in a year or so. The 270 is a great all-around Western round. Mild kick, flat trajectory... sort of a soft-recoiling 300 Mag.

Definately have to agree with you there Brad.

Me, too....nothing wrong with using something bigger and I've bumped into a lot of elk hunters who felt pretty strongly about using something larger,which is fine.I've carried 338's on elk hunts but for some reason the elk avoided me,but I have seen it and the 340 Weatherby used a fair amount.....and the 270 and 7 mag,and 300's as well.

It seemed to me they all killed well when good bullets were put in the right place;not so well with any of them when bullets were sloppily placed.

Me personally I mostly chose the middle ground and liked a 300 or 7mm mag for them;these work well IMHO.

As bugs would say,That's all folks.

Perfect answer Brad

I'm sorry Tonk, Just poppin' your bra strap . I agree with you. The 338 is a great elk round, one of the best. So..... Have you lost an elk or prairie dog that you wounded with a .270?

I'll check on tha hogs while you Google up more .270 experience.....ok

Brad, I too used to converse with George Hoffman years back and we certainly did have a difference of opinion of the .270 Winchester caliber! He also told me he didn't see a dimes worth of difference between the 150 and 160 grn Nosler Partition bullet. He was responsible for me purchasing my very first .416 magnum to hunt Africa with at the time.

Nonetheless, I liked George a bunch, he was indeed a Christian and a true pleasure to speak with about most anything, especially hunting in Africa. However, I always felt that Jack O'Conner had gotten to him years ago about one of the best deer killing calibers ever made.........270 Winchester!!! I go out on a limb and say the .270 Winchester was and still is the best mule deer killing caliber out there for the majority of the hunters today or back in 1925, especially with the introduction of a good 150 grn bullet that stayed togehter.

My late brother in law killed over 17 bull elk with his model 70 in .243 Winchester and I never considered it an "ELK Gun" either. Will a the .270 Winchester kill elk? Yes is sure will but in my humble opinion, it is just not in the same league as the .338/06, .35-Whelen, .338Win mag, .340-Weatherby or .375H&H caliber and that sums it up plainly speaking.

GunNut-308, the 25/06 and the 270 Winchester are my two favorite calibers for hunting around me in the mid-west but my .338Win mag and .416mag are my go to rifles for hunting those bigger critters both here and on the dark continent. I don't need to google anything up about hunting, only the current facts concerning farming our land in Craighead County, Arkansas.

Now justr remember this fact, there are those up North that kill bears using a friggin .22mag rifle! However, I sure as hell won't be attempting such a feat, even though others have been successful or plan LUCKY ok.