Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game What Would You Guys Think Re 270 wsm and 130 NBT for Elk

Thing is Dink if we shoot enough game and we'd be amazed at how many times you'd see things that make you go hmm...

I'd be willing to bet that the next 49 lopes that the bullet would blow on thru. Long and the short I've seen a lot of elk and have killed a lot of elk via a NBT to not worry one bit.

I find the old shoulder of an elk worries to be a lot like the old what should I carry for bear question. To date I've not found the shoulder of an elk all that tough to punch thru but then again unless the bulls quartering to me and I don't feel I have the time to wait for it to turn a skosh. Which has darn rare from my experiences.

What have you found to work well on shoulders of elk?

Thx
Dober

Dober,

You may very well be right but why risk it? It cost me alot of money for fuel, tags, gear, etc. to hunt elk. It does not make sense to get by with a cheap bullet that might do a great job or might stop in the on side lung.

I have killed a handful of animals with BT's and have not had the luck that you have had with them. I have recovered one and found pieces of several more. A couple did not have exit holes. I will be the first one to say they worked because everything is dead but how long before one doesn't quite make the cut.

I have always found the 180 grain partition works well on everything but most of the game I have killed with them were from a 300 ultra.

Dink

Dink, quit making sense.

BT's are fine and I use them without any reservations. In fact certain BT's are among the toughest cup and core bullets made. The 30 cal 180 is hell for stout and does a number on elk shoulders. This isnt speculating either.
IMO continued mental masturbation in regards to bullets, cartridges, rifles and other gear is futile. One is much better off sending mucho rounds down range year round, learning your intended game and the area you plan to hunt.

I wouldn't use an SST though. Haven't shot an elk with one after shooting a couple deer, I decided I didn't want to see an elk.. maybe it would kill it but I like elk meat too much to blow it up.

I've seen death via 270Win and 130NBT... it definitely didn't bounce off.

The verdict on the SST is that it's a bit explosive, eh? Partition might be a better option for the elkys? Kinda' want to shoot a mulie with an SST though...

The SST is a fine deer bullet, but quit a bit less tough than a BT IME. I have a ton of them and still load them for people using them for deer in their -06 and 308's.

I am working up some loads in my 270wby for the interbonds and using the sst as practice rounds. Being propeled by the weatherby @ 3500 might have been why they were explosive as well and the shot was under 100 yds not ideal conditions. For elk I bumped up to the 150 IB. It's got a .0.525BC so that can't hurt the flight pattern.

does she have bt's

Here's a 168gr Ballistic Silvertip fired from a .308 that was recovered from an Idaho bear this past May. The shot was broadside at 104 yards through the lungs and the bullet was recovered in the hide on the off side. The bear ran about 30 yards before piling up. Massive internal damage, but also massive separation of the core and jacket (as you can see, the core is gone).

I know it's a sample of one, but you can draw your own conclusions.

Looks about perfect to me. Whats te jacket weigh?

The conclusion was a dead bear without any difficulty, it seems. Sounds like the bullet performed flawlessly, even though it shed it's core in the end.

It amazes me that what a bullet looks like after killing has become the judgement of it's suitability rather then how much damage it causes and how well it kill. A grenade loses it core when used as well........

At least a few people get it... Ditto with two holes for "tracking".

My experience with BTs on mule deer have been VERY unimpressive, but that was out a 30-06. 2 for 2 with dead deer, but... I wouldn't consider using it on elk.

My 7mm Shamu isn't too far off from your rig. I shoot 160 accubonds (others bullets I like better wouldn't shoot well in it) in that rifle and they have been the undoing of a bunch of bulls (7+) and muley bucks with never a bitch about bullet performance.

That said, it penciled through a bighorn ram but we're talking very thin skinned there. Great performance on a mt. goat.

Anyway, plenty of good choices out there. Learn from the experiences folks have here and have fun!

What did they do that was unimpressive?

You gotta remember, perro will also sit here and tell you that the 223ai is THE best caliber for bear. Personally, I don't like using the bear minimum, I like having more than enough.

A few BT examples:

I have been using the PT primarily since 1961, as well as a couple of partners. Never had a failure of any kind. I always thought the 130 was a little light for elk. When I loaded for a partner several years ago I used the 150 PT.