Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 270 Wby or 375 H&H for Elk hunt?

that's one i'm gonna play with this spring guy. pretty good BC on that bullet so for my shooting ranges an accurate load could be the ticket.

270

The 270 Wby kills elk fine, just place that bullet right in the boiler room double lung shot, now that 270 Wby is about as close to the 7 Remington Mag as you can get, a lot of guys use the 7 on elk every year. By the way my dad only used the 270 Winchester 130 grain bullet exclusivly on his elk, thats right only Sierra bullets. He was one cool shot.

I would have to go with the 375 H&H. And I am not saying the 270 Weatherby won't do the job. It most certainly will. You stated the 375 is lighter and shoots well and you haven't hunted with it yet. There is no better way to build confidence than by shooting it and hunting with it.

The 375 H&H, especially when coupled with a good 250-270 grain bullet, is fully capable of 400 yard hits on elk. And you have plenty of scope. There is no need for more scope. Like one of the posters said, spend your money on good boots.

Yes, the 375 H&H bucks a little, but most shooters can learn to manage it's recoil. It takes range time but don't over do it. Use a sissy bag or a lead sled while you are developing loads. If you can find one of these I highly recommend it. It's called a Gunstock Shockabator, is a slip on pad and I use it during load development. I found it at Sportsman's Warehouse several years ago. It's made out some extremely squishy soft rubber and really takes the bite out of benching a big gun. I don't know if they still make them or not.



Once you have your load spend some time shooting it at 200, 300 and 400yards. I like to use an 8.5"x11" sheet of black craft paper to represent the kill zone and shoot at all the different yardages until I'm comfortable I can place my bullets on the paper. I'd go get some blood on the 375 were I in your shoes.

Mart

Plenty of good stuff addressing your question. I have both rifles but have only grabbed the 270 WBY with 150 gr. Swift A Frames in the magazine. So far, all elk recovered and not one went very far. If you are questioning the magnification on the WBY, I would think it would also be a question on the 375. You can't go wrong but do not worry about the 270 WBY being too light. Hope to see pics....

I agree.
Whatever a 28 can do so can a 27.The stuff my friend has shot with the 270 is a impressive list.

I have shot several Elk and Bear with my Winchester Model 70 375 H+H, it's never given me any reason to doubt it. If I had several boxes of 300 grn. Bear Claws, I would sight it in with that load and go kill some Elk. No problem!

True! Good advise! Thinking Barnes 250 TTSX and the right dose of RL15.

Either will do the job. I like the .375. On the last 6x6 bull I used a heavy load with 260 AccuBonds at 527 yds as per the rangefinder with a Lyman 6X, worked great. Can't go wrong either way.

I would get a part time job and get something lightweight like a Kimber Montana in a WSM caliber.

I returned home from Vietnam in the summer of 1970, and was then stationed in Ft Sill, OK. I used to spend a lot of evenings on the rifle range there (the Army gave me free ammo!!), and one evening there were two guys at the bench next to me that were shooting a .375 H&H.

I asked them why they were shooting such a cannon, and they said they had borrowed it from a friend as one of them had drawn an elk tag at the nearby Wichita Wildlife Refuge, and he was told that he needed at least a .375 H&H to kill an elk.

Back then I had only killed one bull elk, and I knew you didn't need that large a rifle to kill an elk, but I didn't say anything to them.

Now, 40 some years and 30 some elk later, I still know you don't need a .375 H&H to kill an elk.

Use your .270 Wby and put a 150 gr Partition or TSX in his vitals, and take a lot of pictures.

Yep, another vote for the H&H.

Your .270 Weatherby is a near-ideal elk cartridge, IMO- in the heat of battle, not having to think about holdover, bullet drop, etc. on a big bull elk out to 400 yd. is a real plus.

I'd take both rifles along, with the .375 as backup, if needed.

Last year was the first time I've hunted without a backup rifle since the mid-1980's. Only did so knowing I could borrow a backup from either of the other two hunters (hunting buddy and son-in-law) should the need arise. Take both.

The .270 WBY is fine for elk. I'd use a 140g AccuBond or 130g or 150g North Fork SS if handloading or a Federal Premium 130g Trophy Bonded if not.

I got to shoot a buddy's .375 H&H and I just loved it. I told him if it were mine I'd probably have to get it out deer hunting. Need ain't got nothing to do with it. A fine rifle is a fine rifle and a legendary cartridge is icing on the cake. I found the .375 H&H to be more shootable than I anticipated.

My .375 goes 10 lbs and change all up, so I would not consider it an ideal elk rifle, though the cartridge is an outstanding choice for wapiti. I also had a .270 WBY Accumark for several years, using it on numerous whitetail and mule deer, and I believe it to be ballistically one of the best cartridges available for an "all 'rounder". Given your options, my vote is .270 WBY, I liked the 140 AB's and 130 TSX's in the WBY, though heavier is available and the WBY has the horsepower to push them.

One thing is for sure, a 270 might expand but a 375 ain't going to shrink.
A guy has this as his tag line but about pistols, thought it was a good one. LOL

I have a cousen that use's a winchester 270 for all of his hunting .Says don't need a bigger gun.His game room has most all of the game in N.A.

do you need anything bigger than a .250 savage?

LOL - don't think that it can't happen! This is a Rem M700 XCR II .30-06 bought new in 2012.