Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game 270 Winchester

You must have bad luck.

A .270 under performing on deer? Really? I've been at this big game hunting thing a long time, and I've never heard that comment before.

Do some of you guys expect every animal you shoot, as you put it "DRT", to instantly die as if struck by lightning? In all of the guiding and hunting with friends, family and my own kills, I'm always way more nervous when I see a big game animal drop on the spot. I'd much rather see a short death run from a properly placed lung shot anytime. Believe it or not, I've seen more than a few of those DRT's miraculously jump up and before another shot could be fired, disappear into the heavy cover, never to be seen again.....the term DRT, is about as appauling to me, as guys calling extra points on antlers, "trash".

Full agreement on both counts.

Hate the term "trash"!

I love stinger points on antlers. Screw the score, character points are way cooler.

Scores are for baseball games

Tanner

Or deflave at the local bar...

I know under performing sound crazy on deer but I really don't know what else to call it. I do strive to kill everything like lightning hit it. Got to be careful here because all a deer has to jump a fence on a neighboring farm and your done if the owner won't let you cross the fence (he does not have to let you cross).

I know guys like you, bob and muledeer have killed many times the game I have and praise the 270 win but I have always had better results with a 30 caliber gun.

Who would have thought that the first deer I body shot with 130 grain TTTSX wouldn't have exited? That's the kind of luck I have with the 270 win.

Dink

Yeah, of course. Well, or .30 caliber, huh?

Nor those of most others. In my hands, Moose, white tails, mule deer, elk, bear and hogs have tasted death at the sound of a 270 round.

I strive for the Hammer of Thor effect.

And you tried interlocks and partitions?

I agree on both points. DRT means small deer or doe hit in the spine or a neck shot when the target was somewhere else, or worse news yet, as you described.

Partitions. I have never shot game with a interlock.

I have a nicely mushroomed 130 grain partition that did not exit a doe whitetail.

Dink

I've been blessed with an extraordinary number of DRTs with a .270 (130 NPt), but in all seriousness, if you're concerned about a deer "jumping the fence, I'd try a .340 Weatherby with a 200 gr or a .257 Weatherby with whatever works in it. They each have the potential of Thor's hammer on whitetail.

I have zero experience with Winchester Silvertips.

But did experience the "Ballistic Tip Blow Up" in the 80's when they first came out. I used them a few years ago and was pleasantly surprised at the performance.

Lately I have taken a liking to the 130gr monometals, TSX, TTSX & GMX. They do the job with undue meat damage. Which is noticeable when processing your own deer and saving meat is a priority with a new sausage book full of recipes to try out. (Thanks Eileen)

Profound Statement.

I've killed a lot of stuff with different magnums. The only times I've gotten DRT has been CNS shots or high shoulder shots that broke the animal down. Now I'll admit I have way more experience shooting elk than deer, but the effects of bullets on them are not a lot different. The magnums, and the standard '06 and 270 with frangible bullets, would put an animal down pretty quick with boiler room shots if the damage was massive enough. Pretty quick means they didn't run too far. Problem with that massive damage was a messy animal... a lot of blood shot meat. I'm with CRS on this, I want to kill humanely, but not shoot hell out of the carcass, I want to eat what I kill. I have been very happy with my Barnes kills as animals went down quickly without shooting them to pieces. If I need something DRT for some reason I use the high shoulder shot, IF I'm using a bullet that won't ruin the entire front end of the animal. The killingest round I ever used was the .300 Jarrett shooting 200 gr bullets at just over 3000 fps. With Accubond bullets it produced massive damage without looking like a bomb went off in the animal... as long as boiler room shots were taken. Even then it messed them up some. From there I used a .358 STA with 250 gr Hornady Interlocks. At 2800 fps those bullets had serious energy and momentum, but didn't kill things any more spectacularly than the Jarrett, and maybe less so. What I found was that much gun simply wasn't necessary to kill the big game I shoot. My little .270's may be relatively unassuming, but they do the job efficiently and I can shoot them with the accuracy of a varmint rifle. IMO bullet selection and good shooting make a rifle more versatile than just raw horsepower.

300 magnums and soft bullets do lots of damage,more so than anything smaller that I have seen; but 7 mags are no slouches in that department either. Velocity is pretty well screwed up high in both instances and this translates into a lot of trauma from heavy bullets traveling fast.

Some of that thunder can be tamed with tougher bullets that arrest expansion at some point,and provide more reliable penetration in the bargain... Nosler Partitions being among the examples,and there are others today.

The same goes for the 270 IMO(280,284,7x57,7-08,etc etc,all chickens hatched from the same clutch of eggs with no clear winner)and lots of bullets are designed for killing deer sized game,tend to be thin-jacketed and "soft"; sometimes these are relibel and sometimes they aren't IMHO.....but that is easily fixed, and friends and I have used 130,150,and 160 NPT's in 270's for decades with quick kills and bullets infrequently recovered,although I have a few from 270's.

I agree with Scenarshooter and Cobrad above.... and if you want to stop proceedings right now or in short order,aim to break some bone on the way in or out to vitals, (the infatuation with pure lung hits with soft bullets being something I never understood...some folks read too much JOC IMO and even he smartened up as he matured and ended his career killing animals of all sizes with 130 NPT's once they became available.There are other bullets as good today)

Going this way with a 270 I have never seen a lick of trouble if bullets went where they were supposed to and that includes animals up close and out to 400-500 yards...beyond that with a 270,I have nothing to offer.

I still find humor in the fact that the 270 is commonly bashed on here, yet it's the cartridge that many others strive to emulate.

Exactly.