Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 270 Win w/130 gr.

I hope that you are not insinuating that I know nothing of elk, or have not lived in elk country. I have done plenty of both. I am not saying a .243 will not kill an elk. A .22 will-BIG DEAL! If you take out one lung on an elk, it can go for a long way. A heavier bullet is far more likely to take out the lungs at any angle than a puny .243 bullet and do so even after hitting a heavy bone if the shot is not exact. If you have to prove something to yourself by shooting an animal with a marginal caliber, then go for it. It is only your own ethics at stake, as the puny calibers are usually legal.

I believe that pound for pound, a white-tailed deer is tougher than an elk, but that POUND FOR POUND. An elk is still a big, thick critter that needs penetration to make sure the job is done.

I'll stick with my 7 mags and Partitions.

This discussion leads one to conclude, based on the scientific method, that there's very little difference between certificated... and certifiable.

I'm duly impressed.

mathman, BSEE, MSEE, MS, PhD

Sans, for a guy who tries so hard to sound intelligent, you certainly have a knack for missing the obvious. You castigate Boddington for naming a �best� cartridge, and wonder why he would write about such a thing. And the answer is not only right under your nose, but in your own words above.

I�m 100% certain that if you sat down with Boddington and asked him if there was a single �best� cartridge for each species, he�d say no. But he writes for a living, and things like the best elk cartridge are what people want to read about, and what sells books and magazines. So he obliges.

Boddington and Mule Deer have forgotten more about rifles than you�ll ever know. If either one got hit by a bus tomorrow, and you spent the rest of your life hunting as much as you could, you wouldn�t come close to what they�ve done and seen. Guys like Mule Deer make this site worthwhile; guys like you just make it harder to weed through the bullsh** to get the good information.

Don't mention it, I know you don't need my back-up. It's also hard to argue with someone whose ignorance prevents them from understanding just how little they know.

Mule Deer,

I am not sure why you brought up the FRI Firearms Testing. I'll keep my guess to myself. I used to have a copy of it. I don't remember a hypothesis. In fact, it was more of a laboratory comparative analysis of bullets under controlled conditions with each assigned an value thus facilitating comparison.

Now, please reread my posts and show me where anything I wrote was wrong. Can an elk lives sans heart? Does it matter what destroys an elk heart in its dying process? Is a .243 Win through an elk's heart better than an '06 in its guts?

Are you tell me that there was modicum of knowledge conveyed in Boddington's article?

Tell me, omniscient one, what is the single best cartridge for hunting mule deer. Take all the time you need. I can wait...forever!

It was wholly useless information undoubtedly published for entertainment value. The answer was right under your nose but you've failed to see it because you were too busy trying to morph the mundane into absurd.

The one I would shove up your ass until it made another point on your head if you were standing in front of me.

SanSouci,

I don�t know why you got in an uproar. All I did was suggest you were being a little hard on Craig, and stated why.

I�m perfectly willing to admit that a large part of gun writing is entertainment, but that doesn�t mean it�s all BS. My guess, based on knowing Craig and the business in general, is Craig�s editor assigned him that specific subject. Why? Well, to entertain, and stir up some controversy, sure. But also because Craig has killed a pile of big game around the world, mostly while looking for the biggest trophy possible, including a bunch of elk�and also been alongside many companions when they were doing the same thing, as well as talked to a bunch of professional guides. His books always include the opinions of such professionals, to provide a well-rounded viewpoint.

Craig is certainly as entitled to an opinion about the �best� cartridge for various kinds of big game as anybody around, and far more than most. I have not only known him for over 30 years but hunted with him and worked for him. He�s as honest as anybody I know, and far more experienced than 99% of hunting/gun writers. So yeah, I spoke up about your opinion, which is based on far less knowledge than any piece of entertainment Craig ever wrote.

In my own gun writing I try to combine entertainment with some results, whether scientific or not. The world would be a dull place if it was limited to �just the facts.� In the process I�ve not only hunted quite a bit (though not as much as Craig), but have visited various factories where ammunition, rifles, optics, etc. are made, along with various ballistics labs. Many of those people have a high enough regard for my technical knowledge that they�ve helped me considerably with even more. So no, my knowledge is not gained strictly from shooting �media� and game.

Though I must note that every highly-regarded hunting bullet and ammo company not only tests bullets in media, but then goes on to test them in a lot of animals, because bullets don�t always act the same in animals as in meda. So far this is the only way to get a somewhat �scientific� notion of how bullets will perform in the field. In a way it�s like biology: Results can�t be as exact as in some other branches of science, but overall results can provide useful and valid information.

The 270 Winchester!

Bob, like you I�ve taken some good mule deer bucks over the decades. Have used various cartridges from the .257 Roberts to the .300 Winchester Magnum, but a couple of years ago decided to average the calibers, bullet weights and velocities. The result was a bullet around .28 in diameter, with a 150-grain bullet at 2900 fps. Sounds kinda familiar!

Come to think of it, that works on elk, too...

John sounds like a 270 or 280 to me!

Matter of fact it works so good I recently acquired a Rem MR in 280....just so I can say I have one.

Yeah that works on elk...

The 7mm Rem Mag is the best Mule Deer caliber ever created, and the 270 is a VERY close second. I've stacked piles of mulies up with these two cartridges�

Uh-oh, now you've done it, picked a "best mule deer cartridge." There's gonna be hell to pay.

I read somewhere that some people have had trouble with the bolt handles falling off Remingtons

LOL!!!!

I'm glad you caved on the 280. I'm sure I would be living in a tent were I to even ask to bring it home! It was danged tempting though.

I like Mule Deer and his work, but the ass kissing he receives on this site is getting old.

As far as the .270 Win and 130s on elk, I've seen it work more than a few times. Even with Wally world special Cup ~n Cores. No issues when lung/heart hit.

I do like my magnums though.

He said around .28 in diameter. .270 is .277. .280 and 7mm are .284.

The 270 wins. May as well get rid of those useless .280s.

I would assume that's directed at my posts. If it's really bothering you, why don't you kiss mine. Just for a change of pace.

On second thought.....yeah, you're right there is a certain amount of that here and I try not to engage in it. My comments were more directed at the resident elk hunting and gun-writing expert, sansouci. I thought it was funny that he chose to argue about gunwriters with a gunwriter. And to talk about MD and his work while in the same breath admitting he didn't know who MD was.

That's true! And I have seen it, first hand.....but sometimes you just get tired of worrying about everything and say "screw it".

Besides I still have all my pre 64 FW's


Beretz I figure I may as well grab it before it went somewhere else!


redfoxx the 7 Rem Mag is without a doubt among the best mule deer cartridges.It's a bomb if you point it right!