Headed to the range yesterday to do load development for a SIL's brother (Alex) who is in the Navy and may hunt elk with us this fall. The rifle in question is a Savage 111 with synthetic stock and AccuTrigger. The chambering is .270 Winchester.

The last trip (also the first) such trip left me with a 145g ELD-X and 150 LABR loads using H100V that showed MOA accuracy promise but fell short on velocity. This time I used only the 145 ELD-X at SIL's request. (He will be doing the reloading in the future.) For powders I used heavier charges of H100V and ran a new ladder test with H4831SC.

The new H100V tests got the velocity up to 2886fps and 2893fps in two separate 3-shot tests using 0.5g powder increments. Accuracy for the second three was right at MOA with the first set at 1.3MOA. Acceptable, considering each shot in a set used a different powder charge.

The H4831SC test results were very good. The first set of 6 shots, again using 0.5g powder increments, left a group measuring 1.95" overall with 1.18" vertical and 0.60" horizontal dispersion and a top velocity of 2954fps. The second set was outstanding - 0.98" overall with 0.95" and 0.43" horizontal dispersion. Top velocity was 2966fps. Picking any three consecutive shots from the second string, the largest group was 0.926".

Like everyone else, I know the .270 is weak and gay. Still, ...

Given a .536 G1 B.C. (Hornady's current claim) and 7000 feet altitude, a 145g ELD-X leaving at 2938fps (59.0g H4831SC and 0.9g under Hornady's max). arrives with retained velocity/energy of 2160fps/1502fpe at 630 yards per my ballistic calculator. At 500 yards, a hold high on fur should take out the top of the heart/lung area with 2309fp/1717fpe.

My long-time rule of thumb is 2000fps/1500fpe for elk, with a caveat the velocity must be high enough to ensure reliable expansion of the particular bullet used. I think Alex will be well served by this load, especially given that a shot past 400 is unlikely and a max of 300 is far more likely.




Daughter #1 will be shooting a .270 Win as well, with 150g LRAB at 2912fps.

140 Accubonds would be a good choice

I think you've got a great load. Plain old H4831 seems to still be a great one in any 270!

I was testing some loads this weekend also for my 270 as my previous testing showed H4831 to be the most accurate. I tried some RL 26 with 150's but just couldn't get the accuracy.
IMR4350 showed some promise but H4831 ended up being the powder of choice with 140's. 59 gr of H4831SC is what I'll be using with 140's this year.
I may order some 145's eld x just to try out, thanks for posting your results.

Rem280 -
The ELD-X aren't the bullets I would choose for big game in high velocity cartridges, but it wasn't my choice. Daughter #1 will be using 150LRAB @2912fps in her .270.
That load just didn't work in the Savage due to lower velocity.

For the elk we will be going for in November, my preference would be a TTSX, LRX, AB, Partition or Edge TLR in 130g or up. For antelope I don't much care what gets used so long as they don't blow up on impact like an A-MAX did for another SIL a few years back.

Elk- TTSX for the win

That would not be my first choice, either, but that is a fairly heavy-for-caliber bullet and should do well. I have not shot anything with the ELDX, but have read both good and bad. I know one guy that shot a Nebraska cow elk with one a couple years back. The shot was only 80 yards, but it had two holes, and the exit hole was fairly large, I was told. That was a 143 out of a 6.5x55 AI, so the velocity was pretty close to 3000. I would try to keep it off the shoulder, if possible.

Ch. Thats looking good. Out of curiosity, have you tried RL26?

sbhooper -

That's what I figure, too. Hope to get him a broadside, frontal or slightly angling shot through the slats, for which an ELD-X or about anything else should be fine. In any case, my work is done. SIL chose the bullet for his bro and I promised to swap the scope and do the development work. Done and Done. As I mentioned (I think) the initial 150g LRAB test didn't get enough velocity. and further tests with that bullet were abandoned due to lack of time.

No guarantee SIL's bro will even make it out for the hunt, although I hope he does. SIL will be using a .300WSM with Barnes TTSX, Daughter will be using a .270 with 150g LRAB.

Don't know what I'll be using but, since I'll be the last shooter again, probably my .300WM with 175g LRX or 180g TTSX as the primary rifle. I have both loaded up and ready to go. Possibly 180g North Fork SS as I have them as well. All shoot great out to 600. Just hoping "shooting last" doesn't mean "not shooting"

RL26 works well in my 6.5 CR but my 270 just doesn't seem to like it much. I tried 130's and 150's with various lads.

Nope. Don't own any. 22" barrel so I don't want a really slow powder.

Hard to beat 4831 for the .270 or just about any -06 based cartridge in my experience. With 130 grain NPT's and 60 grains of H4831, my .270 turns from a so-so, to a tack driver... taken many deer with it and no complaints so far. Haven't tried the heavier bullets for elk yet- I have other rifles that need to be taken out for that chore or they would just languish in the safe....

Bob

4831 for the 150's and 4350 for everything lighter works for me.

Been working up a long range load for my M70 FWT using the 145 ELDX. RL26 is giving me over 3100fps with excellent accuracy. Haven't shot any game with it yet but if the bullet terminal performance works out, I can't believe that won't be my load for the future.

1. My 22" 1:8 Lilja barreled Kimber MT 270Win will run the 150 ABLR to 3060fps w/R-26. Don't let a 22" bbl dissuade you from '26.

2. 140TSX and Ramshot Hunter has been my "go-to" for deer/elk from the 270Win for ~15yrs. You should be able to get them close to or a bit over 3k FPS. The combo shoots very well for myself and several friends who also shoot 270's. It's a simple combo that's easy, quickly, and accurately thrown from a Dillon or any of the Culver style powder measurers. I've taken dozens of whitetail deer, 2 Mule Deer, a cow elk, 2 Caribou, a bunch of coyotes, and at least 3 badgers. 2 friends who I've helped develop handloads for are using the same combo and I've watched them kill another Caribou, 3 more elk, and LOTS of deer. I load mine on my Dillon 550. Had some prepped brass last week and it took <10Min to load up the 50 I want to have on hand for this fall's hunting. I have a pair of M70 Classic SS Fwt's that shoot the 140TSX/Ramshot Hunter combo exceptionally well.

That is great performance. This .270 stuff is interesting to me, as I just got a Model 70 in a trade and it is a great shooter, even with an old Bushnell scope on it and shooting Hornady Whitetail factory loads.

The 140 TSX looks like a good load for me to try. What brass/primer are you using.

Rem Brass, WLR primers.

Up here in AK I pretty much use my 270 winchester with 145 eld-x.

I had wonderful results with R23/Nosler 150BT and R26/Nosler 160. I would think the 145 would do as well as that 150NBT/R23 start at 56gr stop at 59 (Max) you will probably find the sweet spot around 58-58.5 Good luck.

Regarding the 140TSX/Ramshot Hunter load I referenced above. Excellent accuracy in 2 M70 SS Classic FWT's, 2 M70 factory FWT Winlights, a blued/wood M70 FWT Pushfeed, a 1st Gen Rem 700 Titanium, and a M70 Extreme Weather.

I believe you may be overthinking the whole thing.

I started hunting with a 270 when I was 12. I am now 63 and I have over 1/2 a century of 270 use behind me now. I have killed quite a few elk with 270s over the years and seen about 3X more killed with 270s then I have killed myself. If you use a bullet that holds together you have no problems at all.
I have killed elk with 150 grain Remington round nose bullets loaded to about 2900 FPS, with 150 grain Noslers at 2950 fps, 160 grain Noslers at about 2800 and one with an old 170 grain Speer Round nose loaded to about 2650 fps.
I have shot only one elk in my life with a 270 twice, and ALL others were one shot kills, with the largest majority of them falling at the shots or falling within about 2-3 seconds. The one that I shot twice I found I really didn't need to, but I didn't know it at the time, so I put 2 two 160 grain Nosler Partitions through it.

So having some goal in mind of how fast a bullet "needs" to go is OK, but in the real world there would not be any real difference as far as the killing of elk goes, if you found the load gave you 100 FPS less then you had in mind. Some magical number is just a goal in your mind, and it will not amount to a thing in the field.

I would also be disappointed if I had a figure in mine and I fell shot of that figure by 400 FPS, but even up to 200 FPS less would not bother me if the accuracy was good and I knew the bullet was going to hold together.
If it doesn't "shoot as flat" you can just hold that much higher. If you can't hold still enough to hold a bit higher at any given range you are firing from you have no business firing from that range at all.

There is an AWFUL lot of debate and theory about all this, but for me the facts of over 1/2 century of 100% success are hard to argue against.
Anytime a theory and a fact disagrees, it's easy to figure out which one is wrong.

As I said, I believe you may be overthinking this.

For the OP, I recently sold a nice Pre 64 M70 in 270 Win and before selling it I tested the Hornady Precision Hunter load using the 145 ELD-X and got a few rounds over the Labrador which showed 2858 fps and a nice 1-1/4" 3-shot group. Posting this just for reference.

Alan