Just like the title says....

What's your "go to" load (factory or handload) for whitetails on a .270 Win.?

No sense in spending a lot of money on ammo for whitetails. A 130gr corelock is all you need. 150gr Partition for elk.

yep...works for me too

W-W brass
150 gn Partition
57 gns Rl-22
CCI-250
Vel 2900 fps

Have used this load in an old custom stocked 24" barreled pre-64 M-70 on a boat load of WT deer through the years, has exited on all angles so far, the deer obviously dont go far, and at least half are DRT.

Gunner

61 H4831
62 7828
60.5 R22

Depends on the rifle.All with 130 Nosler Partition or Bitterroot.Do I need them? Nope. Do they work? Yup!

57 grs. of H-4831 and a 150 gr. speer hot cor.

Well Bob you are CLOSE:

62 imr 7828 #1
61 h 4831 #2

60.0 grains H4831sc
Win case
Fed 210m
130 grain partition, Accubomb or BT

Dink

Last years load was:

60 gr H4831SC
Win. primer and cases
130 grain Hornady Spire point

Before that I was running IMR 4350 and a 130 Speer boattail but I got a new barrel and decided to use a temperature resistant powder and lose the boattail.

Dale

old skool bitches...

Ahhh....the SilverTip.

max load H4350 and 130 gr TTSX works also.
62 grs IMR 7828 is getting a workout with the Nosler PT.
Going to start load workup for Nosler Solid bases, good WT bullet.

My A-Bolt loves the Remington factory ammo with 140 Nosler Ballistic Tips which aren't made any more, luckily I have four boxes of them. My fathers A-Bolt shoots the Hornady factory 140 Interlock just great!

Whatever powder your gun likes pushing 130 Partitions. Really bad medicine on deer, etc.
jmho
Iim

Used this for years and years:
Rem case
CCI primer
140 Nosler BT
58 gr AA3100

I've handloaded both for deer and was more than satisfied and would not hesitate one bit to use the factory Rem ammo with 130 gr Clkt and Fed Premiums with the 150PT's. even though in my rifle they were slower than advertised the accuracy of both loads was above average in my rifle. Magnum Man

130 Nosler, 60.0 H4831SC, 3100 fps out of my Ottmar...

pick almost any 130gr bullet. around 54-55gr of IMR4350, or 58-60gr of H4831 are the classic loads.

58.5 gr of H4831 under a 130gr Partition has always worked for me.

Seems like more people lately are trending better accuracy with 150's for some reason. I started with 130's, liked the 140s better, and now use 150s. 55.5grain of H4831sc and 150 Interlock. Got complete pass thought on hard angle shot that exited high up and it didn't look like a grenade went off. Best buck to date too so would be bad joo-joo to switch.

+1 on the classic loads-many a deer has fallen to my classic load of 54g/IMR4350/Sierra 130g. PH

58-60grs of H4831 and a 130gr bullet of your choosing. With 130gr Speer Sp or Nosler ballistic tips, I haven't seen a gun yet that wouldn't shoot them under 1" while still doing 3000+ fps.

60 g of H4831sc, 130 g spirepoint or pro hunter. Rem or Winchester cases, doesn't seem to matter in my guns. CCI 200's. I have experimented with various other powders and boolets in the .270, but this load always seems to be the most consistent. chronographed it out of my 22" ruger years ago and was getting over 3000 fps (it was a hot day). I'm sure it is doing 3100+ out of the 26" barrel of my sendero.

another load that I shot some really small groups with was 42.0 g of H4895 and the 130 g spirepoint. the sendero can put 3 through the same hole with this load at 100 yds. Also, this load flattened/DRT an 8 pt about 3 yrs ago.

but I would get erratic ignition sometimes (actually would have a slight hangfire here and there). I'm thinking that it may need a hotter primer, but not sure. I'm back to H4831 now, which shoots flatter, kicks harder, makes more blast, shoots slightly larger groups in general, but more consistent ignition and no flyers.

It's hard to go wrong with H4831 or R22 with 130s in the cart. Usually one of those two will do the job under just about any 130. I almost always get better MVs from 22, but 4831 sometimes gets the accuracy nod. Been fond of the 130NBT, but after a blow up and no penetration a couple years back, switched over to the NABs. They seem to still give the nice expansion, but hold together a bit better.

110g tipped tripple shock, Win brass, Fed 215, 58g of R#17, 3300 fps.

Shoot deer from any angle.

130 gr AccuBond, 60.0 gr H4831sc, W-W cases and WLR primers. Runs from 3,110 fps to 3,190 fps in three different rifles, two with 22" barrels and one with a 24" barrel.

almost any 130gr bullet will work. I've killed deer with Sierra's Hornady's, Speer's, Nosler BT, Remington CL, Winchester PP; but my do it all bullet, under all conditions, near or far, big or small, good angle or bad is the tried and true 130gr. Nosler Partition. I use 60grs of H4831 and have for over 50 years now. If it ain't broke....

Remington Core-Lokts....$15.00 a box.

i'm over 250 animals with 140grn hornady bullets. 25 to 450yds they kill great.

250?

More than 4 a year for 60 years. Good record.

Win case
Win LR primer
56.7 gr. RE-22
135 gr Sierra Matchking
OAL 3.395

For deer, any factory load will work. I used to reload 60 grains of H 4831, which I believe was Jack O'Connor's load. But then I figured that factory stuff worked just as well.

Around here basic [powerpoint, core-loc, blue box] 270 ammo goes for $20 per box. I can load 270 ammo with Speer or Sierra, or Hornady SP for $13/box. Ballistic Tips, accubonds, partitions, etc I can load for about $15-18/box while premium ammo retails for $35+.

I can shoot alot more handloaded ammo for the same money spent on factory ammo.

But the 140gr Hornady was not offered until the '80's...

Wondered WHEN someone would notice that

I didn't mean he took 60 years. I was just showing how good a record it is.

I can't come even close to it.

Hi dmsbandit,

I know that's it's less expensive to hand load, and the product is assuredly better. However, if you're like me and shoot less than a box a year, it's more convenient to shoot factory stuff, especially for deer. Even the biggest muley will fall to Core-Lokt bullets. Now were I to use a .270 Winchester for bigger stuff, I'd opt for reloads.

BTW, even though I do hand load, I have no problem hunting elk with factory 7MM Rem Mag 150 grain Core-Lokt bullets.

Like most things in life, there's a caveat contained herein: the Core-Lokts I have are about 20 years old. I am not sure if they're still quality bullets.


Good Hunting,

R

I've read a few times that in the .270, the core-lokt 150gr is the only one still constructing like the old one. It's a RN bullet.

Not sure how true it is.

I used to shoot the 140gr Sierra Gameking HPBT over IMR 4831. It was an excellent whitetail bullet in my opinion. Terminal effects were more impressive than the 130gr NBT and I don't recall ever recovering one.

Mauser_Hunter,

I just can't figure out why manufacturers can't leave well enough alone. Many years ago Winchester went bean counter and nearly out of business. Remington's Model 700 action was one of the best on the block. It had to screw with it. So it makes sense without having any sense that Remington would screw with the proven Core-Lokt design. I remember reading an O'Conner article in which he wrote that the 175 grain 7MM Rem Mag Core-Lokt bullet was so well constructed that it would shoot through-and-through elk without expanding. Obviously it was designed to break bones of the biggest bears. O'Connor wrote that the 150 grain Core-Lokt 7MM Rem Mag dropped elk like lightning.

I have a friend who bought a Remington promotion rifle in .270 Win. I think he paid less than 300 bucks with scope included. With 130 grain Core-Lokts, that rifle would shoot under an inch all day long. We'd have to know something that good was too good to remain unscrewed. If the quality of an excellent yet relatively inexpensive bullet is compromised, then manufacturers can dupe us into buying their premium lines, which is probably inferior to their original lines of ammo, and charge us three times as much.


Good Hunting,

R

How I long for the old days when guns and ammo worked, were affordable, and it was easy to get elk tags.

Oh well. At least I enjoyed it once.

While I don't own a 270, I load for a group of friends that do. They all shoot between 150-200rds a year for practice. I personally shoot between 300-400rds a yr thru each of my 6.5x55s, 30-06, 308s, and .223. So, by the time deer season comes around there is a few thousand rounds sent downrange between all my centerfire rifles. So reloading is a must for me and my friends too even with their much lower totals.

59.5 H-4831SC/130 Sierra Prohunter. Bang, thump.


Or substitute a Remington Bronze Point for the Sierra (if you can find some of those old component bullets).



Not that it matters much what bullet you use, deer are easy to kill, those bullets are just real "dramatic" about it.

Put me down for 60gr H4831SC/130gr Partition

55 grains of IMR 4350
130 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip

I have yet to find a rifle that won't shoot that load well. Never seen a deer walk away after being hit with it.

Had some bad experiences with this bullet back in the '90's. In one year, my dad lost 4 deer, all shot with this bullet. He went back to the store-bought corelocks, and the problem went away.
About a year later, I was planning a hunting trip to S. America. I asked the outfitter what bullet he recommended and he gave me several to choose from, but he had also had bad results from the 130gr pro hunter and specifically recommended against the bullet.
Like I said, this all happened in the '90's.

My Sako really likes the Barnes VorTX factory ammo:
Technical Information
Caliber: 270 Winchester
Bullet Weight: 130 Grains
Bullet Style: Tipped TSX Bullet Boat Tail Lead-Free
Case Type: Brass
Ballistics Information:
Muzzle Velocity: 3060 fps



And my 7mm-08 Weatherby likes the 120g load as well.

140 Horn and 57 H4831

Dober

"Animals", not deer.

Could be 10 deer mixed in with 240 coyotes and groundhogs.

Oldman... - In my testing of bullets and diff media - I never found a Sierra to stay intact. All had seperated core-jackets.

That's the reason I quit buying em.

Never had a problem with the Pro Hunters. Been very accurate. Between my brother and I, we've shot shot maybe 20 deer with them. We've never recovered a bullet, so I can't say what they look like, but all have been one shot kills.

55 grains of IMR 4831
under a SPEER hotcore 150 grain bullet
and a 215 fed primer

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/23...-150-grain-spitzer-soft-point-box-of-100

while its not exotic , its totally dependable and accurate,its worked very effectively for me on both deer and elk for over 40 years, its my favorite long range deer load

I do not doubt you. I have read of others and some here of reputable background that have had success w/Sierras.

I can not remember all the diff kinds of media that I tested bullets in AND I used diff brands of bullets in the same kinds of media.

Since they did not pass the medium tests - I chose not to hunt with them.

That may say, killing deer is an EASIER test of bullets than diff media???

That may be something for me to mull over. Also it is hard for me to go hunt an animal w/a bullet I do not have confidence.

DITTO!

I don't blame you there, you gotta have confidence in what you're using. A really good load I've used with them was quite a few years ago before I bought my chronograph, we'd used a load that by the Sierra manual was supposed to be around 2950 fps. We shot maybe 12 deer with no problems and great results. When I bought the Pro Chrony, I found they were "only" doing about 2700-2750 fps...and we had great results and zero issues.

After that, I'd worked up some faster loads that put us more in the 2900-3000 fps range and about 4 years ago, my brother shot a buck that had an exit you could just about put your fist into, so I know they can be explosive and don't think anyone is wrong for going with a little stouter bullet if they want to put their 270s at full throttle or above 2900 or so fps.

Back in 1073, a co-worker made me an offer on an FN mauser in .270 that I just could not refuse. He'd taken the gun in as part of a trade and didn't want it. I got it for $75.00 cash on the barrelhead. A 24" very tin soda straw barrel and really light as a feather. My M70 Featherwieight should be so light. I put a cheap 4X scope on the gun and bought a couple of boxes of Winchester 130 gr. loads, forget what they were, sighted the gun and did some practice with the rest. I picked up a set of dies aand a box of the Siera Pro-Hunters although I don't remember if that called the that back then. Worked up to 60.0 gr. of milsurp H4831 and took the gun on a deer hunt. Wellm the deer went down DRT at the first shot but the mess that bullet made, distance was maybe 35 yards to the deer when I shot soured me right fast on the .270. The father of a hunting partner felt the same way and preferred the use of 150 gr. bullets in his .270. Well I only half way listened as the next set of loads I made up used the 130 gr. Nosler Partition but that too was more destructive than I like. Next was the 150 gr. Nosler Partition and that one shot well in that rifle but a job transfer moved me out of that state (Nevada ) to Arizona which cost me a year of hunting as it was too late tp put in for a draw. I got to playng with other rifles and that .270 along with three more sat in the safe cooling their heels. Why three more? Again, offers made I couldn't refuse.
ASfter 33 years of not drawing for antelope, I put in for a hunt in New Mexico and took the lastet aquisition, a Winchester M70 XTR with a stock I's swear came from McMillan as they show one just like it on their site. I have to wonder if Winchester didn't put some McMillan's on some of their rifles because it's not the only one I have. I used the 150 gr. Sierra Game King in that rifle for the hunt and took a nice representative head at 75 yards. Nice quartering shot that hit the second to last rib with about a .75" entrance and exited just behind the right shoulder with anout a 1.25" hole. Bullet nicked the stomach but good luck as nothing spilled out. The antelope trotted in about a 30 foot half circle, dropped and died. Muzzle velocity was 2930 FPS. I was kind of afraid there would be more damage due to the fairly close shot but surprisingly there was not.
If I'm lucky enough to draw this year, I'll probably take my 7x57 FWT but that .270 will come along as back up.
Paul B.

Yep, that's the dope.

In the LATE 70s, I began using surp 4831 and vel 3100 +/-.

That said the Hornady 130 SP and 140 BTSP do not blow up. AT LEAST the older stock of bullet I have.

WHEN WAS THAT?

Didn't know FN was that old.

Yup,in 1073 winchester was making bows and arrows,FN stood for "feathers and nocks"

My 2 favorite powders loaded for my 270 win...Ingwe was impressed!

Maybe 270 has made inroads with the varmint people?

Sure they are, didn't you know? Actually the problem is my two blind typing fingers. Shoulda been 1973.
Paul B.

1073 was way more fun.

Well,just because we knew --- didn't mean we couldn't have a little fun.

M H - Why dont' you tell us some of your escapades?

Did you hunt in armor off horseback?

You must have been 'nited'!

7 pages and nobody mentioned that the best .270 load was a .280? Kinda disappointed in that!

Yep, I have a few loads with the 130 Horn. My dad took a nice 12 pt that went about 250 on the hoof with one two years ago. Great bullet and a little harder than the Sierra.

What do 'Preachers' know and especially bout rifles??

It's been well established on this forum that a .223 is all you need for deer.

With that in mind. What difference does it make what bullet you use in a .270? Rubber bullets should work fine, and you can reuse them.

Just saying.

140 Hornady BTSP in either handload or factory load is my favored .270 deer load.

Lou

No disrespect Mauser:

If y'all hunt/shoot deer in the REGROWTH cutovers I hunt, a 223 is the LAST cartridge you'd choose.

From experience even with 243/6mm, you want a large wound channel and enough tissue damage to kill/put down ASAP and a good blood trail JUST IN CASE.

You need to go find the .223 thread. You'll see my post was using a lot of sarcasm.

I've never been a fan of fast small bullets. Big slow ones are my style. Well, not to big either.

Mauser - 10-4, wasn't sure about the sarcasm BUT I totally agree.

I have no doubt a 223 will kill deer and larger but IMO you need to be OPEN areas w/o a lot of cover to have to search thru.

I've had a 223 for varmints, worked great. I have no use for one anywhere I hunt now.

It will kill them. It's just not my style. I like to get close, so flat shooting bullets aren't needed.

Most all my deer/elk kills were with a 30-30.

Federal Premium 140 Accubond. The only factory load I shoot.

I'm a Winchester Ballistic Silvertip kinda guy.

A 130 sierra bullet with IMR 4350 a 55 gr.load match primmer an ready for anything

Rem brass neck sized, Federal 215 primers, 150g Nosler Partition, 58.5g H4831 for 3000 fps seated 0.1" from the lands. Work up slowly it's a MAX load ...

Hard to beat a 130gr Partition at 3100+ fps.

Federal Premium 130gr nosler ballistic tips. But they are a bit pricey.

Wisdom...

I haven't used it much in the past 15 years, but for a long time I used the 140 Hornady BTSP from a 24" M70 standard rifle. 58 grains of H4831 clocked 3020, with really fine accuracy. 58 of RL22 gave 3060 but the accuracy wasn't quite as good.

That particular Hornady bullet usually didn't come out of a deer looking like a magazine ad, but if it did stop in the animal it was unfailingly balled up under the hide on the far side of a very dead critter.

140 gn hndy btsp max charge re19

The .270s daddy has always worked for me.

I agree with the Guys on the 58.5-60grns of H4831/sc and the 130's. My lil Original Ti shoots 130 SST's with 59.5grns and 130 core lokts PRETTY darn good!!!!
I'll have to try this load.........

I had a pre-64 Win model 70 ( 1953 mfg date) 270 Win.

150 grain flat base Hornady spitzers over a solid, but non-max load AA3100 would produce dime-sized groups at 100 yards and quarter-sized groups at 200 yards.

Remmington core loks 130s.

Favorite factory load is the Winchester 150 gr. Powerpoint, has been excellent in every respect and you get reasonably good brass from it. Favorite reload has been 57.5 grains of H4831 under a 150 gr. Speer Hotcor or Nosler Partition.

130gr Speer GS over 60gr IMR7828 has killed more deer for me than any other round...

I also used the Hornady 130 gr. spire point some loaded down to 2600 fps for a woods load.

IMR 4350 and a130 Partition, it mows down pigs and deer.

Wpgtkd: You have hit the proverbial nail on the head!
I have been using the wonderful (lethal and accurate!) Nosler 130 grain Ballistic Tips a lot over the last 15 years on Whitetails, Antelope and Mule Deer - IIRC I don't remember having to use a follow-up shot on any of these harvests!
I do specifically recall that the last 5 years straight I have killed a LARGE bodied Whitetail each year, with one shot a piece, at ranges out to 400 yards.
Its hard for me to imagine a better performing bullet on Whitetails than the 130 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip.
Again VERY accurate and VERY lethal.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

VarmintGuy. Sounds like you have whacked a deer or two with the ballistic tip. Have you noticed any change in their performance in the last couple years? Of course there was the designation a few years back between varmint and hunting ballistic tips. Aside from that,have you seen any difference in their "on game" performance? I should ,and may,start a designated thread for this conversation. Your experience with them prompted me to ask though.

Personally I've been seeing more,lots more copper left behind in seasoned barrels with .277 + .308 BTs the last couple years. I've had what I consider a failure with a .30 150 grain on a whitetail. Which prompted me to do a quick jug test of a 165 gr. Horrible! Basically nothing left of it in the 4th jug. At 100 yards not muzzle distance. I just don't know what to think. My old gold standard hunting bullet has left me scratching my head.

Thanks!

140 NAB over a very healthy dose of H4831. Good for about anything.

130 grain Ballistic Tip or Sierra Game King depending on which your rifle shoots best. Dont over look 55 grains of IMR 4350.

Tag

I have had good luck with the 130 grain Speer Hot Cor and pushed with 54 grains of Ramshot Hunter.

As another option from the 4350s and 4831s, a max load of Winchester 760 will work pretty well, too.

Back when I could get the old RP Bronze Point component bullets, I'd put them on top of a stiff charge of 760 and killed a bunch of deer with that load. I never chrono-ed it, but it shot to the same POI of 4831 loads, AND metered really well, too.

Those old BronzePoints always worked for me, but some people have had them fail to expand, or, so I'm told. I liked that there was no nose deformation in the magazine, something my old 77R liked to do. I cannot recall any deer moving out of their footprints after hitting them with a BronzePoint.

I didn’t get dies for the 270 until Christmas this past year, so I haven’t had a chance to test my 270 loads on game yet. Federal Blue Box always shoots well for me and does the trick. So far my most accurate 270 loads have been 130gr Nosler Ballistic Tips and 130gr Federal Trophy Bonded, both with IMR 4350

130gr Sierra GameKing, 60gr of H4831sc, CCI 250, Winchester Brass.

We shoot 150 Win. power points also with a load of 57 grains of IMR 7828. It is a slow load but we have way over a thousand of these bullets (bought in the 1970s). Where we hunt there are plenty of big tough hogs and these bullets work fine on hogs and deer. A 130 Speer Hot-cor or a 130 SST loaded With H4831 works just fine also but I can't see buying bullets after I inherited the power points that my elder cousin had bought for elk loads. The 150 power points will hammer a big hog and are probably a little over kill on a deer but the bullets are without cost. I normally use a .30-06 and my daughter uses the .270.

56gr W780 corked with a 160gr NP.

Or just about anything else I've tried.

It's just gotta be the 140gr Hornady BTSP on top of 57gr H4831SC. Although I'm experimenting with RL26 as we speak with the same bullet.