I just picked up a Remington "C" Custom .270 with a 24" barrel that spent the last thirty years in a safe and now Ontario will be drawing for its first resident elk hunt this fall. So I'm dreaming...

Which lead free bullet would you load up for an elk hunt? Barnes 140 grain MRX? TSXs? Hornady GMX? Nosler E-tip?

Wondering if anyone has real life experience with the caliber and copper or gilded bullets.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

OOOFF. DAMMM OOOFF Can"t Speeck Must go.

I've killed elk with 130gr Hornady spire points, 130gr TBBCs, and 140gr TSX - all without issue.

these days, I'm using 140gr TSX exclusively.

130 TSSX would be my vote in a mono bullet.

Dave

I shot two elk with a 270, 130 grain GMX last year. I also shot 3 other animals with the same load (antelope and mule deer). At best, I'd rate the load's performance as poor. It produced pin hole entrance and exit wounds. There wasn't a blood trail for any of the animals.

I'd be inclined to go with a 140 TSX or a 140 E-Tip. I am trying to find a good load with the latter bullet in my .270s and .270 WSM.

I've had good luck with the 130gr Tipped TSX and H4350. That would be my choice if I still had a 270.

I don't have any experience with the Hornady GMX, but have plenty with Barnes and Nosler. I'd got with either the Tipped TSX or E-Tip. Any weight will do the job.

I would take the E Tip and TTSX and find out which one shoots the bestr at the highest velocity in your gun.
For my elk hunt this year I did this and ended up using the E-Tip.

130 gr. TSX from a 270 keeps flying through elk here in Idaho. The elk don't care for it much, but we're kind of fond of that combo. HTH, Dutch.

I've lost count of how many bull elk I've taken in my lifetime or how many I've seen taken, but it has to be well over 100 and could be over 200. The most predictable bullet design I've seen is the Barnes X style of bullet, be they original X or TSX. Folks tell me that the TTSX is no different and after speaking with Barnes about the TTSX, I believe it is no different terminally than the other two X styles. There are a lot of great premium bullets designs out there and even some of the cup & core designs work great on elk,withing certain perameters, but the Barnes X style is the most predictable and repeatable that I have experienced for expanding type game bullets.

My tipped 'X' experience is limited to two mule deer (MRX) and two antelope (TTSX). One antelope went about 25 yards (.257 Roberts/100g TTSX, the rest went straight down. (.308 Win/168g TTSX/antelope, .300WM/180g MRX/two mulies). No bullets recovered, even with stem-to-stern mulie penetration.

My son-in-law also dropped an antelope straight down with a .30-06/168g TTSX. That bullet also exited.

From what I have seen, expansion begins very quickly but the bullets penetrate very well afterwards, undoubtedly due to high weight retention and the slightly reduced frontal area of the 'X'. If fragmentation is what you want, these are not the bullets for you.

I've been in on a lot of elk kills too, and I couldn't disagree more.

I'm not dissing the TSX mind you (but I will diss the X-bullet), it's a good bullet--but it is not as consistent as the Partition.

130gr E Tip

olgrouser,
Is that a requirement in Canada? Or are you just interested in lead-free?
If I was running one of my 270's with a lead-free, I'd first see what my rifle liked and than analyze the design to make sure it will do the job. My elk camp has used an occasional TSX and it has done just fine. One a 168gr for a 30-06 and a 130gr for a .270.

oldgrouser;
While it isn't experience with .277" homogeneous bullets on elk, I have used the 140gr TSX on a first rack whitetail buck and used the 130gr GMX on a 2nd rack mule deer and a mature whitetail buck with excellent results.

For whatever its worth, when I hunt here in southern BC, I'm packing an elk tag, moose tag, whitetail, mule deer and usually a black bear tag as well - just because. Last season I believe I only dragged out my .308Norma for a couple of hunts and spent the rest of the time with a parts gun .270.

Now if I could only run across a legal 6 point elk or a legal spike bull moose....

Hopefully that was some use to you and good luck with your elk draw.

Regards,
Dwayne

Saw 4 different spike moose through the season last fall Dwayne.Got one on opening morning.

7STW;
Nice work Mike, well done!

Young bull moose is among my favorite animals to invite home to dinner.

They changed our season to a month later this year, as there was apparently too many being shot. The later season means they are done with the rut and in some areas already heading to wintering areas I suspect.

Ah well, maybe 2011 is the year for me and moose again.

Have a good weekend Mike.

Regards,
Dwayne

Bad winter here this year.Local CO I spoke with said our moose numbers will be down.Sounds about right too.My sightings this winter in the bush have been low.

Have a good weekend Dwayne.

Mike

I've only used the 140gr TSX in my .270 Win. - took a good 6x6 bull with it a couple Novembers back. After seeing how it penetrated, I don't think you would have any problems with the 130's either. The 140's are very accurate in my rifle at about 2,850fps - sub 3/4" groups. At about 2,925 fps they shoot right at 1", but groups start to open up a little the more I push toward 3,000fps. I called it good with 1" and 2,900fps +. Good luck with the draw!