My buddy is a passible shot, has killed a deer or two, even a few fair sized ones, and he mainly shoots a 270. He's never hunted elk before, and he is one of those 1 box of bullets a year folk. He asked me if the 270 would be a good elk gun, bullet selection will be limited to what we can get at wal-mart. The guide said shots could be as far as 300 yards but to be ready to shoot 400 if need be. I had no idea what to tell him about the 270, i said that I liked to shoot for the shoulder because of where the heart is on an elk and that if he "deer shot" one it could run for a long ways before it dropped. I offered my 30-06 if he wanted to use it but I told him I'd ask ya'll what you thought of a 270, and what the effective range is on them. I told him that there was this beaverjack guy that would know what to do .

"Hey ya'll, watch this"

Mine is, i use 150 nosler partitions, bear claws and other premium bulletts are good to. I think that guide is full of it, most people cant even shoot 400 yards. Id take a 400 yarder if conditions were right cause i know my rifle well but Most people say 270 is about a 300 yard gun for elk and there pretty correct on that statement. put the bullett in the boiler room and hes a dead elk.

http://members.aol.com/kleuenberg/hunting.html

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote<font size=1 face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote> I think that guide is full of it<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' size=2 id=quote>
That was my first impression. I was thinking if you need to shoot 400 yards, you probably haven't left the truck yet.

But I haven't been on too many elk hunts outside of colorado, he's going to new mexico I think. All my shots were under 50 yards, my first few were with a 30-30. In short, I'm no expert. So do you shoot for the shoulder or behind the shoulder? I'm sure either one would work fine.

&quot;Hey ya'll, watch this&quot;

The 270 is fine for Elk. I have shot 5 Elk and 1 Moose with mine. Dropped 3 of em with the first shot. The rest only travelled about 100 yds. I use 150 gr. Federal ammo works great. The key is in the shot placement not how big a hole you make........

Kind of ya to mention me like thet, but it don't take no million dollar huntin' educashun to know thet that guide is full of sh!t as a christmas turkey! Ain't no good reason on god's green earth to go poppin' off at elk at 400 yards. Now the 270 ain't really a elk cartridge. It'll kill 'em sure enuff, but you outta git yer friend to pack a lil' more bullet ifn you can git him to practice like he meant business. I got two 270s in my rifle rack an' a load thet will sure knock 'em down. But I got lots of time an' know whar all the elk live in my unit. A green feller with limited time ain't gonna pass when he should. Captain Kirk gave good advice on bullet choice, but I'd say the 270 is lighter then you need to go, specially ifn he's lookin' fer a big bull. Ifn he does go after wapiti with a 270, get 'im to feed it the best ammo with a 150 grainer he can git, an' make sure he changes his zero. I've seed too many fellers what think changin' ammo don't matter with their sights. If you can reload fer yer green friend, you could try my &quot;elk special&quot; 270 load usin' the 160 grain Nosler Partition pushed by R19. Otherwise, tell 'im to stick with a 180 grainer '06. An' as fer this &quot;shot placement&quot; hooey, I ain't seed a green elk hunter yet thet was able to place anythin' on a movin' targit off hand with limited time to git a shot off. Seed a few have to clean their drawers out after gittin' in on a big bull, but never seed one able to heart shoot a wapiti 'thout a rest, plenty of time, no wind, an' a shot of bourbon to calm the nerves. Plan on a REAL shot, not a dream. Aim yer rifle an' shoot. Aim fer a shoulder. Plenty of room fer error. Shot placement, snot tastement.

BJ


Edited by - BeaverJack on 12/02/2002 20:58:48

Beaver: sounds like you don't care where you hit an animal as long as you get some lead in it. You must use lots of ammo and have lots of time to track your critters........

I use mine and it works every time. I use Federal HIGH ENERGY 140gr TBBC or Winchester 140gr failsafes. Both are excelent and you can get them at Walmart. As for 300 to 400 yard shots it could happen, but if that is all he gets then the guide isn't doing his job to get your buddy on elk. My longest shot has been 130 yards and the closest at 20 yards and most under 75 yards. Make your buddy practice alot. As for heart or lung shot the lung shot will actually kill the animal faster because of the loss of blood pressure. The brain will tell the heart to pump faster to keep the brain supplied with oxygen and therefore bleed out faster and give a better blood trail. A heart shot obviously shuts down the heart and it won't pump the blood out.

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While it would not be my choice due to the fact there are many better choices the 270 will certainly kill elk if you use the right bullets and are a little more selective with the shots you take.As to the 300 or 400 yard shots a one box a year shooter has no business taking them especially with a marginal cartridge.

Edited by - stubblejumper on 12/02/2002 22:52:35

Bust 'em in the shoulder! Large target, room for error, won't get far, will bleed out - good for the meat. Go heavy on bullet and use best bullets available. Got a 270 in my rack, but it don't make it to camp even as the back up rifle.
EKM

Good judgement comes from bad experience! Half of elk hunting is knowing what NOT to do!

Edited by - ELKampMaster on 12/03/2002 23:40:59