I am looking for some opinions based on your experience with the 270 and elk. Here is the scenario - Hunter Bob is going elk hunting with his 270 Win. He is limited to factory ammo only. For the sake of this discussion, all will be equally accurate in his rifle. The cost of the ammo is not a consideration. Which cartridge/bullet combination should he purchase? Thanks.

Hunter Bob is going to want a heavy well constructed bullet. Look at Federal Cartridge 150 gr. Nosler Partions. There's also Federal's 140 gr. Trophy Bonded Bear Claws and 140 gr. Nosler Accubond.

Get ready. You'll be getting a decent amount of encouragement to choose or recommend a bigger caliber. There's also going to be a number of posts stating the adequacy of the 270 and a subset of those will add that it limits your options in the field. Interestingly, go to Federal Cartridge and use their ammo selector. Select elk and they don't give you anything smaller than the 7mm mags to choose from.

150 gr. Win. Partition Gold, 150 gr. Federal Nosler Partition, 150 gr. Remington Nosler Partition, or 150 gr. PMC Barnes-XLC-HP. Good luck.

My sister is an avid Elk hunter who has been a .270 since she could hunt. She has tried everything and shoots Hornady's 140 GR Boat Tail Spire Point LIGHT MAG (factory, buy over the counter ammo). Their new light mag ammo that came out a few years ago is top notch for the non-mag guns. She has dropped 2 nice bulls the past couple years with it and 1 very big mulie it.

IMO the ballistics are wonderful compared to traditional .270 rounds and the added knock down power does a great job. I was leery of only flinging 140 gr out there at first, but she has proven to me it's just fine and will do a very good job. 140 gr.. 150 gr... close enough that good shot will still count the same. Plus check the ballistics on a 150 gr bullet. You lose inches in a hurry at distances and elk hunting can equal some heftier than usual long shots.

Try Searching:
Search Term: 270 & elk
Time Filter: Within 1 year

It's all there, good luck with Hunter Bob's theoretical hunt.
Perhaps Federal is trying to say, "Little jobs, little tools. Bigger jobs, bigger tools."

EKM

Lets see the 7mm cartridges are considered adequate at killing elk. There bullet diameter is .284 and a popular weight is 160 gr. The .270 has a bullet diameter of .277 and you can load a 150 gr premium bullet at a reasonable speed.

.270 has .007 smaller diameter and 10 grains lighter than the average 7mm. It does give up some speed though.

If I only owned a .270 and wanted to hunt elk I wouldn't let it stop me.

I should mention I have never killed an elk. Hopefully that changes this fall. Good Luck.

270 with a 140 grain Failsafe is a good combination

Nah, we're sick of the 270 on elk discussion. Its all wore out. We'll just let Hunter Bob have his hunt and enjoy himself without the lashing.


That speaks for itself. Sorry I had to just toss in one little tid bit.

I hunt elk with a .270 more often than not. I use a 140 grain Boat tail spire point light mag like bowelkfreaks sister does. It is a great round.

j3k2c1 - Good to hear someone else is using the new light mag round. I'm pretty impressed with the entire line. Have you tried any others or cals?