I am new to the rifle hunting scene as I have always hunted with a chotgun of muzzleloader. I want to get a good general purpose rifle for large game. I am looking into hunting deer, antelope and elk at this time. I was looking at getting a .270 or a 7mm as these are the two calibers that my hunting friends recommend. Any and all thoughts are appreciated.

If elk are a possibilty, I'd recommend a 7mm mag. otherwise you'll be well served by either.

With elk on the menu,I would definitely choose the 7mmremmag over any 270.

while it's known that I love .284 diameter,the 7mm is a lot more versaitle,with much better bullet selection.
7mm hands down.

I'm a 270 fan and believe it will handle the elk just fine but go with the 7mag if you can handle the recoil without developing a flinch. And watch out shooting deer up close with it the bullet may be going so fast it doesn't have time to expand in light game like deer under 50 yards (same with my 270). Pick the right bullet and shot.

.280 Remington would be at the top of my list.

Mike

Actually, I'd be more concerned that it would over expand and under penetrate. Expanding bullets that hit going faster than the velocity they are designed to perform at have no problem expanding because of the very high energy levels on impact. So, although the bullet may be going very fast, the rate of expansion is increased by a similar amount. But if the energy levels are too high, the structural limits of the bullet can be exceeded and the bullet will tend to disintegrate causeing a nasty but shallow wound. That's why it's not a good idea to use bullets designed for standard velocity rifles in the super magnums. The 140gr 7mm Nosler Ballistic Tip that performs perfectly in a 7mm-08, .280 Rem, or even a 7mm Mag will likely explode on impact like a varmint bullet at 7mmSTW or 7mm RUM speeds at close range.

Mike

I didn't think that anyone still believed that myth.The faster a bullet is travelling at impact,the more it expands.

Having killed over two dozen of our large bodied Canadian deer with the 140gr ballistic tip at 3500fps out of my 7mmstw rifles,I can assure you that they do not explode on impact even with 20 yard shots.In fact the vast majority exited the animals.

I stand corrected. I know that Nosler states on their website that the hunting BT's weren't recommended for impact velocities above 3000fps. Have you ever recovered a bullet from a deer to see how intact it is?

Mike