Tjen has a good point also. You can use a heavier bullet to reduce velocity and get by with a lighter construction bullet. 150g in a typical270 is what, around 2850 fps or so? That should be fine for even ballistic tip bullets.

I am not about to turn this into a NBT debate as its been around the horn a million times.I will say i like and use NBT'shad no problems from 30 to 500 yards...I degress.Without going to get into bullet design and what is best... I believe it is the hunters responsibilty to research the bullet/design and pick the tool for the task. Thuis will lead to far less "failures".

I admit I am confused you say you received penetration but no expansion b/c the bullet blew to bits???? I find this contradicting.To me such would have been a result of over expansion (bullet fraging to bits) which lead to loss of retained mass which leads to lack of penetration.

Fair enough you want something different or better. I suggest you consider a flat base bullet like a Nosler partition or upping the grain size to 150gr with the likes of a standard cup and core bullet such as a Hornady Interlok Sp. If your ranges can be also furtherwhere a bullet such as a bonded polymer boattail design would be adventageous then take a look at Nosler AB's, Hornady IB's, etc.

In my 270 win 130NBT for deer at typical ranges say 100 plus with no problems. For cases where it maybe closer and more for hunting larger game the 150gr Nosler Partition gets the nod. By design it shedsthe front 3rd to create a wound channel yet the partition protects from over expansion @ high velocity or meeting heavy bone, allowing it to retain 60% of its mass to aid in penetration. A 130 NP might just be your bullet but she ain't cheap!


Best of luck

Hossdaniels - I beg to differ with you on the Nosler ballistic tips for deer. I've used them almost exclusively in my 270 for the past 25 years. I cannot honestly tell you how many deer I've shot with that bullet, whitetails, mulies and antelope. I've only once had to use a second shot to finish an animal. Most dropped where they stood or only went a few bounds. And this was at ranges from 20 feet to over 400 yds with most between 50 and 100 yds.

My dad used federal 150gr noslers on bear in BC, worked fine. Though in .270 I'm sold on 130gr. if you want a premiumbullet, most out there are nice. depends what type you like, i know the barnes reatin almost 95-100% of their weight. and its a pure copper/brass w/e bullet, nothign else in it. so cores dont come away from jackets etc....noslers puporsely fragment etc....

I'm surprised your 130 didnt expand etc....

So I;d say just find some 130gr premium out there you like, at worst itll just blow through the animal, but should do a good job. Try out some nice 130gr premiums then focus on 1 brand,

The old Nosler BTs were not what the ones are today. Some of the first Ballistic tips were little more than thin jacketed bullets... almost mock ups of varmint bullets. They are very accurate, expand reliabily, and they don't tend to "blow up" any more. Bullet construction and technology has come a long way in 20 years.

Carpetbagger.... I think what may well have happened was some sort of bullet deflection. Was the deer in a field, or in the woods? Any chance it hit something just before hitting the deer? Part of your first post said that the bullet fragmented... then you said that you had no expansion at all? If the bullet didn't expand, all I can tell you is that it probably did. A deer can go a long way in 15-20 seconds... 200 yards is fairly easily traveling in that time period for one thats motivated to move.

Also using a bullet of 150 gr in the 270 may cause accuracy to suffer. Even the 140 gr. Some rifles may shoot them very accurately. I've had this smae problem many years ago with150 gr bullets. This was pre-internet and I sent a letter to, I believe, Outdoor Life mag. and got a letter back from Jim Carmichael. His letter basically stated that the 270 was designed for the 130 gr bullet. This is the optimum bullet weight for this chambering. As for your choice of the Rem Corlokt bullet - If they shoot well out of your rifle, don't hesitate to use them for deer.

The270's i have owned would shoot 130 or 150gr bullets. Not all of them shot the same bullets at the same accuracy level but none the lessI could finda load for using 130 or 150gr bullets. It is very possible thata gun will not but I wouldn't take it as a given without at least trying first.

IMHO to tough a bullet isn'tthe right anwser on a thin skinned, small structured animal such as a deer either. I have shot 3 deer with the barnes TSX, a bullet I hold very high for bigger game but man I use to think the Nosler Partion zipped through deer...nothing like a barnes. I just prefer a bigger wound channel for deer. The NP IMO is about as close as it gets to the best ofall worlds. The bonded polymers work well on deer but they aren't anything like a NP on bigger game. Yes they work but if it came down to driving a Accubond or NP through the shoulders of a Bull Moose or Elk I'd rather the Part be the one in the tube. I just ain't built for one bullet for everything I guess but if I had to the NP would get my vote.

Deflection. No. I had about a 2ft window where i shot the animal. He exposed his front half in between 2 trees and i pulled the trigger....I never had a problem shooting this thing at 75-150yrds always hitting in a 4in circle.

I Think you are right when you say overexpanded. I found no evidence of the bullet in the cavity, and no exit wound. It did penetrate the one side then basically disappeared in his body somehow...The guts were still in tact so i was very concerned about the quality of this round.

Ive used alot of other corelockt ammmo in a 3006, 30-30 but all were heavier bullets...Maybe it was just that one particular round in the box,cause the very next day i did drop a doe in her tracks with entrance and exit wounds with the same round.

The fact of the matter is if it was that 1 bullet that made the problem then i am not happy. All to often as hunters we only have that one shot and if 1/20 rounds is bad i dont like those odds. They are fine for the target range. But when it comes time to pull the trigger i want to make sure im confident in what im shootingand that the animal suffers as little as possible...Peace of mind is worth something in my book.

Im going to try NP 130s by Federal this year and see how they work.Your right they are a little more money, but do you think you get what you pay for in a bullet?? When it comes time to pull the trigger im not going to worry the bullet costs$2 over $1. If it costs twice as much as what i am using nowI hope to expect its going to out preform the corelockt...

I concur with jeepkid. This is not an ammunition failure. The Remington Corelokt bullet is totally adequate for deer shooting, even the 100-grain in .243........

I had quite the opposite experience. But, as you said we've had that argument before... I digress


Carpetbagger,

I concurr that the ammunition isn't your culprit. But I understand that you may have lost confidence in the corelokt bullet. In which case you should change for no other reason than piece of mind. If you're looking for a better bullet check out the federal premium line with either Nosler artitions: http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=366445&t=11082005
or Sierra Gamekings: http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=439969&t=11082005