270 Ammo selection

[Bezamaelee]

First time posting.

I have only elk hunted with my bow, but am planning a rifle hunt for this year. I have read several threads here about 270 and Elk and have learned a lot and gained confidence in the caliber for elk. I do not feel undergunned so long as I keep shots in a reasonable range, use a good bullet, and make good shots. The question i have is concerning a do-all bullet for elk and deer. I hunt whitetail in the east and make an occasional mule deer trip. I am getting good groups out of factory Fed. Premium loaded 140 Accubonds and the same accuracy out of 130 Tropy Bonded Tips as well as Partitions in both 130 and 150 grain. I have tried all four of these and accuracy is good across the board.

Here is my question: Will any and all of these bullets work fine for deer here in the east? I have shot Nosler BT’s for years with this rifle, but would like to only use one round for both Elk and Deer. I was concerned that maybe the Accubond would not expand well on deer. I have no experience with it, but have read quite a few threads here where it is recommended fore elk in a 270.

Wow. That was super-wordy and long winded. Hope it makes sense. Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[S.Clancy]

I've never shot those bullets, but over the years have seen 30+ elk fall to the .270 from ranges of 20 yards to 400 yards. I've shot copper (Hornady GMX) the last several years for deer and elk and they work great. As long as you use decent bullets, and the ones listed are, and can put them where you need to, the .270 is very capable. Good luck.

 

[RazAlGhoul]

I shoot the fusion 130gr. They have been great out of my savage 270.

 

[Forest]

You've shot 4 of the best options out there. Any and all of them would work great.

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[MikeG]

I have tried nearly every bullet available for the 270 while reloading. All that you mentioned are excellent choices for elk. The partition is tried and true, but it didn't produce the accuracy I was looking for. Neither did the Barnes ttsx. I ended up with the 130gr Accubonds. The last mule deer I shot was with them and he took 10 steps. The Accubonds and SST are ballisticly the same, so if you wanted to shoot a specific bullet for both deer and elk that would be the ticket.

 

[rclouse79]

I reload a 130 grain all copper barnes bullet. With near 100% weight retention it gets plenty of penetration and has killed bear, elk, and deer no problem. I shot this years mule deer in the chest and found the bullet poking out the back of the rear quarter when I was butchering.

 

[Bezamaelee]

Thanks, fellas, for the responses. This is very helpful!

 

[IdahoHntr]

The 140 gr Accubonds will work great for both deer and elk. They are extremely accurate out of my 270 and have performed well in the field. It will expand just fine on deer. The other bullets all have good reputations as well, but I haven't tried them so no personal experience there.

 

[Lefty26]

Nosler Partitions and Barnes TTSX shot best out of my .270. Shot last years elk at 250 yards with the Nosler and he stayed on his feet for about 15 seconds after the shot before tipping over.
Any of those bullets will do just fine on whitetail. I used the Barnes I didn’t take elk hunting on whitetail this year and no deer I shot went more than 15 yards.

 

[SoDaky]

My wife has shot 4 bulls with 130 gr partitions.All one shot.Longest about 250.

 

[SoDaky]

Should mention all hers were Rem factory loads as well.

 

[Elktaco]

I shot my bull this year with the Federal 130 grain Trophy Bonded Tip and was very satisfied with it. Can't go wrong with the Accubond either.

 

[ionfender]

all good choices

 

[roosiebull]

partitions or ttsx's would be my top 2 choices, but in all reality, none will bounce off

I have seen a few elk die with a 270, and it's completely adequate. if you want maximum performance, use a tough bullet, but I do think accuracy leads to confidence, and confidence leads to good shots and dead critters.

I have a friend that likes SST's in his for everything, and those are too fragile for my taste even for deer (just unnecessarily messy) and if they work good on elk (which they have for him a lot of times) then that proves about any bullet will.

I like tougher bullets for everything but lions, so that's not just for elk, just my taste.... don't overthink it.

I watched a federal fusion in 6.5creed blow through an elk's shoulder and get lodged in the off side hide in November, and a 270 has a good bit more horsepower than that. I was surprised by that, it was a follow up shot, and did it's job to my surprise.

I have never rifle hunted elk, but used a 270 for several years and loved it, great all around cartridge. I was always fond of partitions, and I had some put out impressive performance on a couple big bear.

none of the 270 shot elk I have seen were killed with any bullet I would choose for that task, and they all worked very well even at that

 

[Marine4life]

I hand load for a 270 short mag and ended up using the 140 gr Accubond. It was the most accurate of the partition, Barnes and Berger’s I built loads for. It has killed several whitetail, a Muley and couple of elk. My son killed a bull at 354 yards and worked great.


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[Titan_Bow]

I really like the 140gr accubonds as well, Im shooting a WSM however, so a little more horsepower, but still a great bullet

 

[backcountry_hunter]

As an FYI Nosler is making a 150 accubond this year. Might be the ultimate elk hunting 277 bullet

 

[jester87]

270 is versatile and effective. Its my go to cartridge. All those you mentioned as well as the suggestions above will work great for deer and I wouldnt hesitate to use on elk either. Taken multiple deer, elk and bear with 130gr out of a Rem 700. Recently switched to the new copper Barnes Vortx LR 129gr. Impressive.

 

[jonny5]

The federal fusion 150 grain bullets have worked well for my kids as far as downing elk with the .270.

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[Brooks]

Probably over the last 10 years everyone in my family has used Nosler Accubonds or Partitions and a lot of elk have been killed. They are the only two I care to use nowadays .....they are great bullets. Nosler does have a 150 gn Accubond .