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270 Elk Cartridge - Enough gun?

armcandy
I have a buddy going to CO. in a couple of weeks to hunt elk. His is considering taking a pump 270 Remington as a primary gun.

Need some experienced elk hunters opinions if this is a good idea or is he undergunned.

Thanks

Armcandy
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Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • bperdue21
    can he shoot well enough to bring down an elk with it? does he feel comfortable with the gun to use it on elk? with the right bullet it should have no problem on elk at medium ranges.

    I'm not an expert, but i did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.
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  • Geri
    Bullet placement is the key!
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  • Robin
    Yes it is enough if you pick your shot. Four years ago I went on my first elk hunt. The only center fire rifle I owned at the time was a Ruger #1AB in .270 Winchester. The group laughed at the novice set-up. By the end of day 3 of a week long hunt, I was the one that fired one cartrige and bagged the nicest elk of the hunt. A 60 - 70 yard lung shot, and the bull collasped on the spot. Luck maybe, but the group started talking about something other than my equipment for the rest of the week.

    At least with a pump you can probably make a quicker follow up shot. Good luck

    Worry is the interest humans pay on the debt of miscalculation.
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  • Bert H.
    In my opinion (and yes, I know what opinions resemble[:D]), the 270 Winchester cartridge is the absolute lightest (or potent) one should ever use to hunt elk. As for me, I much prefer something with more oomph to it.

    Now with that said, in my early years I hunted elk (on the western Oregon coast) with an old sporterized Springfield Model 1892 Krag, but those old 180 grain SPRN loads I used had some decent punch to them. I killed two nice bulls with it, but I would not recommend using it today. Many years ago, I switched to a 7mm Remington Mag, and I still use it today. I am planning to kill my next bull elk with my original Winchester Model 1885 high-wall chambered in .405 WCF[^], and I am real sure that I will not have to go very far to find him after whacking him behind the shoulder with that big 300 grain SP bullet launched at 2400 fps[;)].

    Bert H.

    Real Men use a WINCHESTER Single-Shot!
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  • He Dog
    If he is a fine shot it is enough. If he has an -06 that would be better. I never use less than a .308 and generally a 7 rem mag.
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  • sandwarrior
    Armcandy,

    The .270 is plenty of power for an elk with two very critical things:
    First is bullet placement. Practice with your rifle and get good with it. Shoot in each position so you know how to get into them and stay stable while shooting. Know the maximum distance you can accurately hold on the kill zone of your elk. I am not a fan of breaking an elk down with the first shot then killing him. I am in favor of a killing shot first. In my opinion the best possible place to hit an elk is right behind the shoulder. Not in the shoulder, he will use his other three legs and incredible toughness to then put a lot of distance between you and him.
    Second is bullet choice. If you reload I would use Nosler partitions, Hornady interlocks, Nosler accubonds or Barnes. While I love Sierra for accuracy, many people here, myself included, have experienced less than adequate terminal performance. If you buy shells, it would certainly be worth your while to get some premium cartridges. Buy a couple extra boxes and do some practicing with your rifle at ranges you may experience out west. -good luck

    We have the second amendment so that all the rest are secure....UNK>
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  • SKYDIVER386
    I agree 100% with sandwarriors post. The only thing I would add is that you may want to look at some of the other premium loadings from Winchester and PMC with the controlled expansion bullets. The 140 grain .270 Win Supreme Fail Safe would be my choice, but the PMC ammo with the Barnes 140 grain X bullet would come in a close second.

    http://www.winchester.com/products/catalog/cfrdetail.aspx?symbol=S270X&type=33

    "Muslims are the first victims of Islam. Many times I have observed in my travels in the Orient, that fanatacism comes from a small number of dangerous men who maintain the others in the practice of religion by terror. To liberate a Muslim from his religion is the best service one can render him."
    -E. Renan
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  • scott
    i live in colorado and have hunted elk for the past 27 years...after about 10 years of hunting, i finally had my first opportunity to take a nice bull. i had taken several deer and other critters out to 500 yards with this 1/2" moa gun and was extremely confident with the 130 grain nosler solid based bullets i had always used...my buddies told me to move up to 150's or at least change to a partition if i was going to use the 130, but i scoffed at them as i could routinely shoot prarie dogs out to 300 yards and was confident of my shot placement abilities..make a long story short, 3 shots were placed in the boiler maker of a grazing bull that hadnt a clue he was in any danger and after a cumulative search of over 6 hours in a 2 day span, i gave up looking for him...probably should have listened to my buddies, but didnt... have seen several elk killed with .270's since that nightmare day, but not by me...i now use a .340 wby and take one shot...used a .300 win a few years ago and took 2 shots and that made me nervous, so went back to the heavy .340...dont know where your buddy is going in colorado, but it is not uncommon to get only one chance during your hunt to take a shot...lots of my opportunities have been in excess of 400 yds, fyi
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  • 1022man
    Best frend hunts with a 270. Of the past 4 years, he has taken 4 Wyoing elk with it. Nothing wrong. Read in Guns and Ammo awhile back, saying that there were more trophy elk shot wth a 30-30 than any other round. Being that was all the rancgers and so forth had to hunt with. Shot placement is key with any round, being a 22lr to 50bmg.
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  • stankemp
    This could be a duplicate- pardon plaese if it is.
    A 22LR will kill a Lion.
    But really big animals need really big medicine.
    My Elk Gun is based on the following:
    http://home.comcast.net/~stankemp/505460.html
    I have it up to 70 gr of 4350 behind a 500 gr Hawk RN.
    I figure( from other ballistic data),this gives 2100 FPS and 4500 FTLBS.
    Ballistics to be verified after I recieve the chrono I ordered.
    Stan
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