Need some advise on a caliber for Elk hunt

[smokin502]

I've been invited to go on a elk hunt and need some advise on what gun I should bring or buy a different one. I have a 270 weatherby and hand load my rounds. I load 140gr Hornady SST and getting around 3300fps with them. Is that enough bullet or caliber for Elk ? Or should I get a different gun/Caliber? This is my first time elk hunting and know you may have to shoot at a good distance. I've shot this round to 960yds with good accuracy and comfortable doing it. Thanks for any tips

 

[wv270wsm]

Plenty of gun in my opinion may try a little stouter bullet though . I'm sure it would work but I'd go with a partition or something bonded or maybe a hammer

 

[Rick Richard]

Plenty of gun. Lots of elk killed with the ole plain Jane 270…it worked for me.

 

[smokin502]

I could load 150gr LR accubond which would give me more energy but they need 1300fps to expand completely. Which puts it at a max range of 800yds. Which I'm not sure if I would try a shot any further than that.

 

[smokin502]

I could load 150gr LR accubond which would give me more energy but they need 1300fps to expand completely. Which puts it at a max range of 800yds. Which I'm not sure if I would try a shot at that range or not

 

[snox801]

That's not even close to enough gun.
I've killed billions that right billions of elk and you need a creedmore. Elk at a mile is easy.
Lol
In all seriousness you are good to go. I know a few guys who get it done every year with a .243. So just like lace the shot hood and your hood to go.

 

[snox801]

If you were worried at all and doing another load work up. I'd look at one of the hammer bullets. I have had amazing luck with them as a hunting bullet. That's all I load now actually and it did fantastic on my elk last year.
Doing load work for my dads 6.5 creed for an elk hunt as we speak.

 

[smokin502]

If you were worried at all and doing another load work up. I'd look at one of the hammer bullets. I have had amazing luck with them as a hunting bullet. That's all I load now actually and it did fantastic on my elk last year.
Doing load work for my dads 6.5 creed for an elk hunt as we speak.

I looked at the hammers and my gun is a 1/10 twist so I could only use the hunter 145g and has a .425 bc. Seems like there are better choices with better bc

 

[dogz]

You've got plenty of gun, how are you scoped?

It'll work just fine as long as someone says "send it".....right before you shoot....(choke, puke, gag...

Where's your hunt, and is it on your own or guided?

 

[smokin502]

You've got plenty of gun, how are you scoped?

It'll work just fine as long as someone says "send it".....right before you shoot....(choke, puke, gag...

Where's your hunt, and is it on your own or guided?

The scope will need to be swapped out I think. It has a 4x14x50 Leupold with a Boone and Crockett reticle. Not sure why I picked that reticle. It's a private hunt in Colorado on a friend's property. That's all I know so far

 

[Tidus56]

You'll do best with a gun you already know and it has plenty of energy. Have a great hunt!

 

[snox801]

I looked at the hammers and my gun is a 1/10 twist so I could only use the hunter 145g and has a .425 bc. Seems like there are better choices with better bc

Monos are a bit different as the need less weight to be very effective.
What I usually do is take the FPS needed to open the bullet and see where that puts me. Most of the time the high bc bullet drops below that FPS in the same ballpark as a lighter faster bullet. Yes they do fall short of many on the bc list but they are a hunting bullet and that being said would you really wanna try a elk at 800-1000 with a .270?
Don't take it the wrong way as I'm not meaning this to be one of those threads just the process I use to determine what bullets to use for hunting.
I was chasing bc my whole life to a long 2 hour conversation with Steve from hammer and I finally tried them. They really punch above the weight class.
If your are comfortable with your sst I would stick with that it will open up easy on longer shots as long as you hit your mark.
And no matter what bullet a bad shot is a bad shot.

 

[gillettehunter]

I have killed around 50 head of elk. More with a .270 than probably anything else. Not sure how fast that SST will open up if you shoot an elk at 75 yds. Worried about the splatter effect..... I don't know the bullet well enough to know how it will preform. The Hammer will work well. So will a Barnes. How frangible is the LRAB? I'd tell you a regular AB would also work well. Good luck!
Bruce

 

[sp6x6]

Ive shot a pile of game with that scope or a way older mil dot model.My son hunts that scope on a 340 and shot elk out to 700+,have one on a 325wsm too,my light mountain muley rifle