Need some advise on a caliber for Elk hunt
- Thread starter smokin502
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Idaho Lefty
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@ swarbt119,..
I "think" that, the OP was questioning, his choice of,.. BULLET more than,. the .270 Wby's "ability" to, Kill Elk.
I "think" that, the OP was questioning, his choice of,.. BULLET more than,. the .270 Wby's "ability" to, Kill Elk.
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8mm mag. 220 gr partition @ 3200 fps literally knocks them down off their feet.
Keep in mind the ballistics of the 140gr Hornaday SST or whatever bullet you are using as this will dictate your ability to kill the animal at certain distances. Your BC has to be high enough at the speed of travel to initiate a clean kill of the animal. This should never be below 1500 ft pounds however, I would definitely not recommend that you use the Hornaday SST bullet for hunting elk. If I were you I'd use something like an Nosler Accubond for a higher BC than their partition, although I have taken many elk with the partition in my. 270 but, not ranges of more than 400 yards.
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dan belisle
Well-Known Member
270 Bee will take any elk that walks, at any range you should be shooting them. I might try out some tougher bullets however, Partitions, or X bullets or similar. - dan
i really dont care what someone else tells you, uou are good to go. i personally like barnes ttsx or hammers but your caliber, gun etc is all you need
del2les
Well-Known Member
That will work. Bullet placement with a rifle/load you are proficient with. Personally, I use 140/150 AB's in the .277, but that's just me.
i have killed many large animals , up to and including 2 monster eland bull at almost 600 yds with my 7 wsm and 168 gr bergers. your weatherby will do at least as well. better bullets as i allready suggested
NielsC
Active Member
I have shot a lot of game with my .270 W , But since I will be hunting more open Country for Elk and next year Ngali, I moved up to a 300 RUM. I am amazed that the RUM on a Remington 700 action with a muzzle break is much like my .270 in recoil.
Lenny Foffa
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Mr Smokin 502, I did not mention this in my previous post, so I apologize. The elk I shot with my 270 Weatherby was hit with the 150 Grn Speer Grand Slam. My own load. It was hit well, a rib was broken and the Heart had a big chunk blown off. I mention this only because the animal gave no visible sign of being fatally shot. Think about that. Shot through the heart and just keep walking along. The guide was yelling ,You Got Him, Shoot again!!!! So when the elk came out of the alders, I gave him a neck shot, and he fell down and never moved again. Now this was my first elk hunt ever,(1980) and the second time the new Weatherby was taken afield. When we had the elk on the Meat Pole, the guides commented on the heart being badly damaged because they actually love to eat it. I could see the bullet hole through the broken rib. The bullet was retrieved from the hide on the opposite side of the animal. I look at that bullet , and all the pictures a still sake my head. My take a way from all that was , Use a good tough bullet, make the shot placement as prefect as you can, try not to hit the shoulder, but maybe , you may have have to shoot a second shot. Hopefully not , but Be prepared for that. Best of Luck to you Buddy !!!
Well now that other members have ripped the band-aid off I will say we've shot hogs and dainty 125 lb blacktail with the 117 SST in 25-06 and 130 SST 270's in the past and had poor experiences. I will never shoot them again except for on varmints. They grenaded on impact and bloodshot meat like no other. Multiple follow up shots were required to finish animals off combined with dog tracking and baying up the wounded animals. I would shoot a Ballistic Tip, Silvertip Combined Technology, Speer Spitzer or Sierra Game King before I used an SST on big game. I know guys have had better results with 308, 30-06 or 338s with heavier grain bullets, but for me they were awful. I don't blame the bullet so much as I do myself. 3200 fps puts a ton of demand on bullet integrity and the SST was not designed to handle high velocity impacts with bone or shoulder armor of a big boar. I've seen them blow a baseball size hole and just disintegrate on a hogs shoulder plate. I've just had bad luck with them. I have a pretty full box of SST 150 grainers in .277 caliber if you want them? I also have 3 boxes of 140 grain Accubonds and 4 boxes of 150 Partition's in .277. Another 200 ct Speer 150 grain Deep Curl bullets. Any of the last 3 I've mentioned I will gladly sell and mail your way. The 150 SST I'll give away if you pay shipping. I just really worry about that zippy fast Weatherby splashing off a bulls shoulder and you losing him. I'd love to help if possible achieve the best results...
It is well known that light cup and core bullets will fragment upon impact at high velocities. That's why on fast cartridges heavier bullets work best. Reason why I don't use the 139gr SST on my 7mm Rem Mag. Instead I use the 162gr SST and it's perfect for it.
Same with a 140gr Gameking; but the 160gr is another story.
If you want a light bullet on a Magnum or High Velocity cartridge, a bonded or a mono will work best. Ask @ButterBean about speed and Hammers
amen should be the end, but of course it wont. u dont need a bigger gun, you do need a better bullet. now, if you want to by a new gun, by it, you DONT need a reason
