I too am a bit curious what you are actually looking for, so here is what I read in summary:
You want a bullet that:
- Has the ballistics to shoot 200+ yard, 1 inch groups
- Consistent massive bullet expansion at any distance from 40 to 450 yds
- Bullet that dramatically drops the deer in its track every time.
- doesn't have an exposed lead tip
- Never passes through a deer without massive blood.
I'm really not sure such a bullet exists. Every bullet quality involves sacrificing. Yes, some bullets are a bit more "balanced", but you give up something.
I too shoot the Win .270. In fact, it was my very first centerfire rifle and I've taken the majority of my deer over the last 30 years with it.
I started out by shooting a bunch of factory ammo, finally settling in Federal Premium Ballistic Tips (130gr). They shot very accurately (by my early understanding). The very first deer I shot, a medium-sized buck- took one step and collapsed (75 yd shot, broadside, direct hit to right shoulder). The deer actually didn't act hit... he just took a step and collapsed. Come to find out, the near shoulder was completely pulverized, fat shoulder about ½ destroyed, vitals turned to a puréed mess.
Next deer I shot was a smallish doe at 175yds. She disappeared (fell immediately in shot behind rice levy). Shot was angling toward me- bullet entered just in front of shoulder, exited dramatically behind other shoulder, internals were again a blended mess.
One of the biggest deer I've ever shot (weight) was a 200+ yard, off/hand shot with those Ballistic Tips- hit perfectly behind the near shoulder and she ran almost 100 yards before collapsing. My dad watched it from just before the shot until collaps. He said when bullet hit, an explosion of red came out if far side. Every leap she took was a fountain of red spray. Indeed, there was a large splatter where she stood, and an easy blood trail through pasture grass to where she lay—- a massive puddle she was in, with half of one lung literally hanging out of the exit wound. It was truly gruesome
I actually got really interested in accuracy and started hand loading to try to find the best combination. I loaded a dozen different bullets and would up back with 130gr Ballistic Tips. Until I actual lost a deer... lots of blood, but never found it. Started my bullet search again and loaded a bunch of Grand Slams. I was able to fine tune and get them shooting pretty close to equal groups as the Ballistic Tips. Didn't lose another deer with that round at any distance from 25-250yds.
After a lot of my reloading gear was stolen during a move, I began looking for factory loads to get me by. I found that Hornady Superfirmance loaded with their SST bullets performs almost identically to my best handload with Ballistic Tips. Terminal
Performance is till fairly dramatic, though the bullets seem to not be as prone to complete fragmentation.
But here's the long and short- deer can be easy to kill and seemingly impossible to kill- all with same bullet and shot placement. Deer can run 100yds with both front shoulders blown up and the lungs/heart shredded. Yet I've also seen a deer shot with very poor placement with an inadequate bullet just fall over dead (I still give that friend a hard time).
best advice- pick the bullet that shoots the best from your gun and pick your shot. At longer ranges, you are going to need a somewhat softer bullet to get reliable expansion. The sacrifice is tendency to explode at close range. Maybe the answer is a softer/expanding bullet in a heavier weight (140gr)?
lso- the only almost perfectly-reliable shot placement for immediate drop is direct shoulder, broadside. And even then, as Insaid above, some deer seem to be able to run even then.
