.270 whitetail bullet shopping again, for the last time.

[Dr. Vette]

As has been said, I'm not sure that you will find the bullet you're seeking.

Over the years we've had excellent results from the Ballistic Tip as well as the TTSX in a variety of cartridges. But, you don't like those.

A few years ago I started loading the 117 Hammer Hunter in my 270 Win. It goes 3300 fps and is extremely accurate. So far its performance on antelope and deer has been excellent. I'd recommend that as an option especially if you want to look at non-lead bullets.

 

[wkdwdg66]

I love the 270, used the plain old Win and WSM with Interbonds, Partitions, Ballistic Tips, Trophy Bonded Tipped and probably some others.

I used the 130 Tipped Bear Claws last fall from my 270 with with a 3150 start speed. Took a decent sized Northern NY deer at about 140-150 yards. Hammered him pretty good but I was surprised that bullet didn't make it all the way through, pretty sure it was in the hide on the far side but my pops skinned it and probably lost the bullet during skinning.

All of the ones mentioned have worked amazing on both deer and elk. Nothing has made it over 50 yards and all have been heart/lung shots from ranges to point blank out to 325.

I would say the fast expanding Partition, Accubond or Tipped Bear Claw really give you a bunch of expansion and they all dig pretty deeply.

Here's a Tipped Bear Claw I ran into water filled jugs before I hunted it.









And here's the little buck that took and held one of them.





It amazes me sometimes as I've seen that same bullet whiz right on thru a cow elk using the same load. Weird stuff happens I guess.

Nice old mod 70

 

[Muddyboots]

Lots of factors to consider why, but remember, even with oxygen cut off the human brain (As an example) can operate on dissolved oxygen in the bloodstream for up to 4 minutes if the heart is still beating. Transfer that to an animal that is built for efficiency in escaping predators and they probably have additional time available as long as the heart is pumping. So, a double lung, shot, while deadly, may not put an animal down. However, a close proximity shot to the heart can in some cases stop the heart with the impact of the shockwave. This is where I think you see the actual DRT shots that are in actuality double lung.

Totally agree with your assessment that just re-enforces bullet performance that the placement and result will rarely be the same on a animal. I know we all have hit animals virtually in same spot with same bullet and gotten different results but animal is still dead. My preference is accuracy first and then good solid bullet. The definition of a good solid bullet to me is one that I know is designed to kill an animal. This is not a facetious statement when you look at the quality of hunting bullets that are now available to us. If you put a bullet into the kill zone and it is rated for the SIZE of the animal you are hunting and has the appropriate energy (that is another lengthy discussion) , it will do its job.

I have always liked to try new bullets over the years and I don't believe I can say I used a hunting bullet that "failed" to kill the animal.

 

[Coldfinger]

Ok, so many years ago when I first started handloading I started off with the Nosler ballistic tip. I shot my nice buck with it perfectly broadside at 110 yards and the bullet completely exploded, it literally just made it to the vitals and that's it, the BT in my book was a varmint round, never shot another one since. I am told they made some changes to them but with all the nice bullets out there I won't give them another chance. Next up, for many years I shot the Nosler Partition. I loved the killing of that round, however I never could get it to shoot accurately out of my rifle, somewhere around 2-3 inch groups at 100 yards no matter what I tried. Next up, Speer Grand Slam. Shot many deer with great success, better accuracy, however I'm not of fan of the soft blunt lead nose that gets damaged and my hunting spots have changed over the years and I am reaching out to longer distances. Next up, the Barnes triple shock, unbelievable accuracy, honest 1 inch groups at 200 yards off a bench. Shot around 4 nice bucks with them, lost one. I will no longer shoot a solid copper. The picture perfect mushrooms in gel are all cute and all, but they don't kill deer the way the others do, some will argue but that's just the facts. I have hit deer perfectly with the Barnes and got little to no blood, deer have run off almost like they were not even hit, only to see them tip over 50-100 yards later. So, no more Barnes, and here I am now, looking again. I have thoughts on trying these options. Federal Trophy bonded tip, Hornady INTERBOND, not interlock, Nosler Accubond, and maybe even the Swift Scirocco 2. Again, this would be in the .270 Winchester round, in WI deer at ranges of 0-450 yards. I only want to do this one last time, enlighten me, give me advice, give me horror stories, tell me what to do..

You won't go wrong with Sierra game Kings. I've tried fancy smancy bullets which some shoot and work great, but I always wind up turning to Sierra. I just loaded up 50 130 grain Sierra game kings for 270 wsm for deer. They shot at 1/2" and are heavy enough for any deer bear around NY!

 

[PartsJr.]

I've been WT hunting with a .270 win since 1983 in NW Mn. Have harvested an average of one deer per year at ranges of 15 yards to a little over 300.
Started out using factory 130 gr Rem Core locks. Very effective at close range but horrible BC. Switched to 130gr Nosler Ballistic tips in the early 1990's. Shot several deer with those but wasn't liking some things I read regarding varmint bullet type performance. Switched to 130gr Barnes TSX. Very good performance and excellent accuracy. Recently switched to the Barnes TTSX. Barnes are definitely a high weight retention bullet. You will probably never recover one inside an animal. I like knowing I'll have two holes in the animal regardless of **** angle. I have never lost an animal nor have my two boys or a good hunting friend who use them. I'll be sticking with Barnes.

 

[Idaho Hunter1]

Lots of great advice so far!

I try to shoot all animals through the lungs and stay off of big bones. With that said, I use a .270win on Whitetail to Elk from 10yds-600yds and have always had great success with the Partition 140gr or 150gr. Always grouped better than 1MOA and I figured if I was someplace and had lost my ammo, I had reasonable chances of finding a replacement off the shelf with similar BC and terminal performance.

Also, if you try the Federal Terminal Ascent line, I've had great luck getting them to shoot but the predecessors, Edge TLR were not as accurate. This was a .308 variety however and may not hold true for the .270. But I will say, the quality control on the newer line seemed significantly better.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

 

[dogz]

As has been said, I'm not sure that you will find the bullet you're seeking.

Over the years we've had excellent results from the Ballistic Tip as well as the TTSX in a variety of cartridges. But, you don't like those.

A few years ago I started loading the 117 Hammer Hunter in my 270 Win. It goes 3300 fps and is extremely accurate. So far its performance on antelope and deer has been excellent. I'd recommend that as an option especially if you want to look at non-lead bullets.

I've been shooting the 117 Hammer (then one with the big open point) along with H4831. 3300 fps and tiny groups in my ULA.

 

[villagelightsmith]

A sabot of .115" wall thickness brings a .270 bullet up to .500" caliber.
Load this in a BMG case and shoot any .270 bullet you want.
When I speak of "possibilities," my lovin' wife says "possumbillygoats."
I have searched the world over and found nothing on dry land that cannot be brought to the table with a properly placed .30 caliber bullet. Note that this excludes the great whales. They're too hard to "cut and wrap," and my wife won't cook 'em. Too many leftovers.
That being said, there are any number of .270 bullets that will do the job with aplomb.

 

[rbTanzan]

Look at Hammer bullets then. You can do a search in LRH on people that have real animal kills, with reports of their experience. I just started working up a load in a 280AI and cannot give you real world experience just yet.
Steve at Hammer Bullets will be glad to help you. He is a member on this site.

Yes, I, too, would recommend the Hammer .277" 119gn (AKA 117 Hammer Hunter). with H4350, R17, or R16 you should expect 3250fps, excellent accuracy and a different kind of terminal experience, a very good one. The Hammer sheds its petals outward but has a flat cylinder that provides an exit and the full-flat-nose-effect. It will work 50 yards to 500 yards.

(The price per bullet is steep, about 60% beyond the Barnes 129gn LRX, but the Hammer Hunter is a great bullet.)

 

[dogz]

Not being snarky but...I spend roughly $1500 a year alone on gas for my hunts, a hundred bucks or so for some Hammers isn't a big deal to me.

Other non snarky note, the problems that the old NBT's had were in the late 80's so that problems long been fixed and about 32 years ago...

 

[rbTanzan]

I almost lost a big Adirondack buck hit with a 180 gr Partition (300WM) at 75 yards that was hit front side of lungs and still was able to go almost 400 yards and dang near made it into a beaver dam flow which would have been disastrous due to location so far back. He died at waters edge.

Yes. Exactly. I once shot a hartebeest, frontal, at 300 yards with a 270. (Probably a Nosler partition in those days but I don't remember.) I heard the distinct impact and off the beestie ran. We tracked him 400 yards, the first 375 of which was with no blood. My friend kept asking 'Are you sure you hit him?' "Absolutely, that sound would not have been the tree off to the side."
Well, at 375 yards through the African forest I saw the first spot of blood and felt good. My friend walked ahead and called back from 25 yards and around a bush "and here he is, stone dead." He asked what happened. I looked and saw the little red hole in the center of the front chest between the two front legs. Perfect. Almost. I said, "It looks like a heart shot." We opened up the animal right there and saw that the bottom third of the heart had been hit. Probably the top third of the heart would have been more shocking. But in any case I learned that an animal can run 400 yards hit in the heart by a decent hunting bullet.

 

[bigngreen]

First step is to know your twist rate, bullets selection before knowing that is just a WAG!!

 

[orifdoc]

After reading all of these replies, it almost looks like every bullet on the planet is loved by some and despised by others. All of us have different shot placement preferences (shoulder, behind shoulder, headshot, neck), different rifles (grandpa's 30-30, 300 RUM, 308 win, and such), and hunt different critters at different ranges. Those who love Barnes probably shoot 3000-3100 fps. They expand just fine out to 500-600 yards if you do that. Those who don't like partitions and their little hand-grenade explosions probably shoot fast magnums. I'm not aware of ANY bullet that functions equally well for rib shots at 100 yards and at through-shoulder shots at 1000 yards. The velocity difference is enormous.

I tend to favor through-bone shoulder shots with bullets that expand but hold together enough to not blow the animal to pieces. TTSX and TSX have worked very well for me in that arena. When you start hunting elk with a .243, bullet choice and placement becomes much trickier. Use a .338 with 210 gr bullets for deer within 300 yards and just about anything strong enough to penetrate a little will do the trick.

Pick a decent bullet that shoots well in your gun and place the shot well. Most of the time things will work out perfectly from there. Bullet failures do happen, and a few bad experiences are unfortunately just part of hunting. My son shot a nice kudu bull broadside in an open field once. We found an entry wound in the left shoulder and two exit wounds, one on the right shoulder and one in the left ribs. Go figure.

 

[Silver Dog]

Ok, so many years ago when I first started handloading I started off with the Nosler ballistic tip. I shot my nice buck with it perfectly broadside at 110 yards and the bullet completely exploded, it literally just made it to the vitals and that's it, the BT in my book was a varmint round, never shot another one since. I am told they made some changes to them but with all the nice bullets out there I won't give them another chance. Next up, for many years I shot the Nosler Partition. I loved the killing of that round, however I never could get it to shoot accurately out of my rifle, somewhere around 2-3 inch groups at 100 yards no matter what I tried. Next up, Speer Grand Slam. Shot many deer with great success, better accuracy, however I'm not of fan of the soft blunt lead nose that gets damaged and my hunting spots have changed over the years and I am reaching out to longer distances. Next up, the Barnes triple shock, unbelievable accuracy, honest 1 inch groups at 200 yards off a bench. Shot around 4 nice bucks with them, lost one. I will no longer shoot a solid copper. The picture perfect mushrooms in gel are all cute and all, but they don't kill deer the way the others do, some will argue but that's just the facts. I have hit deer perfectly with the Barnes and got little to no blood, deer have run off almost like they were not even hit, only to see them tip over 50-100 yards later. So, no more Barnes, and here I am now, looking again. I have thoughts on trying these options. Federal Trophy bonded tip, Hornady INTERBOND, not interlock, Nosler Accubond, and maybe even the Swift Scirocco 2. Again, this would be in the .270 Winchester round, in WI deer at ranges of 0-450 yards. I only want to do this one last time, enlighten me, give me advice, give me horror stories, tell me what to do..

I am writing from Australia, not as mountainous, but plenty of long shots available. Do not have as many deer available, and all are introduced. Main quarry is feral... pigs, some deer, goats and feral dogs. have used a 270 Win in a Weatherby vanguard for many years, my son "acquired it" a lovely flat shooting and accurate rifle that did not destroy too much meat. Replaced it with a 257 Weatherby that was fairly similar in performance, started off using the same Nosler Ballistic Tips, but had some bad results at close range. The worst was on a Red Deer doe that I surprised at about 30 yards, broadside..... Hit her just behind the ear.... Tremendous cloud of dust and fur, picked up almost a double handful, she dropped to her knees for maybe 5 - 6 seconds, shook her head as if to say "what the f..k was that"..... then stood up and galloped away, not a drop of blood!! 2 months meat disappeared over the horizon and not a happy hunter..... After some discussion with my regular supplier ( I had been extremely happy for years with the Noslers, extremely accurate projectiles with non-deforming tips in the magazine box) I was advised to try their Accubonds. I am not a fan of carrying a heap of different loadings, so simply switched to these (110gn, ahead of 64 gas of 2213SC) and have not had a problem since.... I use our Australian Woodleigh projectiles in almost everything else, they are great, but they do not make 257's sadly... The Ballistic Tips had been doing OK at longer ranges, where they had slowed and stabilised a bit more, but the Accubonds work regardless of range, even on big (250 - 300lb) mud covered pigs that are tough critters at the best of times.... Cheers from Down Under!!