270 win 130 grain recommendation for elk

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Macdad

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I shoot a savage 111 in 270. The gun only likes 130 grain ammo. Currently only shooting core locks. What is some ammu y’all recommended for elk. This is for a 2022 Wyoming elk hunt .
 
My .270 loves 130 grain soft points
Elk not so much!


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BIGJOHNT said:
My daughters shoot 270"s and have always done well with Barnes 130 grain pills on elk ! I think with a solid copper bullet you can get better performance with a little lighter bullet. Plus I love the smell of copper in the morning ! :)
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Well I knew it wasn't Coffee you were smellin in the morning!
 
The "father of the 270"( Jack O'Connor) touted the 130g Nosler Partition for deer but I recall he preferred the 150g for elk.
Over the years, I have shot a few bulls with the 130g Nosler, but I also switched to the 130g Barnes ttsx in my 270 WSM.
A bull elk is a big animal and for me, well constructed bullets are a must in case you smack a shoulder.
You still have a year to find the right medicine.
Good luck
 
The kids have killed 4 elk with the 130 gr Hornady sp and the damage was devastating. All loads were downloaded to 2750fps and the shots were from 200-300 yds.
 
I usually use 130gr core locks in my 270 for deer but went to wyoming last year with winchester expedition long range 150gr. They shot close enough to the 130s that I decided to go with heavier bullet.. Got my 1st elk at 352yds he ran 50yds and dropped.
 
Had the same gun. Federal nosler partitions ran great in 130 or 150 just factory loads.

Put down a cow elk no problem with a 150gr.
 
I don't think you can go wrong with just about anything that shoots well in your rifle. I would stay away from SST's or really light jacketed bullets. I have four 270 WIN rifles and two 270 WSMs and they shoot extremely well with Hornady 140 gr BTSP and even better with the Accubond 140 gr bullets. Any velocity. I would be very confident with elk with what shoots good in your rifle.
 
If ur impact exceeds 3000 fps stay away from the beloved accubond. It’s Probly a good bullet at moderate to high velocity but a white tipped sst at 3000 fps. I shot a bear with a 110 accubond out of a 257 weatherby at 50 yds and the fragmentation woulda made a vmax jealous. Took the spine out and killed quick but not good with higher velocity impacts Probly worse on shoulder blade of an elk. I second the nosler partition but the 130 grain shroom has killed a ton of elk I also like the Norma oryx The eldx is all the rage at the moment but I saw a jacket only under the hide of a blonde boar fired from a 6.5 posermoor this weekend and a 180 corelokt from a 308 under the hide of his cinnamon buddy. Looked like the picture of the bullet on the box. Poison old uncool fuddy duddy poison. I’m not saying the partition or others aren’t better choices for elk but If the 130 green and yeller is ur guns partner The why not dance with her
 
Shot a NM oryx with the 145gr ELDX at 350yds with the 270WIN and not impressed with the bullets performance. Not much penetration and lots of fragmentation. First shot was a heart shot and second shot was a neck shot and it dropped like a sack of bricks. The guy I was hunting with shot his with a 3oo6 TTSX 180 gr and they didn't seem to do much to his oryx. His shots were about 200yds and well placed just took a lot of bullets to put the thing down. My bull was 36" and his was 34".
 
Those pretty much sum it up
Solid copper ttsx or trophy copper
maybe Norma oryx or npartition. A frame All day long. I think the accubonds and the sst will hold together better than most light jacket cup and cores but for hyper velocity rifles like 257 2506 maybe even a 270 pushing a 130 grain I’ll always shoot solid copper from now on. I try to tell that story to the accubond army and they don’t wanna hear it. They tell me at 100 yds it will hold together but I’m not sure the bear woulda let me call timeout to pace back 50 yds. The accubond like the sst is a fantastic bullet but it is not better than copper at 3000 impact or above. The copper also have the downside of carrying their energy through the animal into the ground without a solid area of impact. This is where the corelokt shines is energy delivery below 2800 impact. Pick ur poison. The accubond has much better bc than corelokt or interlock but for my rifles that are in hand for under 300 yd shot those two will do just fine. Sometimes for non hand loaders the partition oryx and thick jacketed bullets may be hard to find in factory ammo. Up until now the good ole green and yeller has been there for us on the shelf But now who knows.
 
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I've witnessed several animals deer/elk get wounded and never recovered from a .300 2 different lobbing sissy 30.06 and a 7mm all shooting core lokts I will take a hard pass on them!
 
Nobody has mentioned the tipped trophy bonded bullet.

I’ve yet to shoot an elk with it, but I’ve seen in go stern to stem and front corner to back corner thru a few mule deer out of my 270wsm and hold up well. Never recovered one on a broadside shot on a deer and will be shooting either the .277 or .308 version of it at elk this fall (hopefully).
 
badlander said:
Nobody has mentioned the tipped trophy bonded bullet.

I’ve yet to shoot an elk with it, but I’ve seen in go stern to stem and front corner to back corner thru a few mule deer out of my 270wsm and hold up well. Never recovered one on a broadside shot on a deer and will be shooting either the .277 or .308 version of it at elk this fall (hopefully).
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Woah that sounds pretty good. What bullet is used in these?
 
If you can find them!!!???


I have been trying to find 160 gr accubond ammunition for my 7mm mag
And can’t find them anywhere at any price. I don’t reload.

Which is why I am considering 270 with 130 gr gmx bullets for my elk/ mile deer hunt this fall. They are a copper alloy and pretty close to the TTSX bullets. They open well down to 2000 FPS and they will exceed that out to 400 yards. Won’t shoot beyond that with that size bullet
 
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Took a friend out on a oryx hunt 4 years ago and wasn't impressed with the TTSX performance with a 3006. I have stayed away from them since that hunt. My kids have killed 4 elk with the 270WIN with some cheap Hornady 130gr SP bullets and they worked well. I try to shoot the 140 gr Hornady or Accubonds when hunting but I don't think it matters much as long as you hit vitals.
 
All the better bullets invented in the last 20 years are offshoots of the original: Nosler partition.

Solid rear base and front section that is either softer or has some form of hollow point that opens up on impact. The trophy bonded tip is one of the best of that basic design.
 
Did a search on ammoseek for any caliber any grain and company with a trophy bonded tip. This is all I came up with. WOW. They are proud of them!
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That’s not a typical price. That’s someone price gouging. I typically pay ~$40 for a factory box of 270wsm but right now, that is definitely a “when you can find them” situation.
 
I reload so I don't buy factory ammo but I haven't seen 270wsm ammo in a long while. I am still able to buy bullets fairly often.
 
monsterMullet said:
I reload so I don't buy factory ammo but I haven't seen 270wsm ammo in a long while. I am still able to buy bullets fairly often.
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If you’re not picky about what you get it’s available.

I started to reload too because I got sick of having to buy something I didn’t want just because it was all I could get.
 
My daught just shoot her elk with a 120 grain Barnes Vortex out of a 7mm-08. I was a little worried about the bullet weight, but with the ammo shortage, it was what we had available. **** was inside of 50 yards, but definitely did is job. Elk went about 30 feet before pulling up. I would be confident using it again at much further range.
 
BIGJOHNT said:
My daughters shoot 270"s and have always done well with Barnes 130 grain pills on elk ! I think with a solid copper bullet you can get better performance with a little lighter bullet. Plus I love the smell of copper in the morning ! :)
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My wifes .270wsm loves the Barnes LRX 129 grain and we have experienced awesome terminal ballistics on big game.
 
hornkiller said:
I've witnessed several animals deer/elk get wounded and never recovered from a .300 2 different lobbing sissy 30.06 and a 7mm all shooting core lokts I will take a hard pass on them!
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Not sure just how many several is but I think maybe you are blaming the bullet for some bad shooting. I have shot a hell of a lot of deer and elk and never had problems with Remington core-locks.
 
Old Cowboy said:
Not sure just how many several is but I think maybe you are blaming the bullet for some bad shooting. I have shot a hell of a lot of deer and elk and never had problems with Remington core-locks.
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Could be some bad shooting. I've personally never shot them just from what I've seen them do!
 
On whitetails, I don’t think you can get a more reliable and reasonably priced bullet. If I do my job, I have never seen them fail. But on an elk I want something more substantial. Their bones are BIG. I would not feel good about using a 130 grain core-lok on an elk. If you miss all the bones and put it thru the heart or lungs it will work fine. But if not, I want something tougher
 
swampokie said:
If ur impact exceeds 3000 fps stay away from the beloved accubond. It’s Probly a good bullet at moderate to high velocity but a white tipped sst at 3000 fps. I shot a bear with a 110 accubond out of a 257 weatherby at 50 yds and the fragmentation woulda made a vmax jealous. Took the spine out and killed quick but not good with higher velocity impacts Probly worse on shoulder blade of an elk. I second the nosler partition but the 130 grain shroom has killed a ton of elk I also like the Norma oryx The eldx is all the rage at the moment but I saw a jacket only under the hide of a blonde boar fired from a 6.5 posermoor this weekend and a 180 corelokt from a 308 under the hide of his cinnamon buddy. Looked like the picture of the bullet on the box. Poison old uncool fuddy duddy poison. I’m not saying the partition or others aren’t better choices for elk but If the 130 green and yeller is ur guns partner The why not dance with her
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that speed would be REALLY close.....
 
oh man it’s a bone yard there, i’m in cali though… sportsman’s warehouse. i would call ahead to check before hand
 
Honestly I use either the core lock or the hornady interlocks. I prefer the interlocks, but have had equally good results with both. It is all we shoot everything with...
 
Barnes TSX and TTSX have been the most accurate bullets that I have hand loaded, at standard specifications, in various calibers that I have tested, including .270. They also have a great reputation for hunting, which is well deserved in my experience.
 
gundog2 said:
Barnes TSX and TTSX have been the most accurate bullets that I have hand loaded, at standard specifications, in various calibers that I have tested, including .270. They also have a great reputation for hunting, which is well deserved in my experience.
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cool...are they new?
 
gundog2 said:
Barnes TSX and TTSX have been the most accurate bullets that I have hand loaded, at standard specifications, in various calibers that I have tested, including .270. They also have a great reputation for hunting, which is well deserved in my experience.
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Totally agree, I have been shooting ttsx for years. I have a hard time wanted to shoot any other ammo. Want to hand load me some for my 300 wsm, they are impossible to find off the shelf ??.
 
I’ve killed a lot of elk from my .270 with core lokts. Great round. Also the hornady interlocks are great. Stay away from sst, gmx, and eldx, Unless you like poor blood trails and very looooong dying times. I say from experience on gmx and sst. The eldx are based off my dad using them from his 7mag and another guy using them from a 6.5cm. Also there’s several other guys who agree on another forum.
 
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Here in Commiefornia we've been forced to give up lead. I worked up a load with H4831 and Barnes tipped triple shocks in 130 for some guys in our group. They are liking them.
 
270- 130 gr core-lokts are my go to bullet for Texas whitetail and pigs. But I have seen them come apart on a whitetail. Won’t ever use that bullet on an elk out of a 270.

Where core-lokts are concerned for bigger game, bigger is better! 180 gr core-lokts out of an ‘06? That should work fine.

But we are discussing 130 gr from a 270….
 
txhunter58 said:
270- 130 gr core-lokts are my go to bullet for Texas whitetail and pigs. But I have seen them come apart on a whitetail. Won’t ever use that bullet on an elk out of a 270.

Where core-lokts are concerned for bigger game, bigger is better! 180 gr core-lokts out of an ‘06? That should work fine.

But we are discussing 130 gr from a 270….
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130g core lokt from a .270 on elk, not a problem. I’ve killed probably 15 elk with that exact setup without issue. The problems came when I switched to sst.
 
Wyboypt said:
130g core lokt from a .270 on elk, not a problem. I’ve killed probably 15 elk with that exact setup without issue. The problems came when I switched to sst.
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Have you ever hit a large leg/shoulder bone with that bullet? I suspect not

The SST basically says it is designed to explode on impact. Not for large game for sure unles you skip it between the ribs
 
txhunter58 said:
Have you ever hit a large leg/shoulder bone with that bullet? I suspect not

The SST basically says it is designed to explode on impact. Not for large game for sure unles you skip it between the ribs
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How many elk kills txhunter58? mtmuley
 
txhunter58 said:
Have you ever hit a large leg/shoulder bone with that bullet? I suspect not

The SST basically says it is designed to explode on impact. Not for large game for sure unles you skip it between the ribs
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I can think of 2 times for sure that I shot through the shoulder. One time on a cow that was about to run over the edge of a mountain at around 150ish yards. Dropped her, but it was too far forward (missing the vitals) and I had to shoot her again. I was only 13 or 14 at the time. The other time I can think of was on a 5 point bull at 100 yards. High shoulder shot. Dropped him too, had to finish him with another. Picked the bullet out of the off side hide.
I will say the core lokts are not always perfectly uniform on the tips, and it does annoy me. But for whatever reason that has never affected the accuracy. The hornady interlocks are always uniform so that’s my preferred round now.
 
mtmuley said:
How many elk kills txhunter58? mtmuley
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Aprox 20. And I admit. I have never shot one with a 270 and not any with a 130 gr core-lokt. I know Jack Conner liked the 270, and I am sure he didn’t use a bullet any better than the core-lokts. So in the right hands, I am sure it will work like gangbusters.

But I have shot literally hundreds of Texas whitetail, hogs, axis deer ect. It’s a great bullet and I wouldnt use anything else down here. But I have seen the bullet come apart at times and that would worry me with a bigger animal.

And it’s not just the bullet construction. Newer bullets maintain their energy down range better. So you could shoot farther. Remington core-lokts have 1180 ft lbs st 400 yards. The gmx bullet has just over 1500 out of superformamce. That is substantial. They do need at least 2000 fps to perform well. That load stays above 2000 out to 500 yards.

A high shoulder shot is likely to miss the big shoulder bones.

If that is all I could get, I would not hesitate to use that bullet. But I would pick my shots and not shoot as far. And as stated, a bigger bullet out of an ‘06 is a different conversation.
 
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txhunter58 said:
Aprox 20. And I admit. I have never shot one with a 270 and not any with a 130 gr core-lokt. I know Jack Conner liked the 270, and I am sure he didn’t use a bullet any better than the core-lokts. So in the right hands, I am sure it will work like gangbusters.

But I have shot literally hundreds of Texas whitetail, hogs, axis deer ect. It’s a great bullet and I wouldnt use anything else down here. But I have seen the bullet come apart at times and that would worry me with a bigger animal.

And it’s not just the bullet construction. Newer bullets maintain their energy down range better. So you could shoot farther. Remington core-lokts have 1180 ft lbs st 400 yards. The gmx bullet has just over 1500 out of superformamce. That is substantial. They do need at least 2000 fps to perform well. That load stays above 2000 out to 500 yards.

A high shoulder shot is likely to miss the big shoulder bones.

If that is all I could get, I would not hesitate to use that bullet. But I would pick my shots and not shoot as far. And as stated, a bigger bullet out of an ‘06 is a different conversation.
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Fair enough. When I started elk hunting in 1978, I was 12, we used Core-Lokts. All our friends and family also. Killed a pile of elk. We used what we had. If I had to use a .270 and a 130 Core-Lokt to kill a bull this next year, he's dead. mtmuley
 
Killed a pile of elk over years with the ol 270 with 140 grain nosler accubonds and 130 grain swift siroccos. I would bet that thousands of elk have been taken with Remington core loks over the years though and with factory ammo and reloading supplies as hard as they are to find I wouldn’t try and reinvent the wheel if you already have something that gun likes and you have confidence in.
 
CORE-LOKTS are Made For Drilling Holes!

When Your CORE-LOKTS Can Do This Let Me Know!

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mtmuley said:
Fair enough. When I started elk hunting in 1978, I was 12, we used Core-Lokts. All our friends and family also. Killed a pile of elk. We used what we had. If I had to use a .270 and a 130 Core-Lokt to kill a bull this next year, he's dead. mtmuley
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hornkiller said:
Would you like a trophy?

You hit anything right its gonna kill it!
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I think you missed my humor. 270, Alaskan Moose, went 20 yards. Core Lokts are very good Bullets. I’ve shot several dozen animals with them, mostly from a .264. Never had a problem with anything shot with ‘The Deadliest Mushroom in the Woods’.
 
CAelknuts said:
I think you missed my humor. 270, Alaskan Moose, went 20 yards. Core Lokts are very good Bullets. I’ve shot several dozen animals with them, mostly from a .264. Never had a problem with anything shot with ‘The Deadliest Mushroom in the Woods’.
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That is your opinion.
I've seen them not do the job more than they should have!
 
700 BDL Remington, 3006 short barrel. 165 Grain Core Lockts have suited me well for 45 years here in NM and South Texas. Elk, Mule Deer, White Tail, Oryx, Antelope, Bear, Ibex, Nilgai, Javelina, Mountain Lion, Feral Hog and Coyote can all attest to the fact that this bullet kills.
 
I shot fedral classic .300wm for 30+ years, don’t know what bullet fedral loaded in them?
but they DRT 30-40 nilgai, 2 big bull elk, black bear , aoudad rams , caribou, 100’s deer & hogs
had a guided elk hunt and they insisted that we shoot nosler partitions, I blew it off and pole axed my bull @300 yards DRT double shoulder break
i wish I knew what bullet federal classic used so I could maybe use in my .308 because 150 hornday sst and big game don’t mix imo
 
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