270 Win

[KoedoePoesPienk]

I’ve shot Kudu and Wildebees with mine without any problems using regular old PMP 150gr. It got me thinking….Do I really need my .300 Mag?

What’s the largest game that you’d be comfortable shooting with a 270?

 

[Schüler Jumbo]

For me game up to between 300 lbs and 350 lbs to take ethical shots at all angles.

 

[jruby]

I would hunt any elk with a 150g premium bullet. Shot placement is always important. I would prefer a 30-06 though.

 

[HuntingGold]

My last two elk taken, both with the .270. The top bulls body was absolutely ginormous, a big Roosevelt bull. The bottom bull, an average sized Rocky Mountain bull. Both taken in Oregon, one west of the Cascades, the other east. Ive taken close to 20 elk with the 270 and one small bull moose. Oh .. and my last kudu...

 

[Ray B]

Using Bitterroots or current day bullets such as North Fork I consider the .270 quite handy for all non-large bears in North America or equivalent African plains game.

 

[Gomer]

I’d use a 270 on moose. I have a 150gr Partition load with Reloader 26 getting 3005 fps. My farthest shot on game, a bull Roosevelt elk, was taken with this load at 403 yards.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

A buddy's teenage son shot his first moose (40" bull) and a sow brown bear on a trip a few years back. Both were one shot kills, handloads with Partitions.

 

[pc3]

My son has shot Tahr in NZ and Wildebeest among other things. The speer hotcor 150gr really are a suprise packet I was thrilled how well they worked.

 

[BeeMaa]

My wife took this kudu with at 100 yards with a high neck shot using a 270WIN and a single 150 grain Swift A-Frame. It never took another step. That said, kudu and oryx are about as big as I'd go with a 270WIN and proper shot placement. I'd want something bigger for eland and zebra. Not that it can't be done, but I'd like a little more horsepower to do it.

 

[KoedoePoesPienk]

My wife took this kudu with at 100 yards with a high neck shot using a 270WIN and a single 150 grain Swift A-Frame. It never took another step. That said, kudu and oryx are about as big as I'd go with a 270WIN and proper shot placement. I'd want something bigger for eland and zebra. Not that it can't be done, but I'd like a little more horsepower to do it.

View attachment 793357

Funny I shot my kudu in the neck too with a 150gr

Why do you feel you’d want something a little bigger for Zebra?

 

[M70375!]

I have never had any trouble killing elk with 270 and 130 gr interlocks.

 

[JG26Irish_2]

I am comfortable taking deer, elk, kudu sized game with a 270 as long as I am not shooting much further than 2-300yds. A quality bullet like a bonded Fusion or Scirocco or a Barnes TTSX would be my choice for the larger game. My 270 shoots the 130g projectiles the best but for larger game I think a 150g would be better.

But, given choices I would go bigger. I am leaving for a Canada Elk/Moose hunt soon and am taking two rifles and neither is a 270. 338wm loaded with 225g TTSX is my primary and 30-06 loaded with 180g Sciroccos is my longer range secondary. The 30-06 is running some hottish loads to get almost 2800fps MV. It is more accurate than my 270 as well. We will be hoping to call the Moose in to closer than 200y and so really should not need to use the smaller rifle.

 

[TSIBINDI]

I've shot/killed a significant amount of African wildlife using .270, .308, .30-06, .375H&H, and .416 Taylor. A lot of Zebra with the named calibers. You know the one main difference I noticed among them? RECOIL!

 

[Hififile324]

It's very hard to go wrong with a good .270. One of my favorites, and so very versatile!

 

[BeeMaa]

Funny I shot my kudu in the neck too with a 150gr

Why do you feel you’d want something a little bigger for Zebra?

Congratulations on your kudu!

I feel like zebra and wildebeest (which I failed to mention earlier) are incredibly tough to bring down quickly with a single shot. A slightly misplaced first shot can make for a long day of tracking.

I’m a one-gun safari hunter (or two if my wife comes) and prefer the 375H&H with 300 grain Barnes TSX for almost everything. I carry some Woodleigh Hydros in the event they are needed.

 

[Ragman]

My buddy’s wife shot this moose with her .270 with 150 grainers. Ran 30 yards, spun around in a circle and dropped. I have a lot of faith in it.

 

[BeeMaa]

It's also important to keep in mind that shot placement will trump anything. WDM (Karamojo) Bell proved this by using a 7x57MAUSER (275RIGBY) to take more than 800 elephants with FMJ ammo.

But just because something is possible, doesn't make it a good idea. To quote Robert Ruark, "use enough gun". Not only for yourself, but to be a responsible hunter and make the most humane harvest possible.

 

[404Pruitt]

I killed this bear at 12 yards with my Browning BAR 270 shooting the cheap blue box federal 130gr’s. Getting in close where you can see them swatting and chomping at the dogs is an adrenaline rush to say the least.

 

[JG26Irish_2]

Congratulations on your kudu!

I feel like zebra and wildebeest (which I failed to mention earlier) are incredibly tough to bring down quickly with a single shot. A slightly misplaced first shot can make for a long day of tracking.

I’m a one-gun safari hunter (or two if my wife comes) and prefer the 375H&H with 300 grain Barnes TSX for almost everything. I carry some Woodleigh Hydros in the event they are needed.

I like the 300 TSX for the 375HH as well. I have used it on a few big game or PG critters including deer, Blue WB and Kudu as well as Cape Buffalo all with reasonable success. But, one thing has always nagged at me.

All the other PG that I have hunted was done with a 308 or a smaller 7mm/08. And both rifles seemed to kill the thin skinned game more effectively than the big boomer does. Why is that? I cannot say that I know. My 375 gets great MV from the factory Barnes ammo. I chrono it at about 2580fps which is faster than the box claims (I have a 26" bbl on one and a 24" bbl on the other). I have only captured two bullets and both were from the Blue WB which are tough critters. They expanded to 2.0x and 2.2x at 180y and 10y range. So, I know they open up. They penetrate well also.

I cannot claim that the higher recoil is spoiling my accuracy as my 375's are some of my most accurate hunting rifles. My theory is that all DG ammo is designed with tougher projectiles to drive into and thru large tough animals such as Cape Buffalo or Elephant, etc and as such they must be able to plow thru large bones without breaking up. As such they tend to expand more slowly in thin skinned game and do less damage than some of the smaller 7mm and 30cal bullets which would never be called upon to stop a buffalo. My 308 with 180g Fusions was not really much faster than the 375. Runs about 2650ish fps. So, it is hard to say that velocity or energy is much of a factor. But, what it is doing with the available energy might be part of the difference. The 308 seems to do a lot of damage in the first 12-18" of penetration. All of the animals shot with it either dropped in their tracks or fall after running 40-60y max. 7mm was not as effective but many of those shots were a bit longer.

My long winded point is only that I am not a fan of using the DG calibers for deer or plains game unless you also specifically choose a proper bullet. The big bullets will kill them but there seems to be better options.

Notice that you never see a 375HH loaded with Hornady SST bullets or Nosler Ballistic Tips for example. Sadly nearly all of the factory ammo is optimized for DG if only to protect the mfg from repercussions should some nimrod try to kill an Elephant with a varmint bullet, lol.

 

[Doug3006]

Elk, Kudu, Oryx and the like would be my upper limit. I have rifles in calibers better suited to larger animals. Come to think of it, I have used my 270 less often than most of my other rifles. I guess I must have a bias for the 30-06 and bigger.