270 win reloading help - 150gr partitions

[Heavyiron]

I do love Partitions and they are the only bullet I will hunt big game with. I've sold rifles that wouldn't shoot them. My Win. .270 shoots both the 130 and 150 quite well. I use the 130 on whitetail & the 150 on mulies. While I did kill an elk with a 150, the performance was not what I want out of a dedicated elk gun. In this case I was hunting mulies but ended up backing up another hunter who had wounded an elk at 250 yds (actually he kneecapped the poor thing and it fell 50yds down a hill into a creek). The elk stood up, trying to figure out why he couldn't walk right and since the other hunter didn't shoot again, I put a round thru the his lungs, a bit behind the shoulder. Although the bullet hit a rib bone coming and going, the exit wound was relatively small, about quarter size. Fine for deer but a bit small for elk I think, to the point I would not recommend using a 270 on them at all. It's my opinion that at minimum a hot .30 (300 WM or 300 RUM) and a preference for the .338's, either the WM or RUM are needed for elk. Something even larger is certainly ok. Using Partitions, of course. Yes, a 270 or 30-06 will kill elk but I think way too many elk are wounded with those calibers. Elk are big and tenacious to the extreme and they need something big to break shoulders and penetrate deeply, preferably all the way through. I put a second round into an elks shoulder and even the 210gr. Partition stopped under the hide of the off shoulder... and this bullet is pushing 3000 fps! But he didn't even try to get up from that one! I could care less about ruined meat as long as the critter is well planted and dies quickly... and doesn't have even a little chance of getting away. When I was deciding what caliber to use for my elk gun, 3 of 4 CO guides I consulted said the .338 WM (one said he preferred the 375 H&H!). All four (and this should ruffle a few feathers!) said the worst was 7mm Mag, which they had seen wound more elk than any other single caliber! This was back in the '70's so hopefully things have changed. Personally, I know of a guy that wounded 3 elk before he finally managed to kill one (this on a guided hunt) - using a 270 Win. On the same hunt a guy using a 30-06 shot two before he managed to kill one. My guide told me this was fairly typical, which turned me off those calibers as elk guns. Yes, I know, they can kill elk, but then you could kill one with a big enough rock, too. Or a smaller rock if you can find a stupid one that will let you whack him on the head enough times. I'm just old school enough to believe you should use enough gun, something that will still probably work even when things don't go exactly perfectly, which I believe is most of the time!
Cheers,
crkckr

This type of sniping has been going on for the last 50 years. Jack and elmer both made a living cutting each other down. If i had a guide to make a statement to me that you neededa 338 or bigger caliber i would be looking for another hunting another guide. Les bowman, probably the main influence on Mile walker to get remington to standardize the 7mm rem. Said that he and his staff guided over 100 people each season out of cody wyoming. Most of the people brought the super magnum hell blasters and could not hit a wash tub at 100 yds. The big bore boys are always on the prowl telling the smaller bore users that they are under gunned. Most 270, 06 etc hunters are conservative by nature and could care less what the big bore crowd carries. You hijacked this thread to pontificate your personal feelings, and maybe your pride has been hurt because small bore users kill most of the game with never without any loss. To speak of.

 

[Heavyiron]

4831 is an excellent choice with the 270. I too agree that it is just a matter of fine tuning with seating changes or in a extreme matter change primers. Hang in there, the 150 partitions are excellent and will settle down and do your job at long range. Maybe a slight change in powder weights will help. I agree with the posters trying to help you.

 

[cstilt]

Thanks for the input, the intended purpose is mid range 300-400 yards max and in; whitetail/mule deer and hogs.

Not going to be doing a lot of hiking with this rig

*leaning towards the 58.3gr load and tweaking seating depth, seems to be the general consensus

Thanks for clarifying the range and purpose. I can't really say much that hasn't been said already except that I've personally used a 270 with 150g partitions on deer up to 320 yards and it performed excellently. Unfortunately I have no load data as it was prior to my reloading days.

Please update with your final loads, grouping and how it does on game.

Chris

 

[Don A Parsons]

My close friend has a house full of all North America big game hanging on his walls in a 3 level house along with his 2 shops... 42 years of 270 Winchester using semi pointed round noise booltiz... Ha

They are the cheapest boolitz that have taken 7 massive Mule Deer,,, 14 White Tails,,, 27 Moose,,, 38 Elk,,, 17 Black Bears,,, 3 Rocky Mountain Cougars,,, 100 plus Wolves,,, 220 Badgers +,,, 80 Foxes,,, 3 Provincial Record book Sheep,,, and dispatched 42 head of cattle along with 2 trophy wild boars...

Same 270,,, semi pointed round noise 150 gr booltiz over those years,,, Yuppers,,, the 270 Winchester is just under rated for the big bore guys,,, it will never be able to harvest anything past 68 feet,,, alot like my 6.5 A-square or my other friends 303 British...

Today's standard is go magnum or stay at home,,, funny thing is that our home is along the Rocky Mountain Range of the North...

Home is just fine for the 270 and all the other cartridges that are close to it in performance...

Don't get me right or wrong,,, there is a place for those that choose larger calibers,,, if you need it,,, its there,,, same for us mid size dudes,,, the only thing is that we can take care of business with in our means... 6 more years to mark 100 years of proven stooming grounds for the little under-dog...

 

[Bucklowery]

Where are you finding a 180 grain Partition in .277 diameter?

It has been a while maybe they were 150. I was thinking they were 180. I will have to dig up my notes. I know nothing I tried worked nearly as good as the 130s and I have been shooting that load for the last 20 years. I dig it up next week when I get back home

Thanks

Buck

 

[Frog4aday]

Hey Buck,
Heaviest .270 Partition I've seen is 160 grains, so I was curious when you said 180.

Every gun seems to have 'favorites' in regards to bullet style, bullet weight, seating depth, and powder charge/velocity, as you found. 130 grain Partitions made your rifle happy whereas the heavier versions didn't do as well. The good thing is, you experimented to find out what DID work. Seems some guys buy a box of whatever, shoot it, and if it does poorly they start blaming the gun and the gun manufacturer and they never think to try a different brand or two of ammo first. That's too bad. But it does provide us with some great bargains in the 'used' gun market, ha!

 

[Prairie]

If you want your Rem to shoots "lights out" try Nosler 130 gr Ballistic Tips and 54 gr of IMR4350. Every rifle that used this load shot fantastic. My Rem 700 consistently put 5 rounds into 1/2" @ 100 yards and accounted for countless animals.

I too aspire to using 130 grain bullets in the .270 Win. Just a magical combination. Strangely enough, I do and have used Remington Cor Lokt 130 grain bullets for years on game and have never had a bad experience while using them. I shoot a Rem 700 BDL that I've had for fourty-five years that's bedded, floated in a Brown Precision stock and it shoots a consistent bug hole at 100 yds. In my particular case, I find that 56.3 grains of H4350 and using the cannelure on the bullet for seating depth location gives me the precision that I know the .270 Win. is capable of. Just my $.02!

 

[Frog4aday]

Prairie, it is a beautiful thing when you find a good hunting load your rifle really likes. It just gives you that much more confidence when the moment of truth comes. The OP seems to be right there with his load, too. I'm hoping he finds a seating depth that solidifies things for his final 'recipe'. Then he, too, will have a load to last him 45 years.

 

[cb4128]

Ok, update***

The winning COAL was 3.330", 10 thousands further off the lands than the previous rounds.

The other 2 COALs were in a triangle in both instances around 3/4".

Here's a 3 round group with the 3.330", followed up by a 2 shot shot group to confirm. The low flyer may have been me, as the other 4 we're right there.

Ready to load up a bunch and have some fun!

 

[cb4128]

Oh and I have it 1 click up and 1 left after the last 2

 

[Frog4aday]

CB4128, That's great! Looks like you are a very good shot and you've got your rifle and reload dialed in. It's nice when you feel you've extracted every bit of accuracy you can from a gun/bullet combo. You can definitely shoot with confidence. Thanks for getting back on here and letting us know what the 'winning' COAL was for your gun.

 

[bob4]

I love my 270. The best advice to be given here is don't change a thing. Nice shooting.