Need some advise on a caliber for Elk hunt

[Lee Goodwin]

I have 180 grain Woodleighs in my 270 Winchester, Remington 700. I am gonna be in thick stuff. Max I would probably go is 150 yards. I am after a monster elk I saw two seasons back. If he is still there...it would have made the news if not. Honestly shoot the biggest thing you can shoot well. I would take my 338 Ruger but as my backup. I am more accurate with the 270.

 

[longrangebob]

Everything being equal …. Having a good rifle that one is familiar and comfortable with Trumps almost anything .. BUT when Hunting Elk (in this case nor being sure of environment etc.) .. it would be a Shame to either pass up a good opportunity Or Worse … Wound da Beast because of having an inadequate (too frangible) Bullet .. because you cannot be Sure 100% of bullet placement and a Heavy Bone can interfere … too many chances of things not going perfectly, enuff time, surprise movement …
personally I love my 340WBY .. with Barnes TSX on the bigger Brutes … Moose & Elk

 

[Lefty G-gear]

 

[Lefty G-gear]

7mm Remington Magnum and Gunwerks rifle.

 

[5gauss]

I've been invited to go on a elk hunt and need some advise on what gun I should bring or buy a different one. I have a 270 weatherby and hand load my rounds. I load 140gr Hornady SST and getting around 3300fps with them. Is that enough bullet or caliber for Elk ? Or should I get a different gun/Caliber? This is my first time elk hunting and know you may have to shoot at a good distance. I've shot this round to 960yds with good accuracy and comfortable doing it. Thanks for any tips

Standard .270 has been used in Wyoming/Montana for years on elk. Shot placement.....

 

[rcs33]

I've been invited to go on a elk hunt and need some advise on what gun I should bring or buy a different one. I have a 270 weatherby and hand load my rounds. I load 140gr Hornady SST and getting around 3300fps with them. Is that enough bullet or caliber for Elk ? Or should I get a different gun/Caliber? This is my first time elk hunting and know you may have to shoot at a good distance. I've shot this round to 960yds with good accuracy and comfortable doing it. Thanks for any tips

270 weatherby mag? Or a weatherby vanguard in 270 winchester?

 

[Teri Anne]

I've been invited to go on a elk hunt and need some advise on what gun I should bring or buy a different one. I have a 270 weatherby and hand load my rounds. I load 140gr Hornady SST and getting around 3300fps with them. Is that enough bullet or caliber for Elk ? Or should I get a different gun/Caliber? This is my first time elk hunting and know you may have to shoot at a good distance. I've shot this round to 960yds with good accuracy and comfortable doing it. Thanks for any tips

No Worries!!! A 270 Weatherby is more than enough to put down the biggest Elk down there as long as the round is placed into the boiler room. Practice before going out into the woods or mountains. As always I will say, "Try to keep your shots to 300 yards or less." It's not that the .270 cannot take down an Elk at longer distances, it's that the shots get trickier and being able to place the round accurately beyond that distance becomes a balancing act between elevation, unpredictable mountain winds, uphill or downhill shots and the list goes on. Make sure that you have a quality scope on your rifle, you will need one. Tactical type scopes are preferred if you become familiar with it and how to operate it and what settings to use at different ranges. While I have a Diamondback Tactical 6 x 24 x 50 on all of my rifles (Except the .22) a 4 x 16 x 44 would most likely do a good job for you without breaking the bank. GOOD LUCK AND GOOD HUNTING.

 

[SPAD-XIII]

I've been invited to go on a elk hunt and need some advise on what gun I should bring or buy a different one. I have a 270 weatherby and hand load my rounds. I load 140gr Hornady SST and getting around 3300fps with them. Is that enough bullet or caliber for Elk ? Or should I get a different gun/Caliber? This is my first time elk hunting and know you may have to shoot at a good distance. I've shot this round to 960yds with good accuracy and comfortable doing it. Thanks for any tips

 

[SPAD-XIII]

I've been invited to go on a elk hunt and need some advise on what gun I should bring or buy a different one. I have a 270 weatherby and hand load my rounds. I load 140gr Hornady SST and getting around 3300fps with them. Is that enough bullet or caliber for Elk ? Or should I get a different gun/Caliber? This is my first time elk hunting and know you may have to shoot at a good distance. I've shot this round to 960yds with good accuracy and comfortable doing it. Thanks for any tips

270 Wby is fine. I think go over to the 150gr or 160gr Nosler Partitions and keep the range to 300 yards, maybe 400 yards in a pinch.

 

[Huntz]

I was loading 150 triple shocks out of my seven Weatherby. I took my shot at around 600 yards and killed an elk the next day .

Wow,took a long time for the bullet to get there!

 

[Idaho Lefty]

Quite a few years ago before going back to the 7mm-08, 7 RSAUM and then a 7mm Rem Mag, we used the 130gr, 140gr and then the 150gr SST on our 270 Win's.

The 150gr worked best. At close range it caused hydrostatic shock and at longer ranges it still produced fast kills. Don't remember ever recovering one, I believe all left exit wounds and caused severe damage to lungs. These will go through the shoulder as well, they always gave good penetrarion.

The 130gr and 140gr didn't always exit and although they did produce fast kills, the 150gr seemed to kill a bit faster, only by a few seconds but those seem like minutes when waiting for the animal to drop.

Many deer were taken with the 150gr and my dad also took a few elk with it, before going back to 7mm cartridges. All were one shot kills, except for one elk that was hit a bit back and following shot did the job.

Hope this helps

Luis

You guys MIGHT want to read this Post carefully, as LVJ76,.. HAS,.. some ACTUAL "Experience" with,.. the Hornady SST's

 

[Idaho Lefty]

Yes, as long as you stay within your set-up limitations. My .270 AI with 30" Lilja barrel propels the 175 Matrix VLD at 2993 FPS. "My" unwritten rule is 1500 FT-LBS and a minimum of 1800 FPS of velocity for the bullet to effectively expand for elk size game at the point of impact - that puts me at 800Y. With your set-up, my calculation is ~600Y. Good luck!

I RESPECT, Feenix's Opinion on Rifles, Bullets and Ballistic's and AGREE with,. THIS ^^^
Read HIS,.. estimated, MAXIMUM, Kill Distance "calculation" for, the .270 Wby and those,.. SST's !

 

[Lenny Foffa]

I. Have a. 270. Weatherby and Killed my. First Elk. With it in1980 ! Used. Speer. Grand slams Back. Then !! Today. I am. Still Using.a load. With. H 4831. But 150 grain. Accubonds ! It shoots them. On. Paper. Very. Well !i. Would. Like to. Try. Nosller. Partitions. In. In !! Since. I. Have a. 10 twist. I. Don't think. It would. Shoot the. 170. Grain bullets Well! ! That. Caliber. Will. Kill. Elk ! A. Tough bullet. Will. Break ribs and. Punch a. Hole in the. Heart ! I MHO

 

[swarbt119]

You already knew the 270 Weatherby is adequate, if you didn't, stay home. Just go ahead and buy another rifle, that's the point of all of this, right??