What is the farthest you would shoot a .270 at elk??

[300 wsm]

Another caliber to look into is the 300 wsm. I am a huge fan of the 270, it is my favorite caliber. I have seen a whole lot of elk killed with it. But if you plan on far shots the 300 wsm will have plenty of power at 400 yds, not to mention you can shoot bigger heavier bullet's out of it. My 300 wsm is a winchester model 70 super shadow, and it has very little recoil and is very flat shooting.

[drgonzales]

Do you know of any place that will let you actually shoot the rifles before you shoot them?? I would hate to buy one and then not be satisfied with it.

[300 wsm]

No I dont, maybe ask around and see if you know someone with one that would let you shoot their rifle.

[ronaldo]

Get a .300 win mag and shoot 180 grain bullets out of it. Its the fastest flattest shooting bullet available until you go into the high dollar short mags and special order stuff you cant get anywhere......lol

Its the way to go...

Ron

[Guest Ernesto C]

Every one is being giving you some good responses. What I can tell is that,is not what is the farthest we would shoot at elk only, but to know our limitations......can you put 3 rounds in a row inside a 6 inch circle at a 300 yards? if so how about 350 yards? if so,can you put 3 shots in a row inside a 8 inch circle at a 400?

What I can tell you is to practice,practice and practice more and get to know your gun and your limitations,shot placement is the key and you must remember that when elk hunting wind plays a factor.Another thing is the angle you'll shot the elk,broadside,quartering away or frontal shot?

 

I personally would try to keep shots whit a 270 under 350 yards,then.........I dont care if I'm using a 308,30-06,7MM,300 Win.Mag or 338 I personally would not shot more then 400 yards.

 

God bless and let us know what you will do/get.

 

Ernesto C

 

Aim for the vitals

[billrquimby]

"I personally would try to keep shots whit a 270 under 350 yards,then.........I dont care if I'm using a 308,30-06,7MM,300 Win.Mag or 338 I personally would not shot more then 400 yards."

 

I totally agree, Ernesto!

 

Bill Quimby

[COOSEFAN]

I have alot of hesitation and fear in shooting elk with a rifle. I have unfortunately seen quite a few elk lost after shot by a rifle. It has happened to me personnally when I was 10 yrs old, I drew a mature bull tag in 4a/4b. I was using a .280 Remington and shot and lost two really good bulls. Neither bull was more than 100 yrds away and I shot the second bull at least 3 times out of 5 at less than 60 yrds. He just kept running circles not knowing where the shots were coming from. We tracked him for as long as we could, ran out of blood and tracks very quick, and stayed doing circles in the area for several days after. We didn't know what happened until later that year my dad shot a Coues with the same gun and it took 7 shots to finally put him down. The bullets were acting like full metal jacketed bullets, just zipping through like a feild tip, not doing much damage at all. I feel my bad fortune was due to the bullets we were using, but nevertheless it burned a lesson in me I will never forget. I would never chance anything now when it comes to shooting elk. I would use the biggest gun available and more importantly, the one that I'm most confident/accurate with! I personnaly would never shoot an elk past 350 yrds with any gun, but thats MY limitations, it can be done if you've prepared for it. I know of two guys that had 6A late bull tags, not even close to being prepared except for a box of shells and their 30.06's. They found two bulls on the opposite side of one of the deepest, nastiest canyons in the unit, and started throwin' lead at around 600 yrds. They finally had enough holes in the two bulls to put them down but no bullets left to finish the bulls off! They sat there and watched them die then went to our camp, all proud at what they killed, and asked us to help them pack the bulls out! We were there to help so we did but it was very sad and pathetic what they did. My point is, you can kill an elk way out there, if you have enough bullets, but do your part, know your limitations and your equipment, it's not worth wounding and/or losing an animal. JIM>

[300WBYMAG]

You can see what my choice would be from my ID, but I also shoot a 270 WSM. You seem to be hinting towards longer shots and like the other said, if you practice and get accurate, you can shoot at further distances. If that is the case I think you would want to avoid the 30-06 because of the bullet drop at distance and the velocity lost down range.

 

I really wanted the 270 Wby Mag but because of price I ended up going with the WSM. They pack more umph down range then people are giving credit here (wby more so then the wsm). Look at the ballistics of the rounds and compare the 30-06 to these rounds at 300 or further.

 

Last is personal experience. My buddy had a late rifle tag last year and we ranged the young 6x6 he shot at 540 yards. He took one shot with his 270 wby mag high shoulder and dropped it where it stood.

[.270]

seein' as how the .270 is the greatest cartridge ever developed and seein' as how it was divine inspiration that created it and seein' as how i am the world's greatest authority on the .270 (among other things) i'd say get the .270. i've shot a lot of elk. i mean really a lot. almost all with a .270. it's like anything else, if ya gut shoot em, they're gonna run off. if ya hit em in the lungs, they're gonna die. and real quick. there are a lotta great cartridges that will git-r-done, but none as divine as the .270. i usually shoot mine over my shoulder, while sightin' it through a mirror at ranges usually over 600 yards (hey i'm lazy and don't feel like sneakin' any closer) and most o' the time i get em in the eye. (elk have really big eyes) Lark.

[firstcoueswas80]

lark, i have a new name for ya... chistiso....

 

 

bullet placement is the number 1 no matter what. but something that i dont think has been pressed enough is bullet construction. Jim ( Coosefan) talked about his bullets not opening up, it dont matter if you drill a bull at 10000000 yards if the bullet doesnt do what its supposed to. i shoot out of my 270 and 270 wsm 140 accubonds. i killed a coues at 250 yards with the WSM and a lion at about 15-20 feet. the deer had small wholes coming in, and quarter to 50 cetn piece whols going out. lion same thing. even at over 3000 FPS the bullet held together and had controlled expansion. if you are looking at shooting that far, i would look at the 140 accubond, 130 interbond or TSX. they all have high ballistic coefficients and are known for good accuracy and dependable expansion ( no matter what chistiso says)

[donniedent]

Stick with your .270, if you try to shoot a .308 or an .06 past 300 yards you'll be aiming 12 feet over the darn thing. I have 30-06 and a 7mm rem mag. I use the .06 in close quarters and the 7mm when I can see a ways. Shoot what you got!

 

Donnie

[ketchupcox]

I agree with all the other posters... it's how you shoot what you shoot that counts!! I'm new to hunting (my first hunt was in '92) and my hunting partner preached shot placement... it?s all about shot placement. My personal opinion is that a .270 is the entry point for elk cartridges. If you hunt where shots are 300 yards and in it will serve you well. If you hunt open country or a mixture of open country and timber you will need to exercise good judgment and restraint possibly passing on shots which could be made with a caliber with longer reach. The issue is not so much the "power" as other have correctly noted. It's range and the amount of holdover required a a given range. The more correction the more likely you can get it wrong and the numbers just keep working against you as the range increases requiring both accurate judgment of range and holdover.

 

In this string I saw a note of a 610 yard shot with a .308. That's a shot that can be made by very few persons and my hat is off to them!! Most normal hunters (with much more average skills) have no business shooting at game at that range with that weapon. Even with a marginal elk load (150 grain) my ballistics chart says the hold over at 500 yards is in the 52" range (200 yard zero). At 600 yards the drop would be between 80" and 100" (6.5'-8.5')!!!!! Don't try this at home!!

 

Choice of cartridge is always a great debate. When I was in the market for a "one gun" rifle to hunt deer, elk and everything else I studied ballistics tables till I could read no longer. I discussed my options with all my hunting partners (and fellow gun nuts) till they ran out of patience. All the discussion and study lead me to the conclusion that the "right" rifle for me would be either a a 7mm or .30. The 7mm rem mag is about perfect for deer; great power out to 500 yards with respectable point blank range using 150gr bullets (the lightest I will use on elk). Any of the other 7mm mags are even better but you pay the price with higher recoil, higher priced ammunition and lower availability. Any store that carries ammunition has some loading of 7mm rem mag. As to the .30's... they are about perfect. A little much for deer but just what the doctor ordered for elk. Black timber to open country short range to as far as you have the skill to shoot. After all was said and done I purchased a Weatherby Mark V in .300 Weatherby Mag. I have it zeroed at 300 yards which gives me a point blank range over 375 yards. The year after I bought it my son expressed interest in going elk hunting and I purchased another Weatherby Mark V this one in 7mm Weatherby Mag. Using a 160gr bullet it has the same ballistics as the .300 shooting the 180gr. I set them up the same (Leoupold 4.5-14 VXIII) and they shoot almost identically and with good coaching and lots of practice I learned to shoot them well. I've taken 2 elk with the .300 (one at a measured 395 yards) and my son has taken one elk with the 7mm.

 

Choose well... your cartridge, your loading and your shots! Happy hunting!!

 

Longshot