Winter Cow Elk .270 Win - Projectile Choice

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ironsighter

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The shot will be limited by choice and ability of the shooter (not me) to 200 yards or less.

I reload and I have the following .277" projectiles to choose from.

- 110 TSX
- 130 Speer SPBT
- 140 Berger VLD
- 150 SST (annealed)
- 150 Grand Slam


I don't plan on buying more projectiles. Which would you choose? My gut says Grand Slam, but cow elk are considerably smaller than bulls and they can get pretty lanky in the winter months - this is the only reason I am second-guessing myself. Maybe the quicker expanding SST, or super-fast moving TSX would be better... I don't want the GS to just poke a hole.
 
Elk are tough critters period. 4 of the 5 of your bullets should work fine. Bergers are target bullets IMO, and too explosive so better served 400m or more away. 130 speers may be too soft and blow up at your expected distances too, if heavy bone is in the way.

Interestingly, those 110 TSXs should emulate the impact of a 130 size bullet at that distance therefore would be another fine choice just for interest sake alone and keep lead out of the tender vittles too. If your shooter is recoil shy then this may be a better choice to consider.

Sending the SST or GS in to the boiler room will do the trick well at 200 yards in. The 150GS would be expected to hold together better but I see you annealed the SST so potato/pota-to.

My 2c.
 
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elkhuntr said:
Elk are tough critters period. 4 of the 5 of your bullets should work fine. Bergers are target bullets IMO, and too explosive so better served 400m or more away. 130 speers may be too soft and blow up at your expected distances too, if heavy bone is in the way.

Interestingly, those 110 TSXs should emulate the impact of a 130 size bullet at that distance therefore would be another fine choice just for interest sake alone and keep lead out of the tender vittles too. If your shooter is recoil shy then this may be a better choice to consider.

Sending the SST or GS in to the boiler room will do the trick well at 200 yards in. The 150GS would be expected to hold together better but I see you annealed the SST so potato/pota-to.

My 2c.
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Thanks!

I agree about the Speer SPBT - never really considered it. Haven't used the Bergers for anything yet, so maybe this isn't the time to test them.

Shooter is my 72-year-old mother and she definitely appreciates any recoil reduction, so your comment about the 110 TSX is on point. Although a Limbsaver, plus a wearable recoil pad, plus a winter coat certainly all go a long way to keeping her comfortable even with a 150 grainer cruising at ~2900.

Only thing about the 110 TSX is that I would have to find time soon to work up a good load, whereas I have a very good load for the GS and a fantastic load for the SST (sub-MOA).
 
Rich the Butcher said:
Which one groups best out of the intended rifle?....I'd say go with that one...shot placement is paramount, everything else is secondary.
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Well, I can pretty-much work up good loads with any of them, given enough time. But I already have a sub-MOA load with the SSTs @ just under 2900fps, and the Grand Slam load is certainly not a "bad" load.
 
Get her out on the range to guage the reaction. Shot placement is key.... If she shoots better with the lighter bullet great. If the heavies kick too much, and they will, she may not place the bullet due to flinch. A load down would be in order in that case. I would try 1 grain from max with the 110. Remember all you need is a load that will shoot 4" at your 200 yards limit. Bet those 110s will do better than that with most loads. On thing I learned is don't start off with the worst case as if you learn to flinch at the start you will be on an up hill climb.

In the end no real difference for the freezer as long as she can place the bullet in the boiler room. Elky...
 
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I think your 110 TSX is more than sufficient. I took my bull moose at 180yrds with 130 TSX. Managed to recover 1 of 2 rounds, and it was text book expansion. 2nd round was thru and thru.
 
Choosing the most accurate bullet for elk without consideration for terminal effect IN the animal is a fallacy. Groups of 2" or so at the standard 100 yard range are fully adequate to 200 yards and even beyond. I've seen too many lightly constructed bullets come apart in elk, even small elk, and shot from heavier cartridges than a .270 to suggest anything on your list besides the 150 Grand Slam. I've probably witnessed a couple dozen elk that were taken with the GS and have full confidence. My hunting buddy uses GS 140 gr in his .270 exclusively, and with consistent success. I'd consider the 110 TSX before any of the others listed as a good second choice. If your mother shoots better with a load producing less recoil I'd suggest the developing a load for the TSX.
 
bcsteve said:
Why did you anneal your SST’s? They are pretty soft bullets to start with?
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Based mainly on advice from Nathan Foster over at ballisticstudies.com

The 150 gr. SST can have a tendency to detonate (like a Berger) at high speeds. Softening them between the tip and the cannelure makes them mushroom and/or peel back and then hold together rather than detonate, and also aids expansion at longer distances (low speeds). Makes it a far more of a "do all" bullet. I took Nathan's word for this initially, but these bullets haven't let me down since. Having said that, they never really "let me down" before. The annealing is easy to do so I just do it. The process certainly doesn't make them perform any worse, I can say that.
 
You stated that you had a reasonably well shooting load for the grandslam I would load some of those up.
The 110 TTSX would be my 2nd choice(only due to lack of an already proven load) and I would probably stick a few on top of a starting load of whatever powder listed I had the most of just to give them a try even I didn't up taking them for the hunt.
 
Thanks for all the replies.

My mom has done a good amount of shooting the .270 in the past, so it isn't like we are starting from scratch. The youth model rifle fits her well and she doesn't flinch much (if at all) with the lighter loads I built for practice.

I'll get her out to the range and let her put a few of the 150s downrange and see how she feels and how she shoots. If she can shoot 150s decent then I'll go with the Grand Slams. If not, then I will work up a good fast load with the 110 TSX.

I just looked in my cabinet and realized I also have some 110 Accubonds, but they'll never be put into another animal from my guns, after my daughter blew the entire shoulder of her buck to mince this fall. Accubomb is a fitting nickname.

EDIT: Actually I should note that the 110 AB actually performed perfectly on a neck-shot black bear at 342 yards this fall as well. I guess it had slowed down enough to perform as it should. Bang flop. Recovered bullet is textbook.
 
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Jim870 said:
You stated that you had a reasonably well shooting load for the grandslam I would load some of those up.
The 110 TTSX would be my 2nd choice(only due to lack of an already proven load) and I would probably stick a few on top of a starting load of whatever powder listed I had the most of just to give them a try even I didn't up taking them for the hunt.
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Thanks. Yep that's basically the plan at this point. Maybe I'll get lucky with the 110 TSX on my first trip to the "range".
 
Always love it when guys in these threads say 2-3 moa is good enough. If it's 2-3 moa from a bench what is it going to be offhand?

I think the lighter weights of accubonds are intended to be varmint bullets from the nosler literature.
 
conor_90 said:
Always love it when guys in these threads say 2-3 moa is good enough. If it's 2-3 moa from a bench what is it going to be offhand?

I think the lighter weights of accubonds are intended to be varmint bullets from the nosler literature.
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Actually you'd probably be surprised how little difference it will make for the offhand groups. When two variables of great difference are combined they don't add together, the small one tends to get lost in the big one.

Mathematically, root sum squared would be an accurate predictor.
 
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