160gr Bullets for the .270

Demonical

Demonical

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I am not a huge fan of the .270 for big game, it's OK for deer, coyotes and such.* But today I was in the gun store and they had some 160gr Nosler Partitions. Now those bullets immediately caught my interest! I bought all 3 boxes they had in the store.

I will develop a load for those and use them on a bear some day.

Btw, my favorite load for deer is the 140gr Nosler Accubond. I load those with 59gs H4831SC and they go avg 3025fps MV; that's in my 26" barreled M-700 Sendero.
I use that same load with 140gr Hornady ILs as a practice round...

I've got a 22" barreled .270 Mountain Rifle, which I have never fired, as it has no scope just yet.

So anybody ever load these 160gr NPs in a .270 or any other brand name 160gr bullets? They are a seriously long bullet and should penetrate like bastards!



*The opening statement is my opinion only. Feel free to tell me how I'm completely out of my mind.
 
Dominion used to load 160 grain round nose for the 270. They were pretty slow and never went over very well.
The loading data that Gatehouse gave is pretty slow for the 160 Nosler, also.
In my opinion, the 150 grain Nosler partition is perfect for big game in the 270. I once shot a heavy elk, a bit angling from sideways. It was flop bang and the bullet was on the far hide. Don't see how you could improve on that.
Sorry to rain on your 160 grain picnic, but I would take the 150 Nosler as first choice.
On Jack O'Connor's write up in 1975, on the 50th anniversary of the 270, he states the original 130 grain bullet made by Winchester, was the best bullet he had ever used in a 270.
I have posted that article, if anyone is interested I could post it again.
 
I used the CIL 160gr KKSP for jump shooting Wt's in thick cover.They would penetrate from South to North and drop deer like there was no tomorrow...............Harold
 
The .270 has killed everything in North America. Big bears included. It was the early(late 1920's) gun rag writers and hunters that decided the 130 grain bullet made it a deer/sheep/antelope cartridge.
Get a copy of O'Connor's, The Hunting Rifle'(Stoeger Publishing. ISBN: 0-88317-054-X) and read Chapter 6.
 
mbogo3 said:
I used the CIL 160gr KKSP for jump shooting Wt's in thick cover.They would penetrate from South to North and drop deer like there was no tomorrow...............Harold
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I couldn't agree more Harold, having used them on everything I hunted on the Prairies. I'm still hoarding about 7 or 800 and in my 270s they shoot better than any other brand of bullet...
 
I like the 270 for a coyote and deer rifle 110 gr. and 130gr. in that order if I was to hunt moose or elk with it I would likely use a 140 gr. at max fps. but alas that is what my 300H+H is for moose and elk so I guess its Coyotes and deer for the 270
 
H4831 said:
Dominion used to load 160 grain round nose for the 270. They were pretty slow and never went over very well.
The loading data that Gatehouse gave is pretty slow for the 160 Nosler, also.
In my opinion, the 150 grain Nosler partition is perfect for big game in the 270. I once shot a heavy elk, a bit angling from sideways. It was flop bang and the bullet was on the far hide. Don't see how you could improve on that.
Sorry to rain on your 160 grain picnic, but I would take the 150 Nosler as first choice.
On Jack O'Connor's write up in 1975, on the 50th anniversary of the 270, he states the original 130 grain bullet made by Winchester, was the best bullet he had ever used in a 270.
I have posted that article, if anyone is interested I could post it again.
Click to expand...


H4831, what would you think is safe max' velocity, then? :)
 
I packed them around in my 270 Parker Hale before Ron made a barrel for me. They shot really well but I only got one coyote with the load at 370 some yards. He was running and it went full length and exited, not much to slow it down. One for the flukey shot list.
 
Demonical said:
H4831, what would you think is safe max' velocity, then? :)
Click to expand...

I didn't mean it that way.
I meant the 160 seemed too heavy for the smaller bore, to be really efficient. In other words, a 150 grain seems to go considerably faster, and in a good bullet like a Nosler partition, doesn't seem to give up much, if any, in penetration.
However, the top loads shown in the data are about 2850 and this is achieved with 4350, as well as a couple more. I think anyone who has done much reloading for a 270 knows that 4350 is a bit fast, even for a 130 grain bullet. Definetely too fast for a 150 grain bullet and in the data shown, 4350 is given 80% capacity with the 160 bullet. That is not an efficient load. So, yes, it would appear it could be safely driven faster.
 
wonksy said:
Please!:D
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Here is O'Connor's piece on the first bullet for the 270.
OC2.jpg
 
I tried several reloads for my sons new, but pre T3 Tikka. I forget the model, 595 stainless, maybe..anyhow..Noslers have always been a favorite, and I even tried some of the newer ones..but really wasnt pleased, or satisfied that full accurracy had been reached. So on a recommendation I bought some 140gr TSX. All I can say is wow..There was a marked improvement in accurracy, and my son shot a heavy mulie buck at 230m, shot it thru the boiler room, it made one jup on the shot and collapsed..shot went thru and thru. Same hunt, he shot a bear in the 250lb range, 150m, same deal, bang flop, shot thru. I wouldnt hesitate to leave my magnums at home and tackle any critter with that 140 TSX.
 
long bow said:
I tried several reloads for my sons new, but pre T3 Tikka. I forget the model, 595 stainless, maybe..anyhow..Noslers have always been a favorite, and I even tried some of the newer ones..but really wasnt pleased, or satisfied that full accurracy had been reached. So on a recommendation I bought some 140gr TSX. All I can say is wow..There was a marked improvement in accurracy, and my son shot a heavy mulie buck at 230m, shot it thru the boiler room, it made one jup on the shot and collapsed..shot went thru and thru. Same hunt, he shot a bear in the 250lb range, 150m, same deal, bang flop, shot thru. I wouldnt hesitate to leave my magnums at home and tackle any critter with that 140 TSX.
Click to expand...

I'd be very surprised if a140gr TSX didn't out penetrate (or at the very least equal) a 160 gr Partition.:)
 
I've used the 160 NP in both my 270 Win and 270 Wby. I prefer heavy for caliber bullets generally, my hunting experience has been that they are good killers. In the 270 Win, after a fair amount of experimentation, I settled on the 130 gr Barnes X over RL22. Works very well, on game up to and including moose. The 270 isn't my favorite caliber (too much of a Keith guy I guess), but with good bullets they are a good choice for NA game. FWIW - dan
 
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