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Bigfoot 870

Bigfoot 870

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UPS just dropped off my order from Cabela`s...........Federal Premium - Vital Shock - .270 Win - 150 Grain - Nosler Partition.

The box and Federal`s website advise that this ammo is for Medium game, such as deer. In Fact, Federal`s website doesn`t specifically recommend any of it`s Premium ammo for Large game in any of the following calibers: .270 Win, .270 WSM, .270 Weatherby Mag, 7mm-08, 7x57 and .280 Rem. (Note: The .308 Win and .30-06 make the list with 180 grain projectiles only. 7mm Mags are good to go with 150 grain and heavier.)

With the .270 being (fairly) popular for moose, I`m very surprised that the 150 NP isn`t recommended for Large game.

Who has experience to share, with the ``no no`` list and successful moose kills............which projectiles worked just fine:)
 
Recommendations by manufacturers are primarily CYA things from their legal departments. A 150 out of a .270 will kill Bullwinkle with no fuss. O'Connor was killing everything with 130's and 140's long before there was such a thing as a Partition.
Stateside deer on average are smaller than here too.
 
i would have no issue using a 270 with a 150 partition. lots of game is taken with the various 7mm's using 140 grn bullets. very comparatable.
 
My moose hunting buddy hunts with a 270 Win BLR.

I have personally seen him drop 4 moose in the past few years with 130 grain Swift A-Frames (self loaded).

Now where we hunt a 100 yard shot is long, but the moose he shot only took a couple of steps and then fell over - in one instance it looked like something cut the legs out from under it - it was a 3 or 4 year old bull and it simply collapsed right where it stood (shot was at about 80 yards).

I am retiring my 30.06 in favour of a 7mm-08, and will not hesitate to use that on Bullwinkle with either a 150 grain A-Frame or 140/150 grain partition (but do love the A-Frames for moose).
 
Had forgot in my earlier post about a resource available through the Hornady website.

They have what is called a HITS calculator. You can plug in the round you are shooting if you can figure the "terminal" velocity (they have a ballistics calculator there as well) and it will give it a "hits" score that rates what the round can be used for - small, medium, large or dangerous game.

I had already ran some numbers prior to settling on the 7mm-08 as a replacement moose rifle (for MY moose hunting needs/situation) where I ran numbers for a 260 Rem, 6.5 Creedmore, 7mm-08 Rem and 270 Win.

So what the calculator spit out was - the 6.5 and 260 packed enough punch, shooting a 140 grain partition @ muzzle velocity of 2700 fps, to take down a moose at max range of 281 yards.

The 7mm-08 shooting a 150 grain A-Frame would still have enough punch, with a muzzle velocity of 2650 out to a max range of 225 yards.

For the 270 I chose the 140 partition as well (used the 150 with 7mil because that is how "I" would load it, and with a muzzle velocity of 2900 fps, the effective range on a moose was 223 yards.

Now, if you hand load you could definitely stretch that out some if you needed to, I simply chose off the shelf loads that would produce the velocities I plugged in, from standard offering barrel lengths (generally 22").

I am not trying to argue whether Hornady's formula is too conservative or whatever, but at least using their recommended firepower formula, the 6.5 to 7mm "non-magnum" offerings are more than sufficient to take down Bullwinkle we out to 200 yards (plus a bit).

And depending on where you hunt moose, getting within 200 yards can be done "with no stalking skills at all" - at least in my experience. Moose are just not that spooky..

I also ran the same numbers with Nosler Accu-bonds, and in similar weights and similar muzzle velocities, they "stretched" the effective range another 15-20 yards. And while I am still on the fence about using Accu-bonds or Scirocco's for moose, many have reported excellent results - I just prefer the (partitioned) bullets and find A-Frames are a little stouter than the Partitions (just a little more difficult to come by if you hand load, but at least until recently, Remington loaded it in their Premier line - but pricey).
 
Sunray, I Googled CYA and the first listing to come up was "Chantilly Youth Association";) I agree with you:)

Graham, Is there any special reason that didn't you "run" the .270 with 150 grain NP?
I used their ballistics calculator and came up with 2035 ft lbs of energy at 200 yards, so with 2000 ft lbs as the minimum for moose, I'm guessing the maximum distance is 215ish yards........right? I'm going to play with HITS now:)

I don't hand load and never will:) and ammo selection sucks in my area, so I buy what I can online.

Thanks guys!!:)

Edit: Graham, I entered Federals published velocity, for my ammo, at 350 yards, which is 2180 fps and the HITS score came up as 912, with the Large minimum being 901. Am I doing something wrong?:)

http://www.federalpremium.com/products/details/rifle.aspx?id=236
 
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Bigfoot 870 said:
Sunray, I Googled CYA and the first listing to come up was "Chantilly Youth Association";) I agree with you:)

Graham, Is there any special reason that didn't you "run" the .270 with 150 grain NP?
I used their ballistics calculator and came up with 2035 ft lbs of energy at 200 yards, so with 2000 ft lbs as the minimum for moose, I'm guessing the maximum distance is 215ish yards........right? I'm going to play with HITS now:)

I don't hand load and never will:) and ammo selection sucks in my area, so I buy what I can online.

Thanks guys!!:)

Edit: Graham, I entered Federals published velocity, for my ammo, at 350 yards, which is 2180 fps and the HITS score came up as 912, with the Large minimum being 901. Am I doing something wrong?:)

http://www.federalpremium.com/products/details/rifle.aspx?id=236
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I ran the 270 with with the 140 grain bullets because that is what "I" would shoot - just a personal quirk/preference - no other reason (and my numbers were when I was doing personal research for a new caliber, not meant to be all encompassing).

Also, my velocities may seem "low", but I also went really conservative on the muzzle velocities.

If we look at a Hornady 7mm-08 factory load of a 139 grain Interlock that they sell as their "American Whitetail" ammo, they list the muzzle velocity as 2840 fps. But what length was the barrel and what was the temp when they tested that round?

I "assume", lacking info (while Nosler at least tells you the barrel they tested with, and usually a 26 inch), that they test with the maximum benefit to show how good their product is.

So IF that 2840 was achieved with a 26" barrel in say 75 degree weather, what would the velocity be from a 22" barrel at temps near zero (typical Deer or Moose rifle season temps)???

I figure I'm going to lose somewhere between 100 and 200 fps over the "published" velocity simply because it's colder and my barrel is shorter.

So even if I have gone "way conservative" (some might say you might only lose 50 fps), I figure the velocities I ran would be a "worst case scenario" and would not give me an "iffy" terminal ballistic range.

So agree, my ranges may be at the "low end" and could well be upwards of 100 yards short, but I would be super confident shooting out to 250 (with the numbers/rounds I ran) in any of those calibers.

And 250 yards is about 150 yards further than I have ever had to pull the trigger on when moose hunting.

So no, your number aren't wrong if your muzzle velocity is "as published".
 
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Bigfoot 870 said:
I hope not, because it has absolutely nothing to do with my discussion:)
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sure it does. You have a caliber that is capable of taking almost anything in North America. Moose have been taken with way lighter bullets and at slower speeds. You would be surprised what a 100gr .243 can do. ask a FN what he hunts moose with. Your gun is a cannon compared to that.
 
hoochie said:
sure it does. You have a caliber that is capable of taking almost anything in North America. Moose have been taken with way lighter bullets and at slower speeds. You would be surprised what a 100gr .243 can do. ask a FN what he hunts moose with. Your gun is a cannon compared to that.
Click to expand...

You are missing my point. I'm talking about a specific bullet and manufacturer recommendations, in .270 Win. I would have no problem in using the 150 grain NP on a moose.
 
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