270 Win. woods load

[10gaugemag]

I am looking to load up some 150 grain bullets for my new 270 to use deer hunting as a woods load. Shots will be 100 yards or less with most going under 0. I feel that a 150 will be best for not ruining the front end of a deer at close range but I don't want a bullet so tough it pencils through. I have shot several deer with a 130 and while the give dramatic kill shots they ruin the front end of a deer at close range. Which 150 have some of you all had actual experience with that puts a decent hole through a 150# deer but doesn't ruin a lot of meat and holds together on quartering shots? I am researching Hornady, Speer and Nosler but not finding many that use the heavier bullets for deer. Thanks, Brian.

 

[NCsmitty]

You'll never go wrong using Nosler Partitions or one of the bonded versions, with their controlled expansion. Too many whiz bang boat tail bullets will slip their jackets and you end up with a lot of meat unusable, especially at under 100 yds. You don't need to run them at maximum velocity either, just find a good shooting load.


NCsmitty

 

[rcmodel]

+1

The old Nosler Partition, or any of the new solid copper or bonded core bullets will not blow up at close range.

For that matter, if all your shots are 100 yards or less, you are a little over-gunned with full power .270 loads.

You might even like this:
http://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/H4895 Reduced Rifle Loads.pdf


rc

 

[jmr40]

There is no reason to use any different load than you would use anywhere else. Pick a good bullet, find an accurate load for it and use it everywhere.

 

[CarJunkieLS1]

You could use a Hornady Interlock SP 150gr loaded to ~2800fps and kill anything you hit well past your hunting distance. Just have to test for accuracy and bullet drop voila your done.

 

[Savage99]

The "ruin meat" topic is new. We never gave it a concern and loaded rifles to produce the quickest demise of the quarry.

For closer range shooting of deer consider that it might be moving and if you are going to pass up the shot so as not to "ruin meat".

In my experience which goes back 60 years to 1953 I find that the most powerful gun that I can shoot well gets the game.

 

[goalie]

Brian,

I've used the .270 on deer here in MN as close as 10 yards out to about 125 yards. I didn't notice any difference between the 130 and 150 grain bullets shooting the Federal Fusions or handloading Sierra Game King's.

If you don't want to ruin the shoulder meat, shoot both lungs behind the shoulder and track it a few yards.

 

[22250Rem]

The 270 is more of an open country caliber. If I had to use one in the woods I'd use that as an excuse to get another rifle....... A "woods rifle". A buddy of mine took his 270 woods hunting for the first time last Saturday; saw several deer but didn't get a shot. I was hoping he'd get something because I loaded the ammo for him. He wanted a 130 gr. Sierra Game King over 55 gr. of IMR-4350 with a CCI 250 primer. He loves that load cause in his rifle it's a tack driver at 100 yds.. But I told him not to blame me if he gets a shot at 25 yds or something and then complains about poor bullet performance. If he gets anything at less than 100yds while this thread is still going I'll report back here on how it did.... All in the name of scientific research. Stay tuned....( hope he gets one ).

 

[68wj]

The "ruin meat" topic is new. We never gave it a concern and loaded rifles to produce the quickest demise of the quarry.

For closer range shooting of deer consider that it might be moving and if you are going to pass up the shot so as not to "ruin meat".

In my experience which goes back 60 years to 1953 I find that the most powerful gun that I can shoot well gets the game.

I don't think it is. I read somewhere that the 130 is ideal for the 270 and the 150 was developed to slow it down and ruin less meat. It may have just been an old fiction piece like Cartridges of the World though.

 

[WaywardSon]

There is no reason to use any different load than you would use anywhere else. Pick a good bullet, find an accurate load for it and use it everywhere.

Exactly.

But of course, that is far too simple Influenced largely by the writings of the great Jack O'Connor, I picked a .270 for my first big game rifle. Over the years I have used it to kill several deer using bullets ranging from the 130 gr. Sierra Ballistic Tip to the 150 gr. RWS H-Mantle which is a pretty tough bullet. They all died...none went far. Almost all were inside 100 yds.

Given a choice, I will take a double lung shot every time, and not because of a concern over ruining meat. It is a large target that, when hit, produces reliable results. There will be little if any tracking involved, and there will be a good blood trail.

 

[GooseGestapo]

Meat damage has little or nothing to do with a bullet shedding it's jacket. It's the secondary "missle" effect of shattering bone creating shards of bone that shread the tissue, and the rapidity of the bullet expansion on hitting the bone. Of course, a bullet has to expand violently result in shedding the jacket... But, often the core continues out and except on heavy, dangerous game, do I consider a jacket slippage a "failure"....

Indeed, everything else equal, a 150gr bullet from the .270 will damage less meat than a 130gr. BTDT. It simply hits going slower, and expands less... but continued penetration may, and does result in additional bone impacts resulting in further "meat damage"...

I've found the middle ground of the 140gr Sierra BtSpt is my rifles preferred bullet, and 58.0gr of RL22 for 2,900+fps the most accurate. It kills deer very dead at extended ranges. But, isn't as explosive as the 130's.. But, shot placement is still the issue of the day.

I've found that the Speer 150gr HotCor and 150gr Remington CorLokts to be the "less" explosive of the "reasonably" price bullets.

Unlike many, I've found the Nosler Partitions to be particulary "damaging" or explosive due to the thin front jacket and soft lead fore-section. The worst I've ever "blow up" a deer was with a 210gr Nosler Partition from my .338/06 at ~60yds and 2,800fps impact speed... practically blew the deer in half. Only the belly skin and strip of skin on top of back was holding the ~120lb doe together... (Spine hit, immediately behind shoulder).

I suggest the Speer 150gr "HotCor" or "Fusion", or Sierra 150gr flat-based "Pro-Hunter", or Hornady 150gr "Interlok" over 50.0gr of IMR4350 or 46.0gr of IMR4064. These have been accurate loads for me.
I personally have used 56.5gr of RL22, and "like" the 150gr Speer for a "woods" load.
My rifle prefers the 140gr BtSpt, so thats what it's sighted in for, now.

 

[10gaugemag]

I have used Sierra 130 GK on more than a few deer and like the instant death but hate the mess. The 150 Sierra PH is no longer offered just a GK and it might be ok slowed down but the idea of a Hornady SP or Speer whether it be a Hotcor or Grand Slam are what interests me the most right now. I also know that Partitions can have a "soft" front end and do damage but didn't know if "heavier/slower" helped them much. I am looking for actual experience people have had with the mentioned bullets nothing more.

 

[Lone Star]

I sighted-in my M-70 Fwt. Classic with Federal's Premium 150 grain Nosler loads, to let me use it on anything I might logically hunt.

As for ruining meat, Jack O'Connor, the ultimate espouser of the .270, wrote that a lung shot ruins little meat that anyone would consider edible.

The .308 is often cited as a good woods load, but I really doubt that close range shots with one will ruin much less meat than will a .270, and the .270 shoots flatter if you also need a longer range caliber. And the .270 just sort of goes with a rifle like mine...

BTW, don't think that using a heavier (180 grain) bullet in a .308 or .30/06 to ruin less meat through slower bullet expansion is a good idea. The quicker-opening 150-165 grainers are more likely to give quick, clean kills.

I think the 150 grain Nosler in .270 is a good all-round bullet, unless you hunt a lot at ranges over 300 yards for game no larger than mule deer.

As you prob. know, the Nosler Partition opens quickly, but the stronger rear portion holds together and penetrates well.

 

[Picher]

What makes the .270 Win so great a deer round is the 130 grain spitzer bullet weight's superior trajectory over the .30-06, 150+ grain bullets.

For handloaders: The 130 grain Barnes TSX or TTSX or 130 Hornady GMX will give great performance at all ranges, from 10 feet to over 300 yards. Why give up great trajectory on long shots when you can have both penetration and expansion with nearly 100% weight retention? Bullet weight loss means lost projectile energy for bullets having comparable expansion.

 

[jmr40]

What makes the .270 Win so great a deer round is the 130 grain spitzer bullet weight's superior trajectory over the .30-06, 150+ grain bullets.

In the 1920's-30's that was a true statement. Original 30-06 loads pushed a 150 gr bullet at around 2700 fps. In 1925 a 130 gr 270 load was at about 3000 fps. Modern 30-06 loads can easily match the 3000 fps mark with 150's (3100 fps is possible) and long range trajectory between the 2 is insignificant, with a very slight advantage to the 270.

The "old school" bullets of the 1920's would not hold together at high speeds and would often expand too rapidly at close range or on larger game. That is why the heavier 270/150 and 30-06/180+ bullets were designed. In the 1920's the heavier, slower bullets were necessary.

Todays's 270/150 will take any game you would shoot with a 30-06/180. Todays 30-06 loads will be so close in trajectory to a 270 that no shooter can use the advantage.

With modern bullets, including the Partition which was developed in the 1940's the need for those heavier bullets has largely diminished. Bullets have come a long way and that is the key. Bullet weight is not the issue, bullet construction is. Much of the advice in this thread is based on principles that were outdated decades ago.

I stand by my original advice. Pick a good bullet and use it everywhere.