Inexpensive factory .270 ammo for elk

[mustanger98]

I happened to see the .270Win ammo my local wallyworld stocks, and yours may be different, but I noticed eight different loads... 130's and 150's priced between $16 and $21 per box. If that were my route, (see my previous comments).

Like 2ndtimer said, an archer would be able to get close enough to make the right budget off-the-shelf ammo work.

The elk ain't asking what they were shot with.

 

[CraigC]

Who said you have to practice with premium ammo?

 

[.308 Norma]

more rounds downrange, which is probably in the end, more important than using an expensive premium load that might not find it's mark due to insufficient practice.

IMHO, there's no "probably" about it...more practice = better shot placement, and that's more important than how much your ammo costs. And I'm one of those hard-core handloaders that uses what I figure are the best bullets I can find for the game I hope to shoot - regardless of what the bullets cost. Furthermore, using what I figure are the best bullets I can find for the job, I work up loads that give me the velocities I want, all the while looking for the smallest groups (within reason) I can get out of a rifle.
But that's me - it's what I like to do. I used to work with one of those fellers though that liked to brag that he'd been using the same box of 30-06 "bullets" for killing a deer "every year for 10 years." I don't know how long it took me to figure out he was only trying to get my goat by asking me why I handload. He never would accept my answer that I enjoy handloading and looking for what I figure is the perfect ammo for what I hope to use it for.
However, as I stated in an earlier post in this thread, I used to hunt deer and elk with Remington CoreLokt factory ammo. That's the kind of ammo my dad swore by, and he was seldom wrong about such things. So that's what I used too. BTW, as much as my dad swore by Remington CoreLokts, he swore at Winchester Silvertips, and I never did know why.

But I've had mixed results with Core-lokt's accuracy. Some are great, and some are 2" loads.

I'm not arguing, Newtosavage, but I do have a question about the above line in your original post. "What do you mean by 2" loads?"
The reason I'm asking is because with a scoped rifle and factory ammo, I always considered 3-shot, 2" groups @ 100yards "good enough" for deer and elk. And 3-shot, 2" groups @ 100yards with open sights is probably better than I can do with any ammo considering my eyes turned 71 years old last week.

 

[stillquietvoice]

I've been looking at specs for various 150 gr 270 factory rounds. I found that Winchester, federal fusions, and rem core lokt all advertise the same ballistics for mv and me 2850 fps with 2705 me.

Hornandy white tail 150's ballistics ate similar but give SD and bc the interlock bc g1 is .462. This might give better downrange performance if your son's rifle shoots it well.

All companies ammo prices were within a few dollars of each other. Try them all shoot with the best performer.

 

[Newtosavage]

I waited to respond to this thread to see which way it was going. Now that the OP has provided more info regarding his original question, I will share my personal opinion, for what it is worth.
I have never hunted elk, but have been an avid shooter and handload for decades. I am also frugal (extremely). So as a fan of the .270 Win. cartridge, and having discussed the idea of minimum cartridge for elk with lots of shooters over the years, I believe you made an excellent choice. If I were to go after elk with a .270, it would be my .270WSM, and it would be a carefully worked up handload with 150 gr Nosler Partition bullets. But given your parameters, I would buy a box or two of 150 gr Federal Power-Shoks, as well as Federal 150 gr Fusions. I would use whichever is more accurate in your son's rifle. The Fusion bullet might be preferred for elk, but if your son has been successful taking deer with bow and muzzle loader, I am presuming he would be able to get close enough that even the cup and core bullet of the affordable "blue box" ammo would get the job done. I have been very impressed with the velocity and accuracy of the basic Federal ammo in the .270 Win. (as well as .243 Win and .308 Win.) and would always try that first, if I were to use factory ammo on a hunt.

Thanks for the thoughtful response.

I'm a fan of Federal ammo. It's always shot well for me and Fusions have been some of the most accurate factory ammo I've tried out of 4-5 rifles now.

 

[Newtosavage]

I've been looking at specs for various 150 gr 270 factory rounds. I found that Winchester, federal fusions, and rem core lokt all advertise the same ballistics for mv and me 2850 fps with 2705 me.

Hornandy white tail 150's ballistics ate similar but give SD and bc the interlock bc g1 is .462. This might give better downrange performance if your son's rifle shoots it well.

All companies ammo prices were within a few dollars of each other. Try them all shoot with the best performer.

That's my plan. I've been swamped at work and haven't had a chance to get to the range, but my hope is to spend the money and time testing factory ammo for him, so he doesn't have to. At some point, I'll be able to tell him "Stick with the "XX" or the "YY" because your gun likes those two (or whatever). Then he can just focus on shooting when he has time.

 

[2ndtimer]

Just FYI, in shooting factory 130 gr ammo in my Marlin XL7 22" .270, the Federal Power-Shok blue box ammo was not only much more accurate, but chronographed over 100 fps faster than the 130 gr Remington Core-Lokt. I don't know if the same would hold true for the 150 gr versions, but there was no contest between the 130 gr versions in my rifle. YMMV.

 

[Newtosavage]

Just FYI, in shooting factory 130 gr ammo in my Marlin XL7 22" .270, the Federal Power-Shok blue box ammo was not only much more accurate, but chronographed over 100 fps faster than the 130 gr Remington Core-Lokt. I don't know if the same would hold true for the 150 gr versions, but there was no contest between the 130 gr versions in my rifle. YMMV.

I've yet to shoot a Core-lokt that chrono'd within 100 fps of what was printed on the box. Hornady ammo seems to be the closest to the advertised number in my (limited) experience.

 

[edwardware]

. . .the Federal Power-Shok blue box ammo was not only much more accurate. . .

Federal Blue Box has become my first answer for, "What ammo should I start with?" in about any caliber.

 

[Captcurt]

What ammo did Jack O'Connor use on elk?

I think that he rolled his own. I have seen some of his loads in print. Most were over book max.

 

[Captcurt]

Thanks for the thoughtful response.

I'm a fan of Federal ammo. It's always shot well for me and Fusions have been some of the most accurate factory ammo I've tried out of 4-5 rifles now.

I would have to go with this in a 150gr or a 150gr CoreLokt.

 

[Gtscotty]

I understand where you're coming from trying to set up someone who isn't very into hunting with a rig that will work for him. My sons are too young, but I've been in similar situations with friends that I've tried to get set up to go elk and muley hunting with me. I've done all the work for them, from telling them what tags to apply for, and in what order, to setting them up with applications to certain HMAs that I know (though lots of investigation, gas and boot leather) are productive, to picking out rifles. It's frustrating, and most of the time they don't even wind up going because it's not a priority, so I still wind up hunting alone. In my case, I have mostly given up and just try to find other committed hunters to hook up with so we can work areas properly. I understand thats not an option for you since it's your son you're helping, and that's different.

I got my one friend who shows a bit more interest set up with 175gr Federal Blue box loads for his 7mm Mag, don't really have any concerns that they wouldn't work.

For .270 I like, and have only used premium hunting bullets for most game because I reload, so why not. If your son will go to sporting goods stores in addition to Wally World, that opens up a bunch of better options that aren't really that expensive. Like I said before, Federal makes a bunch of good loads with a variety of excellent bullets that won't break the bank. I'd also see if there are any of the Hornady 150gr interlock loads where he's shopping, that's a decent bullet and Hornady factory ammo is often a good bet accurate wise.

I think if I was in a similar situation when my son's grow up, I'd be very tempted to "borrow" the rifle for a few months and work up a load with a bullet I like and have high confidence in, then give the rifle back with 100 rds loaded. The cost wouldn't really be that much, and you'd know that he's carrying around an accurate, hard hitting package not likely to let him down. If he'll practice more because the ammo was "free", all the better, nothing beats familiarity with your hunting piece. Would that be an option?

 

[mustanger98]

I think that he rolled his own. I have seen some of his loads in print. Most were over book max.

I recall Jack O'Conner saying he worked his powder up to 60grs and wrote his column about that. Then, he started seeing his 60gr max load in all the manuals and plenty of other publications, as if gospel carved in stone, and without attribution. Well, a little later, Mr. O'Connor worked his load up to 64grs and wrote his column concerning his new results. A bunch of folks... I think he described their mood as indignant... sent him letters saying didn't he know 60grs was the safe top end because all the load manuals and everybody else said so.

 

[Jessesky]

My philosophy is when hunting hopefully I’ll only need one or two shots anyway so cost isn’t too much of a factor. I’d rather use what’s best, and sometimes even the cheaper stuff is the best performing for the application. (Plinking is a different story).

 

[onegunred]

Does anyone have any comments on the Winchester brand 150gr Power Point for ELK ? When I bought the Howa 1500 in 270 I got 5 boxes of the stuff to shoot and gather the brass for reloading. I plan to reload Nosler 150gr Partition in that brass but just how good would the Winchesters be ? Thanks, Jerry

 

[mustanger98]

Does anyone have any comments on the Winchester brand 150gr Power Point for ELK ? When I bought the Howa 1500 in 270 I got 5 boxes of the stuff to shoot and gather the brass for reloading. I plan to reload Nosler 150gr Partition in that brass but just how good would the Winchesters be ? Thanks, Jerry

From what little I've observed of this one round, I'd say if it's accurate in your rifle, go for it.

 

[Laphroaig]

What ammo did Jack O'Connor use on elk?

I have it on good authority (at least in my mind) that Jack loaded 130 gr. Partitions with 62 grains of surplus 4831. Of course, that would be much too hot with todays commercial 4831's, maybe something like 58 grs. would be more appropriate.

I assume that is the round that he used for elk.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Not the solution I'm looking for. I want something he can find locally. If I wanted to buy expensive ammo online, I wouldn't have started this thread.

Okay, OP, you want something inexpensive that works well that is available locally. All you need to do is to tell us what are YOUR local options for .270 ammo and the prices for each and we will tell you what we think is your best choice.

 

[mustanger98]

Not every rifle shoots every load the same. Best choice of off-the-shelf ammo varies from one rifle to the next.

 

[TN Outlaw]

Newtosavage,

What you describe with your son is precisely what nearly ALL the hunters do around here. Most buy 1 box of whatever cheap ammo the local sporting goods store has and sits up a jug @ 60-70yds and if they hit it with one shot, rock on! I can't say much because doing that very thing lots of hunters kill way more game than I although it's not for me.

Depending on your son's local selection, some cheaper factory fodder I would trust would be Hornady Custom SP 150gr and Hornady American Whitetail 150gr, or Federal Fusion 150gr. Some others I figure would work are Winchester PSP, Federal Power-Shok, Remington Core-Lokt, and Walmart had another Winchester load that came in a red/black box that performed very well but was 130gr. I've went blank on the name?

If somehow you can convince him to purchase a premium box of ammo, I'd try Nosler or Federal Premium loaded with 140gr-150gr Partition or even Accubond. Double Tap has a loading of 160gr NP too. You may have to purchase him a box or two of solid ammo and after seeing the good performance he may stick with it.

Or he may just go to Wally World and get some Core-Lokts. They'll all kill within their range. I wish him luck on his hunt.

 

[Newtosavage]

Newtosavage,

What you describe with your son is precisely what nearly ALL the hunters do around here. Most buy 1 box of whatever cheap ammo the local sporting goods store has and sits up a jug @ 60-70yds and if they hit it with one shot, rock on! I can't say much because doing that very thing lots of hunters kill way more game than I although it's not for me.

Depending on your son's local selection, some cheaper factory fodder I would trust would be Hornady Custom SP 150gr and Hornady American Whitetail 150gr, or Federal Fusion 150gr. Some others I figure would work are Winchester PSP, Federal Power-Shok, Remington Core-Lokt, and Walmart had another Winchester load that came in a red/black box that performed very well but was 130gr. I've went blank on the name?

If somehow you can convince him to purchase a premium box of ammo, I'd try Nosler or Federal Premium loaded with 140gr-150gr Partition or even Accubond. Double Tap has a loading of 160gr NP too. You may have to purchase him a box or two of solid ammo and after seeing the good performance he may stick with it.

Or he may just go to Wally World and get some Core-Lokts. They'll all kill within their range. I wish him luck on his hunt.

Thank you.

 

[Garandimal]

Have Two.

Got a pile of Federal 150 gr. Nosler Partitions that MidwayUSA put on after-Season sale for ~ $23/box.

(Also got some Federal 130 gr. tipped Trophy Copper for ~ the same price, but haven't used it.)

And a pile of Pierce Precision "Ted Nugent" 140 gr. TSX, for out West, that I got on liquidation from AmmoMart for $0.75/pop (~ component bullet cost).

Suggest either of those, or the 130 gr. TSX, and then just shop'it.




GR