130 Gr. Elk

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Howa757

Howa757

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Hey
I’m new to the forum here. Just curious if anyone here has used 130gr Hotcors on elk sized game and how the results were. I have them for my 270 and 7-08.
 
Plenty of folks will tell you how great the 130grainers are in their .270's... I haven't seen it perform up to the game I've heard talked. I saw pretty lackluster results another guy got on several deer. I've seen 150gr .270's work better than 130's and as good as anything else. Elk is a much bigger animal than deer. No experience with a 7mm-08, so no comment there. Placement is important with anything.
 
Thanks for the info! So far mine likes the 130’s for accuracy, but I just didn’t know how much t would live up to killing an elk.
 
I've been less than impressed with the 130s in the .270, they do fine, but I'd rather have a 150 at 2850-2900, or a 140/145 at 3k. Most of what I've seen shot are smaller than an Elk also.
I'd also recommend more bullet weight when using any Speer, besides a gold dot maybe, they tend to be on the softer side. The hotcores should be tougher than the btsps, still tho....
 
I am a big fan of the 270 and HotCors, but I have only used them on deer and pronghorn. If I was to use a 270 I would go to a 150gr. Partition and a 160 Partition in the 7-08. The lighter bullets would be fine if you can get the right angle on the game, but a heavier bullet will get you better penetration on a raking shot. The Partition is the bullet on which all other bullets are judged. There may be better ones, but you can't argue with success.
 
I've killed a few over 30 deer, 3 wild boar, and 4 chamois with 130s in a .270 and never lost an animal, nor did any require a 2nd shot that were hit right the 1st time.

If you've read any Jack O'Connor, he killed more animals and of greater variety than probably anybody on the planet living or deceased with a .270 and he favored the 130 grain. This quote is out of Ken Waters Pet loads and gives an idea of the man's experience with the.270:

Dear Dave
... if you are printing some of my .270 loads, one I use a lot is sixty-two (62.0) grains of No. 4831 in Winchester-Western cases with the CCI Magnum primer. I have just checked my figures with that load with the 130-grain Nolser bullet in three .270 rifles. In two Model 70's with 22-inch barrels, one gave 3,130 and the other 3,210 fps. In a custom-made .270 with a 24-inch barrel, the velocity was 3,225.

I have never had pressure taken with the Nosler bullet, but with the Winchester Silvertip 130-grain bullet, the pressure was only 44,000 lbs. A Remington test with the same load but with the 130-grain Bronze Point bullet gave a mean pressure 51,200. With the 150-grain bullet, 59 grains of 4831 with W-W cases gave velocities varying in different rifles from about 2,900 to 2,975. An interesting load for very heavy game is the 180-grain Barnes round-nose bullet with 56-grains of No. 4831. Velocity is just under 2,700 in a 22-inch barrel.

As you undoubtedly know, velocities vary quite a bit from rifle to rifle and pressure figures vary accordingly to who takes the pressure.

I have used the .270 for 40 years, shooting everything from Javelina to Alaska-Yukon moose. I have also used it in Africa, India, and Iran. This may shake quite a few people up, but I am inclined to believe that the 130-grain bullet is probably the one best bullet weight yet, if the bullet construction is adapted to the animal

My best wishes
Jack O'Connor
Click to expand...

Now personally I'd use a bigger caliber on elk and IF I was to use a .270 I'd use a premium 150 grn, but I've got a lot less experience than the guy I quoted had.
 
I have killed Elk with other calibers than the 270 ,, and taken a number a of deer, antelope with the .270 …. Without any experience killing Elk with the 270 and a 130 grain bullet I would guess a good shot in the boiler room would most defiantly work. a bad shot with a 270 on an Elk will be a trail of tears
 
Zoer said:
I have killed Elk with other calibers than the 270 ,, and taken a number a of deer, antelope with the .270 …. Without any experience killing Elk with the 270 and a 130 grain bullet I would guess a good shot in the boiler room would most defiantly work. a bad shot with a 270 on an Elk will be a trail of tears
Click to expand...

As is a bad shot with any caliber. I am not a fan of light for caliber billets on elk. But a bad shot is a bad shot no matter the caliber or bullet weight.
 
I made a bad shot on a big bodied bull elk yesterday morning with a .300 Dakota using 180 Gr TTSX bullets.

I hit him fairly far back and got nothing but gut. He trotted off and bedded down. We thought he was dead.

He was very much alive an hour later when I jumped him out of his bed. I was down in a gully and I couldn’t see him when he jumped and fortunately my buddy who was shooting a .30-06 with 150 Gr bullets was able to pop him from over 400 yards twice as he started to disappear into a creek bottom.

His shooting was spectacular! And he hit a moving elk twice in the lungs from a seated position with his trusty old 06 from over 400 yards. He killed the bull with good shooting and light for caliber bullets. I wounded him with tons of horse power a heavy bullet and a lousy shot.

Kind of goes to what we were talking about in this thread.

BTW

I’ve killed a pile of elk over the years. I own my lousy shot. It was 100% my fault.
 
Last edited:
H&Hhunter said:
I made a bad shot on a big bodied bull elk yesterday morning with a .300 Dakota using 180 Gr TTSX bullets.

I hit him fairly far back and got nothing but gut. He trotted off and bedded down. We thought he was dead.

He was very much alive an hour later when I jumped him out of his bed. I was down in a gully when he jumped and fortunately my buddy who was shooting a .30-06 with 150 Gr bullets was able to pop him from over 400 yards twice as he started to disappear into a creek bottom.

His shooting was spectacular! And he hit a moving elk twice in the lungs from a seated position with his trusty old 06 from over 400 yards. He killed the bull with good shooting and light for caliber bullets. I wounded him with tons of horse power a heavy bullet and a lousy shot.

Kind of goes to what we were talking about in this thread.

BTW

I’ve killed a pile of elk over the years. I own my lousy shot. It was 100% my fault.
Click to expand...

Anyone that has hunted much has made a bad shot, whether they are willing to admit it or not. Sounds like phenomenal shooting from your friend. I think he deserves the fangs!
 
I would feel just fine using .270 Federal Premium Trophy Bonded Ballistic Tip 130 grain on elk. They are too tough for deer - need a faster opener for the smaller game.

My 130 grain deer round is Wiinchester Ballistic Silver Tip. They shoot well from my rifle and performance is flawless. Deer sometimes stand there and just fall over. Other times a jump and two or three kicks and fall over. Now and again one will take off like greased lightning for 30 or 40 yards and then fall over. Never had to track a deer shot with that round.

Coincidentally and conveniently, the Federal Bonded round shoots to almost the same POI at 100 yards.
 
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