270 win ammo for deer

[JMPhoto]

OK..I am new at this, so I am looking for help. I just bought a new Browning X-bolt in 270 WIN for PA whitetail. This will be my first year at deer. I just bought some federal powershock because it was on sale, just to get the scope close. It is very close and almost shooting on top of one another at 100 yds. Now I am trying to find what type of ammo I should actually hunt with. Looking for suggestions. There is so many types of ammo for hunting.
Thanks.

 

[Husker_Fan]

You don't need premium ammo to take a whitetail with a .270. The cheaper Winchester and Remington rounds will do the job. Powershock will do fine as well.

If you do change your ammo, you might consider shooting a few rounds to make sure your have the same POI.

 

[GodGuns&Guitars]

What grain weight were the shells you bought? That has something to do with it. Shot distance also has a lot to do with decissions of this sort. I shoot a 180 grain bullet from my 300 Weatherby mag, but I would say you could probably get by with a 150 for a 270. I'm not much on lighter higher velocity rounds on deer as there tends to be a lot of hemorage where ever you make your hit. I have to admit here though too, I've never shot a deer with my 300. All of my deer hunting over the years has been in pretty thick cover using a 44 mag pistol. I have seen and helped dress out a lot of deer shot with the 270 and it is definitely a venison on the table kind of cartridge. Most of the guys I know that use the 270 are using a 180 grain bullet. Probably not much help to you.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

It is very close and almost shooting on top of one another at 100 yds. Now I am trying to find what type of ammo I should actually hunt with.

Unfortunately it does not work like that. Rifles are quite ammo-sensitive. If you switch brands now, the point of impact may be off as much as 6 or 8", or even more. Usually at least 3 or 4" at 100 yards, even in the same weight bullets, from brand to brand.

Federal powershok is plenty good ammo - use that. Excellent choice, in fact. Make sure it's the same weight (130 or 150 - which did you use?). Even if it's the same weight, if it's a different BOX, I'd re-check the zero. From batch to batch in the same ammo, it may even be off up to 2" difference at 100 yards. However, if your shots are not too far, say under 150 yards, then I'd feel comfortable using the same brand & weight, different box, to hunt deer, without checking the new box.

I guarantee you that a .270 that you can hit with, loaded with 130 Fed. powershoks, is a deer killin MO-SHEEN! 150s will work too but 130s are arguably a bit better choice for deer. Either will work extremely well.

 

[dougwx12]

I just bought some federal powershock because it was on sale, just to get the scope close. It is very close and almost shooting on top of one another at 100 yds. Now I am trying to find what type of ammo I should actually hunt with.

Seriously, you just answered your own question here. Use the Federal cheapies.

 

[bang_bang]

Those Federal PowerShoks are pretty decent bullets. I shot them out of my 300 Win Mag for 2 seasons. Good shooting bullets...they really put the deer down.

 

[41magsnub]

Those Federal PowerShoks are pretty decent bullets. I shot them out of my 300 Win Mag for 2 seasons. Good shooting bullets...they really put the deer down.

Careful with the generalizations there... 300 win mag =/= 270. I also have used them at 175gr out of my 7mm mauser and they had issues. Accurate enough, but zipped right on through the vitals of several deer last year with no expansion that I could identify. Didn't lose any and none even ran at all, but I am not used to having to do a finishing shot which I did have to do to all of them.

Short version, I'm sure they are fine but experience in one caliber with a bullet does not necessarily equate to the same experience in another caliber with the same bullet type.

 

[shaggy430]

Most of the guys I know that use the 270 are using a 180 grain bullet.

Not sure if I have ever seen a 180 gr 270 round. Stick to the 130's. They go together like peas and carrots.

 

[JMPhoto]

Thanks for all the great tips. I was shooting 130gr power shock. I just picked it up because it was on sale, but I guess it is not bad stuff. I still would like to try a few others to see how the gun handles them and then come back to what works best.

 

[NCsmitty]

I still would like to try a few others to see how the gun handles them and then come back to what works best.

It's always good to try other loads to see what's best. The 270 is a great flat shooting round. Sight it to hit around 2.5" high at 100yds, it will be 3" high at 150yds, and it will be on target at about 300yds, with the 130gr bullet.


NCsmitty

 

[whatnickname]

.270 Ammo for deer

Most of the advice you have gotten here is right on point. I own four .270 rifles and have taken a number of deer and pronghorn with the round. For these classes of game the 130 grain bullets are highly favored. Ballistically the performance of the 130 grain round is about on par with the 150 bullet in the .30-06. There is a tendency for some hunters to pick bullets that are too heavy for deer due to the mistaken belief that a heavy bullet "hits harder". Look at the poster that reported using 175 grain bullets on deer and found little or no evidence of expansion. Basically the heavy bullets are intended for heavy game. Their jackets are designed to offer greater resistance on the assumption that a larger, heavier animal will provide that resistance and permit the bullet to expand after it has penetrated into the vitals rather than break up on impact due to the size and toughness of the animal. I will also tell you that bullet placement is way more important than weight and design of the bullet. The guy that killed his deer with 175 grain bullets in a 7MM Mauser got a good result becuase he put the bullet where it belonged. Said another way: The best damn bullet in the world will not even come close to making up for poor marksmanship. A gut shot deer is often a deer that is lost to the hunter only to die a slow, lingering and needless death.

Neither do you need the super expensive premium bullets to get the job done. I use Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets because I reload. I've killed at least 75 deer with Ballistic Tip bullets. It's like throwing hand grenades at them. If I did not reload, I would use any Remington, Winchester or Federal bullet in 130 grains that I could find or offered the best value for the money. Any of the 130 grain bullets are designed specifically for deer. They will work well for you if you do your part by placing the bullet where it belongs. In your part of the country you want to go with high shoulder shots preferrably broad side or quartering away. If your animal is quartering away line up the shoulder on the off side (the side you can't see) and aim high so that you also get close to or take out the spine. They'll drop like they were struck down by the hand of God. Broadside is better yet. Take out both shoulders and the spine if possible. If you miss the spine and take out both shoulders that's okay. I have never had a deer run with two broken shoulders. There isn't that much meat on the front shoulders anyway.

 

[jim147]

As the others have said the ammo you have now will work great as long as you do your part. Before I started reloading for the 270 I carry to the deer woods now(all my brass was fired and neck sized for my other 270) I picked up some Federals, some Remingtons and some Winchester Silvertips.(The old ones not the Ballistic Tacticool ones.) The Silvertips shot the best in my rifle. So that's what I use for hunting. When I run out of those I have part of a box of Federal and a bunch of reloads.

So if you try others, just use what ever your rifle likes best.

jim

 

[bpl]

+1 to whatnickname's post

In .270, 130gr soft point for deer, 150gr premium bullet for elk and such!

In 7mm, a 175gr bullet is definitely a bit stout for deer. More appropriate for shooting a a bull elk. I'm not supprised it went right through with little expansion.

Deer are pretty thin skinned, no need for a premium bullet to kill them. I use mostly Remington Core Lokts, but the Federal Powershock should work just as well.

 

[357sigRog]

The 270 win is my favorite rifle for deer hunting. I zero'd mine in several years ago with Fed. Vital Shok 150gr Noslers. I know they are expensive but once it is sighted in I leave it alone as long as it stays on target and luckly enough I haven't had to adjust it in years. I don't care to pay good money for good ammo if it works well. But the cheap stuff works well too, I shoot the Rem core loks in my 243 and they perform well on deer also. In my opinion like others have said, on deer, the inexpensive ammo works just as good as the expensive ammo as long as it is accurate in your rifle.

 

[trickyasafox]

any of the lower cost 270 rounds will be fine for hunting as long as you are zero'd for them. I always liked winchester silver box when I had to buy factory.

 

[Zeke/PA]

The Remington Core-Lokts in either 130 or 150 grain work well in the .270 and are readily available as factory ammo.
In reloads I like the 140 grain Sierra GameKing over 44 grains of IMR 4064.
I really prefer Core-Lokts but in recent years, many different bullets/ weights are no longer available to reloaders.

 

[kanook]

I zeroed my wifes 270 in 96 degree weather. It was hitting gnats at 100 yds. We took it north for hunting, had to rezero for the 40 degree temp. we use 140 grain accubond. Don't know if you are gonna have a 56 degree temp change.

 

[chas08]

My Daughter and I both use the Federal Powershok in 130 grain in our pair of 270's. If they group good enough for the ranges you will be shooting, use them.

 

[atblis]

I'll pretty much echo what most have said. I originally wanted to get something more exotic, but got a smoking deal on a 270. I have never looked back. It is a deer slaying machine. Premium ammo is not needed.

 

[natman]

Use 130 grain Powershoks / Power Points / Core Lokts. Heavier / premium bullets are not needed with a 270 for deer.

 

[Supertac45]

Federal Vital-Shok with 130 grain Nosler Partition. It's a few more bucks, but it will take any animal smaller than an Elk. I've never seen a 180 grain .270 round. A 160 Partition works fine on Moose.

 

[exbiologist]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Federal switch to all Speer HotCor bullets in their Power-Shok line? Those Speers are good bullets. In some of my phone book tests they held up as well as an bonded core bullet. Seriously, there's no reason to switch to something tougher for deer. Stick to what you've got working well for you. However, I don't want to discourage you from shooting a lot, so take a look at Winchester Power Points and Remington Core-lokts which should be in the same price range.

 

[BENELLIMONTE]

JM'
In my Tikka T3 Lite 270 Winchester I have used 130gr Federal Power Shok,130gr Speer Grand Slam (on a mule deer & cow elk hunt), 140gr Federal Premium High Energy Trophy Bonded Bear Claw (mule deer & bull elk hunt), 150gr Nosler Partition Federal Premium Vital Shok (mule deer & cow elk hunt) and PMC 150gr Barnes X (mule deer & cow moose hunt) They all did the job but the best performing on mule deer was the 130gr Federal Power-Shok. Hope this info helps.

BENELLI'

 

[RMc]

.270 loaded down for autoloaders.

I agree that premium ammo is not neccessary for deer hunting. However you have to remember that all standard and most premium ammo for the .270 Win. has been loaded down in recent years to prevent overdriving the gas system of Remington autoloaders in that caliber. Hornady Light Magnum ammo is an exception and is not recommended for autoloaders.

My Ruger 77 with a 20 inch barrel provides an excellent example of this downloading. This .270 groups exceptionally well with WW Power Point 130 grain factory ammunition, however, this load only musters 2,750 FPS over the chronograph screens.

RMc

 

[natman]

Careful with the generalizations there... 300 win mag =/= 270. I also have used them at 175gr out of my 7mm mauser and they had issues. Accurate enough, but zipped right on through the vitals of several deer last year with no expansion that I could identify.

175 is a very heavy bullet for 7mm. It only gets 2360 fps in 7mx57. Try some 140s and the extra velocity should provide better expansion.