.270 Win bullet for Montana deer

[2ndtimer]

So I am heading to North Central Montana in a month or so. I have taken a few deer there over the years, mostly with my .270WSM and all with Nosler 130 gr Ballistic Tip bullets. They have worked fine. This year, I am tempted to go with a standard .270 Win shooting Hornady Interlock 130 gr bullets. I have found a load that shoots very accurately at around 2900 fps out of the 22" barrel. Since I believe shot placement is the most important when it comes to humanely dispatching game, the question is: should I go with the proven performance of the Nosler (they are quickly becoming prohibitively expensive, but I still have some) and see if I can match the accuracy of the Hornady bullet, or go with the Hornady bullet (I have a good supply of them). I sort of feel like hundreds (or thousands) of deer are taken every year with the Hornady bullet and as long as shot placement is good, it should work fine. But I would appreciate hearing others opinions and experience using the Hornady 130 gr Interlock in a .270 Win on deer. (They can be on the large side when they feed on wheat, lentils and peas) Thanks!

 

[stringnut]

The interlock will do just fine. When I had my 7x57 I shot 30 , or so, white tails with 139 gr interlock bullets started out at 2780 Fps. The biggest was probably 200 lbs. 30 feet to a couple of hundred yards. Always worked. Always passed through on shoulder and broadside shots. I did drive a 100 grain 257 bullet through a buck that weighed around 300 lbs. Rib on the inside and shoulder on the off side. Kept on going. They are not a magic bullet, but, due quite well in the velocity range you are talking.

 

[Spclk]

I have taken many deer and bear with those Hornady bullets. Most drop in their tracks. I also have found them to be quite accurate with sub most groups.

I used to hunt with the Nosler ballistic tip but switched because they did too much damage especially if they hit bone.

 

[JDeere]

Nosler Hunting BTs are fine bullets but hard to find right now. The Interlocks will be just fine as well. I would not hesitate to use them at all...

 

[Howa 9700]

This group from my dad's old Rem 700 in 270 win. 55.0 grains IMR4350 under 130 grain Hornady Interlock, flat base. Chrony said 3160 fps.

 

[troy fairweather]

Sps has some good prices on nosler bullets, I'd go partition if shooting past 300 more then the accubond. Nothing wrong with the interlocks it's just nice to have a little tuffer bullet when you need it.

 

[Howa 9700]

Read the OP's post again, and it seems this is more of a bullet question than load question.

About a year ago, someone posted a link to a video where a guy was discussing bullet designs in a way I had not seen before. Basically it went thru what I remember to be three types of designs.........the ballistic tips.....like the Nosler, SST, Game King, etc; the soft points......Interlock, Hot Cor, etc, and the tough bullets like the Partition and Grand Slams (which to me are not the same at all).

If memory serves......what the message was........at high velocities and at close range, the ballistic tips would nearly blow up on impact.......so intent of those was to expand at long range. The tough bullets for shoulder shots on big game. Shoot one of those at close range and a tough bullet like a Grand Slam would "pencil".....basically pass thru the animal and do little damage. Then in the middle were the soft points.......good expansion at modest ranges and velocities, yet hold together well enough to get a full pass thru. Thinking back, most factory bullets I've ever shot were the soft points.......so for me the Interlock's and Hot Cor fit my purpose, which is whitetail deer at ranges under 200 yards.

 

[wbm]

Flip a coin. Heads use Nosler, tails Hornady.

 

[kalielkslayer]

For me, the cost of a tag and trip outweighs the cost of a bullet, so I would go with whatever has worked in the past, regardless of price.

just my $.02.

 

[bihj]

When I did my hunting there in the western (between the Bitterroot and Idaho) part of the state, for deer and antelope, with 270 it was always a 130 grain Interlock.

 

[RowdyReid]

Many very large Southern Idaho and Nevada mule deer have dropped in their tracks from the good ol' 270 Winchester using 130 grain interlocks. ranges from 100 - 350 yards. I'm confident it would be effective to 450 or 500 if required and the shooter is skilled enough.

 

[JFrank]

So I am heading to North Central Montana in a month or so. I have taken a few deer there over the years, mostly with my .270WSM and all with Nosler 130 gr Ballistic Tip bullets. They have worked fine. This year, I am tempted to go with a standard .270 Win shooting Hornady Interlock 130 gr bullets. I have found a load that shoots very accurately at around 2900 fps out of the 22" barrel. Since I believe shot placement is the most important when it comes to humanely dispatching game, the question is: should I go with the proven performance of the Nosler (they are quickly becoming prohibitively expensive, but I still have some) and see if I can match the accuracy of the Hornady bullet, or go with the Hornady bullet (I have a good supply of them). I sort of feel like hundreds (or thousands) of deer are taken every year with the Hornady bullet and as long as shot placement is good, it should work fine. But I would appreciate hearing others opinions and experience using the Hornady 130 gr Interlock in a .270 Win on deer. (They can be on the large side when they feed on wheat, lentils and peas) Thanks!

We use both types of bullets, the deer are equally dead at all distances, the only one that ever got away was my fault. Take a box of both and try each when you get here because the climate is a little different they may shoot slightly different.

 

[JCSC]

This group from my dad's old Rem 700 in 270 win. 55.0 grains IMR4350 under 130 grain Hornady Interlock, flat base. Chrony said 3160 fps.

View attachment 1106080

270s love 130 grain bullets and IMR4350.

 

[.308 Norma]

Many very large Southern Idaho and Nevada mule deer have dropped in their tracks from the good ol' 270 Winchester using 130 grain interlocks. ranges from 100 - 350 yards.

Yep, and some of those "very large Southern Idaho mule deer" that dropped in their tracks after being hit with 130 grain Interlocks were mine.
However, there was one good sized 3-point that jumped back up (I killed him a few minutes later) after I "knocked him down" with a 130 grain Interlock from my 270 Winchester. That deer was standing with his hind end towards me about 200 yards away. I overestimated the range, and I put my scope's crosshairs on top of his head - right between his antlers. An instant after I squeezed the trigger, I actually thought I saw in my scope that buck's head being driven forward into the sagebrush he was standing behind. But he jumped back up and took off downhill, disappearing into a clump of quaking aspens.
So, I got up and walked over to where I had last seen him. He jumped back up, and I quickly put another 130 grain Interlock through his ribs.
He went down and stayed down that time. And when I walked up to him, I saw the left side of his rack was missing - I'd blown it clear off with my first shot.

 

[Laphroaig]

Interlocks are a great bullet. A little more insurance than a standard cup and core but a little less (both performance and $) than a Partition. In fact I might choose them over a BT for deer sized stuff anyway.

 

[Bush Pilot]

Flip a coin. Heads use Nosler, tails Hornady.

I do the opposite and it works too,

 

[Bush Pilot]

Yep, and some of those "very large Southern Idaho mule deer" that dropped in their tracks after being hit with 130 grain Interlocks were mine.
However, there was one good sized 3-point that jumped back up (I killed him a few minutes later) after I "knocked him down" with a 130 grain Interlock from my 270 Winchester. That deer was standing with his hind end towards me about 200 yards away. I overestimated the range, and I put my scope's crosshairs on top of his head - right between his antlers. An instant after I squeezed the trigger, I actually thought I saw in my scope that buck's head being driven forward into the sagebrush he was standing behind. But he jumped back up and took off downhill, disappearing into a clump of quaking aspens.
So, I got up and walked over to where I had last seen him. He jumped back up, and I quickly put another 130 grain Interlock through his ribs.
He went down and stayed down that time. And when I walked up to him, I saw the left side of his rack was missing - I'd blown it clear off with my first shot.

You shot your chance at a 36" mulie all to hell. FWIW, I did the same thing on a huge whitetail on my ranch in Montana years ago.

 

[Chuck R.]

BLUF: Deer aren't hard to kill, standard cup and core work great.

Personally, I'd stick with the Noslers and use the Hornady's for practice, but that's because I've been using Nosler BTs since they came out. I've killed a lot of deer, a couple boar and chamois with the standard 130 BT at 3130 FPS. They're accurate and effective.

The only issues I've ever had with them is when hitting shoulders at under 100yds. For those type conditions, woods hunting I went with 130 Partitions. This days I'm using a Nolser M48 VS my old Steyr, and I've switched to 130 NABs for everything. When I run out of them I'm going back to NBTs

I'm getting ready for a NOV guided mulie hunt in SE MT and will be using the 130 NAB load at 3160FPS from the M48's 24" barrel. Accuracy is on part with my NBT load, and I won't lose sleep over a close presentation should it happen.

As for powder, I used IMR4831 for ever, then switched over to H4831SC about 4 years ago. I'm getting the same velocities, with more temp stability...plus I can find H4831SC!

 

[41 Mag]

I can't speak to the enormity of the deer your going after, or the tenacity of them. I can say however that I have sent literally several thousands of pounds of feral hogs and plenty of nice whitetails to the promise land over the past 25-30yrs using Hornady bullets in calibers ranging from 243 to 7mm STW.

The .270 caliber offerings have worked flawlessly in several weights. If you are confident in the load and your abilities there should be no real issue.

 

[sage5907]

For many years I used standard cup & core bullets for hunting both mule deer and whitetails with a 270 Winchester but I have since changed my opinion. I think a better choice is to give up a little accuracy for the more dependable performance of the Nosler Partition. I use both 130 & 140 grain in a 270 Winchester and I lean toward the 140 because I hunt really big deer. I do all of my practice shooting at 200 meters and the 270 Winchester is one of the easiest cartridges to load for because both hunting bullets and target bullets seem to hit in the same point of impact. I would recommend using the cup & core bullets for practice and the Nosler Partition for hunting. I doubt if there is much difference between the ballistic tip and the Hornady for hunting because they both expand rapidly, probably too rapidly for a shoulder shot on a big deer in really cold weather. The Partition will give you both expansion and penetration on large deer and at long range.