Adequate bullet?

[jwelds191]

Hi all,

Got a new .270 rifle, and a couple boxes of Hornady 130 gr interlock "whitetail" ammunition. Will be hunting both elk and deer in the same hunt.

I'm thinking the 130 gr may be a little light for elk based on ballistics at 300 yards and beyond (not that I'll be shooting beyond that), but what's everyone else's thoughts?

Thanks for your time and input in advance.

[GWN]

The ammunition will be fine for deer and probably elk, I would go with a premium bullet (GMX or Interbond) for elk, they are big tough animals and the better bullet gives me more confidence

If you go with whitetail ammo on elk I would try for broadside if possible lung shots right behind the leg and avoid the shoulder, particularly the farther the shot,

I've used Hornady bullets for years and love them, primarily 7mm in a 280 AI, (139 GMX mostly) not too far off the 270 and they have always worked well, I'm partial to the GMX since it has no trouble drilling through tough shoulders and bones if I need it to, the interbond is great as well, interlocks perform well, just not as well as the GMX in my opinion

Good luck and have fun with whatever you choose,

[Pioneer2]

Made now are not the same quality of the Interlocks of the 80's .Jacket and core separation are common.Wouldn't trust them on elk.Hornady has cut corners somewhere with this bullet but won't admit it when questioned.

[Dubious]

130gr is fine I use 100 gr from 25-06 on elk. I prefer the bonded bullets over the non bonded for bigger game. Know your shot and know your rifle and you should be ok

[catnthehat]

Every bullet made for hunting is good but if you ponder fuss and worry too much no Bullets is good enough for deer let alone elk!
Make sure you can shoot that rifle with the Ammo you choose, put it in the right place and you will be fine.
Cat

[3blade]

The whitetail line is designed for rapid expansion in a small thin skinned animal (American deer)...not what I’d use here for our deer, and not at all a good choice for elk - it may not do enough damage to the opposite lung to ensure a quick death. A one lung elk can go many miles.

Gmx, Barnes ttsx or lrx would be my choices, along with careful shot selection.

[leo]

The biggest elk I ever killed was shot with a Remington Mohawk in 308(18" pipe). I was deer hunting and had 150 grain Remington Corelokt bullets. 1 shot, the bugger ran 50 yards and piled up. Shot placement is and always well be key. Saying that, bullets do weird things when they hit an object. Even the best bullet can and does create marginal wound channels depending on many variables. If you shoot the gun well, put the bullet into the lungs and 99% of the time the critter is in the freezer.
Edit:Saying that, my personal choice in handloaded bullets are usually Barnes TTSX or TSX. I'm also fond of Nosler Partitions and Accubonds.

[Dick284]

The bullet will serve you just fine.
Hornady Interlocks are one of my go to bullets.

[saddleup]

I shoot a 7mm rem mag. Use only nosler 150 grn ballistic tip. handloads Never lost any game, usually bang/flop. Have owned and shot only this rifle for deer, elk moose and antlope. Purchased rifle in 1970............. bullet placement, bullet placement....

[brewster29]

Originally Posted by 3blade

The whitetail line is designed for rapid expansion in a small thin skinned animal (American deer)...not what I’d use here for our deer, and not at all a good choice for elk - it may not do enough damage to the opposite lung to ensure a quick death. A one lung elk can go many miles.

Gmx, Barnes ttsx or lrx would be my choices, along with careful shot selection.

What he said. I have seen the Whitetail 139 gr from a 7-08 fragment on two smallish whitetail bucks my daughter shot. It will definitely kill an elk on broadside lung shots, but there are better choices IMHO.

[Gilly]

Shoot the accubonds and never look back.

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by brewster29

What he said. I have seen the Whitetail 139 gr from a 7-08 fragment on two smallish whitetail bucks my daughter shot. It will definitely kill an elk on broadside lung shots, but there are better choices IMHO.

I beg to differ, I’ve had both my children kill better than average whitetail bucks with 139BTSP Hornady Interlock’s and I killed a pile of deer and even a hand full of moose with them out of my .284Win. Sure you get a bit of jacket and or lead spun out on impact but there always seemed to be a sizeable exit wound as well.

I laugh my head off at the premium mono/bonded bullet champions, as well as the Berger fan club, but nobody acknowledges the logical middle ground.

What is required to cleanly take any game down is a bullet of decent construction that is accurate in your rifle, and an end user capable of putting the shots where it counts. Poly carb tips, Gucci construction, jaunty boatails and sleek profiles mean diddly squat if the user is incapable of putting the bullet where it counts.
K.I.S.S

Too much time is spent on following marketing hype, when ones time is better spent honing ones skills behind the trigger.


The proof:



139gr. BTSP

139gr.BTSP

139gr. BTSP

139gr. BTSP

139gr. BTSP

139gr. BTSP

150gr. BTSP .30cal

150gr. BTSP .30cal

200gr. SP .35cal

[huntinstuff]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

Every bullet made for hunting is good but if you ponder fuss and worry too much no Bullets is good enough for deer let alone elk!
Make sure you can shoot that rifle with the Ammo you choose, put it in the right place and you will be fine.
Cat

Yes

[Pioneer2]

Your mileage may vary.If you are happy with the new Interlocks use e'm .I won't cause I don't trust bullets that shed cores. I look for and buy the old dull red box Hornady's at gunshows whenever I can find them.Last thing I want is a bullet that turns inside out . Same goes for the SST's.

[YYC338]

Yes all bullets kill and game has been dropping long before premium bullets came along. (although Partitions have been around for a long while)
Shot placement remains king and always will be, that's job one.

Why look for an adequate bullet if you can do better?

Again all bullets kill and all work trucks get the job done. Some may do it better than others and there has been improvement over the years. Why not use the best you can afford?

Ammo's cheap when you compare to all your hunting costs, including your time.

Elk are tough to kill, time is precious. Are you willing to hold out for the perfect broadside shot because you may have some doubts about your bullets ability to penetrate and hold together if a shoulder needs to be penetrated to get to the vitals, or a quartering away shot?

You're never disadvantaged using a premium bullet. That being said I'll take a well placed cup and core bullet over a poorly placed premium bullet every day of the week.

[stob]

i have punched a few withthe interlock in 100gr 243win and 286gr 0.3x62 with no issues. I keep turning back to the NP as a failsafe - idk just my .02

[stob]

Originally Posted by stob

i have punched a few withthe interlock in 100gr 243win and 286gr 0.3x62 with no issues. I keep turning back to the NP as a failsafe - idk just my .02

9.3x62 oops

[Mountainaccent]

After shooting my moose with a 165 ttsx out of a 300 wsmI switched out quick hardly any blood small entry and exit. I’m trying berger now for deer. And elk are not hard to kill god I hate that saying gfs been dumping elk on family farm land with a 243 and now 7mm08 for 12 years

[BigJon]

I’ve killed bull elk and moose with Hornady interlocks/Nosler ballistic tips/Sierra gamekings as well as with a few different types of Barnes bullets. Most with a single shot however a couple stayed on their feet long enough to catch follow up shots.

I’m quite satisfied with the cup and core style bullets and will continue to use them. Given a cup and core of a reasonable weight at a moderate velocity I’m not worried about breaking bone with them either.

Using a less expensive bullets will give you some spare change to practice more from actual field positions which will gain you a lot more ground than premium anything.

[BigJon]

Add Speer Hot-Cor to the above list as well.

[Bushleague]

While I wouldn't hesitate to use 150 grain interlocks for elk, 130 grain interlocks would be somewhat less than ideal IMO. Ditto for Corelocts, which IMO are less prone to jacket separation than Interlocks. According to Remington, the round nose Corelocts have a thicker jacket than regular ones, the .270 150 grain round nose bullets have always performed admirably on moose and elk for me. Trajectory is 30-06 ish out to 300 yards.

[ram crazy]

I use 130gr. Accubonds in my .270win I've killed elk at 400 yrds. I've killed deer at 600 yrds. I've killed moose at 200 yrds. I've killed sheep at 500 yrds. You won't have no issues with 130gr. bullets.

[Cappy]

The biggest factors in bullet performance are impact speed, bullet construction and the make up of what is being hit. Just because an Interlock weighing 286gr or a 130gr accubond has killed at 600 does not directly translate into your 130gr Interlock performing well.

Your facts are this 130gr Interlock out of a .270Win,
MV approx 3000fps give or take and a standard cup and core type construction.

If you encounter a closer range shot into heavy bone on a large animal the bullet because of the high MV will be placed under significant stress leading to a high chance of fragmentation and you will have a higher likelihood of inadequate penetration. Take that same bullet and animal and move the shot out to 400 yards lets say and you will actually increase your chance of penetration as there is less stress on the bullet. It will not mushroom as violently, having less frontal diameter/less resistance and more weight behind point to carry it through the tissue.

I would be hesitant to deliberately use 130gr Interlock put of a .270Win going for elk, I wouldn't feel undergunned if one walked out. I would just pick my shot carefully if it was inside 200. I would move up in weight to a 150gr Interlock, which would lower muzzle velocity or move to a bullet Like an Accubond or a Mono. Be careful of the Mono's on longer range shots for the opposite reason. They don't expand much at all at lower impact velocities, especially when no bone is encountered. Big reason I like the bonded polytips is the reliable expansion and staying together over a wide range of impact velocity and type of target being hit. It's also a big reason why I like more moderate velocity rounds in the 2700-2800fps range, regular bullets just hold up better.

Hope that makes sense

[jwelds191]

Wow, a lot of very good responses here. Thank you everyone.

I have to break this gun in, so I'm going to try (have to) shoot a box of factory ammo and try these out. I do tend to think that, if I can go a little bigger or better cartridge, it would up my chances of a successful hunt.

Thanks for all the great input guys.

[Pioneer2]

Don't be lulled into thinking the 286gr SP will hold together either.I had them fragment to pieces on a med WT buck at 50 yards and on a cow moose shoulder at 180 yards.I had intensive communication with Hornady including sending my remaining bullets to their lab for testing.Of course in ballistic gelatin they performed wonderful or so they said.They were good about it and had Korth give me more of the same bullets I don't trust and some 250gr GMX that I never got around to trying yet.On a grizzly I'd have been dead.I use 286gr Partitions now problem solved.This was at only 2400fps.Things got hot on the forum but as I said your mileage may vary.

[sns2]

Originally Posted by jwelds191

Wow, a lot of very good responses here. Thank you everyone.

I have to break this gun in, so I'm going to try (have to) shoot a box of factory ammo and try these out. I do tend to think that, if I can go a little bigger or better cartridge, it would up my chances of a successful hunt.

Thanks for all the great input guys.

You don't need a bigger cartridge at all, just a more stout bullet if elk is on the menu

150 Partition will cover everything forever and no one in their right mind will argue that choice.

Any bonded bullet or monometal will work just fine also.

Cup and core have their place and have done the job for a looong time, but if there's a shelf full of better choices at the store for $20 more then why not take advantage of it?

Good luck. Post pics.

[elkhunter11]

A decent 130gr bullet will work just fine. While a basic cup and core bullet will work fine for most shots, I prefer a bonded, or partition, or monometal bullet for elk, for those shot angles other than broadsides.

[jwelds191]

Originally Posted by sns2

You don't need a bigger cartridge at all, just a more stout bullet if elk is on the menu

150 Partition will cover everything forever and no one in their right mind will argue that choice.

Any bonded bullet or monometal will work just fine also.

Cup and core have their place and have done the job for a looong time, but if there's a shelf full of better choices at the store for $20 more then why not take advantage of it?

Good luck. Post pics.

Thank you sir and I will!

[Pathfinder76]

Originally Posted by sns2

You don't need a bigger cartridge at all, just a more stout bullet if elk is on the menu

150 Partition will cover everything forever and no one in their right mind will argue that choice.

Any bonded bullet or monometal will work just fine also.

Cup and core have their place and have done the job for a looong time, but if there's a shelf full of better choices at the store for $20 more then why not take advantage of it?

Good luck. Post pics.

Well said.

[360hunt]

I'd recommend 150 grain nosler partition