.270 bullet

killed a buck down on West Pt. this weekend. I shot him with a 270, broadside at about 60 yds. Hit him high in the shoulder (didn't want to have to track him). Dropped like a hammer. Odd thing is the bullett did not exit. Went thru both shoulders, little bit of the spine. Not exactly sure what kind of bullett. 130 gr. ballistic tip ( I think), it's got a yellow tip if that helps. Recovered bullett under opposite shoulder skin. 2 pieces. Just wondering if this is unusual. I normally hunt with a 30/06 and can't recall a bullet ever not exiting on a broadside hit, regardless of how much boen hit. Just wondering.

270 win

I have been shooting a .270 win for years and do not like polymer tipped bullets in it. I use regular soft point boattails, 130 gr., with excellent results and large exit wounds.

Sounds to me like the bullet performed exactly as designed. I love Polymer tipped bullets for Whitetails.

I have killed a rather large pile of Whitetails with the .270 and BTs or Accubonds. Never found either one lacking when it came time to shoot.

Great deer cartridge and excellent bullets.

agarr said:

Sounds to me like the bullet performed exactly as designed. I love Polymer tipped bullets for Whitetails.

I have killed a rather large pile of Whitetails with the .270 and BTs or Accubonds. Never found either one lacking when it came time to shoot.

Great deer cartridge and excellent bullets.

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Agarr, so it's not unusual for that type bullet to not exit on a bone hit. I bought this gun from a friend and the bullets came with it. I've never used the polymer tipped bullets before. I was just surprised. I tell you what...it definitely put that deer down....never even flinched.

Tracking

deersled said:

Agarr, so it's not unusual for that type bullet to not exit on a bone hit. I bought this gun from a friend and the bullets came with it. I've never used the polymer tipped bullets before. I was just surprised. I tell you what...it definitely put that deer down....never even flinched.

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The .270 win will drop most Deer in their tracks with a proper shot- there are tons and tons of great factory loads out ther. The primary issue with no exit wound is the rare occasions when it does not. Try tracking a deer with no exit wound once or twice and you will quickly switch to a load that punches through.

that's my point, Archer. Is what happened to me a normal occurence with these types of bullets (non pass thru)? It's fine if they drop in their tracks, but like you said, what happens when they don't?

Federal Premium 150gr. Nosler Partition

shoot them out of my 270 and I love them

deersled said:

that's my point, Archer. Is what happened to me a normal occurence with these types of bullets (non pass thru)?

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I think so. You have to think in terms of impact velocity. That .270 bullet at 60 yards was still smokin along at nearly 3000 fps when it hit. Honestly, it was probably a lightly constructed bullet designed for long range shooting at light game like deer and probably would have punched on through if your shot had been say 150 yards but at 60 yards it overexpanded a bit. Sounds like it still did a great job. I would not worry a whole lot about it.

Same thing happened to me with the 30-06 a few times. I shot some close up deer with cup and core 150's. They seldom punched through, some of them went to pieces, but of course all killed fine with good shot placement.

You can either use a heavier bullet or stay with the 130 grain and use a premium bonded bullet or partition if you must have a pass through 100% of the time.

It is the age old argument among hunters with nothing better to do.....which is best, the bullet that passes through or the one that "dumps all its energy" into the animal?

I have shot a 270 for many years. Have never had one fail to punch thru with a core-lokt bullet. Switched to Federal power shok this year. Shot one openeing day at 40 yards and it failed to exit.

I will be going back to handloads with a 140 gr. Sierra Gameking boat tail hollow point next year. Those never failed me.

shoot em behind the shoulder with the bt and you wont have to track them majority of the time...if they run..its only about 50 yrds from my experience....been shooting bt out of my 270 since 1998..never had the need to change bullets.

just looked at the box...Federal Premium 130 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip. I do like the idea of ALL the energy being delivered to the animal. Still a little uneasy about no exit hole. I will say this...I've shot many deer with core-lokts and Speer Grand Slams and always had pass thrus (except a couple I shot head-on in the brisket), but I have never had an animal hit the ground as stone dead as that buck.

Used Nosler Ballistic Tips for years in .270, .308, 7mmRemMag, 7STW, .308 and 300WSM.

All deer were recovered with relative ease.

Some were bang / flops.

Some made a 50-75 yard run and piled up.

Sometimes they exit....sometimes they didn't.

Some were neck shots....some were high shoulder.

Bottom line for me is that I'll continue to use them in my medium velocity loads but not magnums. In the magnum level velocity loads, I'll be using Accubonds or Barnes TSX loads.

This year, I'm mainly hunting with a 130 TSX load in .270 Win.

Ballistic tips are super. You've just got to use them within their designed impact velocities.

I shoot a .270 with 130 gr Barnes-X. I have never had a bullet not exit. Had a few when I shot ballistic tips. The Barnes holds together really well, and my gun likes them, so I'll never shoot another bullet.

deersled said:

just looked at the box...Federal Premium 130 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip. I do like the idea of ALL the energy being delivered to the animal. Still a little uneasy about no exit hole. I will say this...I've shot many deer with core-lokts and Speer Grand Slams and always had pass thrus (except a couple I shot head-on in the brisket), but I have never had an animal hit the ground as stone dead as that buck.

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Shoot the same load last year, and zeroed it this year along with Winchester Super X Power Points, both shot identical. The Federals didn't shoot as tight as the Winchesters ( only about 1/4" difference) So I hunted with the Winchesters.....here'e the rub.....I shot a yote Saturday am at about the same distance and didn't have a pass thru....she was facing me so th round did travel the length of her small body, but NO pass thru.
I took a 115" 8 point last year with the Federals and got the pass thru on a high shoulder ...go figure