100 grain .270 win too light for deer?

[BIGINNER]

i got a savage .270 cal rifle,  and i mostley hunt coyotes, abd i like to use the same bullets all the time,  i like the flat shooting of a 100 grain bullet for coyotes, but is that too light for deer? 

[Curly]

If the bullet is a Barnes TSX or the like, then it will be fine.

[carpsniperg2]

it depends on what bullet you are using if it is a good soild bullet that will hold together well no prob but if it is just going to blow up on impact i would not risk it. but a good bullet no problem with the 100grainers on deer. i have shot a few deer with 100 and 90 grain bullets with no problem.

[KimberRich]

100 grains is fine.  I've shot plenty of deer with 100 gr. speers out of my .243.   

[Curly]

A 100 gr bullet will be going a lot slower out of a .243 than a .270 Win.........so not really a good comparison.

[huntlakewood]

I hunt deer with a .270 Rem good gun 100 grain will bring down a deer just use good shot placement.
I use 130 grain and I love it

[Pathfinder101]

I would switch to a 130 grain bullet.  You will have to resight in, but I think I would like having the extra punch.

I am picturing a worst case scenario where you hit a 250 lb muley buck square in the shoulderblade at 300 yards with a 100 grain bullet.  You know, the "buck of a lifetime", with a little bit of muscle up front and a thick bone structure...

[Curly]

http://www.federalpremium.com/products/details/rifle.aspx?id=752

Looks like Federal has 110 gr Tipped TSX bullets loaded.  They may shoot close to the same point of impact of your 100 grain load.  I don't think you can find a decent factory load in 100gr bullets that will be acceptable for deer.........

Like Pathfinder said, you may be better off going with 130 gr for deer and coyotes if you only want one bullet for both....

[KimberRich]

A 100 gr bullet will be going a lot slower out of a .243 than a .270 Win.........so not really a good comparison.

He wasked if it was to light for deer.. Not how fast it will be traveling.  I'm aware that it will be moving at a pretty good pace and IMO without a good solid core bullet and good shot placement you'll be doing some pretty serious damage.

[NWBREW]

 100 grain will bring down a deer just use good shot placement.
 

Bingo....we have a winner. I shoot a Rem 270 and use 130 grain....100 grain is fine, like was said before....shot placement is the key to bringing down game no matter if it's 100 grain or 150 grain.  

[Curly]

A 100 gr bullet will be going a lot slower out of a .243 than a .270 Win.........so not really a good comparison.

He wasked if it was to light for deer.. Not how fast it will be traveling.  I'm aware that it will be moving at a pretty good pace and IMO without a good solid core bullet and good shot placement you'll be doing some pretty serious damage.

Yeah, that is the problem.......the bullet will likely blow up unless it is a solid copper bullet because it will be going so fast.

[bobcat]

I would not use a 100 grain bullet out of a 270 for deer. The 100 grain bullet in 270 caliber is not made for big game. You're really not gaining much trajectory wise anyway. It might drop a couple inches less than a 130 but the wind will also push it a lot more due to the poor ballistic coefficient. Try using a ballistic calculator and you will see you're not gaining anything by using a 100 grain bullet in your 270. For a ballistic calculator just Google it and you'll find several. The only exception would be as Curly said, if you want to use a Barnes, all copper bullet, then going lighter than 130 grains wouldn't be so bad.

[Pathfinder101]

I would not use a 100 grain bullet out of a 270 for deer. The 100 grain bullet in 270 caliber is not made for big game. You're really not gaining much trajectory wise anyway. It might drop a couple inches less than a 130 but the wind will also push it a lot more due to the poor ballistic coefficient. Try using a ballistic calculator and you will see you're not gaining anything by using a 100 grain bullet in your 270. For a ballistic calculator just Google it and you'll find several. The only exception would be as Curly said, if you want to use a Barnes, all copper bullet, then going lighter than 130 grains wouldn't be so bad.

Agree with Bobcat.  Not worth the risk.  I'd move up to a 130 gr.

[Rgrady35]

Dang, and I've killed 3 deer in TX with 55 gr Remmy Core Locs out of a .22 250. Whew I gues I just got really lucky to have 'em practically drop in their tracks.  

[Pathfinder101]

Dang, and I've killed 3 deer in TX with 55 gr Remmy Core Locs out of a .22 250. Whew I gues I just got really lucky to have 'em practically drop in their tracks.  

Sure.  People shoot deer in other states with far smaller bullets than a 100 grain .270, but keep in mind that I am talking about the "worst case".  A big, heavy deer, at long range, hitting a bone...
And the question is not "is there any chance that it will kill a deer?", it is "would you recommend it for deer hunting?"  And in Washington State, with big mule deer, long shots, and wind... I would say "no".  Make the move to the heavier bullet.

[bobcat]

Well, also think about that 55 grain in 223 caliber is a heavy bullet for the caliber. It will have a decent ballistic coefficient which the 100 grain in .277 would not.

Would you choose a 40 grain bullet in .223 to shoot deer?

[Axle]

100 grain will work fine. It all comes down to shot placement. I have a friend in Oregon who has shot more deer with a 22-250 than he can count (much smaller bullet). I have done similar with smaller than 100 grains and never lost a deer.

Shot placement is like real estate - location location location.

[MissinCaliBlacktails]

I saw federal ammo has a 110 grain Barnes Tipped Triple Shock. Screams about 3500 FPS and is only 5 inches low at 300 (200 yard zero). I think that would be some deadly deer medicine. Im gonna try it this year.

[Pathfinder101]

I saw federal ammo has a 110 grain Barnes Tipped Triple Shock. Screams about 3500 FPS and is only 5 inches low at 300 (200 yard zero). I think that would be some deadly deer medicine. Im gonna try it this year.

110 gr for a .270?

[Curly]

I posted a link in reply #7 to the Federal 110 gr tipped TSX in .270 Win.  I think it would be good on deer.

100 gr in the .270 will be hard to find a well constructed bullet.  The only 100 gr bullets I know of are soft points that Remington loads........those are coyote bullets, not deer bullets.  Can you kill a deer with one?...yes, but you better not hit a rib......worse yet, what if you hit the shoulder? 

[bobcat]

100 grain will work fine. It all comes down to shot placement. I have a friend in Oregon who has shot more deer with a 22-250 than he can count (much smaller bullet). I have done similar with smaller than 100 grains and never lost a deer.

Shot placement is like real estate - location location location.

Actually, no it WON'T work fine. I can't believe you guys keep bringing up the 22-250 with a 55 grain bullet. A 100 grain bullet in a 270 has a low ballistic coefficient and low sectional density. Not only that but any 100 grain bullets you find are not going to be designed with big game in mind. They are made for varmints and therefore are going to open up too fast for shooting deer.

It shouldn't even be considered as a deer bullet. It's too fast up close (within a couple hundred yards) unless you are wanting to rip a deer completely in half. At longer range, it's going to be pushed a lot more by the wind than heavier bullets with better ballistic coefficients. I'm just not sure why anybody would choose to use an inferior bullet for deer hunting, when there are so many good bullets available.

The 130 works great and is the lightest you should use. With the exception, as I said before, of any of the copper bullets such as the 110 grain Barnes. But if you're talking about conventional jacketed bullets, you will want something in the 130-150 grain range.

[Red Dawg]

I would say 100 grain would be plenty for any deer as long as it is a good bullet made for big game. As many have said most are made for varmints and they expand way to fast.

[firecrotch]

Well let me say this. Me and a buddy went coyote hunting 2 years ago, and he was braggin about how smokin fast his handloaded round of 110 gr. Barnes Tipped Triple-Shock out of his .270 win. Putting a long story short he gut shot a coyote at about 150 yards or so and absolutely blew him in half. When he was showing me how to tube out the dog we found pieces of the bullet absolutely everywhere throughout the dog. There wasn't hardly an exit wound at all. So my  is to stay away from anything less than 130 gr. for deer.

[Rick]

Well let me say this. Me and a buddy went coyote hunting 2 years ago, and he was braggin about how smokin fast his handloaded round of 110 gr. Barnes Tipped Triple-Shock out of his .270 win. Putting a long story short he gut shot a coyote at about 150 yards or so and absolutely blew him in half. When he was showing me how to tube out the dog we found pieces of the bullet absolutely everywhere throughout the dog. There wasn't hardly an exit wound at all. So my  is to stay away from anything less than 130 gr. for deer.

I gotta call BS. A Barnes TSX isn't going to come apart like that.

[firecrotch]

Im not a reloader, and don't know a ton about it but that is what we found. I use the same bullet in 130 gr. for my .270 wsm and never had any trouble. I love the bullet.

[bobcat]

I just ran some numbers through a ballistic calculator for fun. Going by Remington's data for their 270 Win. cartridges, with the 100 grain Pointed Soft Point with a B.C. of .252 and a MV of 3320, and zeroed at 250 yards, the drop at 500 yards is 38.2 inches. With the Pointed Soft Point Core Lokt 130 grain bullet with a BC of .336 and a MV of 3060, the drop at 500 yards is 37.7 inches. Or you can go with a 130 grain bullet with a higher BC such as the AccuTip, same muzzle velocity but a BC of .447, and the drop at 500 yards is 32.5 inches.

So we have:                                        Drop at 500 yards                 Wind Drift (10 mph cross wind)
                                                        
100 grain Pointed Soft Point                   38.2 inches                            33.8 inches
130 grain Pointed Soft Point Core Lokt      37.7 inches                            26.1 inches
130 grain AccuTip                                 32.5 inches                            18.4 inches


Looks to me like if you're wanting a flat shooting bullet for long range the 100 grain is out.

[bobcat]

Well let me say this. Me and a buddy went coyote hunting 2 years ago, and he was braggin about how smokin fast his handloaded round of 110 gr. Barnes Tipped Triple-Shock out of his .270 win. Putting a long story short he gut shot a coyote at about 150 yards or so and absolutely blew him in half. When he was showing me how to tube out the dog we found pieces of the bullet absolutely everywhere throughout the dog. There wasn't hardly an exit wound at all. So my  is to stay away from anything less than 130 gr. for deer.

I gotta call BS. A Barnes TSX isn't going to come apart like that.

Yeah, I thought the same thing. He must have been bragging about one but shooting another. I've shot an elk with a Barnes and it went from one end to the other and only lost 10% of its weight. Barnes bullets just don't come apart, especially on a coyote.

[firecrotch]

Well let me say this. Me and a buddy went coyote hunting 2 years ago, and he was braggin about how smokin fast his handloaded round of 110 gr. Barnes Tipped Triple-Shock out of his .270 win. Putting a long story short he gut shot a coyote at about 150 yards or so and absolutely blew him in half. When he was showing me how to tube out the dog we found pieces of the bullet absolutely everywhere throughout the dog. There wasn't hardly an exit wound at all. So my  is to stay away from anything less than 130 gr. for deer.

I gotta call BS. A Barnes TSX isn't going to come apart like that.

Yeah, I thought the same thing. He must have been bragging about one but shooting another. I've shot an elk with a Barnes and it went from one end to the other and only lost 10% of its weight. Barnes bullets just don't come apart, especially on a coyote.

yeah that could have been it, it was a couple of years ago.

[ICEMAN]

Another vote for a 130gr for the .270

Notice how there are not very many large game bullets in 100gr? Wonder why?

[high country]

in 277 the barnes is really the only light for caliber bullet you redily get your hands on that will suffice for big game. you would be money ahead to grab something like a speer hot-cor or bal tip.....etc, in 130gr. they are cheap to load and I know the speer bas a bc of .449 and I have killed a bunch of deer/elk/coyotes with it.......no complaints here. the 270win is a great one to shoot "cheap" bullets in as every bullet made is designe for its velocity range. I am a proponent of premium bullets in big strappers, but I shoot good ol' hot cor's in 3 different 270wins wih great results in accuracy, killing efficiency and at 15 bux a hundred........I get more practice too.

[bobcat]

I actually prefer heavy for caliber bullets myself and I've killed a lot of animals with a 150 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips. Just to satisfy my own curiousity, I added the ballistics for the Noser 130 and 150 grain ballistic tips to the data I posted previously. You can see the 150 grain bullet compares very well with the 130's and beats out the 100 grain by a large margin when it comes to the wind.


                                                   Drop at 500 yards                      Wind Drift (10 mph cross wind)
                                                       
100 grain Pointed Soft Point                   38.2 inches                            33.8 inches
130 grain Pointed Soft Point Core Lokt      37.7 inches                            26.1 inches
130 grain AccuTip                                 32.5 inches                            18.4 inches
130 grain Nosler BT                               33.0 inches                             19.1 inches
150 grain Nosler BT                               36.5 inches                             18.0 inches

[Curly]

I'm really not trying to advocate the 110gr Barnes, but do you mind running the  numbers on it?  Someone quoted 3450 fps for it.  I have no idea what BC it has.

I do think that if he wants one bullet for yotes and deer, then 130 gr Winchester Power Points would be good. 

[high country]

the 270 is one of the few that I like lighter weight bullets in because the bc's and sd's are very good and the velos stay up too. the one word of caution in any caliber shooting heavy for caliber bullets is that some of the longer ones.....scirocco, match kings for example, are very long and some guns may lack the twist to stabilize them.......rare in a 270 though.

[bobcat]

Sure, Barnes shows the B.C. as being .323, and giving it a velocity of 3450, it does ok as far as the trajectory goes, but wind drift isn't so good. I'll add it to the other data so it's easier to compare numbers.


                                                  Drop at 500 yards                      Wind Drift (10 mph cross wind)
                                                        
100 grain Pointed Soft Point                   38.2 inches                             33.8 inches
130 grain Pointed Soft Point Core Lokt      37.7 inches                            26.1 inches
130 grain AccuTip                                 32.5 inches                            18.4 inches
130 grain Nosler BT                               33.0 inches                             19.1 inches
150 grain Nosler BT                               36.5 inches                             18.0 inches
110 grain Barnes                                   29.3 inches                             23.1 inches

[highclimber]

Wind is a shooters biggest obstacle go with high bc bullets. I use a 243 with 70 gr and 87 gr bullets for coyotes you can crank them up into the high 3's. Plus there nothing wrong with buying a new Gun