Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Elk Hunting => Topic started by: Greg30-06 on July 15, 2012, 05:33:38 PM

Title: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: Greg30-06 on July 15, 2012, 05:33:38 PM: Hey all :hello:. I am looking into a new rifle for my wife who is taking her hunters safety later this summer. She will be hunting deer and elk on the wet side with me :o. Does anyone have any input on the effectiveness of a .270 for elk. My wife shoots my 30-06 great but I was looking for something that maybe has a little better range. Would a .270 fit the bill. Ammo cost is another factor. I would like something that will be fairly cheap (yes i know that no ammo is "cheap" :bash:) to target shoot with. I was thinking of a 7mm mag but after a little reading I started to think that a .270 might just fit the bill a little better. What are your thoughts?
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: NWBREW on July 15, 2012, 05:56:56 PM: A 270 would work fine. Shot placement is the key. :twocents:
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: carpsniperg2 on July 15, 2012, 06:02:13 PM: 270 would be a great pick. My wife has shot a lot of critters with just a 270wm. From deer to stag to elk. It is a great pick for all around hunting in the states. I hunt a good bit with a 270wsm and have shot some great critters with it.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: Huntbear on July 15, 2012, 06:03:52 PM: There is a gorgeous .280 Remington in the Classifieds right now... and that caliber will do all you want..

.270, 7mm-08, .308 you can not go wrong with any of those or bigger.... Make sure the gun fits her good, and has good glass on it, and she will have an animal killing tool in her hands..

Like said above, magnums are not needed,, it is all about shot placement out to 350 yards or so.. make sure she does a lot of practice... and not all from a bench...
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: RadSav on July 15, 2012, 06:09:39 PM: Before all the new .30 magnums came on the seen the .270 was considered one of the ultimate elk cartridges. With better bullet choices available today I have a hard time believing it is no longer any good as an elk cartridge. That being said, the old 30-06 is one hell of a good elk killer. If she can shoot the -06 fine without the twitchees I can't really see a reason to change.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: Greg30-06 on July 15, 2012, 07:38:19 PM: Doesn't a 270 have a flatter trajectory ?
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: SI Eagle on July 15, 2012, 08:08:37 PM: Why not stay w/ the 30-06? If you want it to shoot it a little flatter use 150 grain bullets. If she likes it and can shoot it well it is plenty for elk. Not a sexy caliber but but has probably killed more elk than any other cartridge.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: Curly on July 15, 2012, 08:10:32 PM: Quote from: Greg30-06 on July 15, 2012, 07:38:19 PM
Doesn't a 270 have a flatter trajectory ?

Not really. Not enough to matter anyway. Only possible advantage a 270 might have would be a little less recoil.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: Guy on July 15, 2012, 09:01:02 PM: She already has a .30-06 and shoots it well?

She needs no other elk rifle.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: scottfrick on July 15, 2012, 09:18:44 PM: I believe he said she has been shooting "his" rifle the 30.06?? The 270 for the wife would be a great caliber. My wife shots a Remington model 700 270 and has no problem with it at all.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: Biggerhammer on July 15, 2012, 09:20:30 PM: Quote from: Huntbear on July 15, 2012, 06:03:52 PM
There is a gorgeous .280 Remington in the Classifieds right now... and that caliber will do all you want..

.270, 7mm-08, .308 you can not go wrong with any of those or bigger.... Make sure the gun fits her good, and has good glass on it, and she will have an animal killing tool in her hands..

Like said above, magnums are not needed,, it is all about shot placement out to 350 yards or so.. make sure she does a lot of practice... and not all from a bench...

The .280 is a superb cartridge.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: Greg30-06 on July 15, 2012, 09:47:53 PM: Quote from: scottfrick on July 15, 2012, 09:18:44 PM
I believe he said she has been shooting "his" rifle the 30.06?? ...
Exactly. Its kinda hard for two people to hunt at the same time with one rifle. I know the 30-06 very well and love it but kinda want something different. Why have two of the same rifle? I appreciate all of the input. Does anyone know of a range in skagit or whatcom counties that rent rifles so she could try one out? NorPoint doesnt do they?
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: JimmyHoffa on July 15, 2012, 10:06:05 PM: How about a .308 Win? Plenty accurate and can basically do what a .30-06/.270/.280 can do, plus you can get it on a variety of platforms. The KelTeck RFB is a cool one, especially on the wetside. Very compact and recoil is barely felt. Easy gun to pack into the mountains.
The M1A (M-14) is generally a heavier rifle, but there are replacement stocks that can take care of most of that.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: BLUEBULLS on July 15, 2012, 10:08:31 PM: Quote from: Greg30-06 on July 15, 2012, 09:47:53 PM
Quote from: scottfrick on July 15, 2012, 09:18:44 PM
I believe he said she has been shooting "his" rifle the 30.06?? ...
Exactly. Its kinda hard for two people to hunt at the same time with one rifle. I know the 30-06 very well and love it but kinda want something different. Why have two of the same rifle? I appreciate all of the input. Does anyone know of a range in skagit or whatcom counties that rent rifles so she could try one out? NorPoint doesnt do they?

get her a 30/06 like yours.... My wife shoots a .270, I shoot a 7mag, she stuck some of her ammo in my box = BAD IDEA! :bdid:

can easily be avoided though... .270 should work real well for her.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: WapitiTalk1 on July 15, 2012, 10:32:15 PM: Quote from: JimmyHoffa on July 15, 2012, 10:06:05 PM
How about a .308 Win? Plenty accurate and can basically do what a .30-06/.270/.280 can do, plus you can get it on a variety of platforms. The KelTeck RFB is a cool one, especially on the wetside. Very compact and recoil is barely felt. Easy gun to pack into the mountains.
The M1A (M-14) is generally a heavier rifle, but there are replacement stocks that can take care of most of that.

There you go! Can't go wrong with this round.....
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: RadSav on July 15, 2012, 10:45:12 PM: Quote from: Greg30-06 on July 15, 2012, 09:47:53 PM
Quote from: scottfrick on July 15, 2012, 09:18:44 PM
I believe he said she has been shooting "his" rifle the 30.06?? ...
Exactly. Its kinda hard for two people to hunt at the same time with one rifle. I know the 30-06 very well and love it but kinda want something different. Why have two of the same rifle? I appreciate all of the input. Does anyone know of a range in skagit or whatcom counties that rent rifles so she could try one out? NorPoint doesnt do they?

In that case I'd definately give the :tup: :tup: on the 270. Great round, easy to shoot, ammo reasonable and available everywhere and even in a light weight rifle the recoil is manageable for even timid gals.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: RG on July 15, 2012, 11:17:08 PM: i've become a real fan of the .280 with 140 or 150 grain bullets. I reload the Nosler accubond bullets and have great results. I've had a 30-06, .338, 7 mag., .270, 30-30, and 45-70. While working as a hunting guide I saw elk shot with pretty much every thing. After all that I settled on the .280 as my favorite. It's like a .270 but I can put a little heavier bullet in it. It shoots flat like a .270 and the recoil is insignificant. It won't shoot all the way from the south end to the north end but I shouldn't take that kind of shot anyway.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: de0827 on July 16, 2012, 02:05:30 PM: I've killed 5 bulls with my 270. The last one was a decent 5x5 at about 250 yards with a 150 grain Nosler Partition bullet. One bullet put him down (the 2nd shot was a total miss! :bash:). It's a good all around caliber!
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: Greg30-06 on July 16, 2012, 02:32:18 PM: Quote from: de0827 on July 16, 2012, 02:05:30 PM
(the 2nd shot was a total miss! :bash:). It's a good all around caliber!
then why the second shot lol
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: ChadH on July 17, 2012, 11:44:19 PM: I think a .270 would be a great pick. My wife shoots one, and shoots it well. 7mm-08 is another one.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: D-Rock425 on July 18, 2012, 07:21:13 AM: I love my 7mm-08 wouldn't have any problems killing an elk with it.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: Greg30-06 on July 18, 2012, 11:20:41 AM: I don't know anything about the 7mm-08. Is the ammo reasonable, is it easy to find? How does it compare basically compared to an30-06 or270?
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: Curly on July 18, 2012, 11:25:25 AM: 7-08 is getting more popular all the time. It is based on the .308 case.......the .270 is based on the 30-06 case. So, the 7-08 is fairly comparable to the .270 ballistics-wise..........maybe slightly less velocity with the 7-08 than the .270 win. :twocents:
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: Huntbear on July 18, 2012, 11:27:53 AM: Quote from: Greg30-06 on July 18, 2012, 11:20:41 AM
I don't know anything about the 7mm-08. Is the ammo reasonable, is it easy to find? How does it compare basically compared to an30-06 or270?

The ammo is very easy to find. It is also excellent to handload for. It is a .308 case necked down to a 7mm. It will run within 150 fps of a .280 Rem. It will kill deer, bear, and elk.. OH, and inherently very very accurate. 140 gr. accubonds are wonderful in that caliber.
And lighter recoil for the most part, making not only easy but fun to shoot.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: runamuk on July 18, 2012, 11:40:21 AM: I love my 7mm08 and I am always happy to meet up and let a kid or wife/girlfriend shoot it I am in eburg if she is interested in trying it. The ammo is readily available, its also an easy one to reload for and reloading is fun, the gun barely kicks and it can kill anything I might be hunting in WA, and eventually it will seriously hoping its a bear in a few weeks :)

all that said if she likes shooting 06 no reason to change unless its to have more guns...and that is a perfect reason no one can ever have too many guns ;)
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: johnr060 on July 18, 2012, 04:11:50 PM: .270wsm is my favorite cartridge. The recoil is not to bad and it has a little more punch and range than the .270win. Both are great though, you can't go wrong with a .270.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: hillbilli on July 19, 2012, 08:38:37 PM: there is a plain savage .270 on the classifieds.. the .270 will do anything you need in north america, (with big bears up close being a possible exception) .270 ammo will probably always be more available than .280, 7mm-08, and a host of other perfectly capable but not quite as popular rounds. The gun Writer who was responsible in large part for the .270's popularity, when pressed about it being 'light for elk', responded that his record on elk with it was that in 19 years he had killed 17 elk with a total of 18 bullets. (or something very similar) I have had buddies use it for hogs and deer, and couldnt tell a difference in effect on target from our .308's and .30-06's...
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: JC-NORTHFORKER on July 27, 2012, 03:28:56 PM: Savage has a newer rifle out called the Lady Hunter, very nice rifle and they offer it in .270. Worth a look.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: LEN on July 27, 2012, 05:38:58 PM: 3006 and 270 are about the same ballisticly. The 06 in 180 grain is a little faster than the 270 160 grain. Within an inch of drop at 400yards. Both will do the job on elk although I like the 30 cal better. Nice to both be shooting the same bullet "no mix ups that way"

LEN
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: bow-n-head on July 27, 2012, 10:14:00 PM: Just bought a Browning X-bolt Micro Midas Hunter in a 7mm-08 for my daughter. She drew her first bull tag, I thought she might need more than a 243. Never had a 7-08, but I'v heard a lot of good things about it. Hope to find it is a good elk rifle.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: bow-n-head on July 27, 2012, 10:15:14 PM: Oh my wife has a 7mm wsm. Had no trouble bringing down a bull.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: Wanttohuntmore on July 28, 2012, 08:27:37 AM: If you are not reloading for it, the 270 would be perfect, along with the 3006, or 308. If you do reload, the 280 or 7-08 can be added to the mix. Use heavy, high BC bullets and you'll have no problem.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: Curly on July 28, 2012, 10:25:29 AM: Quote from: Wanttohuntmore on July 28, 2012, 08:27:37 AM
If you are not reloading for it, the 270 would be perfect, along with the 3006, or 308. If you do reload, the 280 or 7-08 can be added to the mix. Use heavy, high BC bullets and you'll have no problem.

IMO, a .280 or 7-08 would be perfect too.........even buying factory ammo. And you don't need heavy, high BC bullets. A 120 or 140 gr Barnes TSX would be great out of either for deer or elk. :twocents:
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: Greg30-06 on July 30, 2012, 12:46:21 PM: Thanks all. I'd I go with the 270 what bullets should I use. I don't usually used expensive exotic bullets and I don't yet reload. For my -06 I use 180 gr core lokts. Recommendations? I don't know what weight options there are for a 270
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: h20hunter on July 30, 2012, 12:52:55 PM: I would suggest 130gr in the .270.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: njc89 on July 31, 2012, 09:03:33 PM: A lot of good advice here. I really like the 280 and 270. For smaller people, they are tough to beat. 280 is slightly more capable for elk (heavier bullets), but the difference isn't significant. I also find wisdom in you and your wife shooting the same round. I feel the 308 and 30-06 kick a bit more than the 270 or 280, in the many rifles I have shot in those calibers. Largely because of that, I have a stable of 270's for both daughters and my wife. I have taken 20-some odd bucks with mine too. My oldest daughter has taken a moose (1 shot), a 5 point bull (>250 yards), and 5 good mulies (last one at 327 yards) with her 270. She is less than 100 lbs, but shoots it confidently and wouldn't trade it for anything. I loaded 150 grain Nosler Partitions for the bigger animals, and 130's for deer. We hunt the open country for deer so shots can be long. For west side hunting (typically shorter shots), I wouldn't hesitate to put 150's in the 270 and use it for everything out to 300 yards.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: norsepeak on July 31, 2012, 09:14:53 PM: had a custom 270 win built for my wife on a Savage 110 action with the accu trigger, stainless/synthetic, lite, weather resistant, and a real tac driver. Wifey loves it because of the accuracy and lite weight and she makes is cut clover leaves at 300 yards all day long.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: Greg30-06 on July 31, 2012, 09:18:23 PM: Quote from: norsepeak on July 31, 2012, 09:14:53 PM
had a custom 270 win built for my wife on a Savage 110 action with the accu trigger, stainless/synthetic, lite, weather resistant, and a real tac driver. Wifey loves it because of the accuracy and lite weight and she makes is cut clover leaves at 300 yards all day long.
what did that set you back if you don't mind me asking. I love my 110 with accutrigger.
Title: Re: New Rifle For The Wife?
Post by: Greg30-06 on August 27, 2012, 10:59:06 AM: Well it's done. Bought a savage 111 trophy xp in 270 win. She likes it and I like it. Only problem is now she has a nicer gun than I do :yike: