moose load, in 260 rem.

[DrMike]

I can't speak for the 130 grain PT, but I can assure you that the 130 grain E-Tip penetrates complete at velocities that are not much above that which would be generated by a 270 Win. Whilst I prefer more mass (a personal preference that lingers because I'm old school), there is no question in my mind that a 130 grain Partition will penetrate sufficiently to ensure massive damage to internal organs. Moose are phlegmatic; when shot, they don't know they are dead for several moments, giving them time to look around for the messiest puddle in which to topple over. This is my justification for heavy for mass bullets. Nevertheless, a 130 grain PT launched from a 270 Win. will certainly give full penetration on a moose; and a 140 grain PT from a 260 will assuredly take down a moose.

 

[gerry]

An older friend of mine shot a bunch of moose and even a grizzly with his 270 Win and standard cup and core bullets (think they were Remington corelokts) he did buy a 375 Ruger after being chased by a grizzly while fishing though

 

[onesonek]

I tend to think along with Doc.
The main reason I would go with the 140 NPT over the 125, is momentum. The 140 will be creating more damage nearing the end of the wound channel upon exit. Seeing different 125 gr NPT penetration test in various media ,,,,Jim's water jugs, wet news print, wet saw dust, and bal. gel, I'm still not convinced the 125 will exit. Not including the water jugs, the avg. of the other 3 was 17" iirc. On a 1000 lb. moose, I'm not sure how deep their vital area is? That might be enough, but with what authority in the last 6". Don't get me wrong, I love the 125 NPT out of my 6.5x57AIR, but personally would draw the line with elk. As Doc said, last thing I would want is the moose to find water to die in. If the intended was close to water, I would try and break down at least one shoulder with a bone hit, (as much as I hate that placement due to meat destruction), but sometimes the sitution dictates otherwise). The 140 would be superior in that situation.
Now out of curiosity I ran the recoil numbers for you caribouhunter,,,
The 125 with near max out of 7 lb. rifle looks like;
2.4 lb/sec impulse
10.9 fps free vel.
13 ft/lbs free energy

140 gr near max 7 lb rifle
2.6 lb/sec
11.8 fps
15.1 ft/lbs

The ft/lbs is the number most are concerned with. So you looking at roughly a 14% increase on the 140, with a 11% gain in sectional density.
Like Doc, I'm a bit old school. I grew up following the guys, that had a rule of thumb,,, that is, use heavy weights for caliber with sub 30 calibers. Again the reason being, more displacement of the smaller caliber, at the end of the wound channel due to momentum.

 

[SJB358]

Don't get me wrong fellas, when I head to moose country next time around, the Whelen and 45-70 will be with me!

I really tend to stick with the heavier for caliber bullets in just about everything I shoot. I know that I tend to overthink things sometimes though and know alot of animals have been taken with that darned pip squeak 270! HA! Just funnin with you all this morning. Can't wait to get into elk camp. I might even be able to give you an idea of what a 140gr PT does on an elk this year if everything works out well with the 264! Scotty

 

[sask boy]

Sorry guys I did not answer sooner.One experience, had a 1000lb dry cow looking directly at me in the middle of a meadow at approx 200 yds. I shot her with my 270 win left front shoulder and she went down immediately I had to finish her with a shot behind the ear. Bullet took out top of the left lung damaged the spine and when we skinned her out I found the bullet top of the left rear ham. Bullet travelled the entire length and weight of the bullet was still 111grs.
That was shooting 130gr Partition on top of 54.5grs of IMR 4350.
2 years ago I shot a real good 5X5 bull elk at a touch under 300 yards my first shot was little far back and it went through my next shot was in the boiler room and we found the bullet in opposite shoulder it weighed 106grs.
That load was 130gr. AB on top of 54.5grs of IMR 4350.
I will never change from Nosler as my Dad used to say if it ain't broke don't fix it :lol:
Gees I like my 270 win so much I think I will cancel my custom 35 Whelen :wink: NOT :!:

Blessings,
Dad

 

[SJB358]

That is great performance from the 270. Really hard to top the 270 with a 130gr PT or the 30-06 with a 180gr PT. Both of those are some superior performers that really tow the line year after year. Scotty

 

[onesonek]

Sorry guys I did not answer sooner.One experience, had a 1000lb dry cow looking directly at me in the middle of a meadow at approx 200 yds. I shot her with my 270 win left front shoulder and she went down immediately I had to finish her with a shot behind the ear. Bullet took out top of the left lung damaged the spine and when we skinned her out I found the bullet top of the left rear ham. Bullet travelled the entire length and weight of the bullet was still 111grs.
That was shooting 130gr Partition on top of 54.5grs of IMR 4350.
2 years ago I shot a real good 5X5 bull elk at a touch under 300 yards my first shot was little far back and it went through my next shot was in the boiler room and we found the bullet in opposite shoulder it weighed 106grs.
That load was 130gr. AB on top of 54.5grs of IMR 4350.
I will never change from Nosler as my Dad used to say if it ain't broke don't fix it :lol:
Gees I like my 270 win so much I think I will cancel my custom 35 Whelen :wink: NOT :!:

Blessings,
Dad

With that report of the NPT 130 gr. in a .270,,,,It removes my concerns of enough penetration with a 6.5 125 gr. NPT. I can't see the 6.5/125 being much less if any.
I guess I'm just a little stuck on using heavier bullets for caliber, with a SD near .300 on on critters approaching a 1000 lbs. or more. Never too old to learn from other's experiences however.

 

[SJB358]

Sorry guys I did not answer sooner.One experience, had a 1000lb dry cow looking directly at me in the middle of a meadow at approx 200 yds. I shot her with my 270 win left front shoulder and she went down immediately I had to finish her with a shot behind the ear. Bullet took out top of the left lung damaged the spine and when we skinned her out I found the bullet top of the left rear ham. Bullet travelled the entire length and weight of the bullet was still 111grs.
That was shooting 130gr Partition on top of 54.5grs of IMR 4350.
2 years ago I shot a real good 5X5 bull elk at a touch under 300 yards my first shot was little far back and it went through my next shot was in the boiler room and we found the bullet in opposite shoulder it weighed 106grs.
That load was 130gr. AB on top of 54.5grs of IMR 4350.
I will never change from Nosler as my Dad used to say if it ain't broke don't fix it :lol:
Gees I like my 270 win so much I think I will cancel my custom 35 Whelen :wink: NOT :!:

Blessings,
Dad

With that report of the NPT 130 gr. in a .270,,,,It removes my concerns of enough penetration with a 6.5 125 gr. NPT. I can't see the 6.5/125 being much less if any.
I guess I'm just a little stuck on using heavier bullets for caliber, with a SD near .300 on on critters approaching a 1000 lbs. or more. Never too old to learn from other's experiences however.

My old man's hunted with his best friend for years. He used a M77 270 Ultralight with Federal 130gr PT's. He also took a moose and caribou with that rifle. They never did anykind of bullet survey after the fast, but said it was a solid front leg shot into the vitals and it dumped the moose pretty quickly. I could think of worse rifles than the 264 or 270 with 125 or 130gr PT's. Heck, I would feel pretty confident with my 270WSM shooting the 150gr PT's. I know what you are saying though Dave, hard to get past the SD's of those long 6.5's..

I was quite surprised to see the 140gr PT (3200 out of the 264) and the 160gr AB (3000 out of the 7WSM) penetrate the same distance in jugs. Granted they are pretty close in SD, but I'm really thinking that bullet construction is a bigger player in penetration to some extent. Heck the 300gr PT in the 45-70 is unreal, and by all means, the better 350's and 400's (soft points) should out penetrate it. Scotty

 

[onesonek]

[/quote]I was quite surprised to see the 140gr PT (3200 out of the 264) and the 160gr AB (3000 out of the 7WSM) penetrate the same distance in jugs. Granted they are pretty close in SD, but I'm really thinking that bullet construction is a bigger player in penetration to some extent. Heck the 300gr PT in the 45-70 is unreal, and by all means, the better 350's and 400's (soft points) should out penetrate it. Scotty[/quote]

I'm with ya there Scotty, as terminal SD pretty much dictates. And that's why the NPT is my favorite big game bullet. They are consistant and predictable! You take a conventional cup&core, and if impact velocity is a tad on the high side, it expands more reducing terminal SD. Hit bone, it looses more weight (generally speaking), and reducing TSD even more, unless it sheds some frontal area as well. One can see weight retention vary by 20% or more. I have never seen that variation with recovered NPT's,, which have been few.

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

I've tested several bullets in jugs as well. The greatest penetration I've got was a 250gr hard cast out of a .41 Magnum pistol. It exited out of the side of the 9th jug, and kept on trucking. It kind of made me think that maybe those old buffalo hunters were on to something.

In the .260 for Elk/Moose, I'd load the 140gr Partition. It can't be all that much different then the 150gr Partition in .277, which is a respectable performer on Elk.