7mm rem shooting 160 grain A-Frames or .270 shooting 140 grain fail safes.

I already have the Fail Safes, would have to buy the Swifts


I shoot both rifles equally well and they are both light weight, topped with 3x9's so no difference in hunting with either one as far as the guns themselves go.

Easy, 7 Rem Mag.

Next question?

beanie or black felt hat when on the mountain?

Black felt and a manly scarf in case of cold ears.

Next question?

+1 for the "manly scarf".

I wouldn't fault the 7mm choice, but the Fail Safe is one badass bullet. So is the A-frame. I'd go with either without reservation.

I have 8 fail-safe bullets left. I bought this box in 97' I think .

I kept them around in case I ever needed to shoot thru an engine block

You have to good guns I would use the the 7 mag for primary and the 270 for a backup.
You bullet selection is excellent for eik.

On my elk hunt, I'm taking .270 with Barnes 140 grain TSX and 30.06 with same in 180 grain. Either of yours will get the job done. As stated earlier, get em both ready so you'll have a back up.

I've never heard of the failsafe bullets before. What's the story with them?

back in the early to mid 90's Winchester came out with this bullet to compete with the partition, barnes X and the A-Frame. It was a hollow point that had a steel core in the middle of it, when the bullet hit it would peel back like a star(much like a barnes) until it hit that core. black lubalox coating in a nickel case....looked bad arse. they promoted the hell outta it and we all went out and bought them.

only problem was unless you hit bone they would not expand on deer size game. they gave similar performance to barnes in where they zipped in and out on light skinned game not really doing much damage, made for some long blood trails on mortally wounded game. extremely deep penetrating though.

they got phased out in the early 2000's being replaced by the partition gold and some other bullet that I cannot remember what it called. we all went back to shooting soft points and ballistic tips in our deer rifles

I'll go with the horse power every time but I'm not too sure on your bullet selection. Both are bone busters and give deep penetration but might be a little weak in the heart lung area. Clip a rib or miss a rib and you might not get the expansion and fragmentation needed for that area. The Nosler Partitions give you more flexibility in that area with a better chance of frontal expansion and secondary projectiles yet still retain enough weight to bust up some bone if needed. Then again if you'll put either one of those loads into the spine area your hunts over and the work begins.

I feel like either caliber is plenty capable of the job. I don't care much for the fail safes, Ive had expansion problems with most monometal bullets and the fail safes will behave very similarly. If you have to shoot at any kind of distance where the bullet has slowed down a little it will probably perform worse. A-frames are good bullets, but also pretty spendy.

I would echo HWY_Man and recommend a partition in either and your good to go. I have read a few articles where the 150 grain partition in 270 is noted for exceptional penetration.

300 rum 168 berger works great

Almost any ctg that has the capability of shooing a 150gr or heavier bullet mixed with your capability to make a well placed shot will do a nice job on elk. Even an old 30-30. No need for these magnum womper stompers.

I would feel confident with with either one, but rifle weight would probably be the deciding factor for me.

I would use the 7 mag just because it's heavier.

But I sure have not had the experience with the monometals some of you have on deer. Mine have never failed to expand as designed-even without hitting bone. I would love to see a picture of a TSX that went completely through a deer without expanding.

I still have two full boxes of .270 Fail Safes.

says the guy whose handle is '30378'. Depending on his ability to shoot, I'd most definitely want a gun capable of killing an elk at 400 yds, which is most definitely NOT a 30-30.

Doesn't the failsafe bullets have a horrible B.C. compared to ballistic tips? Would you want that for long range shooting?

Aframe is similar to partition.

Either caliber will work

I wouldn't have a problem using either one of those combos. If I had to choose I would go with the 7Mag though because regardless of what people think there really is no such thing as over kill.

how much do you want for them nog?

yep I'm gonna drive 20 hours to Colorado spend good money buying the tag, hike up and down mountains and pack a 30-30.....

you gonna loan me yours?

your right....ballistic tips make excellent elk bullets.

what was I thinking?