Looking for good reload advice.

[DUKESTER1]

I will be hunting white tail, Plan on shooting out to 500yds at most. I will be reloading my own shells now and need some advice. I have been using a browning a bolt 270 win. with Remington core lock shells 130gr. I plan on practicing this year with my new scope out to 500 yds. I just don't know what tips to start with and where to get them, or what may shoot good and have knock down power at 500 yds. any help would be great. Also somewhere to get brass , and powder type suggestions.

 

[johnnyk]

Dukester1,
Good whitetail round. I would start with the 130 grain AccuBond from Nosler and use Alliant's RL22, IMR and/or H4831, and IMR and/or H4350. All are great performers for the .270Win. As for brass, I'd go through MidwayUSA if I couldn't procure it locally. I mostly used CCI BR2 primers when I shot this round. JohnnyK.

 

[DUKESTER1]

Do you like the acubond better than the ballistic tip. whats the difference

 

[Willys46]

I feel the accubond is amuch better bullet if your are concerned about meat damage. The ballistic tips tend to blood shoot alot of meat even with good bullet placement.

the accubonds are a bonded bullet that will kill clean and not ruin alot of meat.

Willys

 

[AJ Peacock]

Do you like the acubond better than the ballistic tip. whats the difference

I've always had better accuracy with the Accubond. I've never been able to get the Ballistic tips to shoot much under .75MOA. Never had that problem with the AB's.

AJ

 

[DUKESTER1]

Great , thats what I will get then. Thank you much

 

[Gene Jr.]

My current load is 140 AB's over H4831sc at 3050fps. This load has worked well on whitetails under 200 yards, no longer shots yet, and caribou to almost 400. No recovered bullets but a few pieces of jacket.

I've thought about trying VLD's but the AB load works so well it's hard to get motivated about trying something new. I used ballistic tips prior to AB's and they do tend to grenade.

I'm planning on stretching my 270 win out a bit this year. I'd like to get some good field data to 600 and maybe find a willing deer this fall.

Gene

 

[Kevin Thomas]

Dukester,

First things first. Before you start acquiring equipment or components, you need to get yourself a reloading manual. Actually, I'd (strongly) suggest that you get several. Take the time to read them cover to cover, not just flipping open to the cartridge and bullet combination you want to use. There's info in there that will make you a better (and safer) reloader and shooter. This will actually save you time and money, by making you aware of things that you'd otherwise have to learn on your own. Secondly, and no offense intended to anyone on the forums, but do not ever get your reloading data from an open forum! Listen to the suggestions or recommendations of folks who've used similar set ups to yours, but ALWAYS check those loads against a reputable, published source. Hodgdon has all their data available free on their website, Berger will send you data free of charge for the asking, and Sierra offers a toll-free tech line. There's others, too, but you get the idea. The Internets a wonderful tool, but you need to use it with a bit of discretion. In the meantime, buy yourself some manuals. Best investment in this game that you'll ever make, I promise.

Hope this helps,

Kevin Thomas
Berger Bullets

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Dukester,

First things first. Before you start acquiring equipment or components, you need to get yourself a reloading manual. Actually, I'd (strongly) suggest that you get several. Take the time to read them cover to cover, not just flipping open to the cartridge and bullet combination you want to use. There's info in there that will make you a better (and safer) reloader and shooter. This will actually save you time and money, by making you aware of things that you'd otherwise have to learn on your own. Secondly, and no offense intended to anyone on the forums, but do not ever get your reloading data from an open forum! Listen to the suggestions or recommendations of folks who've used similar set ups to yours, but ALWAYS check those loads against a reputable, published source. Hodgdon has all their data available free on their website, Berger will send you data free of charge for the asking, and Sierra offers a toll-free tech line. There's others, too, but you get the idea. The Internets a wonderful tool, but you need to use it with a bit of discretion. In the meantime, buy yourself some manuals. Best investment in this game that you'll ever make, I promise.

Hope this helps,

Kevin Thomas
Berger Bullets

With all due respect Kevin, I have to disagree in part with "never get your reloading data from an open forum". I do agree that published data will usually be very reliable but even then we know that we need to wortk up with it. The thing is that there are a lot of bullet/powder combinations not covered by manuals. I have run into that and used info that I found on the internet. I will always do a lot of research on it and look for consistancy in data info. It has worked well for me. I have yet to read a post where someone got bad data on the internet and it caused a problem. Maybe there has been some cases of that, but I haven't read one yet.

With careful research and careful loading practices, I am very comfortable with using info from the internet.

Just my $.02

-MR

 

[BountyHunter]

With all due respect Kevin, I have to disagree in part with "never get your reloading data from an open forum". I do agree that published data will usually be very reliable but even then we know that we need to wortk up with it.

got to agree with Kevin here. You would think that people will do the smart thing, but the fact is that they will not normally.

They will take a "posted" load, load it to max, and go for it. they will take the max load from the gunsmith and load it and go to a match. Guy took a new very popular big boomer with 10 grains less than the max his gunsmith told him he could easily use, went to the Ohio tactical match 2 wks ago and was locking the bolt up, plus getting 240 fps less than his gunsmith said. Now if he had added that other 10 grains, new gun and face transplant. Obviously no testing of load data and that either means novice reloader with a gun well over his reloading skill capabilities for him to do that or just rectal cranial inversion. Either way it was not tested obviously.

Novice reloaders do not understand the nuances of reloading and the cold hard facts that every gun in the same chambering can run wildy different loads. Just read thru the posts here on this site on the typical recommended 300 RUM loads. One guy says 92 gr of xx, the next says 96 gr of xx . the next says 91.5 gr of xx locks his bolt up. Same bullet, same powder and three dramatically different results in three different guns.

Plus here is the real clincher, no one normally mentions with what primer, and change primers and pressure can go up or down 3000 psi or more easily.

Kevin is spot on!

BH

 

[Kevin Thomas]

Montana,

I hear you, but we're not talking about a seasoned reloader here. I have no doubt in your ability to develop a load with minimal info or an unknown powder. Nathan's clearly just getting his feet wet, and he needs to understand some basic info before heading off into the deep end. Believe me, this stuff can, and will, bite you if you get casual about it. I've seen more than enough examples, testified in depositions and lawsuits, and played detective at reconstructing disasters. I don't take this stuff casually, and that's after over 30 years of working with it on a daily basis.

Now, as for the data, please note that I said the forums can be a useful resource, but that they needed to be checked against a known resource. I'm sure you do that, I know I do, along with a host of others. We've all been doing it a while, and have an understanding of how it works. Nathan will probably get there, but I'd like to see him walk before breaking into a sprint. As I've always said, you're issued exactly two eyes, two thumbs and eight fingers as original factory equipment. Altering that configuration isn't worth a few extra FPS, or salvaging a couple bucks worth of powder.

No offense intended, okay?

Kevin Thomas
Berger Bullets

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Montana,

I hear you, but we're not talking about a seasoned reloader here. I have no doubt in your ability to develop a load with minimal info or an unknown powder. Nathan's clearly just getting his feet wet, and he needs to understand some basic info before heading off into the deep end. Believe me, this stuff can, and will, bite you if you get casual about it. I've seen more than enough examples, testified in depositions and lawsuits, and played detective at reconstructing disasters. I don't take this stuff casually, and that's after over 30 years of working with it on a daily basis.

Now, as for the data, please note that I said the forums can be a useful resource, but that they needed to be checked against a known resource. I'm sure you do that, I know I do, along with a host of others. We've all been doing it a while, and have an understanding of how it works. Nathan will probably get there, but I'd like to see him walk before breaking into a sprint. As I've always said, you're issued exactly two eyes, two thumbs and eight fingers as original factory equipment. Altering that configuration isn't worth a few extra FPS, or salvaging a couple bucks worth of powder.

No offense intended, okay?

Kevin Thomas
Berger Bullets

Kevin and BH, no offense taken here, just a slight difference in opinion. I agree with everything you guys say, I'm just saying that you can get info off the internet.... however...... you do need to research it to the max and find consistancy.

For instance, when I started load development for a 300 WSM, I could not find any published data for 168 TTSX'x and 180 E-Tips. I started searching the net and found some info on the TTSX's and nothing for the E-Tips. The max loads for the TTSX's ranged from about 64.5 gr to 65.5. I Checked some other bullet loads with H4350 in those weigth classes and the 165/168 were fairly consistant. I called both Barnes and Nosler and they had no data on H4350, but the Nosler guy said I should be good with a starting at a little less than where I started with the 168 TTSX's. So I Started at 59 gr with the TTSX's and 58 gr with the E-Tips. And found max (without excessive presure signs) to be 65.5 for the TTSX's and 66 for the E-Tips. I was surpirsed that the E-Tips ended up taking a half gr more than the TTSX's, being both heavier and greater bearing surface than the TTSX's. I was expecting the E-Tips to max out at about 64.

Now when I say you can get good info from the net, I'm assuming (which I should have stated earlier) that Nathan or whoever else is also do a lot of research and reading on loading in general to get smart on things, such as primers, seating depth, etc. You can give a guy a manual with published data and if he is not smart about his loading practices it's not going to help anyway.

You guys both ahve a lot more experience than I do, and I think we basically agree on most everything. I was getting the impression that Kevin was saying that if you cant check it against a manual than dont use it. If that's the case, then maybe half the loads the guys in this forum are using fall into that category. Maybe a newbe should refrain from using data that isn't published. But I personally dont have any problem recommending, on the net, a new loader to start with 59 gr of H4350, behind a 168 TTSX, seated .05 off the lands, with Fed 215 primers and work up and expect max to be somewhere above 64 gr, with the caveat that he uses good loading pracitces. Yup, read as many manuals as you can. I did when I started out and haven't had a hitch yet.

Thanks to both of you for your contribution to this site.

Cheers,

Mark