What about .270 Winchester?

[emp1953]

I knew this thread would have some passionate messages .

What bullet weight/style would you recommend for northern whitetail at ranges of 300 yards or less?

Anyone care to send some general loads they prefer?

140gr nosler partitions or Accubonds ( not Accubond long range ) 51gr H4350 cci200 primers Federal brass has not failed yet from 80yds to 650. kills em in their tracks.

 

[Catskills]

When I started hunting 45 years ago, I caught the magnumitis bug and skipped over anything smaller than .308. In the last 5 years, the big magnums have started to kick more than they used to….. Several years ago I got the itch for dedicated deer rifles and ended up with a 270win and 270wsm in SS Tikka T3x flavor. I went with 130 Hornady Interlocs in the Win and 140 Accubonds in the short mag. The Win with 130s at 3100fps just flat hammers whitetail and mule deer. It wants for nothing. Interestingly, Ive recovered more 140 Accubonds (going 3200fps) than I have 130 Interlocs (these were on very large bodied deer shot through the shoulders). After using 7STW (shooting 160 Accubonds), 300wby (shooting 165 Interlocs), 338 and 340wby (shooting 210 partitions) for all big game the last 40years, I'm quite impressed with what .277 bullets can do. While I'd be content to hunt deer the rest of my days with a 270win, I must confess I think the 270wsm may be the best all around medium game cartridge I've used given the balance of velocity, bullet weight and modest recoil. I never saw that coming….

 

[Oddbod]

One caveat regarding .270 with the usual 1:10 rifling.
It will NOT stabilise monolithic copper or other non lead bullets of 150gr or greater.
I wasted time & money on trying to get Barnes & a European manufacturers' 150gr offerings to shoot & they don't, period.
You need 1:8 & that in turn doesn't work with 90gr varmint bullets.

 

[73driver]

I was just wondering which bullet weights you are comparing for both calibers.

I was using the 270 & 6.5C Precision Hunter Ammo which for the 270 is 145 grains and the 6.5C is 143 grains.

 

[Rflshootr]

When I started hunting 45 years ago, I caught the magnumitis bug and skipped over anything smaller than .308. In the last 5 years, the big magnums have started to kick more than they used to….. Several years ago I got the itch for dedicated deer rifles and ended up with a 270win and 270wsm in SS Tikka T3x flavor. I went with 130 Hornady Interlocs in the Win and 140 Accubonds in the short mag. The Win with 130s at 3100fps just flat hammers whitetail and mule deer. It wants for nothing. Interestingly, Ive recovered more 140 Accubonds (going 3200fps) than I have 130 Interlocs (these were on very large bodied deer shot through the shoulders). After using 7STW (shooting 160 Accubonds), 300wby (shooting 165 Interlocs), 338 and 340wby (shooting 210 partitions) for all big game the last 40years, I'm quite impressed with what .277 bullets can do. While I'd be content to hunt deer the rest of my days with a 270win, I must confess I think the 270wsm may be the best all around medium game cartridge I've used given the balance of velocity, bullet weight and modest recoil. I never saw that coming….

I'll agree that the magnums kick more now than they used to. I'll blame it on these new fangled high energy powders. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

 

[JiggyIi]

I love my 270's, have three 700's and one Ruger 77 SS Mark II Skeleton stock.

For those that may have a shot out 270, looking for an EASY upgrade, the Std 280 Remington is the EASY button.

I will point this out, the 280 Remington IS a better mouse trap in that the CUP pressure it runs is less than the 270 bore, which allows some incredible velocity. The 280 Rem with the 160-168g bullets with IMR 7828, fed 210 will be all over 2900-2930 fps with EXTREME accuracy with bullets of very high BC on 24" barrels. With the 180g ELD-M, you are at 2700 fps with a BC of .798. This is no Joke!

Reloading manuals DUMB DOWN the 280 Remington due to the pumps and semi autos on the market. IN the Nosler manual #4, you will find some interesting "Most Accurate" loads for the 280 that is spot on. If you have never shot a bullet with a BC of .798, some things you just have to see for yourself, lack of wind drift/Drop, hits steel plates like a mack truck.

Some would consider the Rem 280 a wild cat it is so rarely mentioned, but it is one of the most prudent decisions in a cartridge choice you could make when your 270 barrel needs replacing.

Its funny the 280 was kept at lower pressure when the 270 & 06' were chambered in the same rifles

 

[JiggyIi]

I will say Kudus to Browning for their Hells Canyon .270Win, 28" barrel with 1:7.5tw!

Another one not made for us Leftys

 

[257PhilBob]

I love the boring ol' 270 Win also, have had 5 or 6 of them, and there is always someone who wants it when I get it to where I like, great guns and always looking for another.

 

[257PhilBob]

Its funny the 280 was kept at lower pressure when the 270 & 06' were chambered in the same rifles

I now have a 280 Rem, and it bulls over anything you shoot at w/ a 160 gr nosler partition at 2800fps

 

[JiggyIi]

Can't tell it's this is meant in favour of the 270 or not but either way biased or unbiased we're saying the same thing haha. By your numbers ) it takes 700 yards for the 6.5 creed to "catch up". Beyond that range neither the 270 nor the 6.5 creed (or 6.5 anything in my opinion) is nearly as good as a magnum 7mm, 30, or 338 cartridge.

And all the way to that 700 ish yard limit the 270 has a flatter trajectory and is hitting harder.

The last name says it all, Needmoor

 

[Rocketeer77]

So I have been thinking about adding a .270 Win to the safe. The reason being during the ammo shortage you could ALWAYS find it on the shelf locally. I mean everyone had it and lots of it. When .308, 30-06, and 300 Win Mag were all gone there were boxes off .270 everywhere.

So what is everyone's opinion on the old .270? I'll be looking for a moderately priced hunting type rifle. What barrel length, twist, and all of that? Any certain make or model you recommend in the $1000 or less price range?

Also, I'll add- the ability to purchase factory ammo now has way more influence on me than ever before. I have tons of bullets, brass, and powder. The problem is that primers are tough to find and expensive!

We have a few 270's for light weight the Tikka T3X and for accuracy & speed it's a Sako Finnbear from the 70's sub-MOA and 130gr Sierra SBT @ 3,200 fps handloads, zero load development too.

 

[Rocketeer77]

For moderately priced firearms under 1000 (which is all I can afford at this time haha) my experiences with savage 111s and Weatherby vanguards has been just excellent.

Do not go super cheap. Not worth it. As in "the savage axis is a cheap piece of junk with metal that rusts notably faster than other rifles (my real experience - rust spots on alleged STAINLESS STEEL) with such a flimsy stock that any real recoil makes accuracy a challenge - my father in laws friend has one in 30-06 and it shot much much better after putting it into a more rigid aftermarkwt stock of some kind)

The 111 on the other hand is great and shoots lights out. Ugly or not.

The Weatherby vanguard is probably my vote for best value for your dollar in any production rifle made today. They shoot, theyr attractive, they're a bit heavier but for me that's a good thing, and ergonomically I just love how they feel in the hand and to shoulder.

For under 1k

1st vote wby vanguard
2 place savage 111
3 place tikka of some kind. Yes I'm putting tikka behind savage and weatherby. Yes I mean it.

You need to get out more, Tikka #1 the Howa/Weatherby at #2 the Savage no comment
Have owned various Tikka's all excellent and the Sako brand (older ones are exceptional rifles) for both brands the quality is great. Don't need to rebuild them to function properly like some brands?

 

[Calvin45]

You need to get out more, Tikka #1 the Howa/Weatherby at #2 the Savage no comment
Have owned various Tikka's all excellent and the Sako brand (older ones are exceptional rifles) for both brands the quality is great. Don't need to rebuild them to function properly like some brands?

Sako under 1000 dollars???

Maybe I've just been lucky with my savage and weatherby experiences haha, no rebuilding necessary and (again, just my own limited experiences, like anyone else on here), my weatherby vanguard and my "cheap" and admittedly not so easy on the eyes and no-comment savage, from a pure accuracy perspective right out of the box, has outperformed both a tikka t3 and a Remington 700. I can't pretend I haven't seen what I've seen. I do appreciate how smooth and pleasing to look at the tikkas are and am in no way bashing them - though I do think they're overrated but for sure they're pretty. I do understand full well why the Remington 700 has earned the reputation it has for accuracy builds (and also that buying anything Remington from the last 20 years is especially "hit and miss")

But it's pretty surprising to me that you're stating you need to rebuild the non-tikka/sako brand guns to function properly. Just hasn't been my experience at all. I think it just plainly annoys gun snobs how some basic savage rifles (again, the axis need not apply!) shoot right out of the box for cheap. I kind of derive a smug satisfaction from it personally

I do indeed need to get out more - but this is not why!

I have zero experience with Howa so can't say either way but I do hear very good things…are they identical to the weatherby vanguard action?

 

[Calvin45]

You need to get out more, Tikka #1 the Howa/Weatherby at #2 the Savage no comment
Have owned various Tikka's all excellent and the Sako brand (older ones are exceptional rifles) for both brands the quality is great. Don't need to rebuild them to function properly like some brands?

Edit regarding my last post: I see you aren't putting sako in the running for the under 1000 recommendations but simply stating that they, especially in older models, are very good rifles. I certainly agree with that! It's 2:30 in the morning I here and I just finished calming down one of my kids after a nightmare and now they're snoring and I'm awake haha so naturally I'm on LRH…maybe I shouldn't be reading and writing at this hour