Acquired a nice 270 rifle at a good price. Want to mess about with something strange.
Experience among members with either ?
Experience among members with either ?
270 AI or Gibbs ?
- Thread starter HappyWarrior
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azsugarbear
Well-Known Member
270 Sherman
I have a .270 AI and .30 Gibbs. This boils down to personal preference and how much extra work you are willing and able to do.
The advantage of .270 AI over Gibbs is that you can shoot factory .270 Win ammo. You cannot safely shoot factory .270 Win ammo or .270 AI because the shoulder is designed a lot shorter.
For my .270 AI, I do not fire-form, instead, I have an accuracy load for .270 Win (2919 FPS) and .270 AI (2993 FPS).
For the .270 Gibbs, you'll need to establish a false shoulder and do the cow method or have a custom hydraulic forming die made for it (i.e., from Whidden). Factory .270 Gibbs is available from x and https://www.rccbrass.com/product/270-gibbs/ but they are ridiculously expensive.
Below is a just a visual illustration on my .30 Gibbs.
From L-R ...
1. .35 Whelen virgin brass
2. After .30 Gibbs sizing die
3. After COW fire-forming method
4. After regular load fire-forming
5. .30-06 virgin brass
BTW, since Gibbs' cartridges book is scarce or non-existent, I purchased a CD version in Amazon ...
Prepare yourself to get inundated with a variety of opinions. I originally wanted to do .280 AI but everybody in their brother has one so I went with the .270 AI and very please with it. There is only a handful of us .270 AI owners here and a .270 Gibbs will even be going to be shorter ... and I am OK with it. Good luck!
Ed
Last edited:
Eagel Builder
Well-Known Member
I have 2 each 270AI , Use 270 WBY. dies as a neck sizer and seating the reloads.
Yes, you're right. Us Gibbs shooters are a small select group who are content to be a little different. I dropped down one level and did the 6.5 Gibbs (I already had the 240 Gibbs). I have several AI's as well, but Gibbs just takes it a step further. I've had no problem with fire forming, but head stamped brass is available for a price.
I have a .30 Gbbs. Yeah, it is a PITA to make and fire form the brass, but the advantages are worth it. You get almost Short Mag ballistics, brass is easier to find and cheaper, plus you get one more cartridge in the magezine. I've alway wanted a .280 Gibbs. I've been wanting to make a multiple caliber rifle using the switch lug system. Maybe that will be one of the barrels. I could get close to 7mm mag velocities.
I was able to purchase 30 Gibbs brass from Quality. Very satisfied.
Yep! I've bought 240 Gibbs, 6.5 Gibbs, and several AI calibers from Quality. All have served me well, and it's nice to have the specific head stamp when I'm reloading.
I like my .270AI and the performance that I get out of the cartridge. It can be a little time consuming making brass, however the results are well worth the effort. I just read an article about the new "designer" round the 27 Nosler, the latest and best anti-tank, 3000 yard long range elephant destroyer. I am getting 3300fps out of a 26 inch Lilja barrel with the 150gr ABLRs, using almost half of the powder that the 27 Nosler is using and my brass is not costing me $2.00 a piece ($40 a box); meaning less reloading expense and less recoil. Feenix got me interested in this round and I am glad that he did. I am not familiar with the Gibbs line so cannot help you there. Good luck with your build no matter what you decide. From all that I am reading I believe the .270 caliber to be extremely underrated.
sailchaz
New Member
Quality Cartridge produces properly head-stamped new Gibbs Brass.
Left Hand Dave
Well-Known Member
How does the case capacity of the 270-300 Winchester Mag compare to the AI and Gibbs?
