.270 win, 25-06 or 7mm-08

jonj

Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2004
Messages
14
Hello guys

I´m a left handed shooter from Iceland. After searching for a long time I´ve managed to find three left handed Tikka Whitetail hunters: a .270 win, a 25-06 and a 7mm-08.
The rifle will mostly be used for paper punching from 100 to 500m, if I manage to hit anything at that range. Also it will be used for varminting, goose and seal shooting. Then maybe sometime in the future I will go deer hunting with it. Could you tell me:

1.Which cartridge should be most accurate?
2.How long should I expect the barrels to last?
3.Which has the most ammo selection?
4.Which is cheapest to shoot?
5.Which has least recoil?
6.And finally which of these would you choose based on the information I´ve given you.

Thanks
jonj
 
Howdy jonj! jimm here,cool to have you here(pun intended}. I'm going to give some answers here, but understand this , they are personal opinion and by no means engraved in stone.......alrighty then 1. none...that is to say, that I dont believe that any of those cartridges are more inherently accurate than the other*. Having said that we should move on to 2....quite probably longer than you....As for number 3....If you refer to factory ammo , then most likely the .270 will win out ,other than that it is more than than likely that the .270 will win again.Number four is probably a no brainer even for me, the .270!# 5. here I'm guessing ,but not entirely so as I have been a day or two.All things considered I think the .270 will win again..............jonj,The .270 is hard to beat, and no ,I dont own, or want to sell you one.....Tons of brass, tons of bullets,tons of(even , or especially) left handed actions , I mean what's not to like? ......Now, to put this in perspective remember ,this is only ones mans opinion.There are tons of guys her that are able to give you more hands on than I with this decision. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif see ya, jimm * I am aware that the 7mm is regarded as the most inherently accurate caliber/bullet dimension
 
Hello jimm and thanks for the answer. I had pretty much decided to get the .270 win but just wanted to get the opinion of others more experienced shooters. After reading your post I´ll definatly go for it. Thanks again.

jonj
 
I own a 270 and a 7mm-08. I always grab my 7mm-08 for deer, just seem to kill better and you mentioned accurate. I have found the 7mm-08 to be more accurate than either of the 270's I have owned. Don't know what ammo you are planning to shoot though as this could make all the difference. I do have a New Model pre-64 Design left-handed 270 in the classic sporter collecting dust. I use a 257 Weatherby out west and hunt here in the east w/7mm-08. The Three you mentioned are all very good calibers. Don't discount the 25-06, alot of guys do longer range varmiting w/these. I do hand load for all my rifles.
 
Jonj,

1. Rifle accuracy has more to do with the rifle then the round I have found over the years. In a propely fitted rifle, all three will offer well under 1/2 moa groups out to 500 yards. In a factory rifle like the Tikka, its a crap shoot which will shoot best.

The 7mm08 certainly has the edge as far as accuracy bullets go because of the match grade bullets available in this round. Also as far as factory bullets at least, the 7mm bullets have higher B.C. bullets as well.

If you use custom bullets such as the 145 gr ULD and 156 gr ULD .257" bullets and the 169.5 gr ULD .277" bullet from Wildcat, these offer B.C. numbers of .720, .810 and .740 respectively. But you will need a custom barrel and twist for these.

2.The 7mm08 will have the longest barrel life. Generally in teh 3000 to 5000 round range dependingon how you take care of your barrel and how you shoot. The 270 will be next and the 25-06 will offer the shortest barrel life. Still all offer a long barrel life is the barrel is not overheated and cleaned properly on a routine basis.

3. I would agree the 270 has the widest overall selection of factory ammo but the 7mm08 has a better selection of match type options. The 25-06 is really a reloaders round if you want top performance.

4.IF you want cheap, get a 223 or 308. Of these three I would say if your loading your own they will all be very similiar. The 25 caliber bullets are cheaper then .277"
and 7mm bullets. The 7mm-08 has a slight edge in powder cost while the 270 Win has teh cheapest brass cost of the three. To be honest, they will all run so close to the same it isn't worth considering.

5. The 25-06 produces the least amount of recoil by a far margin. The 270 and 7mm08 are basically dead ringers in recoil.

6.I would go with the 7mm-08 because of its better match bullets, longer case life and short case design. Especially for paper punching. It will perform equally as well as the 270 and with proper bullets even have less drop because of the higher B.C. bullets.

Just my opinion,

Kirby Allen(50)
 
Hi Jonj;

I have a Remington Sendero (heavy barrel) in .270Win, and with factory ammo I can get 1/4" groups at 100 yards. My son has a Browning A-bolt hunter in 7mm-08 and he has comparable groups. The longest shot I've made at a deer is 475 yards, which dropped a few minutes later.

Both rifles are light kicking and very accurate. We use ours mostly for mule deer hunting on the open plains and foothills out here in Alberta. The only drawback with my rifle is that it does get to be a bit on the heavy side at times, especially when we're hiking the up and down the draws and ridges.

The one thing we noticed at the range is that my son has to let his barrel cool if he wants to maintain his groups, while I can keep pounding away at the target with no real worries about "fliers" wrecking my groups.

We both use bipods and we find that for long shots that helps us to keep the rifle steady. Besides mulies, the other game we chase with our rifles up here in Alberta is white-tail deer, elk, moose, bear, wolf and coyote.

I like the .270Win myself but all are fine calibres and so it really comes down to what you want.

Cheers,
RD
 
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