270WSM Help?

The Salty Hog

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Joined
Jul 25, 2009
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9
Location
South Louisiana
Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum and long range hunting all together. Long range shooting has always been something I've wanted to get into and now I plan on going forward with it. Being that I know very little about building a rifle that is cable of 500+ yard shots consistantly, I figured that this would be a good place to start. I'm looking at upgrading my 270WSM Remington Model 700SPS, I'd just like to know where & what to start with. For example, barrels, scopes, stocks, ex. What brands would y'all recommend and also, what kind of $$$$ am I looking at spending to make this happen. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

SH
 
I would consider the following; How does the current configuration shoot? The caliber you are using is very capable of taking game at your prescribed distance. I would consider getting the trigger replaced or have the factory trigger worked on by a gunsmith. Depending on the smith you could have it done for as little as $20.

For optics I would consider your price range. In my opinion, Nikon ($300-$800) (Which I have on two rifles) and the Bushnell Elite($350-$800) series would be my pick for inexpensive scopes. Both very good glass for the money. You could go much more expensive using Leupold ($400-$1200) or the Night Force and IOR ($1000-$2500). The more you spend the better the glass is going to be. You should look for something with no less than 10 power, but should consider up to 20-30 power max. Variable powers are the best option. Another thing to consider is your scope base and rings. This can vary from $40 to $300 depending on what you get. You should look into a one piece base and a good set of rings. I use the Burris XTR's.

Barrels are up to the individual buyer. Personally if the factory barrel is in good shape, shoot it until you kill it. Buy then you will know your equipment and ready for a quality barrel. The factory barrel should be capable of .5" to .75" groups at 100yards. You may want to look into having your factory barrel recrowned for accuracy. Have a smith look it over and they will be able to tell you if it is necessary.

Next is its stock. Do you want a better stock or fix up your own. A good glass bedding job should be all you need, but some like to get out of factory stocks and upgrade to a quality after market. The super sniper stock by Choate($150-$200) is probably the best stock for the least amount of money in my opinion. From there you graduate to Bell and Carlson and McMillian($230-$700).

After market triggers are numerous for Remmy's. They can very in style, pull weight and price. Some gunsmiths can get your factory trigger to break as crisp as you want it, but depending on how light you want it, you may have to upgrade. For a factory adjustment you are looking at $20 to $40 for a smith to work over the factory trigger. For a custom after market you are looking at $130 and up.

The action you can leave as is, or you can have it trued and blue printed. To do this it can cost a lot of money. It depends on what you want done with it. Generally the actions from factory are in pretty good shape. I have never had an action trued and can not give a cost estimate.

Last but not least is the ammunition. Are you hand loading or using factory ammo? If you are using factory ammo, you need to use premium stuff. Black Hills and Federal offer some really nice stuff. If you hand load, the cost can very on what powder you choose to use and bullets. Berger bullets are more expensive than Hornady or Sierra, but depending on your rifle, it many like the lesser expensive bullets. You could look into Barnes and Nosler which I find to be more expensive. I usually use Sierra's and Hornady's. I have hade good success with them both. You need to consider your brass options and primers. Norma, Nosler Custom and Lapua are your premium brass, but come with a premium price. Winchester and Remington brass can be just as accurate if you take the time to prep it correctly. I use Norma for my .308 Win., Winchester for my 300 WSM, and Rem. for my .243. I get really good accuracy with all of it.

Well I hope this helps,
Tank
 
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A little more ifo would be helpful but....

Depending on what type of rifle you want as in heavy bench vs carryable weight... since you have a Rem action, you could pick up an HS take off stock from a Sendero for a good price and get a custom Sendero contour barrel. Get the action blue printed, maybe a new trigger and firing pin, etc. Get an extended mag so you can load your bullets to the lands and still have a repeater. That sounds like a great LR Rifle to me and IMO, still carryable at about 8 1/2 lb.

Hope that helps a little and good shooting,

-MR
 
The cartridge capacity of the 270 WSM can certainly get you out there, but your bullet selection will be very limited in the .277 caliber. Wind becomes the biggest factor in shooting 800 to 1000 yds. and beyond. Shooting heavy-for-caliber can compensate, but none of the major bullet manufacturers make them for the .277 caliber. Berger, Nosler, Sierra, etc. all make heavy-for-caliber bullets in .243, .264, .284, .308, .338 calibers, but not in the .257 or .277.

Only Wildcat Bullets made heavy-for-caliber bullets in .277 (169.5 gr. & 195 gr.) and that supply has completely disappeared. The company was sold a little while ago. Unfortunately, the new owners seem to be having difficulty getting the fed licenses necessary to start back up again. I shoot a 277 Allen Magnum and I am down to my last 30 bullets in 195 grain. I can shoot the 150 gr. Noslers, but that kind of defeats the purpose of shooting a big magnum in the first place. When this barrel is shot out, I will most likely not rebarrel in 277 AM. I will go with an Allen Magnum in the 7mm or 308 caliber simply because of the variety of heavy bullets available from many different manufacturers. I cannot afford to again be at the mercy of a single manufacturer for my bullets. ---Just my opinion, based on my own experience. :)
 
I'm kinda working down the same line with the same cal. If the thing shoots good I would use the factory barrel to learn how to shoot long range, I think about the time I'll start getting confident I will have the barrel shot out and then I'll drop on the custom barrel.

Upgrade your trigger and stock, I'm really liking the B&C Medalist Varmint stock, I've seen it for around 220$ on the web, bed your action which can be a DIY for 30-50$ for materials. gun)
 
Thank you all for the info, judging by what all of you have said I think I will start with purchasing a new stock & having it bedded (or possably just bed the factory one), having some trigger work done, and putting a quality long range scope on it. I've been realy eyeing the Night Force NXS 5.5-22x56mm and the Leupold Mark IV 6-20x50mm. I really like the NF the best but I could save a good chunk of $$$ with the Leupold so I'm kind of torn between the two. Will I beable to do the same thing with the Leupold as the NF? How do the two compair in y'alls opinion? Also, should I look at getting a more powerful scope for these 500-600yard shots or am I in the right niehborhood?
 
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