johnnyk
Well-Known Member
As the subject line reads, I decided to start load development for my .270's and the upcoming hunting season. I have a "couple-three" LR rifles that I load for and hunt with. They are a 6.5-284 Norma, .300WinMag., .270 Allen Magnum and new for this year; a .270Win and 6mmBR. I think I'll try to get my 9yr old on a deer with the 6BR.
For my .270Win I decided to go with the venerable 130gn Ballistic Tips. I've harvested a number of deer in my earlier years with this round and it never gets too old and just plain works. This particular rifle kicks pretty hard so I'm either getting too old to handle recoil or I've become too dependent on my muzzle brakes (which is another reason to go with the 130's).
I bought an 8lb jug of IMR4831 half price at a local sporting goods shop last year and I have about 5000 Remington 9.5 and 9.5M primers that are perfect for this situation. I tried IMR7828 earlier (135/140gn's) based on Hodgdon's Reloading Center data and the groups were good and velocity was close (22" barrel).
Saturday I ran 55.0, 55.5, 56.0gn of IMR4831, R9.5 and the 130's. All good groups; 56.0 was the best with a .4" group @ average or 3026fps, ES 17/SD 9.2 (LabRadar). Great! That will do for hunting.
Sunday was the .270 Allen Magnum.
Note: I have been using US-869 based off of Kirby's, royinidaho and other forum member's recommendation and cautions IRT powder bridging. These words of wisdom need to be heeded when running "top fuel dragster" type cartridges.
After a little research (very little), I decided I needed to try other modern powders suitable for this beast. I found some RL33 last week extremely cheap ($25 a lb) and decided to go for it. After reading and re-reading everything a search of "270 Allen Magnum" would bring up (including .270 Boondoggle), I decided to start at 90gn of RL33 and Fed GM215M's.
I cleaned the barrel beforehand and dry patched it out. I had two rounds from a previous reloading session to foul the barrel. They were 170gn Bergers using 93.0gn of US-869. I set the LbRdr up the same as I did with my .300WinMag and muzzle break. Quickly found out the AM's muzzle break blast is more of a 45* than a 90*, so I had to reposition the LbRdr so the end of the MB is even with the back of the LbRdr. The LbRdr had to be powered down/up to "clear its noggin'".
I loaded three 170gn Bergers and three 169.5gn Wildcats with 90.0gn and after the repositioning everything worked fine. The Bergers averaged 3344fps (ES:31/SD:15.3) while the Wildcats averaged 3385fps (22/15.2).
Based solely on those first two groups, I decided to run WC's this year for hunting. I know what the Bergers will do and it only stands to reason (at least in my mind) what the WC's should do. They're pretty close in design, length and weight. The WC's have a rebated boat tail but that (RBBT) will be the last part of the bullet going in the deer! (Reminds me of the joke my Dad would say every so often while driving, "Boy, you know what the last thing was that went through that bugs mind when he hit that windshield? his rectum (insert different word))!".
Anyway, groups for both these two loads and 91.0gn ran 1MOA (+/-) but the 92.0gn came together at .5MOA, 3443fps (24/12.4). Now to 500 and 1000yds to verify/modify come ups.
It's hard to imagine (for me) what life in these United States was like in 1925, when the .270 Win hit the streets. I bet it hit with as much fan fare and nay saying as the 6.5CM has. Here I am with the Dr. David Banner version (.270Win) and the HULK version (.270AM). Gotta love a .270!
For my .270Win I decided to go with the venerable 130gn Ballistic Tips. I've harvested a number of deer in my earlier years with this round and it never gets too old and just plain works. This particular rifle kicks pretty hard so I'm either getting too old to handle recoil or I've become too dependent on my muzzle brakes (which is another reason to go with the 130's).
I bought an 8lb jug of IMR4831 half price at a local sporting goods shop last year and I have about 5000 Remington 9.5 and 9.5M primers that are perfect for this situation. I tried IMR7828 earlier (135/140gn's) based on Hodgdon's Reloading Center data and the groups were good and velocity was close (22" barrel).
Saturday I ran 55.0, 55.5, 56.0gn of IMR4831, R9.5 and the 130's. All good groups; 56.0 was the best with a .4" group @ average or 3026fps, ES 17/SD 9.2 (LabRadar). Great! That will do for hunting.
Sunday was the .270 Allen Magnum.
Note: I have been using US-869 based off of Kirby's, royinidaho and other forum member's recommendation and cautions IRT powder bridging. These words of wisdom need to be heeded when running "top fuel dragster" type cartridges.
After a little research (very little), I decided I needed to try other modern powders suitable for this beast. I found some RL33 last week extremely cheap ($25 a lb) and decided to go for it. After reading and re-reading everything a search of "270 Allen Magnum" would bring up (including .270 Boondoggle), I decided to start at 90gn of RL33 and Fed GM215M's.
I cleaned the barrel beforehand and dry patched it out. I had two rounds from a previous reloading session to foul the barrel. They were 170gn Bergers using 93.0gn of US-869. I set the LbRdr up the same as I did with my .300WinMag and muzzle break. Quickly found out the AM's muzzle break blast is more of a 45* than a 90*, so I had to reposition the LbRdr so the end of the MB is even with the back of the LbRdr. The LbRdr had to be powered down/up to "clear its noggin'".
I loaded three 170gn Bergers and three 169.5gn Wildcats with 90.0gn and after the repositioning everything worked fine. The Bergers averaged 3344fps (ES:31/SD:15.3) while the Wildcats averaged 3385fps (22/15.2).
Based solely on those first two groups, I decided to run WC's this year for hunting. I know what the Bergers will do and it only stands to reason (at least in my mind) what the WC's should do. They're pretty close in design, length and weight. The WC's have a rebated boat tail but that (RBBT) will be the last part of the bullet going in the deer! (Reminds me of the joke my Dad would say every so often while driving, "Boy, you know what the last thing was that went through that bugs mind when he hit that windshield? his rectum (insert different word))!".
Anyway, groups for both these two loads and 91.0gn ran 1MOA (+/-) but the 92.0gn came together at .5MOA, 3443fps (24/12.4). Now to 500 and 1000yds to verify/modify come ups.
It's hard to imagine (for me) what life in these United States was like in 1925, when the .270 Win hit the streets. I bet it hit with as much fan fare and nay saying as the 6.5CM has. Here I am with the Dr. David Banner version (.270Win) and the HULK version (.270AM). Gotta love a .270!
