"New" 270 gets to the range

[tddeangelo]

A little while ago, I acquired a 1954-vintage M70 in the venerable 270 Winchester. I actually picked it up the morning of Father's Day, now that I think about it.

After some delays in getting bases/rings, I got it all pieced together. I wound up with vintage Redfield mounts. They aren't my preferred mounting system, but they do work. I put on Leupold STD rings in "low," only to find they were a whisker shy of clearing the bolt handle. Drat. The stock is a "low comb" stock, so I wanted the scope as low as possible. I exchanged the lows for mediums, and now thing will work just fine. I don't think I can squeak Butler Creeks on the scope, though, to my dismay. I prefer flip caps, and I'm pretty sure they won't fit between the bolt handle and the ocular, but we'll see about that later.

I scored a good deal on a Cabela's Euro 3-9x42, which is a rebadged Meopta Meopro. Excellent scope, and at the price I paid, it was a no brainer. I compared it with my Minox, Leup VX7, Zeiss Conquest, and Swaro Z3 scopes. It held its own rather well. If not for the ultra fine reticle, it'd done even better. A good, bold #4 would make it really perform in bad light, as the optically ability is there.

Anyway, to the reloading....

A certain Nosler junkie Marine sent me some 150BT's to get me started with it, so I put a batch of loads together with those sitting on top of RL22 and headed to the range. I got to shoot to 200, which is a nice plus. I really need to find somewhere to shoot that's semi-close by and can get me to 400-500 yards. That would really give me a chance to put it all to the test. As it is, my max range is 300, which isn't terrible, either.


Here are the results:

56.5 and 57.5 both have some potential. I've thought about running 56.0, 56.5, and 57.0 to hunt for a little improvement. Not sure if I want to do that or go straight to a seat depth profile on 56.5. The 56.5gr group measured out at 2.02" and the 57.5gr group went 2.75". Those were shot at 200 yards, and those are 2" dots.

The Meopta scope worked out quite well at the range. Tons of eye relief, great sight picture.....very positive clicks, although the dials are labeled dumb (have to lift the rifle to see them, not resettable to zero, and hard to read, but for "set and forget" they're good). The Meopta seems to track really well, too.

 

[Silentstalker]

Looks like your well on your way! Great shooting!

 

[DrMike]

The harder you push them, the tighter they get. Not bad. It should not take much to get that rifle tweaked and doing what it is supposed to do.

 

[tddeangelo]

Thanks guys.

DrMike, I figured maybe run a few smaller charge increments to see what it'll do, then fuss with seat depth and see where the rifle wants to shoot. If 56.5gr repeats, at 2" at 200, it's already a shooting pretty well. The trigger is fairly stiff, so I also have to clean that up a touch. It's workable, but could be better.

 

[sask boy]

You will have that 270 tightened up in no time at all. Have you tried H4831sc it has been a great powder for the 270 for many years.

Blessings,
Dan

 

[tddeangelo]

Dan, these were the first four groups I turned out with it.

I have a TINY bit of H4831sc. Not sure it's enough to make a real go of it.

I think the upper two charges almost have it, though, and I've got a decent supply of '22 on hand.

 

[SJB358]

Very nice Tom! That's a great shooting rifle by all standards. Initial loads going MOA at 200 yards is excellent. Might be something to all this 270 talk!

I'd reshoot 56.5,57 and 57.5. Whatever comes out on top, I'd work the seating depth in a 1/4 turn at a time and you'll be there in no time.

 

[Rigbymauser]

Thanks guys.

. The trigger is fairly stiff, so I also have to clean that up a touch. It's workable, but could be better.

That thing deserve a Jewell trigger. Forget everything else :grin: .

 

[Vince]

In my short time loading I've found half grain increments to work best and save on component waste overall. Big changes can occur with just half a grain.
As for the scope caps, I'm fond of the Zeiss type scope covers. I use a couple of small zip ties to keep them attached to my scope.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

 

[1Shot]

If you are getting over 3000 fps with 150s with 2" groups at 200 yards you are on the right track. I have found that Nosler ballistic tips like to shoot 10 to 20 thousands off the lands in most of my rifles. Yes the Meopta scopes a REALLY GOOD. I have a Meostar 3-12X56 with the #4 on my 264 Win mag. It is every bit as good as my Zeiss 3-12X56 Deviary (SP?) and the Meopta cost MUCH less.

One thing I will pass on that I have learned about getting rifles to shoot well. DON"T CLEAN THEM. Most people clean a bore too often and clean all the seasoning out of it. Especially with a factory rifle they take some fouling to really get them to shoot tight. Once you get them shooting don't clean until your accuracy drops off. Yes you can clean the chamber but not the bore. I have seen people do much more harm to a rifle cleaning it too much than shooting it a lot.

 

[tddeangelo]

I'm not a compulsive cleaner, lol. I'll clean a lot on a brand spankin' new rifle to get the copper out, and as it stops copper fouling, I'll slow down on the cleaning proportionally. Other than that, if I don't see a change in accuracy, I'll clean them when I put them up for the winter, and usually not much more than that.

The Meopro scopes are a pretty good buy, I think. I've always liked them, and I love my Meostar bino's, but this was my first run at a Meopta scope on a rifle. I thought I'd hate the stupid little metal bar on the adjustments, but it was actually pretty easy to work with. I just wish they'd made the turrets with some "depth" so that you can see the adjustments without coming up off the rifle or having to lift the rifle, but they are meant to "set and forget," so I can't complain too much.

I'll rerun another charge weight profile in 1/2gr increments now, see what it'll give me. I think I'll make a dope change on the scope and maybe reach this one out to 300, although I could just keep working at 200 and call it good. Once I see a charge weight look solid, then I'll play with seat depth. I started out by seating the bullet as long as I felt comfortable running in the mag box. I can't reach the lands in this rifle, as the bullet will not fit in the mag box at that length, so I figured I'd set it to the longest possible functional length and then work down from there if/as needed.

Honestly, if 56.5gr gives me a solid 2" group at 200 again, I may just call it done. I say that, but then I look at those groups, and I just get the idea in my head that this rifle may just have a bit more accuracy in it than that if the load is dialed in.

 

[ColColt]

The 270 is one of my top five favorites. I'd try 58-60 gr of H4831 with the 130 gr bullet or about 48 gr of IMR 4064. Both are classic powders for the 270 and give me good results. These were shot with the mentioned powders in a 1952 M70 270.

 

[tddeangelo]

Powder supply being what it is these days, I don't have H4831, but I have a good supply of RL22. Looks like the rifle is responding well to it, too, so I figured I'd reshoot and do some tweaking and go from there. If those loads will repeat, both accuracy and speed, I won't look much further. There aren't too many deer here in PA that will walk away from a 150BT out of a 270 that's knocking down 3000fps at the muzzle. :twisted:

 

[Oldtrader3]

Tom, do you have any 7828 SSC? My .270 Win Model 70 (1949) seems to like it as well with the 150 grain bullets. Groups are great so far at 200 yards. You should not have any issues killing deer with that rifle?