The Famous ( Infamous?) .270 Winchester

[Bruce Mc]

There are two characteristics I find most appealing in the .270 Winchester for a hunting rifle. First is that it will group various bullet weights into one small group at 100 yds. I can load the 130 Partition and sight it in, the 150 will only enlarge the group a tad high. Secondly, you can have a .270 Winchester with a 22" barrel and a rifle that weights less than 8 lbs and it won't beat you to death singe your eyebrows or create shoulder problems. Winchester created a truly wonderful hunting rifle in the .270 Winchester and model 54. They greatly improved it in the Model 70, but when they created the Model 70 featherweight in the .270 Winchester, they created one of the really great hunting combinations. I wish these thoughts were original but Jack O'Connor came to these conclusions many years ago. Any by the way, he killed his first moose with a .270 Winchester shooting 130 gr silver tip ammunition. "If the hunter does his part, the 270 will not let him down". I think that sums it up.

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

Bruce Mc,

Thank you very much for your input.
That was great!

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[26NosFan]

I grew up around a couple of my dads hunting buddies that were 270 guys. I've never owned one and dad was a 30 cal guy. I have never been a fan but if Im really honest with myself the mundane 270 will work for anything im likely to hunt in the near future. with a 90 gr HP load for varmints as far as you care to shoot, a 140 for any deer that walks, and a 160gr load for elk moose and the smaller ursines, the bigger ones I would want more. If it has teeth and claws and can eat me I want the biggest caliber I can tolerate for recoil and shoot well. BUT...with the introduction of the 270 WSM I would not chose the 270W over it period. 200fps better in a short action nuf said.

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

Which is a more effective bullet weight?
I've seen here that some have taken big animals with 130 gr bullets, some with 140-145gr bullets, and I'm sure some have used 150 he bullets.
Is it a good practice to stick to the middle road of the 140-145gr bullets?
I've been studying somewhat, and some say stay with 130, if the rifle likes the 130.
What say y'all?

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[Bruce Mc]

It seems with the advent of Reloder 26, the perfect all around seems to be the 150 gr. It can be loaded to almost 3100 fps in a 24" barrel and will still hit 3000 in a 22" barrel. A 150 at 3000 fps is a lot of whup a$$ and particularly so with a 150 Partition. I have no experience hunting with solid copper bullets as I've never been able to get them to shoot in my rifles. That being said, I've never killed anything with the various .270s I've owned except with the 130 Sierra SBT, 130 Nosler solid base, and the 130 Partition. I've taken a number of javelinas, whitetails, coyotes, and two bobcats. The longest shot was a javelina at "by truck odometer" 1/4 mile. That was using the 130 Nosler solid base. The rifle was a Weatherby Vanguard loaded with 61 grs of H-4831 circa 1982. I still don't see any real need for the ELD bullets for hunting.

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

It seems with the advent of Reloder 26, the perfect all around seems to be the 150 gr. It can be loaded to almost 3100 fps in a 24" barrel and will still hit 3000 in a 22" barrel. A 150 at 3000 fps is a lot of whup a$$ and particularly so with a 150 Partition. I have no experience hunting with solid copper bullets as I've never been able to get them to shoot in my rifles. That being said, I've never killed anything with the various .270s I've owned except with the 130 Sierra SBT, 130 Nosler solid base, and the 130 Partition. I've taken a number of javelinas, whitetails, coyotes, and two bobcats. The longest shot was a javelina at "by truck odometer" 1/4 mile. That was using the 130 Nosler solid base. The rifle was a Weatherby Vanguard loaded with 61 grs of H-4831 circa 1982. I still don't see any real need for the ELD bullets for hunting.

Wow! A 150 gr traveling at 3000 + fps out of a .270 barrel is cooking, and I'm sure is extremely devastating to receive.
My .270 has a 22 inch barrel, and the kid I got it from said it likes the 150 gr Winchester Power Points quite well. Well, I might just stick to that weight, except in a lot more streamlined bullet, probably from Nosler, or Sierra. I've had good luck from both in other rifles.

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[PJGunner]

While I have four rifles chambered to the .270, my experience is very long but mighty thin. :roll:

Seriously, I killed my first deer in 1949 with my Great grandfather's old 30-30. Didn't get much hunting in until I was 16 and hunted with a few buddies with that 30-30 and a 30-06 I bought. Did a lot of hunting with that 06 and it wasn't until 1973 that I even owned a .270. I got a commercial FN Mauser with 24" barrel that's as thin as a soda straw Gun can't weigh more than 7 pounds even with a scope, sling and full magazine, Stock is some kind of wood but not walnut and as the late Jack O'Connor would say, "So ugly it would abort a lady crocodile." But man, does that thing ever shoot. Cost me $75 for that rifle. Took it out that deer season the year I got it and took a nice buck opening day. Kind of messy from the factory 130 gr. bullet. me? Not happy. Biggest mistake I made with that rifle was to cut the stack back so the kids could use it. My bad. When I hand loaded for it I switched to the 150 gr. Sierra Game King and it was very accurate in that rifle and I did take a few deer with it. Most of the time though I used the 06 and later a .308 that was lighter than the 06 and completely forgot about that .270.
Over the years I got somewhat into Mausers so built a custom 06 on a commercial FN, bough another FN in .270 as the price was right and don't shoot the donor. It was very accurate. Heavy as hell though. Nxt .270 to come down the road was a Ruger #1A. Guy said it wouldn't shoot good groups. he was right. I tinkered with it and it does now.
Last .270 to come my way was a Winchester M70 XTR with a factory installed McMillan stock. Did,'t even want it but the price was good enough I figured I could turn it around or trade for something I wast. Nope! It shot too darn good to get rid of.
I did some playing around with it and it loved my 150 gr. Game King load with WMR powder. I loaded up a test series with the 150 gr. Nosler Partition and it uses the same charge as the game King. Serendipity! :mrgreen: I shot a three shot group with the Game king, then a three shot group with the Partition. Both shot at .75". I then shot a six shot group interspacing the Game King, then a Partiton, then a Game King and so forth. The group was 1.5". Seems I can use either load on a hunt and not worry about a radical change in point of impact.
In 2009 I did an antelope hunt in Nw Mexico. I used the 150 gr. game King load and figured I might have to shoot a long way out. About a half mile stalk and the shot was at 75 yards. The "goat" ran a short 30 foot half circle, laid down and expired. Bullet entered on the left side right at the short ribs and exited just behind the right shoulder. Entrance was about one inch and the exit about 1.5 as I recall. The stomach was hit but only had a tiny hole and very little of the contents leaked out. That surprised me as with an MV of 2900 FPS I figure that bullet might blow up like a bomb. Maybe that bullet was tougher than I thought.
My normal rifle is a .35 Whelen when I hunt elk. In 2010 I took it and that M70 .270 as a back up rifle. I took the .270 out on the first day, got a shot and the guide said it hit about 40 yards too short. he gun was on the day before when I checked the sights at the Whittington Center so the scope must have been jarred out of sighting when in the truck on the way to the hunt. Got my elk that afternoon with the Whelen.
Like I said, my experience with the .270 was long but very thin. No fault of the cartridge just me plaing with too many options. :lol:
One of my hunting partners used the .270 almost exclusively and I've seen him drop elk with it as far out at 440 yards laser measured. IIRC, he use the 150 gr. Sierra game King.
BTW, I like the lines on your .270, plus it's based on the good old Mauser. If I'd seen it first I'd have snapped it up. I need another .270 like I need a hole in my head. :lol: I think you done good.
Paul B.

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

PJGunner,

I see you're a Mauser action aficionado as well as I am.
I saw the pics of it at first, and caught myself drooling. LOL
I'm a sucker for a nice Mauser 98 action.
Plus, the Remington barrel gives it a nice contour as well, I think.
Paul, I've owned other calibers in Mauser 98 actions, a .308, .30-06, and a 7mm Rem Mag. All were decent shooters.
But I've heard good things about Remington barrels.
I like that the .277 bullet is a true 7mm.
Plus, I'm surprised there aren't more weight selections for the .277 caliber.
I guess what is out there just plain works, and am guessing it all works really well, from the reading I've done from those on here that have used it.

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[Thebear_78]

Standard twist rate limits bullet weight selection. Put a 1-8 twist barrel on a 270 and there are a few heavies that really open up long range potential. The berger 170 EOL is very interesting

The woodliegh 180gr PP should stabilize in a 1-10 rwist

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[HAWKEYESATX]

Standard twist rate limits bullet weight selection. Put a 1-8 twist barrel on a 270 and there are a few heavies that really open up long range potential. The berger 170 EOL is very interesting

The woodliegh 180gr PP should stabilize in a 1-10 rwist

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You know, that would be very interesting.
Maybe I should start a project rifle, in .270 Win, but get a a 1-8 to 1-9 twist.
Regular 7mm rifles have a 1-9 twist, I think it would work well in a .270, no?

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[HAWKEYESATX]

You know, that would be very interesting.
Maybe I should start a project rifle, in .270 Win, but get a a 1-8 to 1-9 twist.
Regular 7mm rifles have a 1-9 twist, I think it would work well in a .270, no?

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[Thebear_78]

1-8 needed for the longest 277 bullets.


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[HAWKEYESATX]

1-8 needed for the longest 277 bullets.


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Cool! Learn something new every day.

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[Cleveland48]

The 270 win was my first deer rifle, and probably my most favorite of all. I have been using the various 6.5’s since 2008, and don’t own a 270 anymore. I’ve had more bang flops with the 270 and 130 grain bullets than all my other rifles combined. If someone was to say the 270 win was the greatest open country deer round ever invented, I’d have to agree with them.


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[HAWKEYESATX]

The 270 win was my first deer rifle, and probably my most favorite of all. I have been using the various 6.5’s since 2008, and don’t own a 270 anymore. I’ve had more bang flops with the 270 and 130 grain bullets than all my other rifles combined. If someone was to say the 270 win was the greatest open country deer round ever invented, I’d have to agree with them.


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Outstanding! That's what I like to hear! [emoji115]

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[Cleveland48]

The 270 win was my first deer rifle, and probably my most favorite of all. I have been using the various 6.5’s since 2008, and don’t own a 270 anymore. I’ve had more bang flops with the 270 and 130 grain bullets than all my other rifles combined. If someone was to say the 270 win was the greatest open country deer round ever invented, I’d have to agree with them.


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Outstanding! That's what I like to hear! [emoji115]

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Reading everyone’s post on this thread is really making me want to go get another one lol.


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[HAWKEYESATX]

Cleveland48,

Don't let us hold you back!
By all means, do go and get one! LOL

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[Anonymous]

Which is a more effective bullet weight?
I've seen here that some have taken big animals with 130 gr bullets, some with 140-145gr bullets, and I'm sure some have used 150 he bullets.
Is it a good practice to stick to the middle road of the 140-145gr bullets?
I've been studying somewhat, and some say stay with 130, if the rifle likes the 130.
What say y'all?

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In days past, the 130gr load was highly favored and promoted by O'Connor as the best all around bullet weight and most of those guys wanted high MV. The early 150gr loads were watered down to 2600 or so for guys complaining about meat damage at closer ranges.

With modern powders, you can get 140 and even 150s to nearly 3k fps or a bit beyond. I used to be a real fan of the 130s, but the 140 and 145gr bullets just shoot in my current .270 and 4955 sends them at 2950 under max loads. I can easily get them over 3000 if I wanted to start pushing them a little harder.

I'd let the rifle decide, nothing wrong with 130s or 150s and everything in between.

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

Hodgeman,

Good advice. I will let my rifle decide which bullets it will like.
I'm hoping its not finicky with any of them.

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[35 Whelen]

Having spent my whole life standing beside folks we were
guiding, shooting about every caliber ever know. If there is
one caliber that sticks out over the years for consistency
on " instantaneous kills" on game up to 500lbs, its a 270
Winchester. And with todays loadings and bullets its even
better! Especially if your NOT a handloader, off the shelf
Ammo has always been about as hot as anything you could roll yourself. I shoot a 140gr bullet with a G1 BC of nearly .500; at 3100fps with 3000fp of energy. It has a super flat trajectory, and kills cleanly out to 400 yards in an 8lb scoped rifle that has moderate recoil. The caliber is immortal and should have been coined " 270 LT MAG" cause thats what it is! I have a CDS dail cut for the above loading for my Vx6 that goes to 850yds. I am hoping to shoot my first 600yd coyote with this.

And for hairsplitters its actually closer to being a true .280 than the so called 280's are!!! Lol