The Famous ( Infamous?) .270 Winchester

[HAWKEYESATX]

I know there are pundits on the forum here that go for the ballistic twin .280 Remington, and the .280 AI!

I have been enamored with the .270 for quite some time, and recently acquired a Mauser 98 action Remington barreled in .270 WCF. In my younger years, I was a staunch proponent of the 7mm Remington Magnum, and was as big of a Magnum rifle kind of guy as there was. I have owned, and still own a .300 Win Mag, but as I get older, have realized I may not need all that extra horsepower to just hunt what I love to hunt.....deer!
I came to realize that the 7mm Rem Mag is about 7% greater in power comparison, and only extends the .270 point blank range of 25 yds, to max of 50 yds.
I understand that there has been tons of ink spilled about its virtues, but I was way too young to read anything about the .270 when I was growing up.

Now, my question(s) is this...
How good is the .270 really?
Are there any that have actual experience on here with the cartridge?
What are the detractors to this cartridge?
What big game has anyone taken with their .270?
How far will it reach out, and cleanly harvest a game animal?

Anyways, I await all of your opinions, and thoughts on the subject at hand.
Thank you in advance for imparting your knowledge to me.

Sent from my LG-TP450 using Tapatalk

 

[Anonymous]

How good is the .270 really?
Are there any that have actual experience on here with the cartridge?
What are the detractors to this cartridge?
What big game has anyone taken with their .270?
How far will it reach out, and cleanly harvest a game animal?

The .270 is a fine cartridge. Maybe it's not nearly as magical as O'Connor thought, but it's still pretty special and uniquely American. It was good in 1925 and with modern bullets and powder-even better in the 21st century.

I came late to the .270 party, but have now owned 4 of them. I've shot caribou with them...and it might be ideal for that kind of shooting...caribou, mule deer, Western white-tails, antelope, sheep. Basically anything that lives out in the open country of the West. I'd have no qualms about elk or moose for that matter in most circumstances.

The big negative to the .270 is that it's not the greatest cartridge for woods hunting. It'll work, but soft bullets at high speed mean that meat damage can be a problem at Eastern white-tail ranges. Better bullet selection can help that but you simply don't need a .270 to flatten a white tailed deer at 80 yards.

The .270 can reach out farther than likely makes sense. I've taken some caribou at the 300+ range and it worked just fine. Historically, .270 bullets aren't all that aerodynamic when limited by the 1:10 twist most rifles come with. The 145gr ELDX bullet has a pretty good BC, stabilizes in the 1:10 and when launched at 2950fps makes a fine long range load.

I find the older I get, the more I like cartridges like the .270. Moderate recoil, good reach, and more than enough for most stuff I'll shoot at.

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

Hodgeman,

Just like you, I am arriving at the .270 later, and if I would have known about it, or had known more about it when I was younger, I would have probably been a life long proponent of the cartridge.
Logically, there isn't much difference between it and the 7mm Mag, that would be noticed by a game animal, I'm thinking.
Most of my hunting has or had been in open country, and I will go back to Wyoming as well, and hunt there. So it sounds almost perfect for what I want to hunt.
Thank you for your input, I greatly appreciate it.

Sent from my LG-TP450 using Tapatalk

 

[DrMike]

Never owned a .270, but it was not because it is not a fine cartridge. I simply stumbled into a .280 earlier and stuck with it. The ballistic difference in the two cartridges is negligible, putting it bluntly. The only thing that the two cartridges permit is plenty of argument around the campfire. I would not feel particularly handicapped with a .270 Win; but, then, I don't feel particularly handicapped with a .280 Rem.

 

[ShadeTree]

Hodgeman explained the cartridge about as well as anybody could lay it out. Both for its fine attributes and some of its negatives, which the negatives really are no fault of the cartridge just a by product of the size animals and ranges it's sometimes used for.

Got a friend who has spent his entire adult hunting life with the same 270 practically attached to his shoulder, and affectionately refers to it as the beltless magnum. :grin:

 

[ethmoid1999]

I have two 270's. I've shot a few deer and quite a few prarie dogs but nothing bigger than mule deer. I used 130 grain bullets mostly. I have several hundred each of 130 Winchester Silvertips and Remington Bronze points. The most accurate loads were with Nosler ballistic tips. I haven't shot my 270's in several years but for the hunting I used to do and what little I can do now, the 270 is fine.

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

Never owned a .270, but it was not because it is not a fine cartridge. I simply stumbled into a .280 earlier and stuck with it. The ballistic difference in the two cartridges is negligible, putting it bluntly. The only thing that the two cartridges permit is plenty of argument around the campfire. I would not feel particularly handicapped with a .270 Win; but, then, I don't feel particularly handicapped with a .280 Rem.

Thank you DrMike!
Very well said!

Sent from my LG-TP450 using Tapatalk

 

[tddeangelo]

I was a 270 shooter in my teens, went to a 30-06 for a looooong time, and recently returned to using a 270.

I don't think the 270 is any harder on meat than any other bottleneck/rimless round. A lot of damage can be avoided by bullet selection and shot placement.

I've shot some with 150gr Ballistic Tips at 75-150 yards that looked like you'd shoot them with Partitions. Meat damage was very minimal, really. But those were rib shot deer. Bust 'em in the shoulder, results are likely to be different.

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

Hodgeman explained the cartridge about as well as anybody could lay it out. Both for its fine attributes and some of its negatives, which the negatives really are no fault of the cartridge just a by product of the size animals and ranges it's sometimes used for.

Got a friend who has spent his entire adult hunting life with the same 270 practically attached to his shoulder, and affectionately refers to it as the beltless magnum. :grin:

Thank you ShadeTree
I, also noticed that it could be referred to as a beltless magnum as well.


Sent from my LG-TP450 using Tapatalk

 

[Blkram]

I have owned a couple of 270's over the years, as well as the WSM and Weatherby.

I have harvested coyote, whitetail and mule deer, mountain goat, caribou, moose and elk out to 200 yards. The cartridge is definitely capable on this game out to twice that. Many prefer the 130 gr for mountain and medium sized game, while others prefer the 150 gr for moose and elk. I like the 140 gr as a great all around performer, and found the AccuBond of this weight to be a great performer on all game taken with it, and accurate too!

I prefer the 280 Rem to the 270 Win, but that is just my preference, as everyone I knew had a 270 or a 30-06, and nobody had a 280, or had even heard of it when I got my first one in the late 80's. I also liked the 160 gr bullet and its performance on larger game. I am also a fan of the 7MM Rem Mag and STW, and have taken more game with these than with the 270's; but the 280 Rem remains my personal favourite.

If deer is your primary target and you are not shooting longer distances, the 270 will be just fine, but you could also consider the 6.5 (either Swedish Mauser or Creedmoor), 260 Rem or 7MM-08.

At the end of the day, I think that you will be very happy with your 270!
Enjoy, and make great memories with it!

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

This is the rifle I traded a revolver for.
She's not a beauty, but the kid I got her from said she's very accurate
Not much to look at, but she could be a real performer!

Sent from my LG-TP450 using Tapatalk

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

Right now I'm leaning towards the 140 gr Nosler AccuBond, up to the Hornady 145 gr Hornady ELDX.
Maybe after rolling my own ammo, I might go with a 130gr AccuBond, or possibly a 130 gr Barnes TTSX.

Sent from my LG-TP450 using Tapatalk

 

[Dr. Vette]

When I was young (14) I purchased a Remington 7400 in .30-06 because it was "bigger and better" than the 270 Winchester.

Currently, with two 30-06 rifles (including that 7400) and four in 270 Win, I wish I'd started with the 270. Out of all my rifles and calibers, from 223 to 340 Weatherby, if I had to be left with just one it would be in 270 Win. It's hard to beat the speed, mild recoil, and killing power of this package. I can hand one to any of my children and not feel like it's "too much" for them, or take one elk hunting and not feel it's "too little." We used a 270 Win to shoot some of our antelope 2 weeks ago, and it just plain works. We've also taken several whitetail with the 270 with no issues.

Of note, I bought/built my Dad a 270 Win a few years ago after he saw mine working well on deer. He loves his so much that he almost used it as a primary rifle for elk last year. He just couldn't avoid using his favorite rifle in 7mm Wby, but he did think hard about it.

I would not hesitate one bit to use one for anything, especially with modern bullets leading the way. The Hammer Hunter 117 @ 3300fps is a killer.

 

[DrMike]

As an aside, I use the 130 grain E-Tip in my 270 WSM. It works quite well on moose, elk, mule deer and whitetail. Haven't tried it on black bear, yet. If the TTSX is on your radar, don't overlook the E-Tip.

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

Dr. Vette and DrMike,

I will of course take your advice on bullet selection.
Anywhere from 117 to 130 gr E-Tips.
Can't beat them!

Sent from my LG-TP450 using Tapatalk

 

[Anonymous]

Right now I'm leaning towards the 140 gr Nosler AccuBond, up to the Hornady 145 gr Hornady ELDX.
Maybe after rolling my own ammo, I might go with a 130gr AccuBond, or possibly a 130 gr Barnes TTSX.

Sent from my LG-TP450 using Tapatalk

We've used the 130gr Trophy Bonded, 130gr TTSX, and the 145gr Browning BXC and a couple with 130gr Speers. And that's just the ones I've seen shot. Many folks use Partitions, ABs, BTs and they're not wrong. Lots of great .277 bullets out there.

No survivors.

In my son's Tikka, I'm loading the 145gr EDLX over IMR4955 with great accuracy and excellent speed. I figure that load is good for anything he'll shoot at.

One of the virtues of the .270's unique bore size is that virtually all bullets in the caliber are made for .270WIN speeds.

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

Dr. Vette and DrMike,

I will of course take your advice on bullet selection.
Anywhere from 117 to 130 gr E-Tips.
Can't beat them!

Sent from my LG-TP450 using Tapatalk

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

Hodgeman,

That's really good info! Thank you for sharing!
I will of course keep all of what you said in my mental notes.

Sent from my LG-TP450 using Tapatalk

 

[Blkram]

I forgot to mention that my daughter's choice for her first rifle is a 270.

She took her first deer 6 years ago with my BLR in 358 Win. Before getting her rifle, we took several rifles to the range for her to test. She tried my wife's 7mm-08, Dr Mike's grandson's 260 Rem and Mike's 338 Federal, and the used Remington 700 Titanium with a Leupold VX-3 3.5-10x40 on loan from the LGS. By the end of the range session, she had chosen the 270, and was shooting 1" groups with Federal 130 gr Fusion ammo with it. She really liked its weight, feel and recoil level. Of course she would choose the most expensive option when Dad is buying! LOL At least she has a quality rifle that will last her and provide great performance.She is still waiting to harvest her first elk with it. Unfortunately, work has her away for most of this hunting season. We will see if we can get her out after she gets home.

 

[Thebear_78]

The 270 is one of those cartridges that just plain work. I have been impressed with its performance across the board on all manner of medium and big game. It’s simply perfected for deer/caribou/sheep sized game.

All of the bullets work great for those intended game. The 130gr TTSX has proven a hammer. It dropped that large cow in its tracks like struck with lightening. Actually two of the fastest moose kills I have seen where both using 270 win and both shot by women. There is nothing I wouldn’t hunt in North America with a properly loaded 270 win.

If all you hunted was Midwest farmland for whitetails you simply couldn’t find a better suited cartridge.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk