.270 winchester 140 Fail Safe Load data

I recently found at a gun show 2 boxes of 140 fail safes and have decided to load these up in a nice little semi custom Zastava 98 with a 22" barrel. I am hoping to (and should) draw out for a cow shiras moose tag and want to use this combo for the hunt.



Does anyone have any load data or know were to find any for the fail safe? What should expected velocitys be in the 22" tube? This rifle shoots pretty good for what it is, so if I can find a good consistent load with a decent velocity that shoots 1-1.25" at a 100 yards I will more than happy.

Winchester data for a 270 Winchester with 140 grain Fail Safe shows the following:

WLR, 44.5 grains Varget, 2795 fps and 50,200 psi
WLR, 52.5 grains H4350, 2869 fps and 49,700 psi
WLR, 57.0 grains H450, 2862 fps, 50,800 psi
WLR, 56.5 grains H4831, 2890 fps, 50,300 psi

I used a lot of Fail Safe bullets in my 7mm RM and in my 300 WSM. They performed very well for me, dropping moose, elk, black bear and mule deer right smartly.

a nice little semi custom Zastava 98 with a 22" barrel.

Click to expand...

Sounds like a nice little gun.

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks for the reload info and welcome...I will try to post some pics of the rifle...I wanted a high end custom mauser without the high end cost so I got a barreled action from Midway, installed 3 position safety and timney trigger, set it in a exhibition grade English Blank....Snazzy little rifle.

Is the data starting loads or maximum loads? Any data with possibly IMR 4831?

These are maximum loads (presumably pressure tested) provided by Winchester when they were still producing these bullets. This is the sum total of the data provided. If you have a particular powder in mind, perhaps someone can predict velocities with QL. In the interim, this is QL projection for 140 grain Combined Technology Fail Safe bullets and IMR4831:

Cartridge : .270 Win. (SAAMI)
Bullet : .277, 140, Nosler CT FailSafe 53140
Useable Case Capaci: 60.587 grain H2O = 3.934 cm³
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 3.340 inch = 84.84 mm
Barrel Length : 22.0 inch = 558.8 mm
Powder : IMR 4831

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,
incremented in steps of 2.0% of nominal charge.
CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

Step Fill. Charge Vel. Energy Pmax Pmuz Prop.Burnt B_Time
% % Grains fps ft.lbs psi psi % ms

-20.0 82 43.60 2393 1780 34175 10015 95.2 1.392
-18.0 84 44.69 2449 1865 36308 10287 96.1 1.360
-16.0 86 45.78 2505 1951 38578 10545 96.9 1.329
-14.0 88 46.87 2562 2040 40991 10789 97.7 1.299
-12.0 90 47.96 2617 2130 43556 11018 98.3 1.269
-10.0 92 49.05 2673 2221 46283 11231 98.8 1.240
-08.0 94 50.14 2728 2314 49181 11426 99.3 1.215
-06.0 96 51.23 2783 2408 52263 11602 99.6 1.182
-04.0 98 52.32 2838 2504 55541 11760 99.8 1.149 ! Near Maximum !
-02.0 100 53.41 2892 2601 59029 11897 100.0 1.116 ! Near Maximum !
+00.0 102 54.50 2946 2698 62743 12013 100.0 1.085 ! Near Maximum !
+02.0 104 55.59 3000 2797 66698 12119 100.0 1.055 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+04.0 106 56.68 3053 2897 70915 12222 100.0 1.025 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+06.0 108 57.77 3105 2997 75414 12322 100.0 0.997 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+08.0 110 58.86 3157 3099 80219 12418 100.0 0.970 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+10.0 112 59.95 3209 3202 85355 12509 100.0 0.944 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

Results caused by ± 10% powder lot-to-lot burning rate variation using nominal charge
Data for burning rate increased by 10% relative to nominal value:
+Ba 102 54.50 3053 2897 74366 11571 100.0 1.008 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Data for burning rate decreased by 10% relative to nominal value:
-Ba 102 54.50 2787 2415 51262 12196 97.5 1.187

I realize this is an old post, but I just acquired some of the same bullets for my 270 Winchester, I have loaded them with 51 grains W760, will see how they do, mine is an old Browning BBR with the nine locking lugs, very accurate with other bullets.
Also acquired the same type bullet in 7mm 140 grain plan on using them in my 7/08 Weatherby Vanguard 2, think i will try 40 grains of Varget, has anyone used these bullets in any of their calibers?
I think they were meant for bigger critters, but we shall see how they do at the range first.

I’ve always heard they were quite good larger big game Bullets. Ross Seyfried was an avid big bore bore kinda guy but raved about the 270 with 140 grain Fail Safes.