Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Finn Aagaard On The 270 Win And 7x57

Ok my mistake, Brad posted the source right off! It looked like a magazine page, not a book. The search moves to another bookshelf.

It just sort of hit me that the real life experience of the people who posted in this thread is really pretty amazing. I have most likely killed less elk than pretty much everyone in it. I only have six bulls if I remember correctly.

This is the only place that I know of that has that factor. Good site,good thread.

If I knew how to post a pdf scan I'd post Mr. Aagaard's article on the 7x57 that PJGunner sent me. Good stuff!

Back in the 80's and 90's when I was reading everything I could on elk hunting, the consensus was the mid/eastern hunter needed a more "powerful" rifle - ie. 7mmMag, 300 WM and the 338WM. The 30-06 was really tempting fate and the .270Win. was almost criminal!
Fast forward some 35 years and many here know that those magnum calibers, while perfectly fine, are not needed.
And this didn't just come about because of "better bullets". Looking back in my elk diary, I see 18 cows and 3 bulls taken with .270's, .308's and '06's. Most with "softer" bullets too. That is more than anecdotal and tells me that neither magnum cartridges nor premium bullets are necessary.
I guess the authors sold a lot of hardware for the industry though. Whether it was by design or not, I'll let it up to others to decide.

My next "elk cartridge" hunt will be with a 7x57 Supergrade.

Before we get carried away with the notion that Finn was a "little rifle" user, it would be well to remember that he did some of his own elk hunting here with a 300 Win Mag and a 338 Win Mag as well...dig hard enough through his writings and one will find this.

I am not one to dump on the various bigger rounds for elk hunting,as I used them successfully myself for years without encountering the boogeymen of flinching my shots into the next county.

As my 270 shooting rancher friend is fond of saying (he's killed 50-60 elk,including some very big bulls) the 270 kills them but the 300 Win Mag just flattens them..

I guess i would have to agree.

I've sorta seen the same. The 270 WSM did a good job, I like my 338 a touch more. The 7 MSM doesn't suck either. Guess I'll have to take a 100 to make a valid opinion though

I'm up for the challenge.

Brad,
Thanks for posting this cool stuff. When I was a lad, I used to read Jack O'conner's stories in Outdoor Life magazine. Those stories about the 7x57 in Africa made me want a 7x57 rifle. Fast forward to the late 70's, where I became a fan of Finn Aagard with his Brno Mauser in 7x57 with the " butter knife bolt handle" which furthered my longing for a 7x57 rifle.In 1984, I walked into my local gun store and found 3 Ruger M77 tang safety rifles in 7x57 that were gathering dust. I picked out the one with the best wood, laid down my hard earned $275, and walked out with my own 7x57. The only thing I've ever shot with it, is a 300lb. Russian boar with a 160 grain Speer Grand Slam at 2600fps. Needless to say, it did the job. It's the last rifle I would ever part with. Sorry for the rant.

Ron

Yes, sir. And do you ever get the impression that the ballistic calculator crowd at large couldn't work out a math problem with a pencil and paper?

I enjoyed the article. I think it is a nice balance of real world experience with supporting numbers. It has more numbers than most articles these days including both limited penetration comparison and load data. For whatever reason I just can't get interested in the 270 Win, but I don't question it's capability.

I have both and love both. Also have a 7mm08 that I love too.

Guys please forgive my oversight !!

Several of you answered my ? about Finn's last name.... I didn't say thanks.

Sorry.....and thank y'all.

Jerry

Bill Poole kind of nailed it how you pronounce it; Ouh Goured.

AA ( Ouh ) gaard ( Goured )... sorta

According to MD, this is how Finn pronounced his own name.

I'd have to agree with pretty much everything he said about the .270

What were the old silvertips like as a BG bullet?

BD, I never shot the original ST's, and perhaps someone else can confirm, but I've been told they're much stouter than today's Silvertips. Having said that, I've seen complete pass-through's with the 130's on cow elk from the 270.

I can't believe how many people base their experience on what someone else wrote about. Nothing against Finn, Jack and other iconic writers, but contemporary writers of today such as Barsness and Venturino, I read because we usually talk about this stuff all the time.

As to the 7X57 and 270, if you aren't strong enough to pull the bolt back far enough to use the longer action and carry that extra weight of another inch and a half of action, you might want to hit the stairmaster or forget that bottle of double malt scotch in your backpack...

I have no idea what any of that means.

And you may have missed that this is the GUNWRITERS forum, hence sharing an article, by a gunwriter, on the GUNWRITERS forum.

That comes as no surprise to anyone on the Campfire...

Once met a fellow in Germany with the same last name. He pronounced it as BP said. The 'd' was nearly silent though.

The Å or Aa, could be pronound as a long A, just a smidgen longer.

I guess many Norwegian/Americans just started using the A instead.

My last name which also contains an Å, would just sound strange using a single A.