Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Boddington on the .270 Winchester

I'll play, after all, it is an internet discussion here! I have never owned a .270 Winny and only fired one a few times. Like many, I grew up reading Jack and Elmer and their views on it. But, since I have been in Alaska the last 54 years and only hunted here I only used a 30-06 and a .338 Winny. But, several hunters I know have used the .270 Winny and still do on every thing here in Alaska with good success. If I lived in the "lower 48" I would of hunted more with smaller cases and calibers.

Most of the .270 users I was acquainted with favored the 150 grain Nosler Partition. I think a good 140 grain Accubond or X bullet would be a good choice for a .270. Any one with a good understanding of bullet performance and impact velocities and big critters knows there are better calibers/cartridges if one might be dealing with big bears on a regular basis or poking at a veggie muncher in the next zip code. But seriously, most don't and won't be doing that.

Most of us know we live in the age of the "super bullets" and that has allowed us to do more with less and also made old reliable calibers even better. I believe the grand old "ought six" case is a dandy and when necked down to 6.5 or up to .35 caliber and any thig in between has the potential to be and "all around" North American hunting round. Stuffed with a suitable for the task bullet and put in the right spot at reasonable distances makes for a happy hunter and a gut pile.

I think lots of negative information on calibers/cartridges can be traced back to poor bullet performance combined with inadequate impact velocities and poor shot selection and placement. The road always leads back to the shooter.

If you get a chance to go back, go to Patagonia. Did a horse back hunt there in 06 with my 06. Best hunt me and the Mrs ever did.
Only reason I didn't take the 270 was I didn't have one then. As usual I'm late to the party.

just to be fair

stick those 6.5mm bullets in a 6.5-270 and the .277 bullets into a .270 Creedmoor

then tell me how modern & magical the Creed case is and if it still has the highest bc invented for long range shooting, lol

I remember reading Boddington's article. I have always had a great deal of respect for his writing and he has many hours of hunting to cause him to think the way he does. I bought a .270 win. in 1979 and have used it for deer in the midwest since, hunted every year since with the exception of may 5 with the .270. I don't plan to buy a 6.5. I have some friends and family that have them and they seem to like them. A handful of them are shooters but most are not. What does bother me about those that are jumping on the creedmore bandwagon is that they are novice shooters, many I know of anyway, and they seem to think it is something that will take place of practice. I never try to steer them away from buying the creedmore but do encourage them to spend allot of time shooting. My most foul taste with a creedmore fanatic, and he was a fanatic, was his claim of shooting two bucks in the head at 800 yards and using the pickup hood for a rest. Number one he killed one illegal deer and was very willing to brag about it. Number 2 is get your lazy ass out of the truck seat and really do some hunting. He went on to tell me only his creedmore could do the 800 yard shot. As one of the post on here mentioned "it all comes back to the shooter".

One of the most insightful statements ever posted on the 'fire.

Completely agree. We owe clean swift kills to the animals we hunt. If that involves shooting off a sturdy rest, then so be it, but it damn sure don't involve shooting at 600 yards.

I have been in shock for the last few years over the huge shift from classic deer calibers to smaller chamberings.

I'm now wondering about the classic 12 ga shotguns. Will the next huge retail shift be buying .410's for ducks and geese?

43 pages on the 270……. I think Mr B knows his audience. Well done stirring the pot right before the long winter layup.

Stray Dog, for the small gage mentioned above…. Maybe not the 410, but the 20 and 28 are doing just fine with some of the new shot out there. It’s $$$ but if you chose your shots carefully they are sure killers in the duck blind. Most misses on ducks are shooter vs the shotgun anyway.

So how does a 30/06 with a 200 grain bullet compare?

Some years ago, when I had the 'GUN CHANNELS", I watched a show when Boddington was shooting a Contender Carbine off a bench. When he used the rear of the scope as a LEVER to close the weapon I realized I wasn't interested in anything he had to say !!!!

Bullets and powders have gotten better. CB's article would be a bit more relevant to me if he had compared the 6.5 PRC against the 270 Winchester.

The new hotness is TSS shot at 18 weight. Shooting 7's for ducks and geese in 20/28 gauges and killing them stone dead. At ten bucks a shot....

Agreed, but the 6.5 PRC was still in diapers at the time of the article.

If he wasn't a believer until the kill, why did he take the rifle hunting and take the shot?

I have both 270 Winchester calibers and 6,5 .

I have a 270 BAR…..I traded for. With in minutes of trying it I cracked the fore arm shooting it on my wood rail fence. I bought a Boyd’s replacement stock, it’s heavy. But it groups for me rather astonishing. Routine is under one inch at 100 yards leaning over the flat bed truck. I don’t know if I own a rifle I can shoot better. But the point of impact varies considerably between my light versus heavy boolits. I zeroed it on the light weights, but due to all the voles in my fields, I ain’t been wanting to shoot coyotes , I never shot a deer/ elk with it or my model 70 in 270.
Next year………I will get it ready for hayfield elk/ deer.

The model 70 has iron sights and is a pushfeed, need to use it next year.

The 6.5 I own is a husky small ring 98, I shot a 3.5 to 4.5 year old whitetail with it at 85 yards. It was in my clover pasture ……… I slipped a rope around a mule and used him to hide behind as I stalked closer to a solid rest on the wood fence.

Just like mule deer and other 6.5 shooters have stated WOW! DRT, no wiggle, not much meat lost! Impressive.

But I sold it to one of my best friends who loves it! Ut was also crazy accurate.

It was a carbine with an aluminum floor plate. Had iron sights.

My “ new “ husky is a rifle is a steel floor plate, the front sight removed…….and the chamber got sticky even on some factory ammo I am gonna have to start over with my reloads I believe. And without iron sights for back up I’m just not the crazy about using it. I think I need to send it to a gunsmith.

Bottom line if you want a Long range target gun for also deer , elk , moose, antelope………6.5.

If you want an varmit gun for also …elk , moose, deer/ antelope…….270

That’s my thought. The 270 sells lighter bullets, the 6.5 heavier.

I think “ loonies here “ consider recoil, COAL, barrel length and ammo available too much. To common sense for a loonie?

Happy Holidays

With the .270, you can sight it in 3" high at 100 yds and run 140's with a G1 b.c. of .650 at 3000 fps or 150's with a G1 of .710 at 2800 fps in an 8 twist barrel or if you still have a 10 twist barrel because you haven't shot it out yet, run 140's with a b.c. of .528 or .508 or 150's at .541 at the above speeds with temperature stable powders. Don't need a 20-22 oz scope that dials if you're only shooting up to about 350 yards, which is about as far as the majority of hunters can actually shoot accurately, and about as far as most game presents itself, just use an 11 or 12 oz scope. Don't have to hope the animals stay still long enough for you to measure the distance and then look up how much you should twist your turrets and then twist the turrets...just point and shoot (hold a little high at 350 yards). If you do want to shoot your .270 further than about 350 yds you can put on a 20-22 oz scope and twist the dials or use hash marks on an 11-12 oz scope.

This topic piqued my interest as the .270 has always been one of my favorites.
I did a search for the original article to read. Here is a link if it wasn't posted earlier.
American Rifleman - Boddington on the .270 Winchester, 4.25.19

Because many people had pointed out that Craig had zero experience with the .270 Winchester on elk, and since he's a real professional he decided to remedy that. (He also mentioned that the bull dropped quicker than any he'd killed with larger cartridges. Oh, and I hunted elk at the Whittington Center around around 15 years ago with Mike Ballew, then the long-time director and the guy who was with Craig. At one point Mike and I ended up in the same spot where Craig shot from, and Mike point out the clearing across the canyon in front of us where Craig's bull stood.

Among other things involved, Mike had not only guides a lot of hunters who used .270s and similar cartridges with great success, so wasn't hesitant about guiding Craig on his first ".270 elk field-test."

Never been much of fan of Boddington's writing. I remember when the 270 Elk cartridge article came out. Thought to myself about time. Seemed he was always touting a 7mm rem mag.

I will say his thoughts on the 6.5's vs the 270 is spot on. Took him until 2019 to figure that out?

I have owned 6.5x55 and a Creedmoor, came to the same conclusion. They are fantastic in their own right, but give me a 270 please.

I hunted with a 1:8 twist 270 WCF this past fall. Using the Barnes 155gr LRX at a shade under 3000fps. Cleanly took an elk at 172 yards, antelope at 304 yards, and a WT doe at a whole 70 yards. Son's used their 1:10 twist 270's with 130gr TTSX and GMX.

Do not know how many bear, caribou, elk, deer and antelope we have killed with 270's from 85gr to 155gr. Full power to reduced loads. Seven just this last fall. Total over the years has to be in the 100's, if not 200's.

Maybe if I was serious about LR shooting/killing I might have to look elsewhere in a cartridge. But my 145gr ELD-X's have worked great out to 600 yards on steel, past that, hit consistency goes down. Had the same results with the 6.5 Creedmoor.

Wow! Seven just this fall!

I don't think you have any comprehension of how much hunting experience somebody like Craig has, which has sometimes been dozens in one year alone--along with being alongside many hunting partners while they took various sizes of big game.

He also hasn't just hunted during the North American seasons, but has hunted year-round. He's probably personally killed over 1000 big game animals--and seen more than that taken by hunting partners.

Actually, if you'd read Craig's writing as much as you seem think you have, it would be apparent that he's a more of a .30-06 fan than a 7mm magnum fan.

But whatever.....

I have always liked Craig and his writing. He was who initially got me interested in exotic hunts in Europe and South America.

If memory serves he has expressed his fascination for long range shooting, but disdane for long range hunting. It has been a while and I can't recall the specifics. I want to say it was because he felt bullet time of flight allowed critters to move or shift themselves a bit more than he was comfortable with, before impact. I do not recall his yardage 'limit' but hope he has rethought his stance, based on more experience.

Regardless, I still think he's got a wealth of hunting experience that I can learn from.