Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 270 Winchester versus 280 Remington

I'd been hearing about that "greater bullet selection" for the .280 for years, so maybe 3 years ago went to the Midway site (which sells just about every component bullet made, except during Obama panics.

Found out there were something like 170 7mm bullets for sale, and 150 .270 bullets. The 7mms went up to 175 grains and the .270's up to 160 grains. These days I'd bet there are more on the low end for the .270, due to the 6.8 SPC.

I've never seen the .270 have the slightest trouble killing any sort of big game, including elk, moose and similar-sized African plains game, with 150-grain bullets. As a result I wondered why the 175-grain 7mm is supposed to be such hot stuff. Tried a few on various animals and found out it didn't kill any better than the 150 .270.

This is also what I've generally found with a pile of big game rounds of approximately the same power, in calibers from .270 to .30-06, including various 7mm magnums and the smaller .300 magnums. Oh, and the .280 Remington and .280 AI, which I've used some too. Hit an animal right with a good bullet using any of them and the animal dies, pretty damn soon.

Yeah, some 7mm bullets have enough edge in ballistic coefficient that way out past 500 yards you'd see some difference in wind drift. But if you don't shoot past 500 there isn't the slightest bit of difference between the .270, .280 or .280 AI.

Now, if you run out of ammo some place like, say, eastern Montana, you might be able to find .280 ammo and you might not. But you'll for sure be able to find .270 ammo, even if you have to knock on some rancher's door. He might not have any but one of his neighbors will.

No self respecting rifle looney ever runs out of ammo.

Except when the airplane loses it.

Then his wildcat or off the wall factory cartridge choice seems like a really bad idea.

Yeah but there's always a 270 loaner hanging around...

You guys need to take Bob along with you cause I'm sure he'll always have an extra Legend or "Myth" you can borrow......

I have a funny story about that!

One of my local buddies, who is indeed a real rifle loony, became fascinated with the .280 maybe 20 years ago, after using the .270 with perfect satisfaction (including lots of elk) for many years. He swapped me for a custom .280 my editors were tired of hearing about, then bought .280's for his wife and two daughters to simplify the ammo situation.

They all went hunting pronghorn opening week in eastern Montana, 400+ miles from here. There were a bunch of tags available that year, and before they filled all their tags his wife and daughters had run through the 3 boxes of handloads he'd figured would be plenty.

This was during one of the periodic slumps the .280 has between bursts of enthusiasm by rifle loonies. The nearest small town didn't have any .280's. They kept driving and stopping at stores, and by the time they were halfway home they still hadn't found any. So he said the hell with it and kept on driving, figuring he'd kill an elk and help his family hunt deer to fill the freezer. That winter he sold all the .280's and bought some more .270's. He stills buys and sells rifles like crazy, but hasn't owned a .280 since.

RD how many rifles you wanna borrow?


I actually ALMOST bought another FW 270 the other day.....common sense prevailed.

Common sense would have bought the FW .270....

Well these days I do my hunting with a 7mm RM, I bought it because I wanted the rifle, I figured that I would sell the barrel and get either a 30-06 or a 270.

Well, there's a 'little' more to it than switching barrels. Like the mag follower AIN'T the same AND the bolt face is QUITE diff.

Well these days I do my hunting with a 7mm RM, I bought it because I wanted the rifle, I figured that I would sell the barrel and get either a 30-06 or a 270. The thing shot very well and saw no reason to swap out the barrel. There is not a wit difference that you could really tell in the field between the 270 30-06 280 7mm RM. One my shoot a inch fatter over reasonable hunting ranges, The other slightly more bullet energy. In the end not enough to keep you for killing game, it only matters on the internet and something to write about I guess. These days with high quality bullets you can get, the differences are so thin its not really worth paying any mind to. I would take a 270 over a 280 any day of the week not because one performs better that the other, but 270's are pretty much can be had anywhere!