Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting 270 Win or 308 -- with factory ammo

Logic will get you banned.

Just sayin......

Good case for a 6.5 Creedmoor, a case of 140 Amax...

You've been warned!!

At 500 yards it doesn't matter...just about any highpower round will get the job done.

The real question is why you guys are sitting around talking about this instead of working...??

.270W the best !!
Howa 1500 Fed 130 Nosler Ballistic Tip or Hornady SST for medium range (350yds) "light game" or "european mountain game" else .150
The choice is wider with .308W but is it interesting ? The choice is sufficient with the offer .270W ...
30-06 -270w -308W -7x64 - 280R -7.08 are very very closed ..
Does the game make the difference ? ..
On the range I prefer the .270W ...

There are no really good, high BC long range bullets or factory ammo available for the 270. Therefor the 308 takes top honors by default.

Quite a while back, a couple of friends came over to use my range to prepare for deer season. We were not testing the rifles or ammo, but they did want to know the speed of their loads. On 2 different .270 rifles and 2 different boxes of ammo, the .270's were slower than published speeds by around 350 fps, while the 2 .308's and one 3006 was close to published speeds. All over the same chrono on the same day. I can't say if this is normal as this one time was all that I was around a .270. miles

Unless you are a long range target shooter, I can't see much reason to own a 308.

I don't spend a lot of time around factory ammo in any chambering,but the last time I checked a M70 FW chambered 270 Win the Federal Blue Box 130 gr stuff did slightly over 3100 fps. Most 30/06 stuff I have checked ran below what the cartridge will give with hand loads.

Ammo from years ago was slower for both cartridges but the doggiest stuff has been in 30/06 overall.Anyway this is common with factory ammo in general.


Just got back from a hunt with two old chums who,between them, have about 80 years of competitive match shooting experience,nationally and internationally. One reminisced about the days when all match rifles were chambered 308,and all 1000 yard rifles were 300 magnums.

But unless required he said few shoot the 308 anymore. One has a 6.5/284 built by Al Warner that he loves for 1000 yard work,but thought the 6.5 Creedmoor was a better bet due to longer barrel life. When I mentioned a mild recoiling long range rifle he suggested the 6XC with 115's because it is so well proven in competition.

Their hunting rifles? Both have exactly two,chambered 300 Win Mag and 270 Winchester.They both said they don't use the 300's much, but when they did stuff up to moose,elk and grizzly have just fallen down.

One 270 is on a Mauser action, the other on a LH Rem 700 with PacNor barrel. They both laughed when I told them some internet folks think the 270 is a lousy hunting cartridge.

On Saturday one of them dumped an 11 point buck at 200 yards that dressed 192 pounds at 200 yards with a 140 BT that raked it from shoulder to hindquarter before exiting.The buck just collapsed in place.I am no BT fan but have to admit I was pretty impressed.

all 270 factory ammo is long range ammo if you are only shooting 500yds.i've killed a few deer between 450-500,all were clean one shot kills.

not a big 30cal fan at all.i've tried to shoot the 308 at longer ranges and just can't get it to shoot as well as i like. i'd go with a 7mag over 500yds.

I saw something similar with 130gr and 150gr Core-lokts last year. IIRC, the 130gr went 2850fps. Just the other day I read an article about slow CL ammo. The slow stuff was supposed to have been fixed, but the author claimed that the problem has recently re-appeared. That mirrors what I saw unless I had an extremely slow rifle but it shot handloads the same speed as two other rifles with the same charge weight.

i'm handloading 140gn hornadys in my 270 tikka at 2880fps. i'm a full grain from max load.

even with the crappy bullet selection the 270 will still beat a 308 with the right loadings, with the heavies in 308 your clear down to 2600 fps. with that said I did a 270 win for long range and really wish I had done something in 7mm. 280ai would be top of the list. the biggest problem I have is I have a short throat setup to shoot 130-140 class bullets. then out comes the nosler lrb, I have to really seat it deep on my gun.

I'd go 308 just for the fact that factory ammo is plentiful and cheaper than any 270 Win ammo, at least around here.

Both calibers are good and popular. In my experience, when ammunition is on sale it is on sale for both of these calibers, normally for the same price.

I would make my decision on the rifle. Some brands have rifles with better feel and balance in short action configuration, some in standard length configuration. How a rifle fits and feels is more important than caliber, in this instance.

I would take the 308 over the 270. Both great cartridges but a .30 caliber hole is comforting to me? It plain works with mild enough recoil to shoot for extended periods of time. Easy on the barrel, less powder burned, great accuracy. It's hard to not like it.

Both equally effective to that distance, limited by bullet choice and shot placement.