When I told my smith what I wanted to do I kinda got a queer look,but Randy (RJ338)understands me pretty well.
The object was to drive a 270 110g TTSX as fast as possible out of 26 inch barrel.
My idea was to use the STW case necked down.The round itself has been pretty easy to work with.You can see the pressure comming if you get to hot.But its still seat of the pants reloading/wildcatting without a way to measure pressure.What you think is a ok load will show itself to be to hot after a few loadings.So I ended up backing down from what I though was a good load in some cases.
All in all I havent spent this much time dicking with a rifle in a long time.But I have to admit.I enjoyed it.
Some things I learned
The TTSX was kind of disappointing in the accuracy department.I ran a range of powders and seating depths and im just not happy with the accuracy.I'd get two in a hole and one out.I'd play somemore and just could not get the consistency
that I was hopeing for.For the number rounds I fired,well over 100 TTSXs,I would say that the average of the best of the best was like a .85.Good enough to hunt with for sure but I wanted better.
Had a box of 110g GS-HV bullets.Gave them a good go and I'd say that the rifle went to .5 accuracy from the start.I also found that I could run more FPS with less wear and tear on the cases.
I ended up hunting with 110g GS-HV and 84.5g of Rel 22 with a CCI-250 primer.This combo netted me 3850fps,15 feet from the
muzzle over my old Ohler Model 33.
Flat shooting it is.Only requires 3.25 of up to be on at 400 yards from a 100 yard zero.Thats pretty flat.

The seating depth on the GS bullet was about a tolerant as you could hope for.Didnt seem to matter much where it was.Pretty much all good.Night and day difference from that to the TTSX.
M700
Rock No4 1-10 5R
McMillian HTG/GP in campfire camo.
Rifle basic Trigger
PTG Bolt,M700 knob.Sako Extractor.
NULA lock down.
Nikon Tactical X 4-16x50
Leupold QRW rings
Farrel rail.
All ready to go.
And

and

Playing around I found that the Federal 215 mag primer is very soft.You can actually distort the shape of it with a Lee Auto Prime just putting them in.I've loaded truck loads of the 205 Match primer in PPCs and never seen that.Didnt seem to have the problem with the CCI-250.I dropped them on the STW.
I played with 130g Nosler ballistic tips and the very first load went sub .6 right off the bat.Could have saved myself alot of work if I had just stuck with them.But I have to be different.
I played alittle with the 130g Hornady GMX bullet.Very sexy looking bullet.Damm fine looking.But I dropped them as about the only thing small enough you could hit, would have to be the size of a barn door......
86g of Rel 25 with a 110g TTSX makes for a one foot diameter fireball,on the end of the Rock barrel.Thought I had a flame thrower going.Dammed impressive, kinda fun and neet looking but didn't shoot that well either.
All in all.Its been a fun project.

..I've been running a 270 WCF for a number of years now with a 113g Groove EXP bullet.Its a screw machine bullet no longer in production.Made from C-110 copper.Out of a 24 inch Hart barrel I seem to remember it running 3387fps over 58.5g of Norma N204.Its been a very good rifle for me.
Comparing the two rounds is pretty interesting.

The 270 WCF on the left out of my dads 270 with a 130g BT.
The 270 STW on the right with the 110g TTSX.
The Bullets from the top down.
130g Ballistic Tip.
110g GS-HV.
110g TTSX.
Notice there pretty much all the same length.

So I had to run 26 grains more powder to gain 463 feet more a second.It just goes to show how hard it is to beat a 270 WCF.
Did I have fun?You betcha.I havent spent this much time dicking around with a new rifle in a long time.
Was it worth it?To me,it was
I capped off my deer season with this.

Thats an exit hole.Blind man could have follewed the trail.But he only went 10 yards and piled up against that tree.
He tried to slip by me at 215 yards.he didnt make it.
Poured what was left of the lungs out of him.
I'd say I capped off my 270 STW experience pretty well.
Now I'd like to turn it loose on some hogs....
You guys all have a good holiday
dave

Very cool, you get thumbs up........

Nice rifle and nice writeup!
How many rounds you reckon you will get from that tube?

Dave: Very cool post,and interesting on the bullets and cartridge.Nice buck and I may have missed it but did you take him with the 110TTSX?

Have you checked the mid-range rise at say 200-225 yards. Let me know. THX

Think I answered my own question.....

Dave what is a GS-HV and where do you get them? Are they pushed fast enough from the standard 270 to expand well down range? Say to 400-500 yards?

Nice looking rifle - what is the type and colour of the coating?

Dang, that's carrying the mail. What's it like to stand behind?

I like it.

Sambo3006,
Im thinking it will be well under 1000.But this is new ground for me.I've played with high capacity stuff before but not anything like this.I've got the load.So most of my trigger pullen will be for real.And besides.Rock Creek makes new barrels every day......
My 22 Cheetahs would drop off velocity at around the 600 round mark but they still shot.
Kinda guess it depends on what a person is willing to put up with .
Cant say enough good things about the Rock barrels.
Cant say enough good things about Wipe Out and Patch Out.
dave

Bob,
Thanks,
Thought you might like it.I tried like the dickens to make myself happy with the 270 110g TTSX.But it was just not to be.I wanted to use them.Shot well over 100 of them.GS-HV was hands down better in this gun.The thing that geeked me out was the wild stuff.Two in a hole one out,at an inch.Next group would be a .5 incher with the exact same load.The TTSX would look good and you would get excited and then try it again and get burned.I quit.I quit after what I consider alot of due diligence on my part.I know they shoot well from what I've seen around here but not in my 270 STW.
GS Customs are expensive and not that easy to get.Ill put up with it.
http://www.gsgroup.co.za/02hv.html
dave

RinB
2 inches high at 100 yards.
3 inches high at 200 yards.
1.5 inches high at 300 yards.
5 inches low at 400 yards.
Thats how I had it set up for my hunting.Distances were all lazered with Geovids.I shot a nice 2 inch 3 shot group at 300 yards just before season.
dave

JasonF,
I believe its called Duracoat Coyote Brown.
Its from these guys.
http://www.houtsenterprises.net/dur_browns.html
You can PM RJ338 and ask him for the details.
dave

SKane,
Its not that bad.Tripping the loud lever on 84.5 g of powder is going to make things happen.Theres enough movement that you have to watch your Pees and Ques.You have to have good gun handling.But it does not beat you up.I figure I could cut my group sizes down with a break.But im not a big fan of the bitch slapping you get with a muzzle break.
Feels like a 06 with a 150 bullet is guess.
dave

No need for the rangefinder with that setup.

Dave,

Awesome write up and a great looking rig. looks like you have the OAL dialed in nicely. I have a question on the primer seating. The primer in the pic is slightly protruded and is that the way it is with the STW's or is that a dummy round?

CLB

P.S. I think you have BobinNH salivating right now.

Well that was kinda the idea.
100 yards.

200 yards.

300 yards

Actually looks like it may have a bit of verticle going on,but I cant tell if its me or the rifle.
dave

CLB,
Thanks.
The round in the pick up top is a dud.Didnt notice it untill you mentioned it.

When the noodle between the ears is working right.The index finger makes better decisions.
I was thinking about Bob.Sitting in a hidie hole,waiting out a big boonie whitetail.
Just about 400 point blank yards Bob.No clicken.No dicken.Just squeeseeee.
Actually I'd like to do some more testing most likley alot more testing before I'd run it on a real hunt.
Ought to ship it off to Dober for some cold weather test.
He likes freezing his butt offf......
dave

As a kid I was always a fan of the Me109.
Now im a Fw190 kinda guy
dave

Feel free to send it my way, I'll be glad to do some deep freezem tests and will break it in a bit on pd's, yotes and chucks this spring for ya...

Dober

Heehee! That's funny!Well,see Dave has hunted Alberta with Russ Thornberry so understands that when they stick you on those fields,those rutting Alberta whitetails show without warning,are always on the move and don't stop in those fields unless a hot doe is holding them;they are always going from "here to there",and by the time you laze them, the distance has already changed,and this can be from 50 yards to as far as you can hit......time is of the essence;those bucks don't dilly-dally and neither should you.....ditto a lot of the larger mule deer that I've killed,which are distinctly different in behaviour from the younger one's that lolly gag in the open...

So I say laze when you can,but when you can't......I'd rather have Dave's machine in my mitts than a slow-poke round showing 18-20" of drop at the 400 yard mark...that rig will have one in him while the Western Extreme crowd is still doping distance...besides,where I hunt,there generally is not a camera crew and 4 observers with the Kestral Wind meters and a fleet of Swaro range finders behind me calling the shots....giving the obligatory "SEND IT" command....

To 500 yards and under(the distances most stuff is killed unless you deliberately put yourself further out,a practice common on TV or when peddling Hawkemyer Scopes)I can't think of anything better than what Dave has built,and few things as good.I also doubt that outfit is gonna contribute to a bull elk's life span

Like my buddy RinB says..."Trophy hunting is different...."

Nice goin',Dave! Great outfit!

Ah, yes. Fascinating rig. You should start hunting Pronghorn with that "thing." Now there is an animal that flat trajectory means something to. Don't waste your time on those piggys and whiteys. E

Very nice!! would like to see you try some 169.5s in it though. My 270 Allen shooting 140 Accubonds at 3650 still flatter shooting though.

It Wildcat bullets can start delivering the 169.5s I might just have to have one of this.

Great write up about Alberta Bob.That should be required reading for anyone thats thinking about spending the money and time, going there for a deer hunt.
Not hard to see how I've been influenced buy the trips that I've taken there.Time constraints are a large part of the kind of hunting around the house here to.The difference between here,Pa and Alberta,is that here in Pa.The deer are mostly running for there lives.

Truer words were never spoken.
The first year I hunted with Thornberry was 1985.I was young dumb and full of cumm.I learned alot from him.I learned how not to get myself permanently damaged when its 35 degrees below zero.And your only hope of getting a deer is to go out and sit in it all day.He was a smart operator and did what he could for his clients.
He had a longrange rifle outfit even back then.It was one of the first custom rifles I ever got a look at.At the time I was running a factory M700 in what else a 270 WCF.
He had a 7mm/300 Weathbery built by Howard Wolf of Williamsport Pa.I dont remember all the details but it had a synthetic stock with a camo paint job.M700 action.Muzzle break and a fixed 20/24x Leupold.It was not a light weight.Im thinking it went 12 to 14 pounds.He also had big tripod mounted 56mm zeiss binos.And a very rare model 1917 Bausch & Lomb optical rangefinder.
This was 1985....
I got to tell you.I was like a kid in a candy store....
He told me it was for yotes and that his best shot on a yote was 1500 yards.
I asked him if he had ever used it for deer and he said he had, but that it was pretty limited.He didnt like it becaues it was to cumbersome.
His caliber,that he would recommend to anyone one that would listen,was a 25-06 with a 100g Partition.Hard hitting,flat shooting,low recoil.
Bob,your buddy RinB is right.Trophy hunting is different.
dave

Thanks E.
It wouldn't take much to talk me into the pronghorn thing.I'd like to try it for sure.
I've grown fond of the pig hunting in Texas.Multiple targets.
Its warm there.
Did I mention its warm there....
dave

man...threads like this are why i really need to get out of the air force and go contractor.

cool post man. thanks.

Great thread

Great thread - how bout a 2 year update on the rig?
What would you change?
Jason

Thanks for sharing.

Making stuff scream downrange has been a fun past time of many of us rifle looneys. I enjoyed reading about your project. Some of those monos just don't respond well to hyper speeds. I put some 150 E-tips into my 300 RUM and got 3850 or so. Wanted to be able to shoot to 400 yds without thinking about POI, same as you. Only one problem, the load SEEMED accurate at first.....

What ever you do don't look through a bore scope at your barrel. Just shoot it and report back on its performance and when the eventual demise occurs.

Updates are appreciated.

That looks like fun and it obviously works. If they end up splay legged after one through the boiler it works pretty good.

Speed demon! Nice write up & pics Dave.

Thanks

That's a bad azz mofo......

After the season is over Ill write up a "update"
Its been awhile and i've changed a few things around some.
Its still working.

dave

Dave, that really is a cool rifle. A gunsmith friend just twisted up a 6.5 STW and is using a 30" tube (I believe), and is shooting the 120 TSX around 3900fps using 50BMG.

And that rifle's color scheme is absolutely awesome. If I can scrounge up some dough after the Holidays, I'd love to have my 7 done up in that tan.

Reminds me of a wildcat a buddy of mine built on an A-Bolt

25 WSM shooting the 110 TSX at around 3500 IIR...

Still have it?

Just found this thread.. Very cool Dave.. Seems like it would be cool as another Mashburn sorta build as well. Might be kinda neat..

beretzs,

Been awhile since I wrote that.
Never could make myself happy with the 110g TTSXs.
The 110g GS-HVs shot ok untill I got into a new and different lot.Then they would not shoot.
I settled on 130g TTSXs.
I ended up running a load of Ramshot Magnum at about 3650 fps.
Think I smacked 3 freezer does with the 130 TTSX.
From 125 yards out to almost 300 yards the result was always the same.
At impact the deer would "flip" in the air and land on its back about 6 feet back from where it was standing.Kick a couple of times and die right there.
I've never seen anything put a deer down as fast as this thing.
It reminds me alot of what Parker Ackley said about the 220 Swift with copper mono Ackley CE bullets.
DRT.Bigtime.
I just took Ackleys concept and scaled it up a bit....
The 270 STW is not barrel friendly.At less than 500 rounds the tops of the lands are "frosted" about 3 inches down the barrel.Shame to do that to a nice Rock barrel but it is, what it is.
By contrast for the last two years I have been running a 7mm Mashburn.I do need to write it up.I have had long talks with Bob about it and I picked off 2 deer with the Mashburn.One with 150 Ballistic tip and one with a 168g Berger classic.
Both deer ran well over 100 yards after the shot.The BT deer ran 200.pumping blood all over the place.
All these shots were chest lung shots.
A 130g TTSX at 3650 in the chest will flip DRT a deer at least every time I used it.
The heavy 150g 168g bullets at 3100-3200 work and shoot fine.I got unreal accuracy with the 168 Berger.But for double lung shots, the deer will not go down.Dead deer running type of thing.

dave

Dave knows more about fast monos than I do. I shoot those old partitions.

The other thing going for the fast monos besides speed is rpm's..especially from faster twist rifles like Daves. Things add up to provide wound cavitation I guess.

Got an email from Dober last night. His wife killed a nice black bear with the 120 TTSX started 3600 from the Mashburn.

Man, that cartridge does sound pretty awesome.

Almost makes me wanna try some of the 132 BBC's I have in the Mashburn..

Bob, it sounds like that 120 TTSX is pretty serious. 3600 is blazing!

I brought this up just because photobucket works.

dave

I like seeing Bob’s posts

I read the original post and about six replies. I was really enjoying the info, but in the back of my mind I kept thinking the creedmoor guys would be all over me like stink if I posted this. Then I realized it was pre creedmoor. Good write up, I enjoyed it.

Glad you did