Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters What premium bullet/load to get .270 Win 140 gr. to 3,100 fps safely with 24" barrel?

I get 3100 fps with 140 grain Bergers using 61.2 grains of RL26 out of my Browning A bolt 270 Win. It has a 22 inch barrel.

Berger data shows 61.5 grains for 3195 fps but that's with a 26 inch barrel.

bdan that looks like a good one. Hows the accuracy? That one looks safe as Alliant lists up to 60.8 with a 150 but some of the Berger data is strait from Quickload and if the data is not calibrated with known loads it can be way off. This is especially true for R26. Quickload uses a burn rate slower than R25 which a closed canister detonation test or however they test these things could produce. But in a rifle cartridge it is a different story and R26 is closer to 7828 or H1000 and right between R22 and R25 sometimes acting like H4831 depending on case size and load.

That 26 inch barrel velocity I doubt if I could gain much more than 50 fps in the WSM even running R26. In my current load of 69 grs. it is just breaking 3200 fps and some change.

Great accuracy, it will put 3 shots almost in the same hole at 100 yards. I haven't tried them beyond 100 yards yet, but will soon.

The Trophy bonded tip is available now. Or you could rechamber to 270 Weatherby

I finally got to the range yesterday to try RL26 in my trusty 270 Husqvarna 9000. All these loads used the Hornady 140gr BTSP. A bullet I quite like to use on our big deer up here in Saskatchewan. The other components used were Imperial brass and CCI 250 primers. This brass was new unfired factory loaded from the 70's that I pulled the bullets from.
58.5gr--2925fps
59.5gr--2955fps
60.5gr--3030fps
61.5gr--3105fps
58.5gr yielded the best group which was .7in which is ok but not great for this rifle. COL was 3.33in.
Primers were not flattened nor was there a stiff bolt lift. I will mess with COL to see if groups tighten up.

It is crazy that so many of us try to improve accuracy when we are beating MOA! When I was younger getting my old 30-06 to group better than 1 3/8th inch was impossible. Nowadays it will usually beat an inch and a couple of loads are impressively in the .7 area. This has to be because bullets are so much better than they used to be ( or the barrel took some breaking in). That said the old Springfield took a lot of game shooting out to 450 yards but mostly under 350. My first 270 was more accurate than that 30-06 right off the bat often shooting factory loads better than the reloads I put together for the 06. I used the 270 as my coyote rifle and an occasional Elk rifle then as a loaner, Convinced in the early 80's the 30-06 was the better Elk rifle. This was before I ever loaded Partitions much. That said I am going to run my newest 270 this fall loaded with 140 gr. partitions and hopefully R22 will provide decent accuracy at top speeds.

Last fall checked the velocity of the same load in 3 different 270 Winchesters all with 24" barrels shot on same day.
load was 61.6gr of RL26 140gr Accubond WLR primer Win case, and OAL of 3.300.

Model 70 pre 64 made 1952 gave 3108fps with SD of 16.5 3 shots I don,t think this rifle has been shot a lot, but got it used.

New Sako A7 3178fps SD 11.6 load was hotter than I like, no pressure signs. Very Accurate. Will reduce load for this rifle.

Vanguard S2 3099fps SD 17.3 This rifle may have 3000 rounds thru it. Still very accurate. Also this rifle has a very long throat.

Interesting GT50. 2 of 3 loads for you were almost identical to my results. Hopefully I can get the groups a little tighter.

RL26 always gives the highest velocity in all my rifles, but not the best accuracy.
I get best accuracy in 270 with 140gr bullets with RL23, but I loose about 50fps. In 150gr Partitions
best accuracy comes from Norma MRP in that load its about 25fps slower than RL26.
With 110gr Barnes TTSX best accuracy is with RL17 and RL16 at 3400fps. They seem to string vertically
in the Sako A7 a little.

The one load where RL26 does give the best accuracy is in a 30/06 with 165gr bullets. I,m getting about
3015fps. So far Accubonds, Ballistic Tip and Barnes TTSX all give under a 1" at a 100 yard.

Why the necessity to get to 3100fps??

Got to the range again yesterday. I shortened col to 3.295 from 3.33 and loaded 61.0gr and 61.5gr of RL26. The load using 61.5gr put five shots into a .5in group and passed through the chrony at 3115fps. The other load not so great. Again, the bullet of choice is the Hornady 140gr BTSP. Primer used is CCI 250 and brass is Imperial. No flattened primers or stiff bolt. I'm happy with that and will leave as is. I started at 58.5gr RL26 and worked up.

I would say you are done. That is exactly the same load I worked up for my sons Colt Light/NULA and It took less than 20 rounds to get there. I got lucky and arbitrarily seated to the cannelure and it worked out fine. Same velocity and group size as yours pretty much. I think it could take 200 more loads to get much if any improvement on what I already have so will load and go with these. Good to hear that you like the Hornies for big bodied deer as I hope these will be on the agenda for next season. With Mule deer, Axis and one place that has verified 200+ lb field dressed Tx. white tails we will be ready. I used the 270s little brother the 6.5x55 with 129 Hornadays and R26 last year and it worked exceptionally well.

Yes I think you are right. I'm done. And yes, I like the 140gr BTSP for big deer. I've used it here on our big deer for close to 20 years. They've always performed as expected with no lost deer. They shoot flat and retain more than enough energy to the other side of a quarter mile. Premium bullets not needed.

That’s what I’d like using 26 with the 140 HBSP.




If this load is accurate in my T 3 SS Lite, I’ll be pickled tink. grin

Jerry