I have a marketing and communications background - I say that because the topic of this thread has more to do with demographics than cartridge performance. And to get this out of the way - to say something like, "a cartridge doesn't perform like it used to" is utterly ridiculous - think about it. That's almost like saying that cartridge (bullet) performance is emotional, not physical.
Now to demographics. I'm not going to lecture the topic, but instead just give a few quick bullets -
- Seasoned hunters who have been at it for a while and choose to carry a .270 (or 30/06 and the historical-like) are past their influential stage. They don't cling to everything they read about the newest product on the market like those who are still trying to choose what to carry. I dare say they probably don't read many (if any) gun magazines either. Gun magazines have useful information, but most weight heavily on product promotion.
- Those who are influenced by marketing hype, and that includes 1950's and '60's .270 buyers, are sometimes boisterous about their choice. This is probably because they are excited to own the whizbang 2000 everyone has been talking about, and perhaps also because they feel the need to defend their decision. And as we know about the .270, sometimes the hype is real and their decisions work out for them.
- These bullet points can go on but I'll stop with this last one - old dudes who carry .270s sometimes type on chat rooms like this, but otherwise don't get caught up in social media, technical data, computer programs, field ballistic calculators, etc. etc. They range their deer, hold accordingly and take their shot.
Buying the latest and greatest is cool. I'm all for whatever keeps our shooting industry going! But when one looks at recoil and effectiveness on big game as far as most people would care to shoot, it's pretty obvious cartridge technology has not come very far in the past century.
