Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What velocity and performance 20" 270 Win?

Who uses a 270 Win with a short 20" barrel like the Ruger Ultralight?

What are your velocities and on-deer performance?

Do you like the 270 carbine setup?

I liked the No. 1 RSI. 3000/130s and 2800-2850/150's should be very doable. I would look at 6.5 Creedmoor, 7/08, and 308 in a carbine myself. But a 270 has no flies.

I had an ultra-light stainless and a Hawkeye stainless, both in 270, at the same time.

With the same loads, the 20 inch ultralight did 90-100 fps slower. I know people say you should get about 30 fps slower with each inch, but that is what I saw in my rifles.

(Last summer I also had a 20" Savage 7-08 that shot the same speed as my two 22 inch 7-08 Tikkas, so go figure.)

I've had a number of Rugers over the years. The ultalight and a 77 tang safety were the only two I couldn't get to shoot as well as I wanted. The ultalight would walk its shots badly as it heated. (Yes, floated and pressure pads, etc.) That's just a sample of one, so it is in no way saying your rifle would do the same.

My 270 ultralight load was H4831sc and a Hornady 140 btsp to 2780, I took two antelope, deer, and an elk with it.

I got rid of all my 270s and now have 7-08s. The 270s were of course good, but I can move the same weight bullet in a short action with 10 grains less powder. (H4350.) And they are twisted fast enough to shoot the 162 Amax...

If it were me, I would look into a 7-08,.260 Rem, or creed as said above. 270 Win is my favorite cartridge, but you will get the same performance out of a short action cartridge and 20" barrel.

I love the .270. If you just want that cartridge with a short barrel, go ahead. It will kill stuff.

Barrel dependent.... I had a Ruger UL that gave 3050 with a 130.

I have 5 rifles chambered in 270. The shortest is a Ruger 77 RSI with an 18.5" barrel, three Remingtons have 22" barrels, and a CLR has a 24" barrel. I find the muzzle blast of the 18.5" 270 to be unpleasant. Not a problem when hunting, but certainly noticeable off the bench.

Since the Ruger is a stalking rifle, rather than an over-watch rifle, the shorter barrel make the package handy and while the velocity is a bit lower, it isn't enough lower such that there is a practical difference in performance.

My primary stalking rifle for elk is a 22" Remington 760 in 270, while my primary over-watch rifle for elk is a 24" CLR in 270. The 18.5" Ruger 77 RSI is a hanger queen.

The 20" 270 I owned was LOUD. Killed deer just fine. Never chrono'd it though.

I don't think a 270 needs a longer barrel than a 260 or 7mm-08. Whatever the performance difference between a 24" 270 and 24" 260 will be pretty much the same as between a 20" 270 and 20" 260.

I've got a 30-06 w/20" barrel and like it fine. My 270 has a 24 and that's fine too. I prefer the forward weight of the longer barrel though.

A 20" barrel is fine for a 270, but a good argument could be made that the 7-08 is a better choice in a carbine.

Any noticeable difference in performance between longer vs shorter barrels or between the two on target will be undetectable, but when comparing the two across just about all other performance factors, balance, lighter weight, less muzzle blast, less recoil...etc., the 7-08 has the edge.

Also, at some point, the better bullets available in 7mm will exceed the performance of the 270 downrange, so your choice depends on what you want to do with the rifle.

If you're not a reloader, ammo selection may be a factor for you, but in the end, it will make little or no difference on field results.

Yes - all barrels aren't the same.



Mine did the same. I had a Wby Fibermark 20" aka -green gun.
My BEST load THEN was w/IMR 4831 and 130s. Today there are new powders that weren't available then.



Neither I nor guys I hunted with noticed mine being louder. Probably was, but wasn't exceptionally loud.


<<Dixie Rebel>>
Well w/in the first page you get multiple answers. Take your pick.

Jerry



Well I started on the first page anyway.

I must have had bad luck. The Rem Custom shop 20" 7/08 i had was an absolute dog and didn't break 2700 fps with a 140 unless you stood on it hard with RL19. I killed with it but couldn't get rid of it fast enough. It was pretty ho hum.

Correction -- Correction

My rifle was a FiberGUARD...NOT...Fibermark, sorry.

Forgive my RUSTY -- OLD memory.

BOBNH -

I think yours was evidence of the difference in chambers/barrels. It does happen as you know.

Jerry

No velocity stats but here is some performance. It's a Model 70 Classic BOSS but it only has about 19" of rifled barrel. This buck was hit with 55 grains of IMR4350 and a 130 Nos Ballistic Tip at 335 yards. Complete pass thru and he made 2 hops and a nose dive.
Very accurate to boot, 1/2 to 3/4" consistently.

Right...initial high-velocity is not one of the strong points of the 7-08.

What do you define as High-Vel?

I've shot 2960 w/140s in 21" bbls, 2 rifles in fact, and 2850 in another 20" -

3050-3100 with 120s

Various loads and barrels will affect results, as typical.

My buddies daughter shoots a 20” barreled 270. I loaded her up some 130gr sierra SBT. This load in my wifes 22” winchester model 70 clocks right at 2910 so I’m figuring them to still be aboce 2800fsp out of the shorter barrel. Worked great on caribou!!!

I had a Weatherby FiberGuard in 270 Win with 20" bbl. The gun was very light and handled great. Accuracy was hunter good. 130 spitzer and 150 sp bullets using imr4350 near max usually grouped 1 1/4 to 1 1/2". It did like 100 gr hornady varmint bullets and always grouped at an inch or less at 100 yds. That gun kicked like a mule and blooded eyebrows on many friends and first time shooters of a compact stocked 270. Measured velocity was approximately 150 fps slower than printed book data. Wish now that I had not accepted a generous offer from a hunting friend. That stock and barrel combination is no longer available.

If you shoot a deer at 150 yards with your typical 130 grain load in a 20" barrel it will be just like shooting a deer at 151.2 yards with a 22" barreled version.

Not in my experience. In any case, you just made the case for a short action cartridge. Why burn (waste) 20% more powder for similar results? The shorter barrel is more efficient on the shorter case. Just sayin...