24hourcampfire.com
24hourcampfire.com
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Hop To
Page 1 of 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 17,927
1
16bore Offline OP
Campfire Ranger
OP Offline
Campfire Ranger
1
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 17,927
Well, it's official. The classifieds will be full of used rifles and shelves emptied of ammo. Why I hate the NRA and gun rags.....too funny.



Why I Hate the .270
by Bryce M. Towsley - Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Opinion: Why I Hate the .270

Why do I hate the .270 Winchester? Well perhaps for the same reasons I dislike fish dinners, smart cars and rap music—they just are not to my taste.

First off, the .270 is too popular, and I have always disliked running with the crowd. I usually find the misfits of the world much more interesting, but I can’t make that argument and still talk about how much I like the even more popular .30-06 Springfield without embracing hypocrisy.

The .270 Win. was introduced in 1925 along with a new Winchester bolt-action rifle—the Model 54. It ushered in a new era for American hunters, with a muzzle velocity in excess of 3000 fps, and a bullet big and heavy enough for big game. It’s a mystery exactly why Winchester chose the .277-inch bullet diameter. One theory is that the company wanted something different and distinctive from the bullets everyone else was using. The 30-caliber was well established with the .30-06 Springfield, .30-30 Win., .30-40 Krag and other cartridges. The 7mm cartridges were mostly European at the time and not popular with or well-known by American hunters. That left the .250-3000 Savage as the next step down in popular U.S. rifle cartridges. I don’t think it’s any accident that the .270 Win. split the difference almost exactly.



The .270 Win. was an orphan for 20 years. Then for the next 56 years, its only sibling was a stepbrother, the .270 Weatherby Magnum. The latter is a good cartridge, perhaps even a great cartridge, but it has never enjoyed the commercial success of the .270 Winchester.

It’s only recently that a few more 27-caliber cartridges have entered the market. The .270 WSM was introduced in 2001, but sales withered in the shadow of its bigger sibling, the .300 WSM. The 6.8 SPC was introduced commercially by Remington in 2004 and was designed to bring a bit more performance to the AR-15 rifle platform. It has a small but loyal following.

The truth is, the .270 Win. is the only 27-caliber cartridge that enjoys huge commercial success—and it didn’t gain popularity until decades after its release. My guess is that if the .270 Win. were introduced into today’s “make-or-break” market, it likely would never have survived. Its eventual success is attributed to the writings of Jack O’Connor, who is often quoted as saying he thought the .30-06 was a better cartridge.

It’s said that foolish people get their opinions from others, but intelligent people form opinions from multiple sources, including their experiences. My experiences with the .270 Win. have not been very impressive.

The first time I saw it in action was back in the ’60s when my grandfather shot a whitetail on the point of the shoulder. It politely fell down and didn’t move. It was, however, in a different pasture on the other side of a fence. When we arrived, the deer was gone. We looked long and hard, but never found it.

Years later, I was hunting moose in Newfoundland and I watched a man shoot a spike bull seven times with a .270 Win. The last shot hit the spine, and mercifully the bull tipped over and hit the ground. I gutted it for him, and was shocked to find most of the bullets only penetrated about halfway through the moose.

I could, and have, blamed both of those experiences on bullet failure. While I’ll never know for sure with my grandfather’s whitetail, the moose hunter spent thousands of dollars on his hunt, yet went cheap on his ammo. He had the lowest priced, bargain-basement ammo he could find.

Bad bullet, not a bad cartridge? Not so fast.

Several years later, I was hunting mule deer in Montana when I spotted a rutted out, scrawny buck with a huge rack. I shot him with a .270 Win. loaded with factory ammo using the latest, high-tech wonder bullet. The deer dropped, but as I walked closer it tried to get up, so I shot it again. Both were broadside shots, and neither of the 140-grain bullets managed to exit the deer’s body.



I have plenty of other experiences with the .270 Win. that were also less than impressive—whitetails in Alabama, Maine, Saskatchewan and probably a few other places I am mentally blocking. There was a hog in California and an elk in Colorado. They all died, so the unimaginative will argue that the cartridge worked. I am a student of terminal ballistics, and can tell you without hesitation that in each of these circumstances it did not—at least in the technical sense. The fact that the critter died was secondary to the failed performance of the cartridge.

I used to do a lot of black bear hunting in Canada and I think I have tracked more wounded bears that were hit with the .270 than all other cartridges combined. But don’t just take my word for it. Kenny Jarrett—inventor of the legendary Beanfield Rifle, the .300 Jarrett cartridge and a world-traveled hunter—told me that hunters lose more deer at his Cowden Plantation in South Carolina with the .270 Win. than with any other cartridge.

I know this will ruffle some feathers, as the .270 has a large, loyal following. I understand that it makes no sense that I’ve had better luck with a .243 Win. than with the .270 Win. I’m a huge fan of the .280 Remington, but when you compare it to the .270 Win., there is little ballistic difference. Explain it? I can’t—at least not from a technical standpoint.

Most will agree that our dislikes and biases are often anything but logical. If you love the .270, I understand—there is no need for you to send me hate mail. I am simply explaining why I do not. I’ll bet there is a cartridge out there you feel the same way about.

For the record, I am stubborn. If anything, I continually try to prove myself wrong. I own several rifles chambered for .270 Win. and keep hunting with them, mostly because I like a little contradiction in my life. I find it keeps things interesting. But it also ensures that my opinions are drawn from a solid foundation of experience. I maintain they are.

It seems no matter how hard I try—as with the search for the Holy Grail—my quest to find love for the .270 has gone and may always remain unfulfilled.

BP-B6

Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 15,262
B
Campfire Ranger
Offline
Campfire Ranger
B
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 15,262
Man, pretty rough on the old killer. Seems like alot of bad bullets to me. I like the 270 and about 20 other cartridges, but writing that was probably to draw mail rather than his actual dislike. JB will probably have better insight in it though..

I kinda wished when they mentioned failures they mentioned the bullets used. That is much more useful to me.


Semper Fi
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 741
BMR Offline
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 741
Well, he's convinced me. I must have imagined my brother dropping a big waterbuck in his tracks last August in SA at 370 yds. Better go throw mine in the local landfill.

Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 17,927
1
16bore Offline OP
Campfire Ranger
OP Offline
Campfire Ranger
1
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 17,927
Hail Mary article......

Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 45,730
S
Campfire 'Bwana
Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
S
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 45,730
He's a writer who gets paid to fill up pages with stuff that people will read, either because it's useful, or controversial.

No more, no less. Hook, line, and sinker.



A wise man is frequently humbled.

IC B2

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 30,211
Campfire 'Bwana
Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 30,211
"A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still."

You can't fix stupid as they say...


“Perfection is Achieved Not When There Is Nothing More to Add, But When There Is Nothing Left to Take Away” Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 44,710
M
Campfire 'Bwana
Online Content
Campfire 'Bwana
M
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 44,710
I loaded too many 270 and 30-06 cartridges with 130 and 150 grain Sierras resp. for my father's deer hunts, which he used to excellent effect, to give a whole lot of weight to some things I read these days.

Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 8,069
Campfire Outfitter
Offline
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 8,069
Hopefully this article will convince many folks and there will be run of .270s in the Classifieds, for cheap. smile

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 24,851
T
Campfire Ranger
Offline
Campfire Ranger
T
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 24,851
I don’t care for .277’s because I like 6.5’s better.


.
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,800
B
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
B
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,800

His point seems to be, "Lots of people hunt with .270's so lots of them have schit happen."
Yep, that's how numbers work.


"Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passin.'"
IC B3

Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 6,996
B
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
B
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 6,996
Hey Mr. Towsley-

[Linked Image]


Last edited by Bighorn; 12/14/17.

I'd rather be a free man in my grave, than living as a puppet or a slave....
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 8,778
M
Campfire Outfitter
Online Content
Campfire Outfitter
M
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 8,778
I see he has finally joined the Lee J Hoots school of journalism if that is considered an accomplishment....All ways thought Towsley was a dick glad he finally proved it by himself without any outside help. MB


" Cheapest velocity in the world comes from a long barrel and I sure do like them. MB "
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 10,180
M
Campfire Outfitter
Offline
Campfire Outfitter
M
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 10,180
Never shot one................. likely never will.

I opt for the extra .007"


"...A man's rights rest in three boxes: the ballot box, the jury box and the cartridge box..." Frederick Douglass, 1867

( . Y . )
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 45,730
S
Campfire 'Bwana
Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
S
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 45,730
I wouldn't call him a dick. How easy do you think it would be to come up with a new topic to write about every month if the subject is guns and the audience is the general public?



A wise man is frequently humbled.

Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 11,931
Campfire Outfitter
Offline
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 11,931
Originally Posted by Tom264
I don’t care for .277’s because I like 6.5’s better.

They're all the same for the most part but you'll never hear that from the spin makers.

Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 33,539
E
EdM Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
E
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 33,539
He is an idiot and always has been.


Conduct is the best proof of character.
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 9,399
H
Campfire Outfitter
Online Content
Campfire Outfitter
H
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 9,399
The way Towsley speaks of the 270 is sort of the way I feel about the 30-06 and 7Rem Mag.


I can walk on water.......................but I do stagger a bit on alcohol.
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 13,747
J
Campfire Outfitter
Offline
Campfire Outfitter
J
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 13,747
lol....I think he was just poking the bear. How many of the various gun articles written all of the time get a post made specifically about them? His did. grin....

Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 3,612
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 3,612
Lol, blaming poor shooting and poor choices in bullets used in the wrong application on the cartridge. Top it all off with some "feelings" on how the 243 and 280 are better. Nice............


Gerry.
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 150,097
Campfire Savant
Offline
Campfire Savant
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 150,097
I have all three, I like them all. The 270WCF has always been lucky for me!!

Page 1 of 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Moderated by  RickBin 

Link Copied to Clipboard
YB23

Who's Online Now
342 members (280shooter, 204guy, 29aholic, 10gaugemag, 1beaver_shooter, 16penny, 44 invisible), 2,240 guests, and 1,085 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Forum Statistics
Forums81
Topics1,187,724
Posts18,400,607
Members73,822
Most Online11,491
Jul 7th, 2023


 







Fish & Game Departments | Solunar Tables | Mission Statement | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | DMCA
Hunting | Fishing | Camping | Backpacking | Reloading | Campfire Forums | Gear Shop
Copyright © 2000-2024 24hourcampfire.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5
(Release build 20201027)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.3.33 Page Time: 0.147s Queries: 15 (0.003s) Memory: 0.9023 MB (Peak: 1.0566 MB) Data Comp: Zlib Server Time: 2024-03-29 05:01:47 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS