Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles To handload, or not?

I load for roughly 30 different rifles. Never had a 270 before, so don't have dies(yet). I picked up a 270 featherweight model 70, used, and grabbed a couple boxes of cheap ammo just to sight it in and have some brass to play with. This rifle shoots federal blue box 130gr under and inch for 3 shots, and with 10 rounds of federal 130gr fusion, shot 2 different 5 shot groups that fit under a quarter at 100 yards. I didn't get a chance to check grouping at any farther distances. Given that I can get my hands on a case or two of the fusions at about 14 bux a box, should I even bother working up a load, or just buy a case or two of ammo and carry on? Pretty much the only action this rifle will see is deer hunting, out to 500 yards max. Is there any reason to think the factory 130gr fusions won't handle that?

Sounds like you’ve got a keeper there. I guess it depends upon how much you plan on shooting it. It would be interesting to see what it will do with reloads. I’d shoot the Fusions out to 500 yards and see. If they group well, and you only plan on shooting it occasionally, I probably wouldn’t bother spending the money to get set up to reload for it.

Fusions are good cartridges. If you plan on shooting the rifle for hunting only, probably fine with store-bought ammo. Since you're already set up to handload, a set of .270 dies are not that expensive and will allow you to fine tune the rifle for your purposes. Neck turned cases, run out, etc. can be quite rewarding for your terminal ballistics.

If you like to reload, get some dies and get to it. You don’t have to do it until feel like it if you have factory ammo that shoots well.

You did it wrong..... buy the dies brass and bullets then later on buy some powder...... Then buy the rifle, I would not reload for this rifle I have a 30-30 that does the same with federal ammo.... still ended up loading some for it just cause

If your plan to shoot this rifle 20 rounds a year then screw it. Just buy factory ammo. If you want to shoot this rifle 200+ rounds a year then start reloading for it.

My profile is similar to yours also with rifles for competitive matches, At my age I have 'bought the dies' for the last new rifle maybe! I have also taken buck deer in PA!

If that new 270 shoots better than what you have now just relax about it. Maybe you will find some old dies.

Federal Fusion is great ammo. I don’t know what to they’re doing, but it seems to shoot in everything.

I'd just run the Fusion.

I have shot some deer with the 150 grain 30-06, and they work excellent.

As I read your application, you don't need to handload for hunting. The 270 and 130's have been getting it done on deer out to 500 for a long time. For the modest amount of hunting I do I don't need to handload either. That said, you're a handloader like me, so you may want to handload for the satisfaction you derive from it.

I started reloading just as a hobby and have bought way more than I need with that being said , yes finding an accurate load is very rewarding.

I have a Remington 280 that I don't even load for cause it touches holes at 100yds with federal bt, and is very capable at 500yds.

If your 270 shoots that good with fusions why bother.

I have tried fusions in my 270 they were a no go, a no go in my 6.5 cm, but shoot good in my .243

I have to wonder what that rifle would do with good hand loads?

I can only offer a personal opinion and it's offered only as food for thought. I would never offer such as any type of "instruction guide" for anyone. Many do just that to me and TELL about what I SHOULD DO in areas of my own life and it is horribly offensive IMO.

I adhere to the old adage "Satisfaction obtained from any goal reached is directly proportional to the amount of time and effort invested in order to reach that goal". Not a direct quote but it conveys the correct message.

Like the fisherman that ties his own jigs or traditional bowhunter that makes his own arrows (or even the bow itself) loading my own ammo is as much a part of my hunts as scouting and shooting practice. Should I decide to remove any of it by taking an easier route it would proportionally (if not more so) reduce the satisfaction I get from a successful hunt that I feel is 90% of the why I hunt at all.

FOR ME, every minute I spend researching bullet choices, powder choices and performing the various aspects of working up loads and testing them is part of my hunts and very much adds to whatever satisfaction I obtain from the humane harvest of any game chosen to pursue.

I am painfully aware that this opinion places me within what may be a very small club

"Common sense" tells me that a large amount of factory ammo shoots more than adequately and may be as good, if not better, than my own. When considering the cost of a full battery of loading equipment (I have to start over and buy it all for reasons not important to the conversation) factory ammo, in my case, is also less costly .............but that will not be the path I take.

Again, only going by my own thoughts and opinions, I am unwilling to risk ANY part of the satisfaction I achieve from our sport and loading the ammo that put an animal at my feet is very much a part of that.

2 cents
God Bless!

Can't imagine not handloading my own after doing it for so long...

would rather put together what I want...

but hey, that's just me...

let your conscience be your guide and rock on...

You might be able to load a little more cheaply than $14/box, if you consider your current eqt. to be a sunk cost, and don't value your time at $150/hr. Even so, you may or may not be able to come up with a more accurate load. And I'd personally say it's doubtful you'd be able to create a load that killed deer noticeably differently than the Fusions will.

Then again, if you're already loading for that many other cartridges, chances are you really enjoy reloading.

I got into reloading because I like to cook, and to my mind, reloading is just cooking with 4 ingredients: brass, primer, powder, & bullet.

One might say, "why should I cook when I can buy a pizza or a hamburger just down the street, for a damned cheap price?" I'd respond that a Mickey D's burger will for sure make a turd, but a thick burger of mountain goat and beef chuck, grilled to a juicy medium with bacon bits, blue cheese crumbles and carmelized onions on a freshly toasted bakery bun, tastes a good deal better to me.

Find your joy, and chase it with reckless abandon!

... and don't ever sell a rifle that shoots as well as that one...

FC

I would have to handload for it, just because I'm a handloader. I've only ever had 1 rifle/cartridge where I could not beat the accuracy of factory ammo. That was a 300 Weatherby and my feelings are still hurt! I do not own the rifle any more.

Well, I bought a case of the fusion ammo, and dies showed up, in the mail the other day. Didn't really need the ammo since I picked up,the dies, but figured what the hell. More is always better, right? I guess old habits are hard to break. I'll see how good she shoots with some 130gr accubonds and 140gr nosler ballistic tips. For now....