Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Boddington on the .270 Winchester

In an article in the current issue of "American Rifleman," Craig Boddington states that, "In my opinion these three similar 6.5mms (6.5x55, .260 Remington, and 6.5 Creedmoor), despite the magical properties currently attributed to them, do not equal the 96-year-old .270 Winchester as a hunting cartridge."

He then goes on to describe why in four pages. It's a good read.

And will get him his nuts torn off by the true believers.

Wasn't Boddington the one who wrote for years that anything under .30 cal pretty much sucked?

If memory serves, Boddington became a believer after killing a large bull elk in New Mexico with the 270?

As a "Hunting" cartridge the 270 wins, by a narrow margin. The problem is that 40 years ago most rifle buyers were hunters. Today most rifle buyers either don't hunt, or hunting is secondary to punching paper or ringing steel at the range. The 6.5's, particularly the 6.5 CM is the better dual purpose cartridge. It is a lot better than 270 for target shooting, and close enough to 270 as a hunting cartridge.

The 270 is the king.

Any praise ascribed to the 270 shines more light on the more deserving 280.

I read it, good article!

in the end its not the round, pick what you want. use a suitable bullet and know how to properly place it or have the patience to pass the shot.

All the rest is simply in what we want to play with.

Much as I don't like 270 it works as well as anything, especially speaking deer as deer can be easily killed even with a rimfire..

Bigger game obviously should use bigger rounds by a bit IMHO, just to make sure of penetration.

To say any of the 4 mentioned is head and shoulders above the other is simply a way to pay bills

Where is Ingwe?

I remember reading the article, vaguely remember the rife used but could of been a Savage 16 stainless factory loaner rifle but his bullet choice was the Nosler Part.

And before that, it was only marginal for elk hunting, but one hell of a deer cartridge... His magnumitus has surely calmed down a bit with age...

I will look for it. Even before I read it I agree. I have used it for a long while on elk and moose and with modern propellants and amazing bullets it is much better.
I am sending a 150 grain Nosler Partition from a 22" tube at 3000 fps + That is elk medicine, imo.
Same goes for the .280 Rem

If you have magic Bullets like Barnes X or Nosler
Partitions then 25-06 is good enough for lower 48.
Maybe anything if you are a stuntshooter.

I've owned the 6.5 X 55 and the .260 Rem as well as a few .270 Winchesters.....This statement mirrors my sentiments exactly. as to the 6.5 Creed.....well lets just say even my .264 magnum isn't better than the old .270 Win.

And it does pay the bills, he's made a career of it. For whatever reason, hunters like to discuss, argue, and nitpick cartridge choice more than the dozens of other things that are more important for success.

This is from a similar piece Boddington did in 2016:

"Over the years I’ve used it on all the continents, taking a wide variety of sheep, goats, deer and antelope. There was a time when I questioned its adequacy for elk, leaning more toward the Elmer Keith school. I’ve gotten past that. Elk are tough, and you must be careful about bullet placement no matter what you use, but the .270 is enough gun, and even better today than in O’Connor’s time because we have better bullets. The .270 worked fine on the longest shot I’ve ever made on an elk, 405 yds., with a classic load consisting of a handloaded 150-gr. Nosler Partition. It worked equally well on a huge-bodied Anatolian stag in Turkey, at a similar distance, with a then-new Hornady GMX."


"The .270 remains almost entirely a hunter’s caliber, and the .270 Win. remains the most traditional choice. It doesn’t win long-range matches, not because it couldn’t, but because it’s never been asked to. And since it hasn’t been asked, the bullet choices to make it a contender don’t exist. Sierra has a 135-gr. .277 MatchKing, but it has never sold well. Berger, with perhaps the most extensive line of match-grade bullets, offers three VLD hunting bullets in .277, but no match bullets. In the field, however, the .270 will accomplish any reasonable task it is asked to perform at any reasonable range."

I’m a gun enthusiast 1st. A hunter 2nd. A shooter 3 rd.
I’ve been fascinated with rifles since I was a kid.
I began hunting at an early age, don’t remember xactly.
I began deer hunting before I had to have a license.

** I do a lot of shooting to be a successful hunter. **

IMO, the slower Creedmoor is fine IF you have time to:
Read LRF
Read Drop Chart
Twist turrets
Carefully aim
Squeeze trigger.

“Close enuff doesn’t impress me”. I have a perfectly good M 70 FTWT in the Swede.
If I didn’t love the Rifle, it would be gone.

On another level, I’ve said this before :

“If you have a 270, you have a 280;
If you have a 280, you have a 270 “

Jerry

I dont use it as much anymore mainly because I like to try different stuff... but the 270 performed wonderfully for everything I ever used it for. I foresee a lot more usage out of this fine old round in my future.

It's hard to believe people are still writing articles about the .270 as if no one knew it could kill deer or elk. Must have been a slow day at the Boddington household.