Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 270 WIN origins

Just had this conversation with a good friend.
The Winchester M51 Imperial S/N 1 is actually the World’s first factory produced 270 (chambered for the experimental 27 Cal). Winchester M54 S/N 4 (first three M54’s were chambered for the 30 GOV’T’06) was the World’s first factory produced 270 W.C.F. in 1925.

A Model 54 Winchester, serial No. 21, was said (by Winchester) to be the first 270 Winchester to go out of the Winchester plant. I took this to mean that any previous 270's went to Winchester staff. This one was sent to Ashley Haines who was, at that time, the gun writer for Outdoor Life. Haines lived in Salmon Arm B.C. I saw the rifle when his nephew brought it into the shop to see about getting a scope mounted on it. When I looked closely at it and noticed the serial number, which was engraved on the receiver ring, I told him I would not want to do anything with it because it seemed a little unusual. I gave him the address to contact Winchester and he did so. It was about a month later that he brought the letter he received from Winchester, to show me. He had no idea who his uncle had been, really, and was pleased to learn the rifles history. I believe Haines was his mother's brother. GD

Well, Mr. Charmichael could have made his way in the gun writing world by spewing "ya, what JOC said" and then we'd all think he was a wannabe sycophant.

Winchester for whatever reason, maybe because it's a truer 7mm, went with the Chinese 7mm .277 based on the 1907 Mauser that was adopted by China

So, it's Chinese and gay? No wonder I never liked it!

It's easy to hate greatness...

If I remember in The Last Book, O’Connor made fun of his replacement a bit. I do not remember exactly, but something like a Tennessee hillbilly dressing like a cowboy. Do not know how thin skinned Jim C. is, but wondered if that is why he often took shots at the old 270. Probably just a loony like the rest of us too attached to be rational to his favorite 280 that the 270 blew away

I’ve made a good living as a writer for 18 years. The only way to do that is to figure out how your work can make someone else rich. Even a bad writer who can do that will soon fatten his wallet.

Back then, writers tied themselves to a cartridge (Keith and the 44 Magnum, Cooper and the 45 ACP, O’Connor and the 270 Winchester) then promoted it and slagged anyone who disagreed. That sold a lot of magazines, which sold a lot of advertising, which made publishers rich, which came back to the writers in the form of paychecks, safaris on the company dime, and fame that the writer could use to create other forms of income.

O’Connor and Elmer Keith maintained a decades-long p*ssing contest on exactly that model. So did Skeeter Skelton (Shooting Times) and Bill Jordan (Guns & Ammo). O’Connor’s retirement was a huge loss for Outdoor Life because it put an end to that. The publishers probably encouraged their new and old shooting editors snipe at each other to keep the train rolling.


Okie John

Why .277"? Well my guess is someone at Winchester took a 30-03 and decided to make a 7MM bullet and mate the 2 together.

And yes, the 270 is real close to a true 7mm. .7" X .03937 = .27559.

The Brits called the 7X57 the 275 Rigby and in the early days it was the "276 Rigby Rimless". But the Brits often measure the bore and not the groove diameter so calling a 7mm a 275 or a 276 is correct if they want to designate it as a real 7MM.

Trivial information but it may answer some questions.

The answer causes a lot more questions however. Like; Why are 270s called 6.8MM when 6.8 MM is not even very close to .277? ( It's .267")

Why are our Service round called 5.56 and 7.62? 5.56 MM = .2188, not .224, and 7.62MM =.2999" not .308"

And how much Guinness was consumed by Mr Jeffery in his tool room the day he named the 404 Jeffery? (.423"groove .415 bore)