Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Why Has the 270 Winchester Fell Out of Favor?

I would be interested in the 129 LRX performance on deer and elk. I set my buddy's 270 up with the 129 LRX and told him to go shoot anything. I'd think it would be close to perfect from antelope to elk - but I'm pontificating.

I've only slayed a handful of whitetails with that bullet so can't speak to the larger stuff, but there isn't much walking in North America that I'd fret using that bullet.

It gave this one a bloody nose.

I am more of a .280 Rem fan, but I’ve owned more .270’s than almost any other caliber. I used to say I’d never own one, as I got a .270 WSM shortly after they came out and saw no need to own one. Then I bought one for a steal and my wife won one. I sold the one I bought to a buddy like an idiot, but still have the Ruger American the wife won. The Ruger American is a tack driver with 140 gr. Berger VLD Hunter and Magpro powder.
While my son has claimed the Ruger American, when he finally leaves for good and takes it with him, I’ll replace it, but with a nicer one.

There's nothing a .270 can do better than a 30/06. And my uncle never cared for Jack off O'Connor.

I am 6 critters into the 129lrx. So far they have been flawless.

The 270 is not as popular because it sounds old and outdated. The younger people need to have a flashy name and the 270 sounds boring. I bet if you took the cartridge and made one minor improvement, it would become instantly popular as long as the new name fits. Maybe have the letter X in there somewhere. XTX, XT, or something like that. It’s just like the Creedmoor. It’s no better than others we have, but add the name Creedmoor and watch it take off. The 270 happens to be my favorite. I have accumulated lots of rifles in my life and many are custom sporters but I seem to take my original 270 on hunting trips and leave the high end customs at home.

I think most articulated "disdain" is mostly presented as tongue in cheek. It's also one of those that many people proclaim to be the "be all, end all" of cartridges. That simply stirs more debate and opposition. On another more practical note, as old as it is, there have been many alternatives introduced into the market thus providing more alternatives since its inception. That's just my take.

I just started shooting the 270 maybe 10 years ago. I believe that it is as good as the 280 on most game. I shot a cow elk with a 270 this last fall and it worked well. The difference in diameter is small.
The 270 bullets cross sectional area is 0.076729 x Pi square inches.
The 280 bullets cross sectional area is 0.080656 dpi square inches.
Which amounts too about 5% difference. I just reviewed my math and it’s wrong but I believe the 5% is right.

I used to often say that the 280 had better bullet selection. Maybe it still does, but that gap is much narrower now.

My first 280 was in the 1970’s. My first 270 was in the past 10 years. The 280 is a favorite of mine. The 270 is very good too.

I think that if a shooter had good luck with one or the other they “prefer” it.

Just a boringly old proven effective round that will always be around and always keep working.

LIKE all the above^^^

My Dad left several 270's all NIB sold every one. Do I regret it, hell no. Just not a fan of the 270, is it a bad choice no just don't like it.

Thanks Scott.

Now what rifle is that........?

Thanks. I have 2 boxes sitting on my bench. All I need is my own 270

Nosler has seconds on SPS for those with 270 love.

I usually have 2 or 3 around the house. Use one of them occasionally. A lot when I lived in Wyoming but nowadays I play with a 7-08, 308 or 7-08 mostly because they are lighter shorter rifles and handier in box blinds. Still a favorite round though.

The current infatuation is with all things Creedmore and Grendel along with a host of other newcomers.

The 270 is a pure hunting round developed nearly 100 years ago by Winchester to kill big game animals at long range. It’s never fallen out of favor.

I agree pocono..

Damn straight.

7mm-08


30-06