Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 130 gr. .270 bullet accuracy question

If you want to know about how well a particular bullet shoots in a 270, load 55 gr of RL19 with the 130 gr missile of choice. Seat (usually) as long as the magazine box will allow. (I know there can be a lot of variation here, so optimize for your rifle.) This is not usually close to a max load, but this is a very specific experiment. It might not be too bad a load for a youngster.

If your bullet doesn’t shoot ‘3’s, try something else. High quality rifles will do it every time.

Well, not EVERY rifle. I know of a quality 270 in which several different 130gr bullets were tried with varying amounts of IMR4350, including 55 grains,with mediocre (1.5"ish) results. It shoots 140s and 150s much better...much to my chagrin.

Hmm. Have found a couple .270s that group 130s more accurately with RL-19 than H4831 or whatever other "standard" powder. One of mine grouped 130s best (including Nosler Partitions) with RL-19--though with around 58 grains rather than 55.

But there are two problems with RL-19. First, it's more temp-sensitive than H4831--or even IMR4350--though not as bad in that regard as RL-22.

The other is finding any--though it's showing up more often on websites than other Alliant powders. If temp-sensitivity isn't a factor, then it's definitely an option.

Have also found a similar load in the .300 Winchester Magnum: 72-73 grains of RL-19 with 165-168 grain bullets. Have never encountered a .300 Winchester that didn't shoot this well, and while velocity is only around 3100 from 24" barrels, with a deep-penetrating bullet that's plenty for most big game on earth.

Yes, and before that, there were the Nosler Solid Base.

I decided to take your advice. I did post a sign-up page a while back, but it's way back on the forum now. But we're getting close to enough to sending the book to the printer that I should start another one, partly because I want to make some other comments.

Thanks,
John

PS--You and everybody else who asked to be added to this list on this thread are on it!

I haven’t played around much with 130 gr. bullets in my .270 Win, just because I started reloading for it during the pandemic and I bought what bullets I could find. Like my .270 WSM, I get great accuracy out of 140 gr bullets in it. I have some 130 and 150 gr BT’s but I haven’t loaded them as I o my have a single box. 140’s I have plenty. My best load to date though is with Berger 140 VLD Hunting ulcers and Magpro. I get ragged 5 shot groups with it. I worked up a load with 150 gr. NOS ABLR last year that I haunted with using IMR 4831, but I only got 1.25” at 100 yards on a good day. I passed on the line caribou I could have shot with it. I may play around with seating depths to see if I can get it to at least a 1” group. The 140 gr. Nothing bigger than 3/4” though and I like that.

I really like these .270 wcf threads.
For me, It was my very first centerfire rifle, I was 12 and a Husky. This was 1970.
Luckily, my uncle was a fully immersed, nuts and bolts handloader. He had an almost unlimited supply of milsurp powder to burn.
Naturally, the armory increased, and then over the last two decades decreased, centrally because of the excellent bullets available now.
The more well suited the bullet, the greater the .270's 280's and others performed on Elk and Moose.
In the old days, other than the Partition( which seemed unaffordable) bullets just seemed to frangible and hunters chose .30 caliber magnums because of this.
It is not the same these days at all, the 130 gr mono's and the 150 cup and core bullets( partition like) bullets have changed the rules, imo.
I am no longer a believer in kinetic energy as killing power, unless you want to kill your budget, with a new rifle, a short / fat round and high priced brass that allows 2 or 3 loadings.
The .270/.280, and 30/ 06 still rule , imo

Great thread here......👍

Late to the party here, but like comerade, 270 was my first real centerfire (a mid-70's 700 ADL). WRT to the OP's question, I always got great results accuracy-wise with the Speer HotCor 130 (>1 MOA), usually with IMR 4831. Hornady SP was good also. Oddly, I never had much success with the 130 partition, or H4831. The 150 HotCor and 150 Partition were both outstanding as well. These days I usually use the 140 AB over Magpro, but they all work great.

Just my .02 worth.