Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles modern powders in the .270 Win

I support 4064 use in the 270.. that is what my preference is.. I concede to giving up a 100 fps Max velocity, but what I pick up is lower recoil, and what I consider improved accuracy.. which may be just the lesser recoil... for that 100 fps Max velocity I give up, two clicks on the elevation knob and its been compensated for.... my two favorite bullets are the 140 grain ballistic tip and the 160 gr SMP Partition...

I've loaded for .270 for a good number of years. Oldest load was 130 gr bullets over IMR 4831. Load from 1970's manual did not differentiate the 4831s, and my load exceeded current max loads. For 130 gr bullets, I also have used 55 gr IMR 4350, 60 gr of H4831sc, and lately 56 gr of IMR 4451. For 140 bullets, I like 53 gr of RL16. For 150 gr, I've used 60.5 gr of RL26. Now that IMR 4451 is out of production, I ration my use of it.
If in doubt, H4831sc works with any of these bullet weights.

Look real close at the pressure numbers, you can't get enough 4831SC in a 270 case to exceed SAAMI specs.

no real reason to, unless you like being different than everybody else....

but has anyone ever necked a 280 AI down to take a 270 grain bullet?

ought to rival a 270 Weatherby....

Until last year when I purchased a Tikka T3x Superlite , I have not owned a .270 Win since 1963 (app. a 60 yr hiatus). I loaded H4831sc under a handful of different bullets and it worked as advertised.

However, I also wanted to try a new powder with anti copper fouling properties under Barnes bullets. I ended up with 56 grs. of StaBALL under 130 gr TTSX @3076 ft/sec. With multiple sub MOA groups, that is all I needed from this rifle to be a very happy guy. I took this load to eastern Montana and easily tipped over a goat at distance without any drama.

RL26 for 145/150s

For 130’s, lots of powder to choose from with burn rates ranging from IMR4064 to H4831SC.
H4350 gave me the best accuracy, however all others were more than acceptable.

For the heavies I love 23. For the 130's I really like Hunter. For a slightly slower all around accurate load in any gun..... 4064!!

While I love my H4831SC load at 3170 with 130ABs, I think a lot of guys missed this part in the OPS post:

Originally Posted by flintlocke

Keep in mind, it's a kid, and he is not going to be shooting long range, and I'd like to minimize recoil to some extent. Comments, suggestions, recipes?

To accomplish this ^

I'd look at going with a slightly less weight bullet like a Barnes 85 or 95 grn 6.8SPC bullet, or Nolser 100 or 110 AB 6.8SPC bullets and load it down to about 6.8SPC "+P" velocities.

Easily my favorite chambering...but then I am a sheep hunter.
I cycled through a bunch of newbies, short / fats, long fats but always seem to take one of the .270' wcf rifles.
It is easy to handload for, I have used every powder available. These days H4831, imr 4350, Reloder 16 and 26 are on the shortlist.
Add its brothers the 30/06 and the 25/06 and a big bore like the 45/70 and the arsenal is complete for my stuff. Cheers

Just finished load development in my 270. H4350 and H4831 SC yielded sub moa with 5 shots and 129 LRX. I tried IMR 4451 but didn't get good accuracy. Re 23 prob work. In previous 270s, Re 26 shined with 150s.

I could live the rest of my life with H4350, H4831, Re26 for the 270.

Here's some loads I have found good to go:

270 Win, Remington 700 BDL, 160 grain Partition, 9 ½, 53.5 grains RE 19, 0.44 MOA (good elk load)
270 Win, Remington 700 BDL, 130 grain Remington CL, CCI200, 61 grains H4831sc, 0.71 MOA (favorite deer load)
270 Win, Remington 700 BDL, 131 grain E-tip, CCI 200, 56.5 grains H4831sc, 0.75 MOA (drilled through deer with little expansion)
270 Win, Remington 700 BDL, 130 TTSX Barnes, ? grains, H1000, 0.75 MOA (sorry about lack of detail!)

Have had many many fine 270’s.

With 130’s I prefer IMR4831 and R17. Load to 3075-3100 and stop.

With 150’s I got best velocities with R26. Some charges I see published are too much. In a 22” barrel I stop when I get to 2950.

With the 160 Ptn & R26 I load to 2850 and stop. If you need more power get a 9.3-62 or 375.

There may be powders with better temperature stability but I don’t hunt in weather that cold.

Most used bullets…130 TTSX & 160 NPtn & 130 Swift AF. Going to try some 130 CX.

For low recoil 110 TTSX and H4895. Really low recoil. 3000 is plenty.

My 270 has never been picky but really likes RL 22 and imr7828

Looks like I'll be loading for my Rem mountain rifle 270.
My other 270 shot so well with Federal premium 130 BT's that I never loaded for it.
I just sold a Sako A7 in 270 that shot very well with RL26/ 150 's.
I'm thinking I'll try some 140's, , just looking for a mild accurate load.

I just got back from the range, and learned that my new 270 vanguard likes the 145 eld-x bullets with h4831sc. My loads started at 56g, up to 59g. All were 1" or less groups.

56g - 2850 fps 1" group
57g - 2900 fps 3/4" group
58g - 2950 fps 1" group
59g - 3000 fps 1/2" group

I also compared factory "precision hunter" ammo which uses 145 eld-x bullets, with a published velocity of 2970 fps. My chronograph clocked them at 2925 fps. They shot a 1" group

I haven't tried it in 270 yet but my 06 loves winchester staball 6.5. I tried some because it was available and glad I did. All my recent 270 loads were reloader 23 and its unobtainium.

I used the 4831s for a half century but recently tried RL16 with 130s and RL26 with 160 NPs.......amazed to say the least.

3 month old thread, but what the hell...

Everyone like new powder recipes. I have a lot of those powders on the shelves, as I always like to play with new stuff and see what it has to offer... then most of the time I go back to using what I've used for decades..

How about 47 to 49 grains of good ol IMR 4064 with a 130 or 140 grain bullet? I prefer a ballistic tip. At 49 grains I give up about 100 fps MV> yet the accuracy is better, and the recoil noticeably less....which is probably makes it more accurate.

For max punch if you think ya need it for something bigger than Bambi...Nosler 160 gr SMP Partition, with an over listed charge of 4831 SC. If you look at the pressures with that powder, it is low on SAAMI specs. It can run over 2900 fps with that bullet easily with no pressure issues on any 270 I've owned.. which has been a couple.

I let the rifle tell me what it prefers vs a load manual.. sometimes they are overly optimistic and other times woefully pessimistic.

The 270 is my all time favorite. It was my first gun and it’s on its second, almost third barrel. It’s the one that feels the best with everything. Everything like reloading, walking, shooting, getting past fences, & in and out of the truck. I bet I have over 10,000 rounds shot in 40 years and I’m putting much more through it lately. I try the usual powders like H4831&SC, R22, R19, IMR 4350, MRP, & 7828. I usually use 130 grainSPBT and 140 TSX. I haven’t tried the newer powder like Stabill, Big Game, Superformance, or others. I want to, but never tried the Vhitavorhi powders. The best yet is H 4831 or IMR 4350 and they do so well that I may not ever try the others. If a 270 does poorly with 4831, it’s probably a bad 270 and needs to go away.

270's are sweethearts for sure. As mentioned previously, I am running good ol H4831 in the new one I got a couple weeks ago. Joking around I said SC was new enough for my needs, but good ol 4831 still works great as well: