Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters .270 Winchester: What is the best big game for this cartridge?

Amen Brother! Loaded with light bullets it's almost as good as a .25-06!

After years of hearing people extol the .270 Win as if it were a magic wand of sorts, I've become skeptical of each and every user of it. I've seen far too many of the Jack O. kool-aid drinkers wounding stuff with it to be impressed.

This cartridge isn't any different from many others. In the hands of a skilled shooter it can be used effectively. In the hands of an unskilled shooter it is flat enough shooting to wound easily. I'd rather see an experienced shooter with a small caliber, or an inexperienced shooter with a short range gun. At least that short range gun will allow them to miss completely.

You can immediately write off any comment by someone who will brag on the .270 and bash similar performing cartridges. It is a tool to use, nothing more.

My wife shoot's one loaded with 150's, it works for her. She thinks anything past 300 yards is too far. I don't tell her any different as she has not the patience or interest in developing the skill to shoot any farther.

So far what I got out of this is that you are sceptical of you're wife, the 270 is nothing but a game wounded, and perhaps this is why you've chosen the 270 for your wife.

I'm a bit confused as to your comment.

Shod

Im glad you got that much out of it. Im still not sure what he was trying to say..

Reading comprehension is an issue for much of the High School Grads in the US.

I wasn't asking where you graduated, I wanted to know what you're post meant.

Never mind!

Shod

Go wash the Kool aid stain from your face.

From one of our fallen and great hunters:

Tough crowd! I understood exactly what Nate was saying. While I don't feel the same about the .270 win, some of the people who jump on the latest long range flavor of the month do evoke the same reaction from me (anything ai'd, 6.5's seem to be getting alot of this lately. I.E., not every 7mm rem. Owner is a tool, but every tool owns a 7mm rem., etc.). I've never actually meet, personally, a .270 owner who talked about 700 -800 yard shots on animals. .270 actually seems to attract alot of sensible hunters in my opinion. Then again I hang with a crowd that still appreciates shots under 300.

Gentrification of the fire and our language going on.

I saw what you did and thank you! Easy to say something in the heat of the moment but not always so easy to delete.
Good on you.
Pete

There's a few cartridges today that do pretty much what a 270 does. Some do "better" and this usually red ults from cherry picking loads or burning more powder, using longer barrels and maybe even getting kicked harder.

But back when it was invented it was uniwue in it's class and was so successful that everyone wanted in on the sales action which is how we ended up with the 280,284 and a bunch of others.

Like anything put in the hands of the population at large it's going to end up in the hands of unskilled shooters/hunters and experienced game shots alike. Results will vary. But damning a cartridge because it gets used by dodos who can't shoot is like blaming gu ns for crime...silly.

Today we can do most anything we can get done with a 270, with a number of other cartridges. But anyone who has a hard time killing BG animals with a 270 needs more practice and experience shooting animals.

That bears repeating ! ! !

OK, I'm going to make an attempt to focus!

First I'd like to say, well done Bobin sir and who do you think you are always showing up with all this logical reasoning.

Second, BigNate, I read your post through again more closely and I do agree on most all of your points. New I should of went to college.

It was the part where you said you were sceptical of any and all users of the 270 that through me off.

Now the focus part and to actually answer the the question of the thread.

What is the best big game for the 270?

I made a statement earlier that for myself the 270 is the best rifle that I own for any and all big game!

How can I say that? For several reasons.

First it has to be understood that each individual has a unique set of circumstances which need to be taking into consideration as to be able to determine which caliber may or may not be the most affective for an individual.

Take into consideration for example someone who has perhaps had neck surgery and the end result has left the individual with a few after effects that the individual neither wanted nor desired.

Would a 338 magnum stoked with max loads be the most effective tool in this persons hands? How much practice shooting in the off season do you think the individual is going to get.

My son lives in Wyoming and he just got home from his first year in guide camp and called me. He said, Dad, I want a 300 RUM because a fella showed up in camp with one and man it was a sweet rifle! I said, Son, how well did he do on his hunt?

My son let out a loud laugh and said, Dad, he couldn't hit jack schit!

I asked him what was the hunter who did the best carrying. A 6.5X55 sweede!

This experience is not uncommon and in fact in my reading of guides and there experiences I have often noted the statement that hunters with 30/06 or 270 in hand seem to be the most successful in hunting camp.

A rather profound statement and one I am certain my son will be eye witness to in his years of guiding to come.

The conclusion that I have reached is the single most effective ingredient in a successful hunt is to be able to hit the target where intended and critters will die quickly and effectively.

There's a saying an uncle once told me, he said you can be the man with the biggest gun in camp or you can be the man who kills the most game! Which one do you want to be? The truth is the 270 or the 30/06 are more than what is needed to accomplish just that. So are any of the magnum calibers for that matter.

Carry the one that you can quickly and effectively kill game with and that will be different for each individual.

Shod

I've killed exactly one animal with a .270. It was flat out the fastest kill I've had yet. It was on a small WT buck that was sneaking across a swamp edge at sun down. He simply flipped over dead with all 4 feet in the air. Stone friggin dead. Didn't twitch a bit. Killed with a m70 fwt, 130gr. core-lokts.

A tomato stake.

The 270 will put both steak and tomatoes on the plate! Not a lot of rifles that will do that.

Shod

Or keep all of them and buy a .280!! LOL

But seriously, if you DO draw that elk tag, which one would you use? Inquiring minds want to know!

Either I'm lucky or mine is just stellar, but it seems to be the most forgiving round to hand load for.

I have found the same thing.

IME it's less fussy than a 280, more predictable than a 7 Rem Mag and a host of other Big 7's. I don't even bother to chronograph the damn things anymore and load "development" is as easy as stuffing in 60-61 gr of H4831 with a 130 gr bullet and going to the range. Velocities will generally be over 3000 and if I bother to check them sometimes over 3100.

I just zero them and take them hunting.

I have a feeling the 270 juju will go out the window when I start messing with the 270WSM.


Since we're on the subject, whats the favored 150 grainer? I've played a little with ABLR's, but nothing else. Don't hear much about Swift A-Frames.

Any reason?

IMHO a 130 TTSX is about as good as it gets in a 270.