Just re-read Gil Sengel's 270 article in the Feb 2003 issue of Handloader and it makes me want to go out and buy a 270 Winchester right now!; load it up with a 130 grain bonded bullet!!; and hunt everything from mice to sheep to moose!!! Man, I did not need to re-read that article this close to Christmas!!!!

Someone shoot me please, or a least convince me that the 270 ain't good for nothing except back-up QB to the 30-06 and the 280...

I used a 270 for over 30 years with excellent results. The only difference was that I used 150 gr bullets. They will hit at the same point of impact at almost any range and will hit harder when they get there. It's a natural.

Perfect!


Owe I thought we were playing word association


Mike

Gay.




Oh, we aren't playing word association?

Hater

You know it's incredible, sleek, efficient, doesn't kill on both ends.

Mike

I think bisexual is the correct term, only because it does everything.

Any mention of the .270 always brings up the "G" word, plus an argument about 130 versus 150-grain bullets. But almost every bullet company that makes .270 bullets has been making 140's for years now, and believe it or not they kill stuff just as well as the 130's and 150's.

Speer Hotcores were always my go-to bullets when I needed something guaranteed to work. They've never made them in 140.

140 is the way to go. Best of both worlds.

Horse doodoo! People who try do that are funny characters,not to be taken at all seriously.

So, which is best?

Rock Chuck,

Good to know the 150 Hot-Cor is the only .270 bullet guaranteed to work. Learn something new every day....

30-06 with a 180...

Please point out exactly where I said that. It's an excellent bullet but I'm having a hard time finding the word 'only' in my statement.

I've bought 140's before and never loaded them. I just can't do it. Loaded up 150's and shot them at the range, never shot a single head of game with them. Guess I'm stuck on 130's.

Bsa how is that 270 shoooting??

I've been using 110 grain TTSXs in one of my .270s and they work good. I just bought another .270 and I think 'll shoot a few deer with the 85 grain TSX at warp speed with it just to see how I like them.

Between my sons, nephews Dad, friends, and myself. We have successfully used 85gr-150gr bullets from hollow points to monometals on prairie dogs to Elk.

Who makes an 85 gr .277 offering?? I've apparently missed something!

When all I owned was a single .270, I ran the 90 gr Sierra on varmints and the 130 Hornaday on deer. For elk, it was generally just a good ole 150 Core-Lokt.

The .270 may not be everyone's idea of a "do all-end all" cartridge, but for the newbie it's a really good place to start.

I fool around with a lot of cartridges, but the .270 Winchester is the only one for which I have more than one rifle (I'm down to only three right now).

Barnes. At that weight and moving it at near 3500 FPS I bet you'd need a bullet that tough too. A little faster with a 130 out of a 300 WM gets Bambi's attention. 80/85 grain TSX/TTSX out of a .243 at a little slower works good too.

In the immortal words of St Elmer, the .270 is just a damned adequate coyote rifle.

IMHO, EVERYONE needs a damned adequate coyote rifle.

If it happens to kill deer, antelope, elk, and so on, too, that's gravy.

Tom

The .270 is a great coyote rifle.. I only have one.. Have probably owned half a dozen.. I do like the one I have at present.. On game I have been shooting 140's either Serria HPBT or Horn. SST.. So far only half a dozen head of game have fallen to this rifle.. Used it on everything from p.dogs to elk so far.. I like it very much, but it is not my favorite caliber..

Me, too!

Minimum arsenal....

I have seen more elk shot and killed with the 270/130 than any other cartridge, bullet combo. It just works.

Those that think it doesn't need to get out more...

The 130 Nosler partition is all I ever use in my 270 win.. I just don't ever use it

88 years old and still going strong.

Well me either... I'm only 308 Win from here on out.

But the 270 is darn good... I've just never had a lot of love for it, despite having killed a couple elk with it.

I shot my first elk in CO with a .270 before I realized they were gay (kidding!). I remember selling it and the guy purchasing asked me if the reason I was selling it was because it wasn't enough gun for CO. I told him no and that I dislike hunting with a rifle with a wood stock in CO.

Since then I suppose I've probably avoided .270's due to poor bullet BC's. That appears to be changing...

Dude! No way......280 with a 150 NPT rules the day.... Bad on BG shoulders, easy on your shoulder!

The EW in the Edge currently for sale in the classifieds is rather tempting....

Killed a graveyard worth of game with a Model 70 in 270
shooting 130 grn bullets over 25 yrs of carrying it.
Heres a few "Boolit proof" creatures that fell to the fabled 270

Awesome deer.

130 core lokt

Great pics, Ravenr2! I bet the stories about them are just as good.

Wow, nice!


Tremendous mule deer.

Incredible deer you have there!

I was back in Wisco earlier this year and had an old high school buddy ask me if his 30-06 was enough gun for elk. My brother and I both chuckled. The legend of "Boolit Proof" wapiti is alive and well.

Wouldn't you know...Mule Deer splittin' hairs again

The 2 deer were killed by clients I guided.
The bull is mine.
Thanks for the kind words.

Raven,
You still guiding? Where? Hunting in an area where Muley's grow bone like those in the pics is a favorite past time of mine. I would even be glad to use a 270.

Dave

Bob, guess I need to stock up. I am down to two .270's and have shot big game with 130, 140 and 150 grain bullets. Whitetail, mule deer, antelope, caribou, bear and coyotes all have met their match with the Win 70 classic in .270. Just got a Forbes this past year and have not yet hunted it.

RaceTire
Bucks were killed on the eastern plains of Colorado.
Thou I still guide I no longer work for that Outfitter.
Lots of good outfits on the E. Plains.

After multiple affairs with various magnums over a span of a couple decades I bought a .270. It did everything the fire breathers did, but with less drama, on my end of the rifle anyway. Only problem was I couldn't bring myself to hunt with the high grade walnut the gun was stocked with. It got replaced by a stainless synthetic .270 WSM. With 140 gr Berger VLD's it is a tack driver, and that same bullet laid a cow elk low just last week.
I have guided for over 30 years and was licensed as outfitter for 9 so I've had the good fortune of doing a bit of elk hunting. My experiences have led me to believe that the ol' .270 is one of the best elk cartridges available, reason being that anyone can shoot it well, and well placed shots is what kill elk.

Strange, you have gay elk in CO?? Interesting..

At present I don't own a .270 Win. I sold my last one to a young friend about 6 years ago. To date he has taken 18 or 20 deer with it. He just loves it.

The majority of moose I have taken were with various .270's and 150 grain Partitions.


Two or three years ago I decided I needed (wanted?) another .270 so bought a WSM. It didn't shoot to my satisfaction so it went down the road. On my loading bench are a lot of .270 caliber bullets that I need a gun in order to get rid of them. Trouble is I have 7 or 8 big game guns in my safe and I really don't need another one, at least not for hunting purposes. Guess I'll have to wait and see how good Santa is to me. Maybe I'll have to buy myself a present early next year.

Jim

Yep, +1.

I moved here to Idaho from Alaska, I lived and died with my .300 win mag. up in the 'great land' with many dead sheep, moose and bou. But it was heavy and kicked like a mule.
In 2011 I bought a .270 KS and went out and killed two mountain goats, two whitetails and an elk in just that year.
All with 150 grainers.
Frankly the other Idaho goat tag holder used my rifle to kill his Idaho billy as well.
Three mountain goats in one year with that rifle, and those buggers can be tough to kill.

I became a .270/150grn. believer in short order, most kills were DRT.
Helluva caliber; O'Conner had it right.

Well played.

This is from Petersons hunting letters June- July '13 by Joseph Von Benedict (of Petersons Hunting).

With the nosler 150 accubond LR, BC .625 at 2900 fps. Vs 180 accubond BC .507 at 2600 fps. At elevation of 5000 ft. And zero at 200 yds the 308 drops 49 in at 500 yds and drifts 17 in with 10 mph crosswind. 270 drops 36 in and has 11 in of drift. At 500 yds it has 307 ft.lbs more energy than the heavier 308.

With the 30-06 with the 180 gr.nosler, 308 at 2600 vs 06 at 2800 fps. Plus, the 30-06 will handle the nosler 190 gr Accubond LR with a BC of .640 which at 2700 fps drops 42 in at 500 yd and has 12 in of drift and yields 474 more ft lbs in energy.

Freaking awesome deer here, Raven, for sure.

Dogger: I began using Rifles in 270 Winchester caliber back in the 1960's!
The 270 Winchester is a wonderful and efficient medium and big game cartridge - I know, I done'em!
With todays bullets and powders the 270 Winchester has just gotten better with time.
I also own Rifles in the other calibers you mentioned (30/06 & 280 Remington) and have taken many head of game with both of those as well.
IF... you don't have a Rifle in 270 Winchester then I heartily recommend you give one a try!
I have not killed a Moose with any of my 270's but I have killed Black Bear, Bull Elk, Mule Deer, Antelope, Blacktailed Deer, Mt. Goat and Whitetailed Deer with them.
In fact just 2 weeks ago I used my Remington 700 Sendero in 270 Winchester to harvest a very nice 10 point Whitetailed Buck here in SW Montana (130 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip one shot at long range).
I think if I ever break my "jinx" on drawing a Bighorn Sheep tag I would not hesitate to use one of my 270's on the Hunt.
The 270 Winchester does so many things so well and has so many attributes for the North American game Hunter that I think I better restate my previous "hearty" recommendation and upgrade that to to an emphatic "must have one"!
Best of luck to you if you decide to try one.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Barnes makes an 85gr TSX, my son killed a deer with a reduced load moving at 1900 fps.



Let's see 1,2,3,4..... heck, I think it is about a dozen right now.

Beautiful animals!

I notice this about 270 users. Critics carp about low BC bullets and the shooting press has been loaded with accolades about "better" rounds for decades,yet I see few of these cartridges afield,except the 7 Rem Mag, the only cartridge since 1925 that has ever seriously challenged the 270 Winchester.

In the meantime the 270 continues to stack up BG animals by the truck load,easily numbering in the millions by now; and far exceeding the tally taken by its competition in the aggregate.Those "low BC" bullets sure seem to work.

You see lots of pictures like these among 270 users (got a few myself).

Wonder why that is?

Minimum arsenal. I guess I have one too

Hey Bob -
I don't think (hope) too many folk around here don't believe the .270 won't work on elk; especially because a bullet has a low BC. However, those folks in the LR crowd trying to squeeze as much performance as they can out of bullets likely don't look at that .270 as a first choice because of this. In the LR crowd, most people I know enjoy shooting LR for fun and may occasionally take shots on game at longer ranges if the conditions/situation permits. Best tool for the job, so to speak.

As a matter of fact, when I was a teen (pre-LRF) the 270 and 7RM were rifles of choice in my area due to flat shooting characteristics. Since the advent and proliferation of the LRF, BC's seem to be an increasingly important factor (if not the most important factor); especially for those of us that seem to shoot in constant wind.

The LRAB may change this dynamic if reports continue to be promising. I personally would have no problem toting one for shooting and hunting pursuits.

I've been using a featherweight in .270 for goin on 25 years now (since I was a 17 Y.O. kid in high school) and have killed more game than with any other rifle that I own. 110 gr. V-maxes for coyotes, Hornady 140 gr. BTSPs for practice and goofing off, and Swift 140 gr. A-Frames for hunting. I just can't see using any thing else.

Richard

Bravo: I understand that...I have some of those "better" cartridges myself,that fling those higher BC bullets.

Dogger-

You need to let your wife or girlfriend read that article.

Hurry--times a waist'n.

I am an ardent 270 basher here and associate the G word with it too, but when a couple friends approached me for suggested first rifle/"all round big game rifles for lower 48" purchases it was 270, 308, and 30-06.

Of course I do give my $.02 on the superiority of the latter, but there can be no denying the 270s effectiveness in that role.

Of course those three cartridges all suffer the same shortcoming in my mind... They make the purchase of any other big game rifle a "pure want" issue, negating "genuine need" as a rationale.

Not that this rifle loony has ever given a rat's rear about need...

efw: Well there's an honest guy!

Yeah I love to poke fun at 280 and 280AI advocates,even though I think both are excellent cartridges and I have had quite a few 280's.

Some of this is retaliatory for stones tossed at the 270; but much of it is the LGS jam sessions of years past,where some guy looked me in the eye,and tells me a 280 is "Way Mo' Betta" and kills animals "deader-better" than a 270.

Whereupon I usually ask..."Tell me how?" Which usually brings the conversation to a halt

I kinda like the 130 grain Partition in my 270.

Well Bob you and I both know that camps are full every year of the old two hundred and seventy along with the ought six and seven mag. In over 40 years afield I have seen very few of the cartridges often mentioned here.

Yeah I know some are out there but their numbers are so small they would be left out of a survey

Randy

rta if I show up at the ranch in Wyoming lugging something other than a 270,my old pal rancher looks at me (with eyes narrowed),and says....

"What are you messin' with now?...You should know better by now you don't need anything other than your 270..."

This is easy for me, convincing someone that the 270Win isn't what you want for big game, cause I'm a hater down to the bone.

I grew up hunting with two groups of guys. The first group, Old School Maine deer hunters: 300 Savage & 30/30 all lever gun users and all wore peep sights. The second group, The Magnum Boys, 300WM & 7mmRM, Browning BAR's with high power scopes. I was the odd ball out and showed up in both camps with Bolt Guns is cartridges that had head stamps of 25/06, 270, 7mm Express (280 Rem before it was cool), 308 Win, & 30/06.
Two totally different hunting style in both camps. Old school boys-still hunters in big woods..never drove the deer but would bump the deer and usually the deer would come in front of one of the other guys in the line. The magnum boys were sitters, watching big cuts, fields, and power lines. The magnum boys relied on other hunters to move the deer around and hope fully into the area they sat on.
On the average the old school boys killed more deer than the magnum boys. I personally preferred the old school boys hunting methods so hunted with them the most. Boy did I get a lot of guff from the old school and magnum boys when I showed up with anything other than what they used and swore by, especially the Old School boys.
The worst was when I showed up with the 270. The old school boys started calling me "O'Connor the ballistic expert". After shooting a couple of deer square in the chest and having to track them in thick woods for some distance they started calling me "Jack Azz" for using the sub 30 cal. One thing that I noticed when I hunted with this group of guys was when they shot their deer there was never any tracking. The norm was neck shots dead right there or through the lungs with a very short blood trail.
It took me a long time to learn this since I then tried the 25/06 & 7mm Express with the same results as the 270. Long hard track jobs in thick woods, coupled with the harassment from the boys, pushed me to carry 30 cals. Then the deer started dieing right there or shortly after.

Fast forward 12 years and a move out west. Bought my wife a 270 for hunting out here. There again the same results that I saw in Maine. Shoot a deer square in the chest and it would run forever it seemed. Recoil was to much for her so we dropped down to a 243 and that really sucked. So I had a rifle built for her a 7x57 and we load it very mild. Kills stuff dead. I tried the 7mmRM out here and had troubles with it on elk and deemed it to light for elk.

So the moral of this story is 30 caliber or larger for me and for my wife 7mm going slow is her minimum. If I can ever convince her, she will be converted to a 30 caliber minimum also. The 30/06 in my mine is just about the perfect rifle over any 270. Save your money or just shoot and hunt more with your 06!

I mentioned this before, but over the years I've found myself describing several of my favorite chamberings to folks who aren't into such things. Telling them, "It's about like a .270", generally gets the point across and is not far from the truth. 120 to 160 grains at 3,100 to 2,800 fps, and you're lumping in about a dozen 6.5's and 7mm's. Not a bad place to be, but I like rifles too much to cut back to just the 270Win, even if it makes sense.....

A buddy recently called me about his wife's rifle, a walnut 700ADL in .270Win. They were at a sporting goods store looking for ammo and a scope. I told them to buy some 150gr WW Powerpoints and a Redfield Revolution. 4-5 shots later and I had her zeroed at 200yds and she can effectively kill anything that she might encounter locally with no fuss.

Bout time you saw the light Frank.

I've been hunting with my M70 270 since I bought it new around 1983, all but 2 animals I have taken since then have been with the 270.

The older I have gotten the less Mountain hunting calls me. I now spend much of my time sitting and glassing for whitetail. Because I move very little I have began experimenting with other calibers. I have a 280ai, 243ai and 223ai should arrive any day now.

The 280 ai is a wonderful cartridge and with the high BC 284 bullets it can be shot much further than I have ever needed on a animal. 150 grain Nosler BT's have worked very well on game.

The 243 ai with a 105 gr bullet just is fun to shoot. I have been told it is a game getter. I have not shot any game with it but I should be changing that any day now.

This is all fun and games and gives me something to do that I really enjoy doing. However, I would love to have my youthful waist line and legs back. I would grab my 270 and head West again.

There are still days when I reach for my old Ruger 270 thats been with me so long. It's comforting having it with me, kind of like an old friend you can trust.

Well, I guess one guy on the fire can't kill stuff with a 270. Glad it's not me.

Some of his most memorable hunting articles for Outdoor Life magazine include: "We Shot the Tamales" "Santiago and the Lady Hunter" "Lions Don't Come Easy" and "A Tiger Has Killed".
In this short passage from his story, "Up To Our Necks In Deer," Jack's love for the .270 rifle and impressive writing style are evident.
When the rifle cracked, the buck turned over clear over in the air, and hit like a bag of potatoes.
"Whoopee!" said Zefarino. "That's the kind of rifle I like, one that has power. One shot and the buck doesn't move. How do you call it?"
"The .270," I said.
"The same one you shoot the ram with, no?"
"The same."
"With the .30 you shot a buck and it ran. Then the smaller boy shoots a buck with the .25 and it ran. Now the large boy shoots a buck with this rifle and it is dead in its tracks. How good a rifle, this .270!"
"It shoots a good ball," I said, "--a very fast ball."
"Like the lightning!" said Zefarino. In 2006 the Jack O'Connor Hunting Heritage and Education Center opened at Hells Gate State Park on the Snake River, near Lewiston, Idaho. Many of his big game trophies are on display there, along with other memorabilia, including his favorite .270 rifle.

JOC also said no cartridge can make up for poor shot placement.

Sounds all too "Broke Mountainish" to me Bob. You sure it wasn't a gleam in his eye instead...

I was leaning 280AI for my next project (boat paddle ruger) but dang if this thread isn't making me want to go 270!

bsa: Bill is anything but Brokeback..

His 270 has only bumped off about 30-40 bulls;and about as many mule deer,lots of them pretty big.Last bull was 363...

Shot my two biggest whitetails with an ADL 270, couple nice antelope with it as well. Lucky gun!



What are the fancy new 270 bullets to use? Long range AB's?


Shot a lot of random factory stuff in my 'younger' days, 140 AB's loaded up for the last 5 or so years now.



Next rifle I get will be a 270 Montana.

GAY!

You know, I thought about a 6.5 SAUM and all the fun prepping brass. And then I thought....

[bleep] that!

270 is way easier.....grin

For sure.

Wildcats are all fine and dandy, until your first run and gun on a coyote when you lose a handful of carefully prepped brass into the sagebrush. Suddenly that really cool Lapua brass, or all the time spent neck turning and fire forming seems more like money pissed down the drain.

My hero Dave Petzel from Field and Stream said the 270 is never the wrong choice.

I thought you 270 guys just used partitions.

Fixed it. It is much easier to find bullets that don't work in a 270.

Wild Bill,

Always interesting to hear about bad .270 results. Dunno what bullets you were shooting, but my experience has been very different, on game from pronghorns to moose, with a wide variety of bullets, both in weight and construction.

First time I used a 270 was 1961 reloaded by Joyce Hornady with one of his 130 gr Sp over 60gr of surplus 4831. I now use the same bullet but now Interlock and 59gr of H4831. I've also used Hornady 140 and 150. Well over 100 animals in USA, Europe, Asia and RSA and never a failure or a lost animal. I'm leaving on 31 Dec for a 5 day hunt and am taking a 270 Win with the 130 gr load.

Yes SamO...you can philander with all these other, better, more exotic cartridges and venture far afield....but the 270 is a safe haven when you want something simple,effective,and uncomplicated.

Dogger, I run two 270's; the first since 1978 (Ruger 77) - handload the 140 Hornady Interlock and H4831sc in that one. My other is a custom barreled pre-64 M70FW - I shoot a handload using the 130 grain Hornady Interlock and H4831sc in that one. Either will get the job done - just buy yourself one and enjoy hunting with it - mild recoil, flat shooting, and I never saw anyplace I go out of factory ammo during the past year (while I was trying to find some 308 WIN ammo). Odessa

Philander? Say it ain't so!!

smokepole: No pun intended

Bob, I can't believe you said better......grin.

Philander I will, if it keeps me from getting stagnet, and bored.

I thrive on the anticipation of getting to "ring out" something new, and different, then taking it out in the field to see it performs real world. After all, how can a hunter/shooter/reloader ever form an opinion on something without firsthand experience?

I've got no harsh words for the .270. I've probably seem more game taken with that round than most of the members in here, and it flat works for most everything. My .270's don't get much use anymore.....I'm always tinkering with other projects. I did kill my first antelope, black bear and elk with that round, for what it's worth.

For sure

I don't rightly know, but it sure doesn't seem to stop some folks around here.......

LOL, Bob, what I meant was, if it gets to the point where shooting other rifles is philandering, that could mean you're a redneck. Either that, or..... "you're overthinking your elk rifle......."

John, While in Maine of course I used Winchester Silvertips 130grainers. When I purchased the 270 in a Pre-64 M70 I also received 4 boxes of this ammo and never reloaded for it. Here in Washington 130gr NPT not at blistering speeds because of recoil issues with the wife. The 270 just never preformed for me and I know a couple folks here that keep trying to use the cartridge even though they have struggles with it also.

Pat: After 88 years, I would hope there are some better cartridges than the 270. Otherwise we've been standing still for a long time . Folks seem to think just because I use it alot that I think it's the "best" and that other cartridges don't interest me...this is not true at all.

But it seems to me that to get the improvements,we either have to burn more powder in larger cases, or use some highly specialized bullets in somewhat more "efficient" cases,and maybe some that are not as efficient in that we have to burn a LOT more powder,use longer barrels, and get kicked more in the process to see the gains..

In modern terms,the cartridge seems to be a victim of its pedigree and age...slower twist,lower BC bullets, etc. These problems can be fixed,and it's easy to order barrels with faster twist, and the bullets are getting better.

But it possesses still, to this day, the kind of things that characterize the modern cartridge concepts we all seem to desire in a modern cartridge....high velocity, low to moderate recoil,bullets of good BC(yes some designs in other calibers are better in this regard),flat trajectory,capable of being chambered in rifles easy to tote and easy to shoot accurately...some cartridges trump it in some of these areas,and some only fractionally if at all.

I have done my share of philandering myself,enjoying the variety of cartridges and new rifles...I like to tinker but not as much as in the past.

For me the 270 is a cartridge that has always been in the safe and used frequently, despite having owned many others. For me it has been a very "lucky" hunting cartridge, which is the reason I reach for it so much.

I am on my way to the range today to see how those 130 gr SS II's shoot...

Bob, they shoot much better in a 6.5........

smokepole you may be right...anyone got a 6.5 they want to ship this way?

How did those shoot Bob? I had mixed results with them in my .260.....one box shot lights out, the next box shot like azz.

My reloading is frikkin' Caveman style compared to you LR guys...grin


I could see where less trimming and longer barrel life would be great though.


Wonder if the H1000 trick would work with a 270WSM?

Wild Bill,

I am struggling to get a grasp on your experiences. Between my family and friends, I would venture to guess that we have killed over a couple hundred animals with the 270. Antelope, blackbuck, Axis, black bears, TX rams, hogs, too many deer to mention and a handful of elk.

We have used bullets from 85-150gr, velocities from 1900 to 3250fps.

I have also personally killed deer with 22-375 caliber and most everything in between. In my humble opinion, there is not much better for deer hunting than a 270 with a 130gr bullet.

You have to shoot what you are confident in, so I respect your opinion and experience. But it simply does not mirror mine at all.

It might be due to bullets. in my experience Winchester Silvertips could either work fine or truly suck, depending on the batch. In the beginning Ballistic Tips didn't penetrate very well, but that was fixed within a relatively short period.

In 130-grain bullets, Eileen and I have used Hornady Interlock Spire Points, Nosler Partitions, Remington Core-Lokts, Sierra GameKings and Winchester Power Points on several pickup loads of big game. The only "problem" was a 130 GameKings that left its jacket at the entrance hole on a mule deer--but the core went al the way through the chest cavity and killed the buck instantly anyway.

That's aside from the antelope, deer and elk killed with 140, 150, and 170-grain .270 bullets.

Perhaps the best line Layne Simpson ever wrote went something like this: "If you can shoot, the .270 Winchester is an elk cartridge. If you can't, it isn't." That's been my experience as well--and it's hard to prevent a good elk cartridge from being a good deer cartridge. Unless, of course, the elk cartridge kicks too much for somebody to shoot well.

Pat they did better than I can.

I just sat and shot a 10 shot group with them at 100 yards. Rifle is my old 270 with the 9 twist Brux, Brown stock, with 4X Leupold.

Shots 1 and 10 are out left and the other 8 will fit in a one inch square.Total for 10 shots was 2 inches,including the flyers and I am convinced it's me and not the bullets, but will shoot more to find out.

If I cherry picked the group, I could easily have shown 3 shots in a 1/2 inch...

At 63 I am coming to grips with the reality that I can no longer see very well with that scope for paper target work and you can see me drifting somewhat vertically and horizontally through the shooting.I simply cannot tell if I am holding tightly enough anymore with those optics.

I think I have an operator problem and not a bullet problem.

I am going to load up some more and see what happens. I have a couple hundred to mess with.

+1

I have tried to like the 270 win but it consistently under performs for me. I have trouble getting DRT kills that I believe would have happened with a .30 caliber gun. I also get little to no blood trails. I shot a buck this that ran 90-100 yards and did not leave a single drop of blood that I could find.

I have shot 20x as much game with .30 caliber and only caught one Sierra bullet. The last couple of years I have caught Accubonds, partition, TTSX and BT from the 270 win.

I guess it's just my luck.

Dink

You must have bad luck.

A .270 under performing on deer? Really? I've been at this big game hunting thing a long time, and I've never heard that comment before.

Do some of you guys expect every animal you shoot, as you put it "DRT", to instantly die as if struck by lightning? In all of the guiding and hunting with friends, family and my own kills, I'm always way more nervous when I see a big game animal drop on the spot. I'd much rather see a short death run from a properly placed lung shot anytime. Believe it or not, I've seen more than a few of those DRT's miraculously jump up and before another shot could be fired, disappear into the heavy cover, never to be seen again.....the term DRT, is about as appauling to me, as guys calling extra points on antlers, "trash".

Full agreement on both counts.

Hate the term "trash"!

I love stinger points on antlers. Screw the score, character points are way cooler.

Scores are for baseball games

Tanner

Or deflave at the local bar...

I know under performing sound crazy on deer but I really don't know what else to call it. I do strive to kill everything like lightning hit it. Got to be careful here because all a deer has to jump a fence on a neighboring farm and your done if the owner won't let you cross the fence (he does not have to let you cross).

I know guys like you, bob and muledeer have killed many times the game I have and praise the 270 win but I have always had better results with a 30 caliber gun.

Who would have thought that the first deer I body shot with 130 grain TTTSX wouldn't have exited? That's the kind of luck I have with the 270 win.

Dink

Yeah, of course. Well, or .30 caliber, huh?

Nor those of most others. In my hands, Moose, white tails, mule deer, elk, bear and hogs have tasted death at the sound of a 270 round.

I strive for the Hammer of Thor effect.

And you tried interlocks and partitions?

I agree on both points. DRT means small deer or doe hit in the spine or a neck shot when the target was somewhere else, or worse news yet, as you described.

Partitions. I have never shot game with a interlock.

I have a nicely mushroomed 130 grain partition that did not exit a doe whitetail.

Dink

I've been blessed with an extraordinary number of DRTs with a .270 (130 NPt), but in all seriousness, if you're concerned about a deer "jumping the fence, I'd try a .340 Weatherby with a 200 gr or a .257 Weatherby with whatever works in it. They each have the potential of Thor's hammer on whitetail.

I have zero experience with Winchester Silvertips.

But did experience the "Ballistic Tip Blow Up" in the 80's when they first came out. I used them a few years ago and was pleasantly surprised at the performance.

Lately I have taken a liking to the 130gr monometals, TSX, TTSX & GMX. They do the job with undue meat damage. Which is noticeable when processing your own deer and saving meat is a priority with a new sausage book full of recipes to try out. (Thanks Eileen)

Profound Statement.

I've killed a lot of stuff with different magnums. The only times I've gotten DRT has been CNS shots or high shoulder shots that broke the animal down. Now I'll admit I have way more experience shooting elk than deer, but the effects of bullets on them are not a lot different. The magnums, and the standard '06 and 270 with frangible bullets, would put an animal down pretty quick with boiler room shots if the damage was massive enough. Pretty quick means they didn't run too far. Problem with that massive damage was a messy animal... a lot of blood shot meat. I'm with CRS on this, I want to kill humanely, but not shoot hell out of the carcass, I want to eat what I kill. I have been very happy with my Barnes kills as animals went down quickly without shooting them to pieces. If I need something DRT for some reason I use the high shoulder shot, IF I'm using a bullet that won't ruin the entire front end of the animal. The killingest round I ever used was the .300 Jarrett shooting 200 gr bullets at just over 3000 fps. With Accubond bullets it produced massive damage without looking like a bomb went off in the animal... as long as boiler room shots were taken. Even then it messed them up some. From there I used a .358 STA with 250 gr Hornady Interlocks. At 2800 fps those bullets had serious energy and momentum, but didn't kill things any more spectacularly than the Jarrett, and maybe less so. What I found was that much gun simply wasn't necessary to kill the big game I shoot. My little .270's may be relatively unassuming, but they do the job efficiently and I can shoot them with the accuracy of a varmint rifle. IMO bullet selection and good shooting make a rifle more versatile than just raw horsepower.

300 magnums and soft bullets do lots of damage,more so than anything smaller that I have seen; but 7 mags are no slouches in that department either. Velocity is pretty well screwed up high in both instances and this translates into a lot of trauma from heavy bullets traveling fast.

Some of that thunder can be tamed with tougher bullets that arrest expansion at some point,and provide more reliable penetration in the bargain... Nosler Partitions being among the examples,and there are others today.

The same goes for the 270 IMO(280,284,7x57,7-08,etc etc,all chickens hatched from the same clutch of eggs with no clear winner)and lots of bullets are designed for killing deer sized game,tend to be thin-jacketed and "soft"; sometimes these are relibel and sometimes they aren't IMHO.....but that is easily fixed, and friends and I have used 130,150,and 160 NPT's in 270's for decades with quick kills and bullets infrequently recovered,although I have a few from 270's.

I agree with Scenarshooter and Cobrad above.... and if you want to stop proceedings right now or in short order,aim to break some bone on the way in or out to vitals, (the infatuation with pure lung hits with soft bullets being something I never understood...some folks read too much JOC IMO and even he smartened up as he matured and ended his career killing animals of all sizes with 130 NPT's once they became available.There are other bullets as good today)

Going this way with a 270 I have never seen a lick of trouble if bullets went where they were supposed to and that includes animals up close and out to 400-500 yards...beyond that with a 270,I have nothing to offer.

I still find humor in the fact that the 270 is commonly bashed on here, yet it's the cartridge that many others strive to emulate.

Exactly.

sas: They been chasing it for decades.

Is this the Rainbow thread?

Hell no!

Just remembered I shot my largest.....uh....canine with a 270.


Largest sharptail too!.....grin

joke

Ever hear of Gay Rights?

You Bet!

LMAO!

Classic!

A Rainbow McSwirly in 280AI would look great on him!

We are not talking about 7x57 trajectory.

Ouch�..

No leopard thongs please.......
I don't want to ruin my nice Saturday morning.

No, you need to go to the place next door.

Hey fellas, I'm not bashing the 270 Win. Just stated I haven't had any luck with the two I've had. I still shoot a 270 on occasion...270 grain Hornady 375 cal.

I don't shoot shoulder or CNS, I always shoot for lungs. I'm not a bad shot maybe not as good as everybody here, but I can normally hold my own. And I never expect the DRT when I pull a trigger. Pulled enough triggers on game and other things that I know it's a oddity. But when on average of 4 deer don't go down in 100 yards or less I find something that will. Normally any of the 30 cals seem to do this more times or not.

I've never lost an animal that I've shot with any rifle. I'll never tell anyone not to hunt with a 270 Win. But if asked I'll also never indorse one either.

JOC's 130gn Partition load over a bucket of H 4831 really negated any need for more reloading data in this cartridge.
I never took to it however and, for no logical reason. Also like dark hair over blonde, also, for no logical reason. Just isn't for me.

Bill, do those 270's work pretty good in the 375? I ran across about 8 boxes at the last gunshow down here. I didn't buy them, but figured they will be there next time around.

My 270 was gay again today and accounted for a dink deer,at last light,on last day. Single, 130 grain Partiton. Through the lungs. Made a real short track

NOT GAY by any means. Pre64 std. Relegated to hunting out of the Jeep nowadays using a window rest. Used to be my old NRA silhouette gun. Crank turrets, BOOM, go get deer.

Denny.

Be brave 110 gr acc bonds....

My son shot two deer with the 110gr AB's this year.
It's all good.

Just ask Jack O'Connors ghost about that cartridge....everything
and more....whats NOT to like? I have only had about 6 or so of them....still my all time favorite..

AGW: Just utter simplicity for those times you don't want to worry about gack and just go hunting....it just works. I put the 30/06 in the same category.

Indeed, except I prefer the .30/06.

I know.

The 270 is flat out the killingest cartridge that any rifle has ever been chambered for. How do I know this? Well I bought one last summer and it has accounted for 2 blacktail bucks and 2 coyotes with 5 rounds (i missed the first shot on 1 of the coyotes). 75% of the animals were DRT (1 buck ran about 40 yards) so based on this extensive empirical data, the 270 has no equal.
I have had deer and coyotes shot with an -06 and 375H&H as well as several other calibers take more than 1 shot (don't get me started on cape buffalo) so the evidence proves that nothing kills like a 270.
I've made up my mind so don't try to confuse me with facts.

After she'd hunted a few years, one of my wife's hunting ambitions was to take two pronghorns out of the same bunch. Got her chance one day when we stalked a herd to within about 300 yards, in a little basin. There wasn't a big buck in the bunch and she didn't care much about that anyway by then, so picked out the biggest doe and shot it with her Ultra Light Arms .270.

It dropped and, probably due to the sound bouncing back and forth in the basin, the rest of them ran angling toward us for a couple hundred yards before slowing up and starting to look around for the old doe. Eventually another doe stood broadside and Eileen shot it too. When it dropped a cottontail rabbit bounced out of the sagebrush about 50 yards away, then stopped to look around. She took it's head off with the .270, but afterward decided that it was "too much gun" (as John Wayne said about Glen Campbell Sharps-killed turkey in TRUE GRIT), because even though it the bullet went into the left eye, the bunny's "front shoulders" were bloodshot.

That's the only time she expressed dissatisfaction with the .270 in all the years she used one....

Blacktailer....Amen bro!

I don't want to hear any facts either...

I wish I had that kind of luck with mine. Cause I really like my finnlight.

Dink

Dink I don't know what to tell you....

Ho-Hum!

Here's a big, mature cow taken last weekend with a .270 Win and some random factory load. Range was roughly 300 yards. She made it maybe 10 yards and fell over dead. No fuss, no drama.

Someone has to say it: It's not luck.

If she would have been using better bullets, it wouldn't have done so much damage to the bunny...

I am willing to listen to answers.

I shoot weekly from April through November up to 600 yards. I have run partition, Accubonds,TTSX's and BT.

I can not make it kill like a 30-06.

Dink

Do you have an explanation for its overwhelming inferiority or is this simply your own personal observations and assumptions?

You're right, it's karma.

And karma can be a bitch if you let it.

I really don't know what to tell you. I shot an '06 as my only rifle for the first 20 or so years that I hunted big game. Since then I have messed around with a lot of different stuff, but have shot .270s, .280s (both the Remington and AI versions) and (occasionally) my old '06 more than anything else. I'll be damned if I can tell any difference in "killing power". For me, the .270, in rifles that fit me and shoot accurately, is just what works best for me.

I will readily admit that I don't shoot animals out to 600 yards. My longest kills, mostly on pronghorns, have been not much over 300 yards. Most of the Coues whitetails that I have shot (critters that supposedly require sniper rifles and scopes) were taken at less than 100 yards--same with desert mule deer. If I had never bought anything other than the old pre-64 .30-06 Model 70 that still resides in my safe, I think that my results would have been about the same--but I wouldn't have had as much fun as I have had trying other things.

My personal observations.

I agree with everyone that says it's the same as a 30-06, 280, etc. but for me I it has not been.

Take the buck I killed this year. I shot him quartering toward me at 94 yards. I was shooting off bog-pod. Barnes 130 grain TTSX in front of 60.0 grains H4831, sparked by 210M. Velocity right at 3000 fps. Bullet broke his right front shoulder, through the length of his body and lodged against the bone in left rear quarter. The deer ran 90-100 yards never leaving a drop of blood I could find and searched the trail back and forth twice.

I have shot deer with exact shot placement with a 30-06 and never took a step.

I have shot other deer that were the same way, little to no blood trail, shots that should have made them hit the ground they just take off running.

I really think it's just unlucky for me.

Dink

I have a friend that's only used the 270 and 22-250 on game. He says just the opposite and thinks the 270 works better than the 30-06 in terms of DRT's.. Go figure I guess..

I have not shot game at 600 yards. The farthest I have shot with the 270 win is 253 yards.

I know a lot of people that say it's the same as the rest of the cartridges you mentioned. I have either been really lucky with the 30-06 or really unlucky with 270 win.

Dink

Best thing about a .270 is being able to neck the cases down for my .25-06.

My experiences are similar to mudhen's...and distances about the same although I have here and there stretched a 270 a bit further.

Recent kills include a couple of big bodied mule deer;one hit broadside through the lungs at 340 yards with a 130 Bitterroot,a pretty tough bullet(lazered after the fact). He staggered downhill for about 10 yards and I hit him a second time on the point of the shoulder quartering on and he was down as the rifle recoiled.

The second was a crossing shot off hand at about 80 yards with a 130 NPT;as the rifle recoiled I can still see his head snap down between his legs as he tumbled out of sight over the lip of a canyon. He was dead when I got to him.

These sorts of things have repeated themselves over and over again for me with monotonous regularity.

As to the 30 calibers,they are no doubt great game killers and I have used them a lot. But I recall a heavy old Saskatchewan buck (as a single example)hit at 350 yards across a grain field that took two successive chest hits through the ribs and still managed 80 yards or so along the field edge before he tumbled.In the snow where he was hit, there were chunks of whitetail clockwork scattered everywhere....yet on he went. Made me wonder how he took a single step after each hit.

So this "thing" with animals sometimes covering distance after a hit can happen with anything you can fire from the shoulder and is not at all unusual,no matter what you shoot.

This just has to be among the basic truths of hunting. This truth is the reason I have been looking for a bullet that leaves an exit hole and helps to insure a blood trail that one can follow. Partitions are among the bullets I now prefer.

I am a convert from the school of "bigger is better." A 270 with a 110 or 130 grain monometal pill is good medicine!

I'm getting 3100 w/130s, 3000 w/140s, and 2900 w/150s in my Tikka T3. I'm using this for deer, some times elk and black bear. Some of the shots at bear are 550. Does it really matter what weight I use?

Do you have an explanation for its overwhelming inferiority or is this simply your own personal observations and assumptions? [/quote]

My personal observations.

I agree with everyone that says it's the same as a 30-06, 280, etc. but for me I it has not been.

Take the buck I killed this year. I shot him quartering toward me at 94 yards. I was shooting off bog-pod. Barnes 130 grain TTSX in front of 60.0 grains H4831, sparked by 210M. Velocity right at 3000 fps. Bullet broke his right front shoulder, through the length of his body and lodged against the bone in left rear quarter. The deer ran 90-100 yards never leaving a drop of blood I could find and searched the trail back and forth twice.

I have shot deer with exact shot placement with a 30-06 and never took a step.

I have shot other deer that were the same way, little to no blood trail, shots that should have made them hit the ground they just take off running.

I really think it's just unlucky for me.

Dink [/quote]
Dink,
I have been using Barnes almost exclusively for many years and now Commiefornia mandates unleaded for the whole state. One of the problems that you sometimes run into is that when monometals have high impact velocity they tend to shed their petals and basically turn into a FMJ. That could have been the case with that buck. Maybe a NPT or some such would have worked better in that particular case?

Must be some truth to the size of the entrance hole, the size of the exit hole, and blood trails... I never hear anyone complain of the lack of a blood trail on whitetails when using a 444 Marlin or 45/70...

I shot two deer this year with a 270 and 150 gr. speer's. Both were drt. The second deer was literally knocked off it's feet. Double lung/heart shot.

How many animals have you killed with the 270, compared to the 30-06, 280, etc.?

Wild_Bill_375: Your contention that "Deer shot square in the chest with a 270 will run forever" IS simply bogus and outright untrue - based on my significant experience in this regard!
I am certain I have shot and/or seen shot at least 100 Deer (of 3 species) shot with 270 Winchester caliber Rifles and nary a ONE of them ran off more than a dozen quick leaps!
Let alone run off forever!
The vast majority of the 270 shot Deer I have seen are dead virtually in seconds IF NOT SOONER!
I am just flabbergasted that you would write such a thing!
It takes all kinds I guess?
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Good lord man don't take it as a personal attack! I'm glad you've had great success with the 270 Win. It's not a bogus or outright untruth based on my insignificant experience. Sorry you are flabbergasted! Certainly didn't mean to upset you or even flabbergast. The frigging cartridge never impressed me! So excuse me!

piss in to the wind
WildBill375

I have not killed near the game with a 270 win that I have with 30-06, 300 win or the 300 RUM.

I have used the 270 win for 20 years here and there but the last 3-4 years dedicated myself to using it all season. I have shot seven deer with it between 25 yards and 253 yards during this time (3-4 years) Of the seven four stopped bullets, four left no blood trail and one barely left blood and two dropped at the shot but one needed shot again(before anyone makes fun of my math skills some deer fall into more than category).

Dink

The 270 is the greatest caliber ever made.






That settles that debate.

If I loved the 270 I'd use it for everything here in Montana... 130,140,150... doesn't matter.

I just don't love it, personal quirk of which I have many

I DO love the 308 Win so that's where I hang my hat.

But the 270/130 combo will do everything as far as you care to. I've seen it too many times to think otherwise.

After years of using a 300 Win mag I decided to lighten up and a deal on a 270WSM came along. All I could say was AWESOME! Less recoil than my 30-06 and killing results of my 300. So I just acquired an M70 lightweight in 270 Win and hope it can make me as happy as the WSM has. My WSM likes 130's 140's and 150's but likes 150 Nosler BT's the best. Planning to go 130's in the standard 270 if it likes them.

Huh, interesting.

I'm on the other side of that coin. I really do respect the .270 cartridge and use it a lot, yet have no interest whatsoever for the .308 - even knowing full well it's virtues.

I'd buy a .308 because that's what the flavor of the day happen to be chambered in - not because it was a .308...

I inherited a Remington 721 in 270 from my father. Dad always used 130 grain bullets for big game. The rifle is a nail driver. He was one of those people who were such a great shot it was weird. Always knew where the bullet was going. He used to hunt moose out of Vanderhoof B.C. and never felt he needed anything bigger for Moose although the guys he hunted with always kept a win 300mag in camp for any bears that tried to break in to the meat house before the bush planes could fly it out. The 270 is a great, flat shooting gun. For any of the deer speices, Pronghorn or black bear you can't go wrong.

I figure Jack O'Conner is in Heaven. If he is, I know what he shoots.

Brad, its been way too long and I hope you are well! I've had a custom 270 for 6 or 7 years that is built on a rem ti action, #4 lilja tube and Mark Banser stock that shoot lights out. I have had multiple guns since building that gun, but I keep going back to it because it just freaking works. I have killed multiple elk, a mtn goat, speed goats and a pile of deer with this gun. The 150 VLD has just transformed this gun. It is a death ray on elk past 500 yards. I swore by 130s and now just love the downrange punch of the 150ies. You may want to play with the 270 with 150 VLD's........

The 308 is a killer round as well. Run some 185 VLD's in the thing and I think you will be surprised by how far it shoots with authority!

In the words of the immortal BobH.. IT just works! Shot 3 this year with the 270 2 with Plain ol blue box Fed 130's and one with the 110 ttsx...... weird thing happened... none of them made it over 10 yards! Ive shot deer with the 270 over the years using about every factory round made as well as a few handloads. To be honest they have all been fairly boring and simple. Gun go boom... deer go splat. For the record the 110ttsx's have been the most fun... Deer act like theyve stepped in front of claymore


I was laughing at 375's experiences with the 270... I cant imagine that happening but then again I have had some luck like thst with the 243 so its possible.

Ive got 3 of them but am fixing to sell one of them... a... 700 cm mT rifle and a couple of other guns... to buy a Kimber 84L IF I can find one.

The words "monometal, lung shots, and DRT" don't go together well in the same sentence, IME.


To the OP: Shoot some deer using Federal Fusion with your 270, and you'll have a different story to tell.

They are hugely popular in the SF Bay Area for some reason!

140 grain Barnes X bullet out of a .308 at 250 yards. Lung shot, DRT been there done that!

My old Pop shot elk, mule deer (31"), whitetail with the Winchester Pre 64, he was a great shot at running game. He loaded Sierra 130's or Nosler Partitions. I have never found animals drop so frequently in their tracks dead, from the shot of a 270 Winchester. Its amazing!

A 270 Winchester with a 150 gr Partition powered to 2900 fps is a hard killing sombitch on deer and hog sized game, that combo has never failed me.

Gunner

If you can't kill cleanly with a 270 you are doing something wrong.

Yep thats for sure. This spike wondered by the other day, one shot and he traveled about 7-8 yrds. Seems to happen that way or DRT every time for me.

I shot my old rifle today and it did alrght for an old fwt 270 win. I was talking to my friends/enablers BobinNH and raybass about it and decided I need to step on the gas pedal a little more though. Old rifle made in 1957 so I don't expect much out of it....:

Killing ain't hard, its punching vitals that perplexes some

True enough 65BR, take out the lungs and heart = dead. That little deer had mush for lungs and the top of the heart (vessels) were gone.

Bsa that rifle looks good and shoots good. If you ever get tired of it let me know. I really like the red pad.

Good shooting buddy....

A smart guy once said that a man with a good 270 need look no farther for a NA big game rifle ...

I believe he meant the lower 48.

Ted Nugent said give him a 270 and a case of Fed Premium 150 Partitions, and he would feed Africa, in that Continent....one could do far worse.

Yeah, my pre-64 Model 70 has been on a 150 grain bullet diet the past forty years. That's the only bullet weight I'll feed it and it loves them.

I have used 110gr TSX's, 130gr TSX's, 130gr TTSX's and 130gr GMX's. Have some DRT's, death stances, death runs and everything in between.

Best way to guarantee a DRT is CNS, or physically break down the skeletal structure. Even with a broken down skeletal structure I have seen deer cover some ground.

If I limited myself to just 1 rifle, I'd prbably go that route and have absolutely no regrets....

Mine too!

Killed a 96 pound doe yesterday with the Ruger .270 I aquired from bsa1917hunter. 85 yards, punched both shoulders with a 130 grain Fusion. Bang. Flop. I must admit, I tricked her into dying, though. Before the shot, I yelled out, " .300 Win Mag, coming your way!"

Best statement of the week! Just so happens I pulled out 2 Fwt. pre '64s yesterday and will be running a test between them with
150gr. Partitions. Cannelures have a different OAL than the smooth version. About .075 shorter with the cannelure - the profile is not as "slim". But I've never seen the BC number change.
About 55gr. H4831SC and I'll get to testing - once we get into the 20's ABOVE ZERO here.

I have been big game hunting fairly regularly since the mid eighties when I was a teenager. Most years I would kill hundreds of pigs and goats. This has continued to now but these days I don't shoot as many and go more for the bigger animals and enjoy the hunt.

For the bulk of the first 20 odd years the 308 Win was my go-to cartridge, mainly using 150 bullets. Never had a complaint about the way it kills. Also used a good few others along the way from 222 Rem to 30-06, 30-30, 303 British and others.

I kind of always scoffed at the 270. Then a couple of years ago I ended up with one, which I always swore in a way that I never would.

Long story short, the 270 shooting a good 130g handload just "feels" like more gun than the 308 with 150s. Seems to hit harder and kill quicker. In the last 2.5 years I have killed a couple hundred pigs and goats with the 270 using a variety of 130 and 150g handloads so in a short period have gained a lot if experience hunting with it.

I also use a 30-06, mainly with 180 grain bullets. I find it's performance indiscernible from the 270 Win with 150 grainers.

I also love the 160g Partitions. Holy Crap those things hit hard. I culled some feral horses a few months ago using those, 400 to 500 kilogram animals just hitting the ground where they were standing! I deliberately aimed for the hardest part of the shoulder on all shots too. No exits, but clearly every bullet went right through the vitals given the almost instant deaths the animals experienced.

So from a reformed 270 Win hater, the 270 has heaps going for it.

I shot a large bodied Buck at 290 yrds this year with a 270, loaded with 130 grain cor-lokts....I was shocked when he droped in his tracks, I must have got lucky.

Yup, the good ole .270 Winchester....

Unveiled in 1925 and still going as strong as ever.



It's a Killer!

The 270 was the first rifle I ever spent my own money on at the sage age of 14 after working all summer to have enough to buy it. As much as I liked and killed my very first deer with it I will admit that for GP hunting the 30-06 has the edge.

I believe much of your issue may be how you hunt and shoot. I never did like what a 270 did inside 100 yrds. Was never as predictable as an 06 or such. Where it really shinned though was 100+ out to 400yrds if you are up to that level of shooting.

I sold that rifle and many others I had back while in the navy as I could not move them around with me. I have fond memories of it, but I have never felt the need to buy another. Of course I have never bought a 06 either.

My current collection of rifles has been thinned out to family members but I still have the bases well covered

CF starting with smallest dia.

257 Rbts in Rem 722
7x57 Mauser in Rem 700 Mtn Rifle
8mm-06 in custom M98 (has Pac-nor barrel) Only rifle still from my youth
44 Mag .. two of them .. 1894 Marlin and Ruger 77/44
45-70 in 1895 Marlin

Bottom line. If you do not enjoy it or question it, replace it with something you do have faith in and enjoy.

Life is truly to short for anything else.

+1 IME, I'm unimpressed with the monometals.

It's funny how people can use the same tool and get different results...

I have never seen more certain "death" and predictable outcome than when chest hitting a buck inside 100-200 yards with a 270.

Last year I heard the shots down the ridge and went to a partner still standing where he had shot at a buck about 80 yards up through the hardwoods,chasing a does. I knew his shooting ability on game and asked him to tell what happened and where the deer was on the last shot(he was shooting a 270 and 130 NPT).

He said the last shot felt good,then the buck disappeared from view,and he heard nothing after that. I said "Well he's dead right up there...

Sure enough he was drilled through the shoulders,typical exit with hunk of bone sticking out the exit hole and no blood trail needed...

Typical 270-130 Partition and have seen it who knows anymore how many times. Results always the same.

Like a famous gun writer once said....if you chest hit an animal with a 270 and don't kill him, you know one of two things....he wasn't chest hit, or he wasn't hit at all.

Most times I have to look for them too when shooting a 270. They fall so quick before recoil is over they are down.

7-08 with 120 NBTs kills like a death-ray, but the 270 Win with 130 grainers gets shrugged off by deer.

Figure that out!

Hilarious! That one will leave you scratching your head for sure.

Newest pet cartridge of certain campfire blowhards, that's why it kills better than the 270.

In today's world, the .270 has only three "shortcomings�"

* Not as many ultra high BC VLD type bullets as in other calibers.

* The common 10" twist used by factories precluding use of said VLD type bullets.

�and probably the most serious offense�

* "Everyone" has a .270 and many rifle loonies want to be a little outside of mainstream� Just because�

I don't even own a .270 right now and I have no good reason for it. I used one early in my hunting years and had better results with it than anything I have used since. When it was time for my son to step to something bigger than his .243, I had a .270 put together for him and he is VERY deadly with it.

I guess I need to get off my wallet and build another .270. Thinking #4 Brux with a 9" twist�

John

Millions of dead animals are thinking "Lord if I had only read how insufficient the 270 was I would have never died"

Have posted this before, perhaps even in this thread, but once again it is my distinct impression that I have had, and witnessed, more one-shot kills with a 270 on everything from gophers to grizzlies(really)than with any other cartridge.

Ted

You sure they weren't thinking, "oh lord, I'm getting shot by that gay bastid packing that 270"

The 10 twist and high BC bullet thing is a straw dog......nice if it were faster but any nitwit can stroke a check and have a 9 twist if he wants it.Ask me how I know.

You can lead a very long and very successful hunting career for any BG animal in North America and never touch off a high BC bullet; in fact in many circumstances you are substantially better off without them.

Besides the new ABLR only needs a 10 twist.

And experience has shown the 270 does just fine with common hunting bullets farther away than most who think they are LR hotshots have any business shooting at live animals.

Besides, the construction of many very high BC bullets really isn't all that great,but people seem to get by with them.People who seem to have problems killing BG with 270's might take a harder look at what bullets they are using...or aim a bit better.

Well, I wouldn't appreciate being smacked in the chest by one.

I think we're in violent agreement.

John

Blasphemy!!!

I know.....why i said it.

Isn't a 270 - "improved" with a 1:9 twist - a 280 Remington?

OK 1:9.25 but why split hairs...

Dogger pretty nuanced stuff...but if a person is going to compare them, I figure you have to make everything as equal as possible before you go down that road.

That said there is no hunting....anywhere and for anything for which either is suited,that I would do with one that I would not do with the other and expect the same results.

I still don't have a 270... but my eyes are open whenever I visit the local emporium -- for a nice consignment 270 calling out my name!

If you have a 280 save your money....you don't need a 270...unless you just want one. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Next you'll probably say, if you have one 270, you don't need another one!

I often run contrary to my own advise.

Need is not the issue... DESIRE and WANT control my destiny with the 270!!

Being the voice of logic just aint your calling...

That is what one of my buddy's told me because I already have a .270WSM. Still hard to pass up the M70 lightweight in plain Jane .270!

Yes, I laughed.

Hitting a deer in the shoulder with a 270 is akin to hitting a coyote in the shoulder with a 243.

I am glad you posted this because as I read another posters comments about "shortcomings" I'm thinking there are way too many people wrapped up in ultra high bc vld bullets believing a cartridge can't perform without them.

If you know your dope and can read the wind well and perform the basic mechanics of a marksman then those "shortcomings" are a mute point.

The only argument over the 270 win. is what rifle to get it in.

"Hitting a deer in the shoulder with a 270 is akin to hitting a coyote in the shoulder with a 243." [/quote]

I can agree with this... in either case it just wrecks them.
I really don't like a lot of blood shot meat, so I prefer a premium bullet in both of these calibers when shooting things I intend to eat.

My last .270 was a WSM. It didn't shoot as well as I expected or wanted so it went down the road. I still have a lot of.270 bullets on the shelf so I will eventually likely have another just to use up the components.

I don't need one as a hunting gun since I already have an adequate supply on hand. This was the first serious big game caliber I owned starting back around 1960. I used them for many years then started trying different calibers just because.

I have taken more moose with a .270 Win. than with any of the other calibers I've used.

Jim

Nice to see the 270 getitng so much love... here's 2 elk I killed with the 270:


150 Nosler Partition:



140 Nosler Ballistic Tip:

"If you don't want bloodshot meat, don't shoot game in the meat".
Me ~ 2012

My .270WSM shoots under 1/2 inch 3 shot groups at 100 yards with 150 grain NBT's.

I load 160-grain Nosler Partitions in my .270 and it turns it into a 7x57. It's like magic.

I'm a .270 guy, it's all I use anymore and I love the cartridge. With that said I don't think Dink and .375 are lying. When I first began hunting a lot of the older and wiser(?) guys would say that .270's should come with tracking manuals. I also knew a guy in Vermont who hated .270's because "all his relatives used them and he was always having to help track their deer". I've heard too much of this to believe it's all bunk. But my experiences with the .270 have been great. Go figure?

all it means is that they couldnt shoot fer schitt.

That's exactly what I read in that!

I have a late uncle that hated the .270. Why? Because he lost a nice blacktail buck that he wounded. He told me he found a chunck of leg bone and that was all. He didn't say much when I asked him why he expected a leg shot deer to be DRT....

Brad, did you get 2 holes with that 140 BT?

If it's laying there dead there doesn't seem to be much need for two holes.

Jim

Its just an anomaly with the .277 calibre. Deer don't die when hit with an object of that diameter as quickly as if it were of 6.5 or 7mm diameter.

That for sure and maybe some crappy bullets.

I did, in and out through the lungs and DRT. Nice sized cow.

I love Ballistic Tips. Would happily hunt elk with them over any case suitable for elk.

This is what baffles me. I can't get 130 grain Partitions, Accubond, TTSX and ballistic tips to exit deer or antelope (not to mention poor blood trails). While everything died it seems to me those bullets should have all exited if 140 grain BT exits a cow elk.

Dink

A lot of poor performance with bullets is the result of poor shooting!

I've never been able to keep a Ballistic Tip launched from the 270 in antelope, elk or mule deer. Not one.

Well now that I have this M70 Lightweight does anyone have a good light .270 load that would be good for a kid.

http://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/H4895%20Reduced%20Rifle%20Loads.pdf

In addition to the above, a starting load for a 130 grainer with H4895 (around 42 grains).

An 85 grain TSX loaded to around 3000 fps makes a dandy kids load, and still shoots flat.

Daughter #1 wrote me that she's been thinking about a .257 Roberts ever since taking her first ever big game animal, a doe antelope in Wyoming, this past October. Given the paucity of factory offerings for ammo and rifles, I suggested a number of other cartridges, instead of the .257 Robert. These included the .260 Rem, 7mm-08 and .308 Win in short action and .25-06 and .30-06 in long actions.

She is not a gun looney but has a Kimber .45, an AR 5.56 and two stripped lowers, one of which she has completed with a kit from CMMG. She is smaller framed than my other daughters. After my first email I realized I had omitted the .270 Win from the discussion. I sent her another email with this to say about the .270:

"One other cartridge I didn't mention was the .270 Winchester. Think of it as a lower-recoil, flatter-shooting .30-06. Not as suitable as the .25-06 for prairie dogs (ricochet factor due to heavier bullets) but fine for coyotes and with 150 grain bullets it is excellent for elk. With 130 grain bullets it is arguably the best dedicated long-action deer cartridge available. Also excellent for antelope with the 130 grain bullets. Barrels are typically 22-24" with many options for factory ammo. Consider it a step up from the 7mm-08 in terms of range. Basically a .30-06 necked down to .277". This cartridge uses modern pressures. An excellent choice that can handle light varminting to moose."

If she decides on a .270 I will have no qualms about her using it for any game in NA short, perhaps, of brown bears.

Pull your head out your azz. Brad said he did get an exit. It's pretty obvious the elks laying there dead, regardless

Pull your head out of your azz. I made this comment before Brad mentioned having a pass through! Not that it matters anyway when the animal is dead.

Jim

I also hear it kills deer as well for adults as it does for kids.

Thanks guys the info on the H4895 is interesting to know.
Of course I have none but do have about 5 pounds of IMR4895 go figure! Guess I will have to pick up a pound when I run across some.

It does! Though ours are loaded a bit warmer.....3700-3800 fps with RE-17.

Don't quote me on it since I'm not a gun writer but I believe Mule Deer mentioned in another thread that because IMR4895 is also a single base powder the 60% rule works for it as well when working up reduced loads. If you do a search there are # of threads on reduced loads for a bunch of different calipers and powders.

Three bad experiences with a .270:

Distance about 80 yards. Three double lung shots. Buck kind of humped up or flinched, but kept moving. Enough, I raised the aim point and severed the spine in front of the shoulders. Borrowed rifle, lender furnished ammo, 150 Bronze Points. Examination revealed a three holes in that could have been covered with a softball, and three holes out of the same diameter, through the high lungs. Field dressing showed no massive damage to the lungs themselves, just holes punched through. My diagnosis, wrong bullet or bullet failure. I was not familiar with that bullet and didn't know what to expect.

I was watching a sendero in south Texas. A buck stepped out really close, maybe thirty yards. I decided to be cute and shoot him in the neck at the base of the skull. No real trophy just a good meat deer. I shot a little low. I trailed the deer almost 150 yards through the thick brush. My shot cut the trachea. I don't know how he made it that far. Blood loss was also severe. Diagnosis. Bad shot.

Rancher told me there was a good buck hanging out in the oaks adjacent to the Lampasas river bottom on the corner of the ranch. I set up one afternoon in a fence line dividing a wheat patch from the next ranch. The buck came out briefly to meet a hot doe, they went back into the brush and neither came out before dark. Next morning, daylight broke with a heavy fog cutting visibility to yards. I drove down the fence line, backed my jeep into some fence line brush, and waited (legal in TX). An hour or so after light, the fog began to lift a little. I could see the good buck nervously grazing on the wheat. Rifle ready, proper look for a neck shot. Bang, flop. I pulled the gun in, poured a coffee, and hit the starter. As I looked up my dead deer jumped up and in a few jumps was back in the river bottom.

Daylight without fog revealed that I had parked much too close to my work. More like 60 yards, rather than the 140-150 that I had thought. And too, I had not yet learned my lesson about the cute shots. I found a small tuft of hair, with a little skin attached, and only a couple of drops of blood where he lay for a for maybe 30-40 seconds. Diagnosis, bum shooting/shot placement selection. I think I just clipped enough of the neck to temporarily KO the deer.

I don't think one can blame the cartridge for any of these incidents. I made poor shot choices on the latter two.

jt402, a cheap 130gr Corelokt through the boiler room would have fixed either situation.

It's because when a cartridge is as popular as the 270 and been around as long, it's going to be loaded with all kinds of bullets,used by all kinds of people of different skill sets,and shot at all kinds and sizes of animals under all kinds of distances and conditions. Varying results are inevitable.

How else can we explain experienced guys who have filled trophy rooms with a 270 for elk, moose, grizzlies, deer of all sizes,grand slams of sheep,caribou,etc etc.....not to mention African plains game from eland on down, and even a lion here and there. Yet others struggle with the cartridge on a half starved fork horn and declare the cartridge as no good(?)

I mean....they can't both be right.

I have never run into anyone who has used the cartridge widely on a variety of animals who would believe the Vermont story.Last year a VT buck took a single 270 bullet to the shoulder and his momentum carried him another 20-30 feet beyond where he was last seen. My suspicion is the VT guys who are squawking can't shoot or use lousy bullets.

It's all bullets and placement.

Once I had to put down about 80 sheep that were injured when a road train tipped over. A sad deed. Went thru near two boxes of .40 S&W ammo. I shot all those poor buggers in the head. You know what? Some of 'em needed a second shot!

Failure of the cartridge?

Of course not. I started to become distracted and didn't place the bullet in exactly the right spot. Some of those poor animals were still walking around on 3 legs or dragging their back half, and they had to be shot from about 15 feet away.

Anyone who thinks the 270 has let them down 'cause a deer stood up after being shot needs to look at either their bullet choice or more than likely their shooting.

I am starting to think the difference is the way one hunts. My Dad probably killed 25-30 deer with a 270 win and he would be the first to say that a 270 did not kill like a 30-06. He used partitions for most of those deer.

I shoot a lot and always use "premium" bullet of some sort. Both dad and I though will shoot a deer at almost any angle, running or standing. I am starting to think that 30 caliber bullets offer enough advantage to matter on shots other than perfectly broadside(where everything is good).

For whatever reason 30 caliber holes seem to leave better blood trails, break bone and delivery more shock on deer size animals than 270's.

Dink

Try 130 gr Hornady interlocks and it will turn into a 30-06.

There's your problem.

Low percentage shots are going to case problems, no matter what you're shooting.

Do you need a telephone booth to change the .270 into a 30-06? I'd like to turn mine into a .223 Ackley Improved LOL

I've better things to do than try to figure out fuggers from Vermont. Guys who farm and hunt and recommend voting dhimmicrat seem to me full of it. They obviously can't shoot worth chitt.

That takes a new barrel.

No, just a good bullet.

Why no problem then with the 30-06, 300 win or 300 RUM?

I don't think quartering shots with premium bullets are low percentage shots either.

Dink

I would call a running shot, or any shot where one has to penetrate through a bunch of deer to reach vitals a low % shot.

I suspect what you're seeing is "limited sampling" affecting your perception of what works and what doesn't. Shoot enough deer, and you'll see all sorts of things.

When it comes down to it, there is basically no difference in the killing power of our most popular big game cartridges, especially on deer.

Dink I would not be surprised if you are right; anybody who has killed enough game with a 300 magnum and a 270 will know that the 300's will have tendency to make a more severe and extensive wound in an animal than a 270.This is owing to the fact that they throw heavier bullets of greater diameter at higher velocity. Whether you use deep penetrators or more splashy designs, there is just more bullet material to work with,and at higher velocity.

Some of the more visually apparent train wrecks and dramatic kills I have seen on large bucks have come from 300 magnums and I have tracked enough bullets through enough animals (a good many larger than the biggest deer) to know that 300 magnums can be made to penetrate very deeply,break bones, and cause more trauma along the way than any bullet of 270 diameter.Comparing a 270 Winchester to a 300 magnum is sort of like comparing it to a 338 Win Mag....a 300 mag has more in common with a 338 than it does with a 270....so yeah! I would expect a 300 magnum to demonstrate an advantage! Who wouldn't?

But the only times I have seen them demonstrate a very clear advantage was when bullets were well placed.

They are indeed more potent cartridges than a 270.....But what can we expect when a 300 magnum burns a lot more powder, and throws much heavier bullets of greater diameter at the same or higher velocity?

If you hang around the 300's long enough,you also learn that they are a long way from being infallible,and I have seen a fair number of animals, deer sized and up,that made a lot of tracks after a hit with a 300 magnum,and have even seen those well hit make tracks as well.It also goes without saying that they are more difficult for a lot of people to shoot well and accurately.Prairie Goat alludes to this above.

I have a friend who believed very firmly the same way you do in the extra potency of the 300 magnums who lost a huge mountain mule deer buck up in BC to an errant hit from a 300 RUM at 150 yards....he learned his lesson the hard way.

As to penetration there are 270 bullets that will penetrate almost the full length of a mature buck. I am no fan of splashy, thin jacketed bullets in the cartridge because the performance of those type bullets is not consistent enough to suit me....others may disagree.

I can't think of a shot I would take on a deer with a 300 magnum that I would not take with a 270 and suitable bullet.And I sure don't wait for just broadside shots;but I don't shoot deer up the arse either unless they are wounded and getting away.

In the end I think it has little to do with how you hunt and more to do with how you shoot.

What a diverse group of people we have here on the fire! On one side we have guys that rave about the magical killing virtues of 22 & 24 calibers while another group feels the 270 is a pipsqeak on anything larger than a gopher. Just amazing.

Me, I own 2 270 caliber rifles. Standard & Roy's version. I have nothing to complain of from either and would happily hunt any non dangerous game anywhere in the world with either given proper bullets.

It's not the farmers or the backwoods types who are voting Democrat. It's Burlington, Bennington, Rutland, and Brattleboro that screw my favorite state up. But back on topic, I seldom have ever heard the bad rap on the .30-06 that I've heard about the .270. Maybe guys are quicker to blame the .270 for their deficiencies than they are the '06?

Thanks for the tip. It's good to know that I have 3 guns in one.

I killed this red stag with a .270 Win and standard factory cup and cores. It was a quartering to shot at about 50 yards and the bullet broke the on shoulder and exited behind the off shoulder. The bull ran about 30 yards and died. I've done the same with elk and the .300 Win.


The difference in killing power that I have seen between the .270 and .300 Mag with like bullets is minimal at best...I've killed probably 15 critters with the .270 and 20 or so with a .300 Win. YMMV.