270 win

The 270 is a great calibre and there is no need to go bigger, its just a want or a compensation for being a bad shot.

Oh damn. That means I'm going to have to step up to AT LEAST a H&H 375 :lol

[grandmaster]

I've been reading with great interest on the .270 debate regarding bullet weight and I'd like to suggest that Nosler make a mighty fine partition in 160 gr. that I've had great success with on any game you care to mention in North America. I load my own and wouldn't have it any other way, Just a thought! GM

[Cal]

When I first got mine people were making such a fuss about how small it was for moose I was concidering going up to 160s. But after a few years of using it I found out that the 130 grainers would kill anything in alberta with the 150's giving you a little more penetration if you felt you needed it, not even sure what I'd use a 160 for any more, thats got to have the SD of a 200grain+ 30 cal bullet.

On a side note I cant find 130 grain .270 amo of any sort in Slave Lake this year, even WSS in Edmonton didnt have very much.

[brianscott]

Now a days its not so much bullet cal, or size. Its the Construction.
A 130 ttsx from a 270 @ about 3000fps will out penetrate a 300WM with a cheapo bullet.

I have used the 270 for most of my short hunting career, but It has performed better IMO than my 300WSM.

I like the fact that a 270 bullet will often be found on the offside hide of an animal, thus all the bullets energy is expended inside of the animal

This big bodied mulie fell on the spot with one 130 grain federal Fusion, fully dressed he came in at 220 on the hook

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by Reynolds

The latest copy of Alberta Outdoorsmen has a good article on the 270.

Bottom line from the Gunsmith - the 270 is best suited to be a deer and varmit gun. The 270s once popularity is based on marketing and not the guns capability. The 270 is just a necked down 3006 case so why not have a 3006 with more capability with more grain selection. The 270 is very limited on bullet grains. The 270 is losing popularity.

Having once owned a 270, I personally agree.

I'm sure people owning the 270 have claims to great success but this article is the opinion of an experienced gunsmith.

Interestingly the experienced gunsmith (gunsmith and elk hunter?) didn't said anything about the .270's capability to handle large game, just popularity,and ammo availability (which still dwarfs most other calibers that doesn't have "-06" in it's name). It seems to me there is a big difference between "best suited" and "unsuited". Not sure what he means by "limited on bullet grains". I've got ones from 100g to 150g from a swath of different manufacturers sitting in my gun cabinet.

If I just wanted to buy a a caliber to use exclusively as my "elk gun", I guess it wouldn't be a .270, but it seems folks have been using them for that quite successfuly.

[7mm-08]

270 will take moose without any problems as will the 7mm rem mag! My old man has a 7mm rem mag uses it every year for moose in nfld havent seen one walk away yet! Also have a friend who uses a 270 with the same result just put it where it needs to go and game over!

[abrigger]

Originally Posted by brianscott

Now a days its not so much bullet cal, or size. Its the Construction.
A 130 ttsx from a 270 @ about 3000fps will out penetrate a 300WM with a cheapo bullet.

I have used the 270 for most of my short hunting career, but It has performed better IMO than my 300WSM.

I like the fact that a 270 bullet will often be found on the offside hide of an animal, thus all the bullets energy is expended inside of the animal

This big bodied mulie fell on the spot with one 130 grain federal Fusion, fully dressed he came in at 220 on the hook

A 270 will never outperform a 300WSM ever, under any circumstances. It may have a chance if you have range loads in the 300 and top ammo in the 270, but I still dout it.
If it does for you what you want it to, then it is a win!

[Dick284]

A 2-1/2 yr old post,
Wow....

[dlkenny]

I have been doing some significant reading about this and I've learned an interesting tidbit. The .270 was developed by winchester because the .277 diameter bullet occupies a unique spot in the ballistics charts. I've been considering buying my girlfriend a rifle that is comfortable and capable of handling a wide variety of game and the two that are on the table are the .270 and the .30-06.

What I've found is that because of the way the energy equation works, the .277 bullet will always retain it's energy much better than the .308 caliber bullets. Inside 300 yards the 30 calibers have more power but over 300 yards, because of the greater surface area in contact with the air it creates more drag and slows the bullet down at much greater rate. Because of the way the energy equation works, as you double the speed you multiply the energy by 2, but as you double the weight of the bullet you only multiply the energy by 1.41 so at longer distances the energy is more dependant on the bullet's speed than weight.

The reality is that for any given bullet weight, the same weight in a smaller diameter will be the more efficient bullet. Compare the .270 with a .130 grains sierra spire point bullet to the .30-06 with a .165 grain sierra spire point bullet, at 500 yards the .270 carries 1060 foot-pounds of energy, compared with only 625 foot pounds from the .30-06. Similar effects can be seen in the .300 Weatherby Magnum compared to the .270 Weatherby Magnum...in order to keep the long distance energy high, the initial energy of the .300 weatherby had to be much higher than the .270 and hence a much bigger cartridge was needed. Past 450 yards, the .270 weatherby carries equal energy as the .300 weatherby and at 1000 yards carries 200 foot pounds more energy. The advantage in the larger bullet in this application is its resistance to windage.

I've also found that by going smaller than .277 that the bullet doesn't have enough mass to carry the speed (momentum) and so the bullet's energy drops off faster. The .277 was developed by Winchester for this reason, and it's the same reason that Roy Weatherby started with this bullet when he created his line of magnum rifles. Consider the .257 weatherby magnum compared to the .270 winchester, the .270 carries it's energy better than the .257 weatherby. This has little to do with the cartridge but simply the physics acting on the bullet in flight, though the .270 does drop a little more than the .257.

Considering that most game should never be taken in excess of 350 yards anyway (though it happens) the reality is that both rifles have more than adequate power inside that range for virtually any north american big game species.

Years ago, my father owned a .270 Winchester and shot at a moose some 400 yards away. He killed the moose but was disappointed in the 4 shots it took to kill it. While dressing the moose he found 2 bullets lodged in the brisket bone and realized that more power was needed. His options at the time were to go to a bigger bullet or to chamber out his .270 to a weatherby magnum. After asking a few gunsmiths he opted to chamber out the .270 to a weatherby magnum (the cost was less than buying a new rifle). That was in 1969 and since that time the rifle has killed over 50 moose, 2 elk, dozens of deer, a grizzly bear, 2 black bears, a lynx, a coyote, and a bighorn sheep. The longest shot was 800 yards from a rock bluff at a moose which did nothing more than spin a circle and drop.

A few years ago my father retired that rifle and bought a .300 Winchester Magnum (only because it was a good deal). Since that time he has had equal success with that rifle.

My own observation is that ballistically the .270 is more efficient, but the .30 calibers (especially the magnums) carry more energy inside 450 yards. Outside 450 yards, the .270 carries it's energy better but is more effected by windage. One issue that is often overlooked in this debate though is that of recoil. The .270 is generally a *****cat, and the recoil is manageable for virtually anyone. The .30-06 is inconsistent from one rifle to another, some kick really hard and others are quite manageable. My uncle owned a Husqvarna .30-06 which kicked significantly harder than my Weatherby, while my grandfather owns a .30-06 in a remington 700 that is very docile. While picking a rifle off the shelf one doesn't know this until it is taken to the range. This makes the choice for some easy simply because they are not comfortable with the possibility of a heavier recoil.

The result is really a toss up and becomes a question of preference. I personally own a .270 Weatherby Magnum (Mark V Weatherby, german made) and I'm very happy with it. In the case of my girlfriend I have elected to buy the .270 Winchester for my girlfriend simply because I can use the same reloading components as with my Weatherby and I feel that it will do everything she'll ever want it to.

[Pioneer2]

About all I use in mine is 57gr IMR 4831/Fed or Win brass/Fed mag primer and Hornady 130gr SP mice to moose.........................Harold