Factory loads for .270 and 7mm08

Pine Marten

Well-Known Member
Hello everyone.

I’m just starting out on my stalking career, and I don’t know where to go for lists of available factory loads. For shotgun cartridges, a website like justcartridges.co.uk provides me with a list of just about every commercially available shotgun cartridge in the UK, together with details of their loads, ballistics, etc. Where can I go for something similar for rifle ammunition?

I’m playing Fantasy League Rifle Purchase at the moment, but I also need to research this stuff as I will at some point this year be applying for an FAC. I’d like to go for a .270 as most of my stalking is likely to be for roe and muntjack, but I’m also likely to go boar shooting with my brother in law in France on occasion. The .243 is inadequate for this, and any current or ex-military calibre is illegal for hunting in France, so no .30-06, 6.5x55 Swedish etc. As I understand it, the .270 is available in so many loads that I should be able to use quite light ones for most of my stalking here, and upgrade when/if I shoot boar. It’s been suggested to me that the 7mm08 would suit my needs too, but there isn’t the variety of factory ammunition.

Can anyone help (I’m sure you can)?
 
I use Norma ammunition through my 270 and 243, They have a good website with all their range of ammo which is quite useful
Crumpy
 
Some will argue that 270 is too big for roe and munty. personally think it works fine on roe 130gn norma SP
same round works perfectly well on reds of all sizes but may be light on boar. not shot boar so cant comment on that.
there is a fantastic video of a german aristocrat slotting running boar left right and centre with a blaser in 270....presumably works just fine also.

you can buy 90-160gn bullets but imagine you will struggle to find factory loads outside of 130-150gn in most gunshops.
 
I have found that many .270s can be very fussy about factory ammunition - I really struggled to find a respectably accurate load (by which I mean sub-1" at 100 yards). Remington Corelokt in 130gn and Sako Hammerheads in 156gn were the only ones that worked for me but those would cover almost any base.

I hate to say this and I'll have to wash my hands after typing this but if you aren't going to reload...consider buying a Tikka T3 in .270. Every one I have seen in action has shot any factory ammo' into ragged one hole groups - even dirty horrible PPU stuff.
 
I hate to say this and I'll have to wash my hands after typing this but if you aren't going to reload...consider buying a Tikka T3 in .270. Every one I have seen in action has shot any factory ammo' into ragged one hole groups - even dirty horrible PPU stuff.
+1 on this, mines more accurate than my Sako!
 
Hello everyone.
I’d like to go for a .270 as most of my stalking is likely to be for roe and muntjack, but I’m also likely to go boar shooting with my brother in law in France on occasion. The .243 is inadequate for this, and any current or ex-military calibre is illegal for hunting in France, so no .30-06, 6.5x55 Swedish etc. As I understand it, the .270 is available in so many loads that I should be able to use quite light ones for most of my stalking here, and upgrade when/if I shoot boar. It’s been suggested to me that the 7mm08 would suit my needs too, but there isn’t the variety of factory ammunition.

The .270 is fairly high velocity for woodland stalking. It was developed to produce a flatter trajectory over longer distances (than say the 30-06 from which it is derived). The 7-08 has lower velocity and is therefore more suited to woodland stalking. High velocity on impact can result in extensive carcass damage. There is a body of research which indicates impact velocities above 2000-2200fps results in increased damage. Another factor in favour of the 7-08 as far as you are concerned is that it can fire heavier bullets than the .270. The .270 can fire a 150gr bullet, the 7-08 can fire a 175gr bullet, the latter being more suited for the boar. Alternatively, you might consider the 7x64 which has similar performance to the .270 but is a true 7mm (and not a military cartridge) or the .280 Remington which is also derived from the 30-06 and also a true 7mm. Ammunition for the 280 is currently produced by Remington, Winchester, RWS, Norma ... so should be obtainable in the UK.

Last point, which ever cartridge you end up with, there is a strong argument for sticking with one type of ammunition and getting to know your setup.

Good luck.

-JMS
 
Thanks everyone.

I looked at the Norma website which is very useful. Also it seems that Norma produces "range-friendly" versions of their hunting loads with non-expanding bullets which is a bonus. I had worried that the .270 might cause quite a bit of meat damage, especially on a muntjack. Looks like the 7mm08 or the 7x64 might be more the business. In my imaginary shopping, I've sort of settled on either the Steyr-Mannlicher Classic Full Stock or the CZ equivalent, the 550 FS. The former is available in just about any calibre you like, whereas the latter doesn't come in 7mm08, although it is chambered for the 7x64. Is the 7x64 significantly different from the .270?

Admittedly my choice of rifles is as much on aesthetic grounds as anything else, but there's not much point in forking out a load of money on something you don't really like. I'd happily go with the SM, but it does cost about a grand more than the CZ, and I'm not sure if for recreational stalking and low-intensity use there's enough difference in quality to warrant the price differential.
 
I found that the Federal Fusion 150 Grain ammunition shot well in several rifles I tried it through and it performed well on the Roe Buck as well.
 
Thanks everyone.
Is the 7x64 significantly different from the .270?

They are equivalent to one another. The 7x64 is a true 7mm (and so can use heavier bullets) whereas the .270 isn't a 7mm. The 7-08 delivers lower velocities thanthe other two, and is more suited to woodland stalking. The 7-08 comes in 'medium' length actions whereas the other two require 'long' actions. If you want a 7-08, take a look at other manufacturers than Steyr and CZ, it's a buyer's market.

-JMS
 
Bullet choice and placement will impact carcase damage more than any other factor.

A 150gr .270 vs a 165gr 7mm-08 "through-and-through" shot missing major bones other than ribs is unlikely to demonstrate more or less carcase damage when compared to each other.

bullet choice is a different matter. if you need to shoot heavier than 150gr in factory ammo then 270 is not for you. never seen the 160gr .270 option in any shop
 
Bullet choice and placement will impact carcase damage more than any other factor.

A 150gr .270 vs a 165gr 7mm-08 "through-and-through" shot missing major bones other than ribs is unlikely to demonstrate more or less carcase damage when compared to each other.

bullet choice is a different matter. if you need to shoot heavier than 150gr in factory ammo then 270 is not for you. never seen the 160gr .270 option in any shop

+1.

I've found ammunition choice plays a huge part on the damage to the carcass. Winchester silvertips tend to turn foxes to soup, where as norma 130 sp tend to leave nice clean entry and exit wounds- which are my preffered deer rounds.
 
Right, I think everything here points to 7mm08 being a better choice for me than the .270, although that means that the CZ is out of the picture, so more virtual shopping is required. I could also go second hand, there must be loads of perfectly good used stalking rifles out there.
 
I'd disagree in that the 7mm-08 isn't much good with bullets heavier than 140 grains either! Remember if you handload, and really for UK use that is the best route with the 270, then your 270 will do anything that your 7mm-08 will do.

Indeed there was, once, a school of thought that said that the big advantage of the 270 was that its bullets were designed ONLY for velocity between 2,800 to 3,000 unlike the 7mm bullets that could be often too expansive or not expansive enough as it depended on which maker's you purchased!
 
Every can of worms in this thread seems to contain other small cans which then grow in to large ones with yet more worms wriggling inside...

OK, deep breath, and here's my question. The .270 Win is a very popular calibre for stalking. Lots of people use it. There must be factory-loaded ammunition available relatively easily for most commonly-encountered situations that are perfectly adequate for use with most mass produced rifles on the market. I may be wrong, but I'd be prepared to bet that most people buy ready-made rounds and don't load their own. Surely retailers and importers aren't so useless that they can't be bothered to cater for the market? Or can they?
 
It depends on the stalking that you do, unfortunately, on the hill or bumbling about in the bushes pretty much decides on if 270 is suitable or not.

In fact it would help if you gave an indication of what sort of stalking you are likely to do to assist in a response.
 
A fair question.

Realistically, I have three options, none of which involve the Highlands. I have a friend who can offer me some stalking in woodland and some agricultural land in County Durham, but mostly woods, as well as on more fields and grazing intersspersed with hedgerows around High Wycombe, back down South. As I don't want to impose on him too much, I'm likely to pay for some guided stalking (to start with) in the South-East, which again is likely to be more woods and fields. I'll have to see what's available of course, but my preference would be to learn to properly stalk deer rather than shoot them from a highseat, although I appreciate the safety concerns with regards to background, bullet stopping, etc. The final one is that I'm likely to occasionally (maybe once a year around Christmas) have an opportunity to shoot driven boar with my brother-in-law in France, in Normandy.

So I suppose it's quite a tall order, but I'm looking far a calibre primarily for woodland stalking on roe or muntjack, but with the flexibility to use loads appropriate for boar on occasion. As that's a reasonably wide range of specs, it has to be something that comes in a variety of light to heavy loads. The .270 seemed ideal for this, but admittedly I hadn't thought of the fact that it's a pretty fast calibre designed for long ranges and may make mincemeat of a muntjack at 100m.

There is of course the option of totally dropping the boar requirement and using a shotgun with slugs for this. The only thing is that I don't believe I can practice with slugs back in the UK, so the chances are I'd make a mess of things.
 
Given what you've just said I'd have no hesitation in recommending 7mm-08 in an sensible proportionate length action and, maybe, avoid anything built on a full length Mauser action.

Indeed a modern rifle will be quicker to cycle in 7mm-08 than an old full length Mauser actioned 270 Winchester!

Your 7mm-08, with appropriate bullet, will handle any wild boar that you will encounter in France where it is seen as a popular legal non-military calibre alternative to the 308 Winchester.
 
+1 on enfield spares comment - I used my 7-08 in France on Boar with Federal 150Gn Powershock rounds.... very very effective. Having said that, I've shot Roe and Fallow with the same rounds, same effect. I reload for it since it was rebarrelled and tend to stick with 140Gn Accubonds for everything, but may change to Partitions which seem to give less meat damage than Accubonds when used thru a 275 Rigby calibre.
 
Having a look round on what manufacturers make rifles chambered for the 7mm-08, there aren't that many: there's Steyr-Mannlicher, Remington, Tikka and Sako. I sort of have my heart set on a full-stock rifle, which neither Remington nor Tikka make. Sako does the Bavarian Carbine, but it costs as much as the Steyr Classic so you may as well go for the real thing. My assumed favourite CZ doesn't make any rifles in that calibre.
 
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