.270win

[wildfowler.250]

Does anything better it?

I keep looking for a new caliber but nothing seems to better it for me as a good allrounder. Flat (ish) trajectory, moderate recoil , good reloading availability and reasonable bullet weights.

But I’ve had one for 20 years. I’d like to change it but I think I just got lucky starting out with this and that it possibly suits me best anyway.

I’ve shot a 6.5x55 a lot. Dropped sika well. Now this may do as an alternative but it is like a banana with 140 grain which I don’t ‘love’.

.243 possibly has some weight issues with copper and some say marginal.

.30-06, I could see myself picking one up. Slightly different feel of recoil? I’ve used one a couple of times on estate days. Maybe a little more versatile.

.308, possibly more popular than the .270? Less snappy? Poorer trajectory. I think I’d prefer the .308 over the 6.5cm inside 250 yards.

7mm08, on paper looks good. Just doesn’t tick many more boxes than the .270? Not many people use it?

Who’s chopped about and end up on caliber X for whatever reason? I do wonder if these ballistic scopes now like the Hik,(or Swarovski DS) make these .308/6.5cms much easier to shoot. But again, most of the UK deer are shot within max point blank range anyway.

I think on a survey, the majority of users would be 6.5’s now?

 

[Cranborne]

I have a 6.5x55 and a 270win; pretty much an ideal combination for the UK in my opinion. I've previously owned a 25.06, 7mm-08, .308 and a .30-06; the only one I didn't like was the .308 but that was probably down to the rifle (an unmoderated Heym with a short barrel).

 

[wildfowler.250]

I have a 6.5x55 and a 270win; pretty much an ideal combination for the UK in my opinion.

The 6.5’s are maybe the happy medium for most UK. I was very surprised how messy the 143 grain ELDX were in it though

 

[HonestJohn]

Depends what you want it to do!

I personally see the 7x57 as the perfect light and flat to slow and heavy rifle - shoot up to 175g

 

[VSS]

Does anything better it?

No.

 

[Cranborne]

The 6.5’s are maybe the happy medium for most UK. I was very surprised how messy the 143 grain ELDX were in it though

I use RWS factory ammunition (DK and now Speedtip Pro both 140gn). Very effective without too much carcass damage.

 

[enfieldspares]

.280 Remington betters it in every way except one. Off the shelf availability. The .280 Remington because it can handle 160 and 175 grain bullets (so with them meet some country's 10 gram minimum) is what the .2u0 Winchester should have been. OTOH if your belief is that 130, 140 or 150 grain is all you ever need in bullet weight then .270 WCF fills that space.

I am not saying it is a bad cartridge, it isn't of course and its widespread use gives it authority and standing.

But in .284" rather than .277" it would have been an even better cartridge. I also believe Remington's .244 Remington (now known as 6mm Remington) if designed from the start to fire a 100 grain bullets would have easily eclipsed the .243 Winchester. It is 6mm Remington certainly in proportion and shape a more elegant cartridge as is .280 Remington to .270 WCF.

Winchester won the race with the .270 and .243 as it had fifty years headstart on the .280 and the .243 was from the outset catalogued with a 100 grain loading and rifles with a barrel twist rate suitable to accurately shoot it from. Betamax vs VHS, Whitworth vs AF, Microsoft Windows vs Mac OS.

Being "the bestest" doesn't guarantee success it is being "the mostest" that counts.

 

[Heym SR20]

I would suggest the 7x64 as a very good all round cartridge. Flatness of the 270, but the thump of the 30-06. Fast twist barrel usually so can shoot long for calibre bullets.

But not common in the UK. As you say the 270 just works.

 

[Edinburgh Rifles]

dont get me wrong...... I grew up on 270 and still own one

but yes
lots of things better it

Huge amount of powder to produce 3000fps from a 130gr bullet 56-60gr depending on load/powder etc
That comes with a price, not just in powder. Muzzle blast, felt recoil, erosion of mods etc
the propensity for manufacturers to produce 20" barrels as standard also negates the use of 60gr of powder

I did the same velocity with a 130gr in 308 with 60+% of the powder
Am now doing the same in 260 Rem with similar powder charge to the 308

If you want to step up the bullet weight then the 270 falls short and velocity drop off is considerable, negating the weight increase
inside 300m the energy and trajectory advantage is with the 130gr bullet at circa 3000fps

I shoot 147gr 6.5-284 at 2950fps with 52gr of powder
Same weight in 270 would be more like 2750fps with more powder

6.5 bullets for reloading are more numerous and wider in design and application and invariably higher BC

Yes you can walk into most shops and buy 270
Yes the makers still produce the cartridge
but its an inherently inefficient cartridge compared to many many others

 

[wellyboot]

Another .270 lover...I have 2x .270s...

i also own a .243, which everyone should probably own, and more recently got a .308 with a 16" barrel, which I'm enjoying and have got hornady110cx doing 3020fps from it and as flat as anything else I own, with far less recoil and noise.

 

[Scarpa]

I wanted one rifle for everything so after a lot of looking at various models I finally ordered a Sauer 101 Alaska with the adjustable cheek piece (the last one they ever made of that spec so I had to wait 18 months) in 30-06. It's pretty weatherproof with the coated barrel and laminated stock and with the hexalock mounts I can swap between a low mag boar scope and my normal stalking scope with no loss of zero. It seems to shoot everything from light 123gr bullets to 175gr with no significant change in POI up to about 150m so is extremely versatile for a variety of game. I love it, definitely a step up from my .177 air rifle although the ammo is a lot more expensive

 

[Taff]

dont get me wrong...... I grew up on 270 and still own one

but yes
lots of things better it

Huge amount of powder to produce 3000fps from a 130gr bullet 56-60gr depending on load/powder etc
That comes with a price, not just in powder. Muzzle blast, felt recoil, erosion of mods etc
the propensity for manufacturers to produce 20" barrels as standard also negates the use of 60gr of powder

I did the same velocity with a 130gr in 308 with 60+% of the powder
Am now doing the same in 260 Rem with similar powder charge to the 308

If you want to step up the bullet weight then the 270 falls short and velocity drop off is considerable, negating the weight increase
inside 300m the energy and trajectory advantage is with the 130gr bullet at circa 3000fps

I shoot 147gr 6.5-284 at 2950fps with 52gr of powder
Same weight in 270 would be more like 2750fps with more powder

6.5 bullets for reloading are more numerous and wider in design and application and invariably higher BC

Yes you can walk into most shops and buy 270
Yes the makers still produce the cartridge
but its an inherently inefficient cartridge compared to many many others

Not sure on your prices over there, but powder prices are the same here, for all powders by ADI, yes more bullets available for 6.5, factory ammo here is the same for 270, 308, 30-06, but 6.5 ammo is more expensive, is it the same there ?

 

[finnbear270]

Going by my screen moniker I had a great love affair with the .270 Winchester, particularly when I was using SAKO, I sold my last .270 to a new home near Bala, I now have two 6.5 PRC's so Yes, you can better it.

 

[Ronin]

First rifle was. 270 Mauser 66

Can it be bettered

6.5-284 (now on fourth barrel) and a few deer later

Kills effectively, repeatable accuracy, easy to find componants

What else

284 win - that also does the trick well

30-06 - as above

Just pick something and stick with it

 

[Edinburgh Rifles]

Not sure on your prices over there, but powder prices are the same here, for all powders by ADI, yes more bullets available for 6.5, factory ammo here is the same for 270, 308, 30-06, but 6.5 ammo is more expensive, is it the same there ?

no
brand over calibre
weight of lead over bullet type

thats what costs

box of S&B 140gr 6.5 Creedmoor is dirt cheap - £27 a box
box of Federal Gold Medal Match with Berger 130gr OTM - £58 a box

 

[andyk]

What @Edinburgh Rifles says.

I like the 270 and am always tempted to get another but it does burn a heck of a lot of powder for the performance it gives, usually with bullets with average BCs.

These are some calculations using rifles I have or have had, with muzzle energy and 300yd energy and drop from 100yd zero and wind drift:

6.5CM 147 ELDM @ 2,680fps: 2,173ft/lbs and 1,603ft/lbs (14.94” and 4.9”)

270W 130 Ballistic Tip @ 3,060fps: 2,703ft/lbs and 1,700ft/lbs (10.7” and 6.44”)

284W 150 ELDX @ 2,950fps: 2,899ft/lbs and 2,041ft/lbs (11.02 and 4.98”)

So the 270 is beaten by both on wind drift and only has 100ft/lbs of the initial 500ft/lbs lead it had at the muzzle over the creed, the 284 is just better (ok, slightly more drop but only 0.3”).

Of course, at ‘normal’ ranges this is all academic, but if we’re going to get into detail the old 270 doesn’t excel.

 

[takbok]

You know the 270 is good when people go into great detail to explain why their more modern cartridge is a ballhair better.

@andyk try comparing apples with apples - substitute a higher BC bullet like the 145gr ELDX for the 270 at about the same velocity as the 284 Win.

 

[andyk]

You know the 270 is good when people go into great detail to explain why their more modern cartridge is a ballhair better.

@andyk try comparing apples with apples - substitute a higher BC bullet like the 145gr ELDX for the 270 at about the same velocity as the 284 Win.

I was expecting that comment, and there’s some truth in it but I also think the 6.5 and 270 loads there are representative of each cartridge (I’ll leave the 284 out of that given how niche it is). That said, the 145gr ELDX is about the only available high BC 270 bullet, whereas there are plenty of options in 6.5mm and 7mm.

My own experience with the 270 also suggests it won’t readily get to 2,950fps.

Using 2,850fps and the 145gr ELDX, it’s 2,616 ft/lbs at the muzzle and 1,785ft/lbs at 300yds, drop is 12.12” and drift 5.63”.

It may be that my 270s have just had slow barrels and I fully accept none of this matters unless you’re getting to and past 300yds but, if we’re going to be anoraks about it…

 

[takbok]

Still a bit on the slow side for the 270. I can easily get 2900fps with a 150gr Sierra Gameking from my Tikka T3.

If you go over to representative lead free ammo that's available not much beats the 270 for trajectory unless you go to the PRC or magnums etc.

 

[finnbear270]

https://d1w4q6ldc8l0qo.cloudfront.net/media/AN/images/Barnes-VOR-TX-6.5-PRC-130-grain-TSX-BT-ballistics-chart.png

https://d1w4q6ldc8l0qo.cloudfront.net/media/AN/images/Barnes-VOR-TX-270-Win-130-grain-TTSX-BT-ballistics-chart.png