I used to hunt Fallow with a 270 and 140gn Hornady SST's. They killed them alright but at the expense of massive exit wounds. I went over to a 7x57 and 139gn SST's and lived happily ever after. The 270 ended up being re-barrelled to 257 Roberts. Now that's a great cartridge if you can get the brass.
.308 or .270
- Thread starter Antlerman
- Start date
RescueMe0007
Well-Known Member
Most likely issues with the gas regulators being incorrectly set.
Woodsmoke
Well-Known Member
No. They were always set to 6 as per SOP prior to firing, and then adjusted as needed
norcan
Well-Known Member
Always nice to see a proper ballistics table.For what its worth in any calibre discussion I always defer to the Sako data sheet which used to be in their boxes of ammo. They know a thing or two about making quality ammunition and their stats are very informative. Of course you/one can perfect your own loads which may well give better results but as a starting point it is very useful.
View attachment 244080
Looking at the numbers, it's impressive how well the full-power 6.5x55 loads perform. Comparing like bullet design for like, the 139-gr Racehead suprisingly manages to retain slightly more energy at 300 m than the 168-gr Racehead in 308, as well as shooting substantially flatter.
More surprising yet is that it has more energy at 300 m than all sub-.30-calibre offerings except the 7 mm magnum, and even outdoes all but one each in 308 and 30-06.
The 6.5x55 also has less drop than both 270 loads and all but one for the 30-06, although they're not directly comparable due to having different bullet profiles. Still, having only 31.7 cm drop at 300 m puts it in very good company on that table.
What a difference from the reduced-power loads that lead some to believe that it has a loopy trajectory!
Last edited:
Dave Lakes
Well-Known Member
I don’t really get the meat damage point with .270. With 130g I get about 2-4 inch of direct damage in each shoulder (entry/exit) then probably 3-6 inch of bruising/blood damage that needs removing. So on a roe I’ll probably lose the centre of both shoulders, but can certainly salvage a lot for mince, which most people seem to do with the front legs anyway. Is that excessive? Genuine question as I’ve only ever shot deer with .270.
Hales Smut
Well-Known Member
I agree on this. Bad bullet choice is , in my opinion, the problem with most "fast" calibres. Bullets like the SST , ........ what I call a traditional softpoints are not really good with fast moving bullets.
Bonded bullets , Nosler Partition, Monolithic's will be far better and more adapted to higher velocity calibres.
In my 7x64 I've used Nosler Partition and Sako Hammerhead and neither gave me excessive meat dammage.
norcan
Well-Known Member
For sure. Bullet construction tends to be way more of a factor than cartridge selection, especially between two as broadly-similar as the 270 and 308, two medium-bore cartridges which aren't miles off in performance at hunting ranges; both will push a 150-grain bullet at about the same initial speed.
If we're comparing two very different cartridges with the same muzzle energy like 223 vs. 44 magnum, then it's maybe a different story.
RescueMe0007
Well-Known Member
Were they still as spiteful after they had been reset? If the gas cylinder was never cleaned that could contribute to the increased recoil. It's close to forty years since I was playing with the FN so my recall may be suspect.
Woodsmoke
Well-Known Member
Yes, to my recollection. The weapons were always clean as the only real official range time we got was a green card refresher prior to guard duty. I was an armourer so was lucky enough to get to play a lot more than the other trades. The other perk was handing the rifle back through the hatch and insulting the lazy bastards who tried to hand back a dirty weapon
I have both, and love both. The .308 can shoot very much like a .270 at hunting ranges, with a sleek polymer tipped 125-gr or copper bullet like the 130-gr Barnes TSX, and can shoot bullets up 200 grains pretty well. Although most people think of fast when they think of the .270, the vanilla 150-gr bullets like the Core-Lokt and Hornady Interlock will punish an elk, red deer, moose, bear or big boar, with not much tracking.
The deer man
Well-Known Member
The answer is obvious!
Bang in the middle...7mm-08
Bang in the middle...7mm-08
Need a 7 x 57 really. The idea behind the 7mm-08 but would probably cope with long high BC non lead stuff.
David.
Heym SR20
Well-Known Member
I love these discussions about different calibres and its amazing how everybody supports the calibre they use. But at the end of the day they all do pretty much the same job with marginal differences.
Some prefer blonds, others brunettes, others red, and others black - and here I am being politically correct and refering to men, women, labradors and spaniels of course.
Some prefer blonds, others brunettes, others red, and others black - and here I am being politically correct and refering to men, women, labradors and spaniels of course.
Hales Smut
Well-Known Member
With "lead free" just arount the corner, velocity will be needed. Lead free bullets need more speed than conventional lead core bullets, to open up reliable.
110-130 grain bullets out of a long action calibre might be the solution for the future.
110-130 grain bullets out of a long action calibre might be the solution for the future.
Surely you just neck down 7x57
The deer man
Well-Known Member
Mmm...not necessarily. As copper bullet development progresses we have seen the likes of Fox, Yew Tree and Peregrine work down to 1600 fps (their claim which I've found pretty close) unlike the original brands like Hornady and Barnes which really need a minimum of 2000fps. So perhaps the long old cartridges will still be competed successfully by the short cartridges?
New to the stalking world, however did a lot of reflecting when it came to calibre, long story short .308 for me, what does a lot will do a little
put of slightly by the .270 as experienced people say they knock you about.Similar threads
