Help with Parker hale .270 load

[bijssg]

Hi chaps I was given an old Parker hale in .270 from a gunsmith friend for a birthday of mine a few years ago and I have never used it really. Mainly due to the fact I can’t get it to shoot that well with factory ammunition and I simply havnt the time to sort a load for it.
Not sure of the model but it looks like a Mauser action Iv put a mod on it, just wondered does anyone know a half decent load that could be a starting point for me?

cheers bij

 

[JMikeyH]

Here's the Hornaday info on .270 - take your pick.

Vihtavori has a very good reputation, personally (I am a newbie to reloading) I would go for N-165 AND A 130gr

 

[8x57]

bij what makes you think that a home loaded round is going to shoot any better than a factory round. I presume that you have tried a couple of different factory loads?
My old Parker Hale .270win shot extremely well with all loads that I tried it with, both reloads and factory. Isn't it possible that the problem lies with the rifle rather than the ammunition. Have you tried it both with the moderator on and with it off?

 

[plumber01]

It depends what you want the ammo for ? If i presume your on a deer stalking forum for a reason. I personally tend to go for 140gn bullets with Viht N165, about 57gn does the job. But can cause carcass damage with expanding bullets, best avoid Noslor expanding type ballistic tip if you are planning on eating. 130 gn also work well, i have used speer 130, not so bad for damage, and accurate enough for 200+ yard shots. and the beauty of a 270, I have have never had a runner, (Im sure someone will tell you they shot a rabbit at 30 yards and it ran half a mile with a 270, I would suggest, suspect the smell of bull****) You can go as light as 110 , but dont bother, accuracy is poor, but crows do explode!
as far as accuracy goes, dont expect target like performance, most 270's are light and often short barrelled ( easy to carry) but if you shoot off a string of bullets, the barrel will get hot and your group will move about, so get it at about a 100y, let it get cold, fire 2, repeat a few times, as you are only going to shoot from a cold barrel, then dont clean the bore until you need to zero it, then clean before you zero it, not after, and you are ready to go, I have an old sauer, sporting barrel, I zero shot it yesterday, a string of 5 and it was creeping about 3 inches high, it will group under 2 inches at a 100, with bipod and bag, freehand more like 3 to 4, its more than enough.
good luck and welcome to the 270 club.

 

[enfieldspares]

Parker Hale .270 WCF rifles were guaranteed to shoot into under three inches at 100 yards using Norma factory ammunition. Which in those days was the usual 130 grain bullet at a purported 3,100 fps. As...guess what...for a great deal of the most part of the latter decade and more of the 20th Century Parker-Hale were the UK importers of Norma ammunition. In happy truth most P-Hale rifles unless they've been ruined by someone else's efforts before you acquired it will shoot a lot better and you should confidently expect if all is in good order an honest "just about" sub-one inch group at 100 yards.

 

[8x57]

I will take your word for it Enfield that Parker Hale only guaranteed a 3" group using Norma ammunition back in the seventies. I remember the adverts but not the exact size specified.
The hammer forged Parker Hale barrels did have very good reputation for accuracy. Perhaps my rifle was one of the good ones but my 1200 rifle in .270win would shoot sub 1" groups all day long. It had a preference for 150 grain bullets rather than the more traditional 130 grn bullets, perhaps this was because of the longer bearing surface. I found just the same with my .270win Varberger and Beretta rifles too.

I never tried them myself but a friend managed to pick up some Speer 90 grn bullets once. He says that they were devastating on fox but not the most accurate bullet he had ever reloaded.

 

[Woodsmoke]

I get superb results with a 130grain BTSP and 54 grains of H4831 in my .270. Your rifle will most likely have its own preference though. For factory rounds, I've found Federal Powershok to be very good, too.