270 in a Sendero

[jmason]

This is my first post, but I've been lurking around this site for a few months now reading and trying to absorb as much info as possible. Anyway, I have a Sendero in a 270. I wanted your opinions for starting out. I reload and have had success (or what I think is success) with reloading for other guns so far. I have been able to produce 3 shot groups that can be covered with a dime at 100 yds with every gun I've loaded (it took me 15-20 variations of loads to get there in some cases) for so far. I know there are people doing this well beyond 200yds, but this is how I've been doing it. I've only been reloading for a little over a year. So, I'm pretty much a newbie to all this.

With that said, if a can produce similar results with loads for my Sendero, do I need to go to the extent of having the action blue printed etc.? I'm not sure weather I should invest in some Smithing. For that matter, is it worth having Smithing done to a standerd Sporter type rifle if I can get the accuracy I'm getting, or am I not really as accurate as I think I am? I don't have any friends here that are already into this stuff so I really don't have a benchmark to compare myself too. I really don't know if I'm even in the ball park here.My intentions are to begin shooting at distances out to 600yds and go from there. 600yds is all I have avilable to me freely here in PA without joining a club.

From reading other posts I know you guys can get me on the right track, so I THANK YOU IN ADVANCE for ant light you can shed on my subject..

 

[Willys46]

Good Start

jmason,
First welcome! The sendero is a great platform to start on. IF you can prodcue reloads that shoot below .75MOA to .5MOA then your golden for now. If you can not get the sendero to shoot that good then I would suggest geting the triger worked on, Bedding, and recrowned.

Do not worry about getting it blue printed tell you are ready to replace the barrel.

It sounds like your on the right track. Find the bullet that has a high BC that shoots well in your gun and practice. BE warned this will get addicting.

Willys

 

[johnnyk]

jmason,
I've always wanted a Sendero in .270WIN. Maybe someday. You probably have all you need to consistently hit distant targets right now. I imagine with some tailored handloads, you'll be printing sub-.5" groups! I wouldn't do anything to the rifle until I had tried several load combinations in her first.
Good luck and keep us posted. JohnnyK.

 

[James Jones]

Not sure how mechanicaly inclined you are but for the acerage guy that is half way handy with tools , doing a decient bedding job isin't to hard especialy in a gun with the aluminum block like the Sendero has , so about $30 for a box of Devcon Plastic steel putty for a bedding job
Brownell's order number (#262-100-101-AA), and another $13 for a Holland trigger spring kit Brownell'ss order number (#403-170-000-AA) , this two jobs wil tipicaly help accuracy a bit especialy the trigger job , this spring kit will allow you to get your trigger pull down to 1.5-2.0lbs safely and with a little tweeking on the creep and over travel screws you can get a half way good trigger , or at least way better than it comes from the factory.

Not sure what bullets your using or what reloading methods your using but list those and maybe we can help with that also ,little thing like partialy resizing the necks only , differant seating depths , case sorting , case prep and a few other little things can help shrink those groups a little also. It sounds like your gun is shooting well right now at least a good bit under 1 moa which will get you on targets at 600yds.

 

[jmason]

Thanks for the helpful insight!

James,

I haven't even shot this gun yet. The info I provided was based on experiances I had with some of my other guns. I picked up the sendero a few months ago with the thoughts of getiing deeper into my reloading/shooting hobby. I was just curious as to weather my current skill set and experiance would get me on the right path before I start sinking $$ into this. I truly do appreciate all of your input. It will be a month or so before we get any consistancy to our weather here, and I'll have some daylight after work. Once that happens I'll have the conditions i need to put forth the time and focus needed.

 

[Coyboy]

I picked up a pristeen sendero in 270 win last year. Cleaned the barrel and made some loads. I think I tried 3 different bullets. It shot all loads at or under an inch and some were in the .3's. I haden't even touched the bedding or factory trigger. For some reason it's been a safe queen ever since.

 

[roninflag]

.270 sendero

i have several senderos, my brother and friends have several; maybe 20 or more now total. they all shoot real good. we adjust the trigger . put a good scope on it. load up some good ammo. good brass and good bullets. my son in law shot a group( 15 shots) at his first 1k match that you could cover with a sheet of notebook paper. i am looking for a 30-06 sendero just like yours. roninflag

 

[Chopaka81]

Regarding reloads, I have only loaded two loads in my 270's over the years. One for mule deer, I went with a Sierra 130gr SPBT, the other for dark timber elk, 160 Nosler semi-PT.
Generally this is what I have observed in 270's:
130gr yields 3000fps (+/- 100 fps)
140gr yields 2900fps (+/- 100 fps)
150gr yields 2800fps (+/- 75 fps)
160gr yields 2700fps (+/- 50 fps)

My latest 270 is a Tikka T-3 Lite, it shoots 1/2 moa all day long with a 130gr Sierra 130gr SPBT @ 2940fps. Not a barn burner by any means, just a hyper reliable super accurate rifle/load combo.
I have found that the 130gr bullet is a little more vulnerble to wind deflection than other calibers I have shot.
But I will be honest, I have not tried the 150gr bullets in my 270's and think they would resolve that issue.
I believe that a well developed load in a 150gr boattail bullet at 2850 fps (or so) would work very nicely out to 600 yds. Take the time to develope your long range moa charts and you will be set for any stand hunt of your liking. Give one of the plastic tipped bullets a try.
From what I have heard (read) alot guys are using RL-22 in thier 270's. I chose H4831SC for my T3. In my M700 I use IMR4350.

Best Regards, Don

 

[Robroy]

Barrel Life 270

Hi Guys, I have just joined the site and I am currently having fun loading ammo & target shooting my 22-250. I am looking to buy a heavier caliber maybe a 308 or the 270. My question is what king of barrel life would you expect from a 270 caliber?

Cheers Robroy

 

[ol mike]

Welcome Robroy !

3,000 shots if you don't shoot long strings and really heat up the barrel + keep her clean.Just an opinion...--------ME

 

[Robroy]

Thanks Mike, Another question begs to be answered, the new short 270wsw or the 270 size case.

Cheers Robroy

 

[jmason]

I just wanted to follow up on this old post and thank all of you for the advise! It took me a while since my budget is limited but i finally got it together. Remember guys I'm on a budget and got what I felt was the best for the $$ I had to spend. I put a luepold VX-II 6-18 target on with NF 20MOA bases and Burris XTR rings and an anticant device(level) that mounts on the scope. I'm going to try an aftermarket trigger and a different firing pin assembly/speed lock (when I get my discressionary funds account built back up a little)to see if they'll help shrink my groups. I picked some 90gr sierras for the summer(ground hogs). I'll be going heavier when it cools off. I took a good look at the bore and it looked untouched, as did the bolt face. I chambered a round and ejected it. sure unough I put the first scratches on the bolt face. I figure it haden't been shoot. As I mentioned before I picked it up on a used gun rack. Apperently the former owner hadn't used it. Anyway I followed some break in advise from James Jones. James, as I progessed in that proceedure the gun shot better and better with plain off the shelf ammo. After that I started reloading. With my current load I'm getting .50-.55 MOA out to 300yds (which is the longest I can shoot on my property) and 3500fps at muzzle. I'll be joining a local club as they have a 600yd range and some competition. I'm not going to be much of a competitor, but I figure I'll probably meet some fellows like you here and get some more pointers. I do have a 300 rum with a Nikon 6-18 BM, but it's a sporter. I started with it while I gathered parts for my 270. At our camp I was able to hit milk jugs consistantly at 450 yds (after missing several times geting dailed in) and watermellon size rocks at 600yds with it. It's difficult to hold still since it's so light but it did give a good feel for shooting at a distance and anxiety toward shooting my sendero which I feel is better platform to grow on. So I think I'm on the right track and intend to continue learning.Thank you all, now all I think about is shoot my damned gun!!!

 

[Nomosendero]

3,500fps!! What bullet?

 

[jmason]

90gr sierra varminter. The book shows about 100 fps more than I'm getting with that powder charge. I believe 60.6 gr of imr 4350.