Is anyone shooting a 270?

[Deleted member 107796]

The differences between the .270 and .270 WSM ballistically is so small in the real world that you could pick or choose one or the other. It will quite literally, make zero difference while hunting. Any ballistic claim that the WSM is "flatter shooting" is only going to matter at distances far beyond where most riflemen should ever pot a shot at a living animal. From the data I have here, it appears the .270 WSM only has a 80-100 fps lead on the standard .270 which means it is at best only going to extend your shootable distance 25 yards or so. They are pretty much the same cartridge. So it is 6 one, half-dozen the other. Pick either, no animal will ever notice the difference other than one can be put into a short action; also an "advantage" that is mostly smoke and mirrors these days IMHO. I would take either and not worry myself about the nuances between different grades of adequate.

Respectfully, I do not agree. When I started shooting the WSMs ( I have 270,7mm, 300 and 325) I found them to be very forgiving in how they accurately place a bullet. I would completely agree, especially with a 270Win, that you can match accuracy and precision with a magnum, but getting from point A to B with less effect of gravity and at higher velocity, a flat shooter simply has more force in the horizontal axis, as all forces can be viewed as a horizontal and vertical force. Separate from that, is the velocity factor in delivered kinetic energy. Don't get me wrong, we love our 270s and in all of our hunting, they've been stellar.

 

[Raudy707]

Not sure what bullet you're using in your 7mm to make that conclusion..
A fast twist properly throated 7 wsm will send a 180 ELD-M at 3050 fps, no comparison and very similar recoil to the 270 wsm.
I've had both, and while the 270 wsm is a great round the 7's just do it better.
Not knocking the 270, but that's simply why it has less love

My accuracy load in my 7mm rem mag with 168 ABLR is 2880 fps.
My 270 wsm with 170 EOL's are right at 3000 fps. So I don't know how that makes less love for a 270 but the math is pretty easy on which one is outperforming the other.

 

[therifleman556]

I'm a 270 fan but you 7 mag should do 3100+ easily with RL 26 and 162/168gr bullets. Mine was pushing a hair over 3200 before I backed out.

 

[Raudy707]

My 7 mag doesn't like reloder 26. Shoots under moa with my load out to 1000 so why would I mess with it? Can't beat my 270 wsm but I don't need it to. Hit the animal in the right spot and it's just as dead.

 

[codyadams]

My accuracy load in my 7mm rem mag with 168 ABLR is 2880 fps.
My 270 wsm with 170 EOL's are right at 3000 fps. So I don't know how that makes less love for a 270 but the math is pretty easy on which one is outperforming the other.

I totally understand accuracy comes first, but unless you have an 18" barrel, 2880 with a 168 is pretty darned slow in a 7 mag. With Reloder 26 we are shooting 180's at 3060 from a 26" factory Remington, another 24" factory Remington 7mm mag is shooting 175's at 2990 with H-1000, another 24" Browning 7mm mag I load for shoots 168 vld's at 3075 with H1000, another Ruger 24" 7mm mag I load for shoots 168 vld's at 3125 fps with RL26, and the last Remington 26" 7mm mag I load for shoots 168 vld's at 3050 with H-4831sc, and all of these have at least 3 loads on brass and are holding up fine.

Throw a 180 in your 7mm with H1000, Retumbo or especially Reloder 26, and your numbers will change significantly. However, the 170 EOL at 3000 fps is by no means any slouch.

 

[Raudy707]

24" barrel H4831 168 Nosler accubond LR goes 2880 fps. That's a 0.388" @ 100 yd shooting rifle. I'm more than happy with it.

 

[Sflutes]

I like the 270 as well. shoots flat. Hits hard. is a proven game taker. plenty accurate. readily available ammo.

 

[Old Rooster]

I had a good friend that had a safe full of rifles and as he got older and less healthier he started selling his collection and I sure wish I would have had the money to buy his old Remington 721 in 300 H&H mag as well as Model 70 pr-64 in 300 H&H mag as well as others but the one rifle he kept and would never part with was an old pre-64 model 70 in 270.
I asked him why did he keep that rifle and he replied because it out kills everything I have ever owned.
I own a Winchester 70 stainless steel 270 and out of the box it shot a group so small you simply would not have believed it.Its only about 15 years old but kills everything it hits.I like my 30-06's but won't go through life without at least one 270.
Old Rooster

 

[Deleted member 107796]

I rethought my earlier post add decided to add an example. I wanted to find a comparison for the same exact bullet but only had the data for these two, but it represents what I've found after shooting both extensively:

270Win: Federal Premium Vital Shok 150gn Nosler Partition
Muzzle 100yrd 200yrd 300yrd 400yrd
Velocity 2850 2650 2460 2280 2110
Energy(ftlb) 2705 2345 2020 1735 1480
Drop (in) Zero -3.5 -12.6

270WSM: Federal Fusion 150gn
Muzzle 100yrd 200yrd 300yrd 400yrd
Velocity 3080 2890 2700 2520 2350
Energy(ftlb) 3160 2775 2430 2120 1840​

Drop (in) Zero -2.7 -10.2

What I disagreed with earlier, is that the ballistic difference is enough, in my real world scenario of pronghorn hunting in eastern CO, where for many hunts the closest shot was ranged at 360+ yards, to insist on using my 270WSM where I may have drawn a buck tag and wanted the extra velocity for long range shooting. Last season I used a 130gn Hornady GMX out of my Tikka 270WSM and got my goat at 425 yards with confidence.
Looking at the 270Win it is easy to say that the true long range guys can make up for it by knowing their ballistics and it does stand up to many folks needs. I'm just blessed to have both Ferraris and Vettes and I choose to take a Ferrari to some of my races!

 

[Trm82]

Nothing against the 270 win but I would always take a magnum , they are just a little better across the board. My thought are there's no replacement for displacement !!

 

[bigngreen]

I've killed more than a few critters with 270's and 7mm's, couldn't disagree more with that statement. Not trying to deter anyone from a 270 though.. Whatever tickles your pickle
The ELD-M's are killers, especially the 180.
I shot my Muley at 430 yards with that bullet this year and the terminal performance was awesome! Much greater wound channel than the last whitetail I shot at 70 yards with a 150 from my 270 WSM.
The 170 EOL may be more comparable,but I can't imagine a word where it's gonna do better..
Again, whatever makes you happy at the end of the day.
I thinks 6.5's 270's and 7mm's are all outstanding choices for long range deer and elk hunting

I was extremely hopeful in the 180 ELDM but they just are not consistent across multiple elk, I lost an elk this year, I'm hoping I misses but I don't see how, 4 of us followed the herd the whole day and found not a drop of blood or anything but we did find a dead cow later in the season, no way to tell if it was the one I shot at but I'm suspicious, I haven't missed an elk in 10 years. I know another group of guys ran them that kill a lot of elk and they had some blow up so bad they didn't get into the vitals on hits that should have been easy, then some performed awesome. The 195 Berger is a the same way, one elk you'll blow a hole through the next it goes hay wire. I had to pack two different bullet one as a back up to these and I'm just over that.
I've seen better that 100 elk shot with the 270 cal 165 Matrix one shot kills and the few with the 170 Berger's have all been very consistent.

 

[1hdhunter]

I have always had really good results with a 270. I'm thinking about building a 270 weatherby or 270 wsm. Anyone using these anymore? The 150 ABLR or 170 Berger Has a high BC

Weatherby

 

[cape cove]

Got both a 270 Win and a 270 Weatherby mag. The Win has a 22" barrel and the Weatherby a 24" barrel. The difference in velocity between both rifles with the same weight bullet is about 350 ft/sec favoring the Weatherby. For deer sized game I find the Win is great, but if I move up to larger size game, like moose, I find the Weatherby more suitable.Never used the WSM but may be a good comprise if you want just one .277 rifle.

 

[Raudy707]

I was extremely hopeful in the 180 ELDM but they just are not consistent across multiple elk, I lost an elk this year, I'm hoping I misses but I don't see how, 4 of us followed the herd the whole day and found not a drop of blood or anything but we did find a dead cow later in the season, no way to tell if it was the one I shot at but I'm suspicious, I haven't missed an elk in 10 years. I know another group of guys ran them that kill a lot of elk and they had some blow up so bad they didn't get into the vitals on hits that should have been easy, then some performed awesome. The 195 Berger is a the same way, one elk you'll blow a hole through the next it goes hay wire. I had to pack two different bullet one as a back up to these and I'm just over that.
I've seen better that 100 elk shot with the 270 cal 165 Matrix one shot kills and the few with the 170 Berger's have all been very consistent.

I've had a few friends have the same thing happen with that ELD-M bullet especially at longer ranges where the impact velocity was low. Very little expansion and the bullet yawing off line severely. I went away from them and starting using the 168 ABLR. They are soft at close range so I found a really nice accuracy node out of my 7 mag just under 2900 fps. This keeps impact velocity down, so I'm hoping to avoid the exploding at close range situation, but I haven't shot an animal under 200 yards with them so the jury is still out. People were jumping on me pretty hard about this "slow" load but I have my reasons behind it. What I find funny is people call it slow and you need to pump up those velocities, yet everyone is gaga over a 6.5 PRC shooting a 147 grain bullet at a "slow" 2900 fps?!?! I can get 3100 fps out of my 270 wsm with the 170 eol and reloder 26, but it's not as accurate as my Retumbo load. So guess which one I chose? I will second your findings on the 170 EOL as working really well. We lawn-chaired half a dozen elk between my friends and I from 150-585 yds and it worked perfectly. All one shot kills.