Is anyone shooting a 270?

[Sflutes]

There are calibers that are inherently more accurate for sure. If though, a person wanted to build a rifle on a factory platform what kind of accuracy could they expect out of the .270?

I will be the first to bite. I would say that it would be a rare 270 Winchester that would group on a good day at 3/4" at 100 yards with the bullets available.
That will be quite good enough for any deer or elk in North America.

 

[therifleman556]

I don't think anyone was really jumping on you over your 7 mag loading Raudy; but when your comparing ballistics and stating the WSM is more powerful, well that's only true in your case and perhaps a handful of others. Comparisons should be made between full power loads, not your accuracy load that is likely in a lower node. No disrespect is meant toward you or your loading practices.

 

[Raudy707]

I don't think anyone was really jumping on you over your 7 mag loading Raudy; but when your comparing ballistics and stating the WSM is more powerful, well that's only true in your case and perhaps a handful of others. Comparisons should be made between full power loads, not your accuracy load that is likely in a lower node. No disrespect is meant toward you or your loading practices.

10-4 and I agree with what you're saying. And I meant no negative towards the 7 mag. Mine is super accurate! Actually shoots Sierra 165 gamechangers really well too, but I haven't had a chance to kill any animals with them yet. 68.5 grains of H1000 gets me 3010 fps and one hole groups at 100 yds. Another thing I might add is I'm at 600 foot elevation just 50 miles inland from the coast. I found that the 180 ELD-m BC to be closer to .667 again out of my rifle 1:9 twist out to 1000. Based on my drops. What have you guys found while shooting this bullet?

 

[Deleted member 25294]

10-4 and I agree with what you're saying. And I meant no negative towards the 7 mag. Mine is super accurate! Actually shoots Sierra 165 gamechangers really well too, but I haven't had a chance to kill any animals with them yet. 68.5 grains of H1000 gets me 3010 fps and one hole groups at 100 yds. Another thing I might add is I'm at 600 foot elevation just 50 miles inland from the coast. I found that the 180 ELD-m BC to be closer to .667 again out of my rifle 1:9 twist out to 1000. Based on my drops. What have you guys found while shooting this bullet?

Well I can tell you from an 8 twist at 3000 fps from the muzzle .796 has held true for me.
I've been shooting them extensively for close to 3 years, and verified at many ranges out to 1380 yards.
Also I've not seen issues with 147's not expanding at range.
I shot my bull this year at 940 yards with a 147 ELD-M and it performed perfectly. The bull before that I shot with a 147 at 350 yards, also perfect performance.
Like bergers, I found them to over expand inside of 200 yards when hitting heavy bone, but for long range they're my favorite.

 

[Raudy707]

Well I can tell you from an 8 twist at 3000 fps from the muzzle .796 has held true for me.
I've been shooting them extensively for close to 3 years, and verified at many ranges out to 1380 yards.
Also I've not seen issues with 147's not expanding at range.
I shot my bull this year at 940 yards with a 147 ELD-M and it performed perfectly. The bull before that I shot with a 147 at 350 yards, also perfect performance.
Like bergers, I found them to over expand inside of 200 yards when hitting heavy bone, but for long range they're my favorite.

Thanks man! I will get back in the lab and keep shooting down range! Here's a 168 ABLR from a 250 lb boar at 789 yds. Recovered from offside shoulder armor plate.

 

[jjmp]

Years back Layne Simpson had a rail rifle made up in 270 win, used the bullets available to him it was Awesome accurate ,this logic applys to any Cartridge ,good in equals good out . bigngreen thks for Honesty about them eldx-m bullets ! When comparing the 270Bee to the 270 Wsm there not to far apart , I think cost of brass has hampered the 270Bee ,yes it's great n proven but put a 26 bbl on the 270 wsm and it would show Very quickly how Efficient it is , bigngreen knows this Cause his Smart Customers Have him Build them Rifles . My 270 wsm sports a 24 inch bbl and it would only get better with a Custom longer bbl & 1/8 twist now that would lite my fire . Great posts Thk you all !!!

 

[codyadams]

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.

To both you and Raudy, I also saw under expansion of the 147 at range. You may have seen my thread on the 147 on game performance this year? We killed LOADS of critters with them, and mainly what I found was inconsistency. Sometimes they killed great, and had excellent performance, mainly at closer (sub 700 yards) ranges, however I shot a 6x6 bull elk with them at a shade over 800 yards, and bullet performance was exceptional, good wound channel, and killed the bull effectively. But my 12 year old niece put 2 rounds in a buck pronghorn at 980 yards, and neither expanded/had any wound channel at all, they both were small pencil entrance and exits, and it took entirely too long for the buck to go down. Then my wife put an excellent shot on a cow elk at a little over 700 yards, and while the bullet looked excellent, retained around 80 grains and was nicely mushroomed, the wound channel was non existent and did very little damage, and also deflected rearward from where it impacted and was under the hide back in the flank, only taking out one lung, which is why the cow ran over a mile, with ZERO blood in the white snow. That was a stressful hour or two of tracking....luckily our persistence paid off and we recovered her.

To Raudy: I did not mean to make it seem like I was bashing you for your 7mag loads, just as the Rifleman stated, wanting to compare apples to apples. I have heard over expansion with high impact velocities with the ABLR's, and I'm excited to try the 300 grain .338 when it comes out, as in our .338 Norma it will be starting at 2700-2800 or so, and should eliminate the issue of over-expansion issue.

 

[Deleted member 25294]

To both you and Raudy, I also saw under expansion of the 147 at range. You may have seen my thread on the 147 on game performance this year? We killed LOADS of critters with them, and mainly what I found was inconsistency. Sometimes they killed great, and had excellent performance, mainly at closer (sub 700 yards) ranges, however I shot a 6x6 bull elk with them at a shade over 800 yards, and bullet performance was exceptional, good wound channel, and killed the bull effectively. But my 12 year old niece put 2 rounds in a buck pronghorn at 980 yards, and neither expanded/had any wound channel at all, they both were small pencil entrance and exits, and it took entirely too long for the buck to go down. Then my wife put an excellent shot on a cow elk at a little over 700 yards, and while the bullet looked excellent, retained around 80 grains and was nicely mushroomed, the wound channel was non existent and did very little damage, and also deflected rearward from where it impacted and was under the hide back in the flank, only taking out one lung, which is why the cow ran over a mile, with ZERO blood in the white snow. That was a stressful hour or two of tracking....luckily our persistence paid off and we recovered her.

To Raudy: I did not mean to make it seem like I was bashing you for your 7mag loads, just as the Rifleman stated, wanting to compare apples to apples. I have heard over expansion with high impact velocities with the ABLR's, and I'm excited to try the 300 grain .338 when it comes out, as in our .338 Norma it will be starting at 2700-2800 or so, and should eliminate the issue of over-expansion issue.

I think you'll see failures with any bullet out there.
Many (including myself) have seen the same issues you described with Bergers, I've had them pencil though a whitetail at 330 yards and explode on an elk at 100 yards.
A few years ago I tested Berger 6.5 140 and 338 250 expansion at 800, 900, and 1000 yards; I ended up with about 1/2 of the bullets failing to expand when shot into wood rounds, I've never had one single 147 or 180 ELD-M not expand in the same test.
I know it's not a completely realistic test but it definitely showed me that if anything Berger expansion is inconsistent.
I'm not doubting your experiences but I've found ELD-M's to be more reliable at long range expansion than most, the only downside is they're explosive inside 200 yards.

 

[bigngreen]

Not to worried about bullet performance in logs, an open tip bullet will perform erratic in media that does not provide enough hydraulics to open them well.

I'm frankly more concerned about what I see inside game animals than what happens in media or what a bullet does on paper, Ive built several test rigs to catch bullets but nothing really passes for actual game. The best bullets I've seen work for us may not work for everyone and vice versa, I've seen exactly one Berger not open and that was before checking tips, I've seen some that just didn't make me super happy with the consistency, we've had some just hammer time after time, the Berger 105 and 115 in 6mm, the 140 6.5 had hammered so many elk it's stupid, the Matrix 6.5 and 270 cals have been excellent the 150 in 6.5 and 165 in 270 are just so consistent in wound channels. The Berger 180 hunting I've been happy with, the 168 has been real good to. In 30 cal the 215 has proven probably one of the most consistently lethal bullets made. I actually prefer the 250 Berger to the 300, right up there with the 215 for just wrecking an elks will to live, I've seen few things trap door an elk like the 250 and it's proven over 1400 to even hammer deer. The Hammer bullets have been very consistent for me but in some of my rifles I want more range but in rifles purpose built for medium range I'm really liking them!
These are one that just hammer for us and in our guns, others need to do the work to know what is a solid, lethal match for each shooter.

 

[codyadams]

I think you'll see failures with any bullet out there.
Many (including myself) have seen the same issues you described with Bergers, I've had them pencil though a whitetail at 330 yards and explode on an elk at 100 yards.
A few years ago I tested Berger 6.5 140 and 338 250 expansion at 800, 900, and 1000 yards; I ended up with about 1/2 of the bullets failing to expand when shot into wood rounds, I've never had one single 147 or 180 ELD-M not expand in the same test.
I know it's not a completely realistic test but it definitely showed me that if anything Berger expansion is inconsistent.
I'm not doubting your experiences but I've found ELD-M's to be more reliable at long range expansion than most, the only downside is they're explosive inside 200 yards.

I used the 140 grain 6.5 VLD for two years previous to trying the 147, and in that time that gun/load was used to take over 30 animals ranging from pronghorn does to big bull elk, from 150 yards to 925, and every one exited (even a 6 point bull elk at 715 yards) and I never once had a bullet failure, and never once had an animal run more than 20 yards, with the majority DRT, even without cns hits. From a total of somewhere north of 55 animals, the 140 VLD's performed hands down better than the 147 eld-m, in my experience. As far as testing on wood, I really don't think that is a valid comparison to an animal. I have considered investing in some ballistic gel, maybe one day I will.

One thing that I do though is run a wire drill into the hollow point of every bullet I intend to use for hunting, I would 100% agree that a Berger (or any other hp bullet) is likely to pencil through if the tip is closed off. I even went to the extent to single load my chamber round while hunting to ensure the tip didn't get closed off on the feed ramp. I have personally not seen that happen, but knowing my luck it would happen when it mattered most!! At close range, the Bergers did do a fair bit of damage, especially if bone was hit, but every critter shot under 350 yards litterally dropped in their tracks, and as far as meat loss, I would rather loose an extra 1-3 lbs of meat from a critter because the bullet was lethal vs loosing an entire animal because the bullet didn't do enough damage.

This is just my experience. Many factors may change things....where different people choose shot placement, bullet velocity, twist rate, elevation, etc. all can make a difference. For my set up, the 140 6.5 Berger worked fantastic.

 

[wyogeargeek]

Have two. 270 Win. In my inventory right now. Killed the vast majority of my game over the pass 44 years or so with my old Sako. If I only could pull one rifle out of my collection it would still be number one. Loves pretty much all 130 grain loads I have used over the years. Get 3200 fps with Jack O'Connors old H4831 load and Barnes bullets. Never have ever had to use more than one round in anything I have shot including several large bull elk, moose, and countless antelope.

 

[Deleted member 25294]

I used the 140 grain 6.5 VLD for two years previous to trying the 147, and in that time that gun/load was used to take over 30 animals ranging from pronghorn does to big bull elk, from 150 yards to 925, and every one exited (even a 6 point bull elk at 715 yards) and I never once had a bullet failure, and never once had an animal run more than 20 yards, with the majority DRT, even without cns hits. From a total of somewhere north of 55 animals, the 140 VLD's performed hands down better than the 147 eld-m, in my experience. As far as testing on wood, I really don't think that is a valid comparison to an animal. I have considered investing in some ballistic gel, maybe one day I will.

One thing that I do though is run a wire drill into the hollow point of every bullet I intend to use for hunting, I would 100% agree that a Berger (or any other hp bullet) is likely to pencil through if the tip is closed off. I even went to the extent to single load my chamber round while hunting to ensure the tip didn't get closed off on the feed ramp. I have personally not seen that happen, but knowing my luck it would happen when it mattered most!! At close range, the Bergers did do a fair bit of damage, especially if bone was hit, but every critter shot under 350 yards litterally dropped in their tracks, and as far as meat loss, I would rather loose an extra 1-3 lbs of meat from a critter because the bullet was lethal vs loosing an entire animal because the bullet didn't do enough damage.

This is just my experience. Many factors may change things....where different people choose shot placement, bullet velocity, twist rate, elevation, etc. all can make a difference. For my set up, the 140 6.5 Berger worked fantastic.

I admittedly never drilled out any berger tips, I don't use them any more after penciling through my buck.
I'm gonna try them in a 6mm rem that I just put together. Ill drill them out and test expansion, hoping for more consistency it's the heaviest 6mm bullet I can find

 

[codyadams]

I admittedly never drilled out any berger tips, I don't use them any more after penciling through my buck.
I'm gonna try them in a 6mm rem that I just put together. Ill drill them out and test expansion, hoping for more consistency it's the heaviest 6mm bullet I can find

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GLYJ765/?tag=lrhmag19-20

Here is a decent/cheap wire drill kit, only like $11 and will certainly have the size you need. I have used them with the included hand piece, and also used them chucked up in an electric drill, which I prefer. I just mark the drill bit with a small piece of tape, marker, whatever you have so you know how deep to go. For me, I prefer doing the tip drilling after I load the round, as it gives me more to hang on to, and if they will just be shot up at steel, there is no need to waste my time drilling out tips.

I found that probably 25% of the Bergers have some form of obstruction somewhere inside the hollow point or are slightly pinched off, but only a few that I think might actually cause expansion issues, but definitely enough for me to drill out every tip used for hunting. I don't know if it's a polishing media, a piece of copper/lead, or what, but I know I don't want it in there. Maybe this is what is making the difference, I don't know. I'm certain you have since you said that you just put it together, but make sure you 6mm has enough twist to stabilize the bullet your shooting. That point is more for other readers going through this post that may be new to all this stuff. I don't have any experience with the 6mm Berger pills, but hopefully they work well for you.

 

[bigngreen]

I didn't not drill them out, just check them to make sure they are open and if not sort them, I will only check a few and those go in my stock pack for hunting.

The reason there can be some goobers is the bullet is ejected from the pointing die by a small pin that goes into the meplat and pushes the bullet.