Having that 'best deer hunting cal' argument with a mate. 6.5x55 vs .270win vs 308

I've actually only ever reloaded so I'd never seriously looked at the shelf ammo before.

Just in theory, I placed the max killing distance at the point which all rounds would still be doing 1900ft/s to ensure the likelihood of the projectile expanding. That seems to be the common belief or am I wrong?

That gave me this in standard shelf ammo,
140gn 6.5x55 - 2650fts mv to 480m leaving 1125ftlbs. $60
140gn .270win - 2950fts mv to 510m leaving 1047ftlbs. $75
165gn 308win - 2700fts mv to 390m leaving 1329ftlbs. $50

So if those are my shelf choices, I'm seeing the swede as a better target choice no matter what. Less recoil
The 308 for the obvious hunting round. Cheap, monster power for most actual hunting distances.

Can somebody tell me why the .270win is worthwhile as a new guy hunting rifle?

(p.s I couldn't find a 140gn 308 cartridge for sale in NZ but if anyone knows one sing out)

I've got three different brands of 308 ammo - all 150 gr - mostly SP & HP.
CAC, Sellier & Bellot, Highland AX.
Not sure if factory 140 gr is available in NZ.
Anybody else help out here?

wally there is 140 grn available...i believe the barnaul is 140grns.

.270 is good enough to do the job...always has been always will be. flat shooting out to 300 which is where it got its reputation back before range finders were common piece of kit.
all three will do the job well.
poke a suppressor on .270 and they really come good.

All three will work well. But the best point to consider is "First you have to hit it". 270 and 308 are easier to get ammo and varieties of ammo for, but 6.5x55 is easier to shoot well with a less violent recoil than the 270. Normally I would suggest 308 as the greatest selection of ammo choice, and probably one of the best to practise with. And practise helps. But if you are handloading, there is nothing the 6.5x55 wont do that the other can. So if I had to pick one, it will always be the 6.5x55, then the 308, then the 270.

Before the haters get started, ALL three are good calibres. All three will do what the OP wants to do. But, in my opinion, I suggest the 6.5x55 due to it being a softer recoiling calibre and easier to shoot accurately.

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

.270 is good enough to do the job...always has been always will be. flat shooting out to 300 which is where it got its reputation back before range finders were common piece of kit.
all three will do the job well.
poke a suppressor on .270 and they really come good.

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Indeed, but poke a suppressor on all three and they are all good.

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

wally there is 140 grn available...i believe the barnaul is 140grns.

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Yup. they do 140 and 168. Hornady does a 140 and a 123gr 30 cal projectile too as does Lapua.....Made fore the mini 30 et al but fun none the less. Actually Hrnady does 100gr right through to 225gr 30cl pills....

Why not ask the deer which one they prefer, after all the "customer" is always right.

Tsk tsk, Aussies, no surprises there mate! I have shot deer with a 30-06 (.308), .270 and .243. There simply is no best deer hunting calibre. Dead is dead and if you hit them in a right place it doesn't matter diddly what the calibre was. Apologies for outing you as an Aussie DiB.

The age old...

The 270 and 708 are my least favourite caliber choices, recoil for performance is my personal reason for not owning the 270.

The reloaded 6.5x55 and reloaded 308 are simply good calibers. One can load the 308 from 130 to 180. I use both and also love the 165 & 168. But I load.

Off the shelf 6.5x55 offers a lot less as precautions have prevented them to be loaded near where optimal performance is close.
Plenty of people load so you can ask someone to load for you??
I would not recommend the 270 to anyone.


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I've hunted hard for 50 years and tried them all. I have never met a centre fire calibre that would not kill a deer.

I have also never met a calibre that day to day, and under almost every circumstance, is more effective than a 308.
When I look back, that is the calibre that was the no fuss every day star for knocking animals over. Never let me down.

That's the awful truth: there are youtube vids now of guys using airguns to kill deer and I've also seen dudes using a shotgun sabot shot to kill at 300y. Tis possible. So it lends to the theory that most cal of rifle are more than capable.

The exercise of looking at shelf ammo did illustrate a huge disparity for the swede. Why haven't they realised the majority of 6.5x55 users are using modern actions?? I mean the 12g ducks shooters aren't throttled back just because there are ancient fragile shotguns still around (that might blow up with modern powder)

Lots of m96 and m38 action rifles still in use, ammo makers especially american ones wouldnt risk it. Factory swede ammo does the bizzo to 500 and beyond, it just drops a bit more than a handload would. You need to know your trajectory past max pbr no matter what you shoot, and the hand load might gain you 100 yards more. It all boils down to shot placement in the end, a faster round landing in the wrong place wont do any better than a slow one would.

All are good calibers, all will do the job required. I have and like the 270 Win and have shot a lot of deer etc with the various ones I have owned. Currently a Tikka T3. Recoil isn't to bad with the 130 gr bullet and when shooting animals recoil becomes virtually unnoticeable. I now prefer magnum calibers as my go to rifles with the 300 Win in a Tikka being my favorite. Of the 3 mentioned above I would be looking at the 270. Of the 3 above the 308 would most likely have the best selection of off the shelf ammo available, the 6.5 would be the lightest recoiling of the 3.

You guys and your guns are a bunch of gay amateurs!
The bowhunters community at least has some REAL men arguments about which brand of bows, arrows and arrowheads kill best, and then the poundage of the bows, the weight of the arrow and the colour of their camo underwear dipped into "in season "doe piss!

And fishermen are another bunch of their own!

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Originally Posted by Danny

The age old...

The 270 and 708 are my least favourite caliber choices,

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Why don't you like the 708? I've always thought it had most of the advantages of the 6.5x55 but with more factory pill selection.

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Originally Posted by Dead is better

I've actually only ever reloaded so I'd never seriously looked at the shelf ammo before.

Just in theory, I placed the max killing distance at the point which all rounds would still be doing 1900ft/s to ensure the likelihood of the projectile expanding. That seems to be the common belief or am I wrong?

That gave me this in standard shelf ammo,
140gn 6.5x55 - 2650fts mv to 480m leaving 1125ftlbs. $60
140gn .270win - 2950fts mv to 510m leaving 1047ftlbs. $75
165gn 308win - 2700fts mv to 390m leaving 1329ftlbs. $50

So if those are my shelf choices, I'm seeing the swede as a better target choice no matter what. Less recoil
The 308 for the obvious hunting round. Cheap, monster power for most actual hunting distances.

Can somebody tell me why the .270win is worthwhile as a new guy hunting rifle?

(p.s I couldn't find a 140gn 308 cartridge for sale in NZ but if anyone knows one sing out)

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Not sure where you got your figures from but I would be very surprised if a .277 cal projectile leaving the muzzle 300fps faster that a 6.5mm projectile (give the same type of projectile) would have 78ftlbs less energy, even 30m father out. You have to compare apples with apples which I don't think is the case.
There is also a big difference between 390m and 510m.

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Originally Posted by Shearer

Not sure where you got your figures from but I would be very surprised if a .277 cal projectile leaving the muzzle 300fps faster that a 6.5mm projectile (give the same type of projectile) would have 78ftlbs less energy, even 30m father out. You have to compare apples with apples which I don't think is the case.
There is also a big difference between 390m and 510m.

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In the figures given, both the 6.5 and the 7mm projectile are both 140gr. Since the 6.5 projectile is thinner, it must be longer to have the same mass. Longer generally means higher BC, and therefore is more aerodynamic, slows down less over distance, and retains more energy than a shorter higher cal projectile of the same mass. Seems plausible to me.

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Originally Posted by stretch

In the figures given, both the 6.5 and the 7mm projectile are both 140gr. Since the 6.5 projectile is thinner, it must be longer to have the same mass. Longer generally means higher BC, and therefore is more aerodynamic, slows down less over distance, and retains more energy than a shorter higher cal projectile of the same mass. Seems plausible to me.

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The small difference in diameter would not make that much difference in BC if the projectiles were of the same form (for instance 140gn Nosler Ballistic tips - .456 compared to .509 BC for .277 and .264). A velocity difference of 300fps is a BIG difference. Energy = Mass x Velocity squared) The squared bit makes a big difference. Double the mass and you get double the energy. double the velocity and you get 4x the energy.
I just did a quick check on the Hornady ballistics calculator and at 500m, at the quoted velocities it gave energy figures of 1066 ftlbs and 1254 ftlbs for the 140 6.5 BT and the .277 BT respectively.

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Originally Posted by Friwi

You guys and your guns are a bunch of gay amateurs!
The bowhunters community at least has some REAL men arguments about which brand of bows, arrows and arrowheads kill best, and then the poundage of the bows, the weight of the arrow and the colour of their camo underwear dipped into "in season "doe piss!

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Is it a compound? Or a real bow (bent Yew with a string)? Did you make your own arrows?Are they wood? Do you char the tips? Real men sneak up and catch them while they are still walking. Tough ones jump from choppers while the buggers are still running!!!!!

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Originally Posted by Friwi

You guys and your guns are a bunch of gay amateurs!
The bowhunters community at least has some REAL men arguments about which brand of bows, arrows and arrowheads kill best, and then the poundage of the bows, the weight of the arrow and the colour of their camo underwear dipped into "in season "doe piss!

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Friwi....best you look up topic of recent incident with moose ...might just about put you off dipping ya jockeys(unless of course being banged by a moose is your kind of thing lol)

Regarding moose I am pretty safe in NZ :-) some lunatic are still looking for them in Fiordland.

With a gun or a bow, I m stalking my preys down their wind, so no need to used the seasoned piss.

There are moose in Fiordland Friwi, they are in the same area as the four remaining moa species. It is as hard as all hell to find them but when you do, the hunting is easy.

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Originally Posted by Rushy

There are moose in Fiordland Friwi, they are in the same area as the four remaining moa species. It is as hard as all hell to find them but when you do, the hunting is easy.

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Theyre in area 52 just left of the glasnock and are most often seen by those at lake alice

lake Alice...thats the one you find after falling down the rabbit hole isnt it????

True left of the red mushrooms

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Originally Posted by Danny

The age old...

The 270 and 708 are my least favourite caliber choices, recoil for performance is my personal reason for not owning the 270.

The reloaded 6.5x55 and reloaded 308 are simply good calibers. One can load the 308 from 130 to 180. I use both and also love the 165 & 168. But I load.

Off the shelf 6.5x55 offers a lot less as precautions have prevented them to be loaded near where optimal performance is close.
Plenty of people load so you can ask someone to load for you??
I would not recommend the 270 to anyone.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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you can load 308 up to 240 (if the slugs are still available) they hit bloody hard but drop faster than a brides knickers

imo they are all as good as each other but for different types of hunting 308 is great in a short barreled suppressed bush rat but it dose lack at long range
270 (although I hate the cal myself ) its a flat shooter for long range shooting where you use hold over rather than dialing I would never have one myself though as I hate guns that kick like a mule especially when there's rifles that can do everything it can and more with half the recoil but it is a poplar cal and must be for a reason.....
6.5cal in all forms is my favorite cal its low recoiling flat shooting and plenty of grunt for any hunting at ranges within reason personly I shoot 260rem which in my opinon "just" edges the 6.5x55 which is also great and better for a non reloader as 260 factory ammo is $$$$$$$

but it the end if the day theres no "best" caliber for deer it all comes down to the person how they hunt and at what ranges and hay if the deer dies humanely and you get food in your freezer who cares the deer doesn't know weather its been shot by a curtain caliber dose it in fact it shouldn't know much if your shot placement is correct

6.5x55 Sweed or the 260 rem

6.5 sweed if reloading.
Why get kicked by a mule (270), if a pure breed (6.5) covers you with feathers - and still gets the end game :)

7x57...8x57:thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by Beaker

6.5 sweed if reloading.
Why get kicked by a mule (270), if a pure breed (6.5) covers you with feathers - and still gets the end game :)

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yeah its better reloaded you can buy sweed and its the same price as other common cals ammo wise however to get full beans out of it you have to reload as ammo company's load down as there are still a lot of old m96 rifles around which are apparently weaker but my gunsmith said they are a lot stronger than people think.... guess they got to cover there arse though

as far as the 270 goes if you've got one and you like it good on you however it would be the last cal I would suggest to anyone after seeing on two occasions newbees getting shipped of in an ambo from being scoped that hard they where out cold both were light weight 270's high recoil is for the experienced only

if you don't reload and you want a rifle id go 243,7mm-08,308, or 6.5x55(if you don't mind it going abit slower) my brother shot heaps with fed blue box out of his 6.5 slow yes but still works sweet around 2600fps (rough guess) I think people get abet to caught up with speed these days

Rifle Recoil Table

Stock shape is important if there is a bit of recoil about. But most rifles have a muffler on them now a days. You owe it to your ears.

aaaaah the young . . .. looking up a few numbers and calling something the best ' mine is better than yours '

guns, cars, dogs and women are like any thing else, the best is the one that works best for you and what you want to achieve .. nothing against 6.5s, if thats what spins your wheels, great, but they're not the best.

So from what I have read here, basically the 270 has too much recoil and messes with your menstrual cycle?

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Originally Posted by rambo-6mmrem

yeah its better reloaded you can buy sweed and its the same price as other common cals ammo wise however to get full beans out of it you have to reload as ammo company's load down as there are still a lot of old m96 rifles around which are apparently weaker but my gunsmith said they are a lot stronger than people think.... guess they got to cover there arse though

as far as the 270 goes if you've got one and you like it good on you however it would be the last cal I would suggest to anyone after seeing on two occasions newbees getting shipped of in an ambo from being scoped that hard they where out cold both were light weight 270's high recoil is for the experienced only

if you don't reload and you want a rifle id go 243,7mm-08,308, or 6.5x55(if you don't mind it going abit slower) my brother shot heaps with fed blue box out of his 6.5 slow yes but still works sweet around 2600fps (rough guess) I think people get abet to caught up with speed these days

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Ah that sounds like shit coaching to me, my 308 boots harder than any 270 i've fired. This argument is just gayness revisited over and over again. We need Toby here to put the end word on it all :D

I would agree on the shit coaching part gibo if there was any sort of coaching to speek of apply for your license pass a theory test buy a rifle and go to the range go to the range with no fucking idea what your doing but thinking you do coz you passed your test..... imo there should be some sort of practical shooting as part of your license test its all good knowing things on paper but in the real world things are different as you know

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Originally Posted by rambo-6mmrem

I would agree on the shit coaching part gibo if there was any sort of coaching to speek of apply for your license pass a theory test buy a rifle and go to the range go to the range with no fucking idea what your doing but thinking you do coz you passed your test..... imo there should be some sort of practical shooting as part of your license test its all good knowing things on paper but in the real world things are different as you know

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Yeah guess most of us have had a scoping in our lives, uphill is what normally gets ya. Must have damn near had their eyeball in the scope to get KO'd though :D Do you have any on video? :D

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Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

So from what I have read here, basically the 270 has too much recoil and messes with your menstrual cycle?

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Nah, just a waste of powder. Good for people that need a bigger bang from their rifle to make them feel manly though. Could rename it the .270 compensator! ;)