Thread: 270 in a 20in barrel or 308 in 18in barrel

Struggling to decide between the pair. Both have pros and cons and both will do the ranges I am after which is a max 500mtrs. Yes I am already proficient at those ranges.
The bonus with the 308 is I can use the same suppressor as I currently have on the 223 (30cal) don't have to buy another suppressor. As the 270 is already threaded.
Reloading components are available for both as is factory ammo. Never owned a 270 but have used them which is a draw card. All ready have 100 brass for it as well.
Will be a tikka as I want the rifle as light as possible, looked at the bergara b14 extreme in 308. Nice rifle and to me smother than the tikka but heavier.
As my 300wsm was 9.9 lbs I want this to be significantly less with the new one.
Which way would you go? Really interested in opinions so I can assist my decision making.
Cheers

308 all day. A full length 270 is obnoxious enough.

.270 and shoot 145 eldx at around 3k just cut the thread off and rethread and use your .308 surppressor.


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Doesnt matter which one, they both shoot decent sized boolits at substantial speed, and knock things over. If you want a nice light rifle, then maybe a Model 7 308. But the right Tikka will certainly work just as well.

.308 Winchester

Hands down the most versatile hunting cartridge.

You can run a genuinely short barrel (16” or even less).
A midway length is perfect (18-20”).
A longer barrel (22-24”) adds a bit of speed if you want it.
The projectile options for the .308 calibre vastly exceed what is available for the .270.
You can run the .308 as a fast varmint rifle with 110gr (>3300fps)…
…or…
You can run the .308 as a slower but very deadly bush rifle with 180gr (~2500fps), or even slower if you choose to use a controlled expansion bullet for less meat damage…
…and…
Everything in between, very competently.

The Tikka .308 has a 1:11” twist and it will run long, high BC projectiles to a point, the limitation being the factory mag which can be solved by getting something like the Waters Rifleman option. Either way, a stout load behind a 178gr ELD-X out of a 20” .308 Win gives you a lot of open country to play with, and impressive terminal performance at range.

Then there is the bonus of being able to easily load the .308 for subsonic use, which is really good fun and sometimes can be extremely useful. (I use .308 subsonic quite a lot for up close goat control.)

The bottom line is that the .308 is a far more efficient, versatile and well mannered case than the .270. The 270 excels with the 130 grain weight class, but ballistically that class is inferior by some distance to the .308’s 165 grain weight class. It is a no contest at 500 meters for me, .30 cal all the way. If you look at the midpoint of 150gr, velocity wise there really isn’t much difference between the two.

One way to look at it is how much extra powder the 270 case takes as a percentage, and then look at how much extra ooommppff you can get for that extra powder. You will find it is not a lot.

What do you get is excessive noise, muzzle flash and unburnt powder in a shortened .270 Win.

So get a .308 Winchester.

I have a tika tx3-308-18inch barrel.Great little shooter using Hornady 150gr ssts.Easy to carry with suppresser on.

.308 all day long.

.270 will be less pleasant to shoot, harder on your suppressor, less efficient and use more powder.

308

Yep as above. .308 all day every day. Stacks of components available for the 30s too

Originally Posted by Flyblown

.308 Winchester

Hands down the most versatile hunting cartridge.

You can run a genuinely short barrel (16” or even less).
A midway length is perfect (18-20”).
A longer barrel (22-24”) adds a bit of speed if you want it.
The projectile options for the .308 calibre vastly exceed what is available for the .270.
You can run the .308 as a fast varmint rifle with 110gr (>3300fps)…
…or…
You can run the .308 as a slower but very deadly bush rifle with 180gr (~2500fps), or even slower if you choose to use a controlled expansion bullet for less meat damage…
…and…
Everything in between, very competently.

The Tikka .308 has a 1:11” twist and it will run long, high BC projectiles to a point, the limitation being the factory mag which can be solved by getting something like the Waters Rifleman option. Either way, a stout load behind a 178gr ELD-X out of a 20” .308 Win gives you a lot of open country to play with, and impressive terminal performance at range.

Then there is the bonus of being able to easily load the .308 for subsonic use, which is really good fun and sometimes can be extremely useful. (I use .308 subsonic quite a lot for up close goat control.)

The bottom line is that the .308 is a far more efficient, versatile and well mannered case than the .270. The 270 excels with the 130 grain weight class, but ballistically that class is inferior by some distance to the .308’s 165 grain weight class. It is a no contest at 500 meters for me, .30 cal all the way. If you look at the midpoint of 150gr, velocity wise there really isn’t much difference between the two.

One way to look at it is how much extra powder the 270 case takes as a percentage, and then look at how much extra ooommppff you can get for that extra powder. You will find it is not a lot.

What do you get is excessive noise, muzzle flash and unburnt powder in a shortened .270 Win.

So get a .308 Winchester.

Like the man said. The .308 is just more 'efficient' all round.

Plus the .308 is one of the most used rounds on the planet - this makes it (usually) easier to get and a greater range of bits available if reloading...

Good choices either way, you will be happy. If in tighter stuff I'd lean towards the 308, if more open country the 270. I can't tell the difference in recoil between the two, it's negligible especially if coming from a 300WSM.

I reckon the 270 with the 145 ELD's as mentioned above hit a bit harder in that 300-500m range than anything I've put out a 308. The real big advantage of the 308 though is being able to source much cheaper factory military FMJ or even projectiles to plink gongs with. Doesn't seem to be any around at the moment but used be able to get the Aussie 155gr HBC projectiles for 45c each by the 500 box, very cheap shooting.

Only solution is get the Bergara 18" & the Tikka, but I'd consider a 22" with the 270 if get both. The way inflation is going you will be able to sell either for same as you paid for them. Tikka's always sell easy if you want to move it on.

Greetings All,
Although I agree with it I was a little surprised with the strength of opinion favouring the .308. It is a more flexible cartridge than the .270 which is hampered by its 1 in 10' twist which may not shoot the high BC .270 projectiles currently appearing in the market. This especially at longer range. My association with the .308 started in the 1970's and it is an exceptionally easy round to load for.
Regards Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings All,
Although I agree with it I was a little surprised with the strength of opinion favouring the .308. It is a more flexible cartridge than the .270 which is hampered by its 1 in 10' twist which may not shoot the high BC .270 projectiles currently appearing in the market. This especially at longer range. My association with the .308 started in the 1970's and it is an exceptionally easy round to load for.
Regards Grandpamac.

Hi Mac,
The 1:10 twist 270 Tikka's shoot the 145' Hornady's very well, there are some great posts on load development on forum. The .277 145 ELDX has a BC of .536, a 308 168 ELD is around .523 so not really much between the two in that department for commonly used projectiles.

I think the .270 suffers from a little bit of the "Poo70" reputation and as well as that it tended to come out in factory ammo with pills that are either designed for longer range work or they are lighter for smaller bodied game at closer ranges. It's more likely in this scenario to get a pill that doesn't perform to expectations with less than ideal shot placement. Reloading fixes that issue, although recently prior to the current shortages you could get a lot more interesting ammo without having to reload.

From experience the .308 is easier to get factory ammo for that will flatten things from muzzle to right out as far as you are competent, although again shortages are now a little limiting. You can get a lot more choice in the way of target-quality fodder off the shelf in .308 as well which is nice. FGGM usually groups well under 1/2" at 100 unless something is weird with the rifle.

The other factor is turning up at a hut, it doesn't seem that you get a second glance with a .308. My mate that had a .270 recently got rid of it a) because something else turned up that was more shiny and got more wing flapping out of him, and b) he didn't feel like he had to justify it every time he farted. Setting the record straight the .270 had zero failures to drop what it was aimed it during the time and more than paid for itself in terms of meat. The .308 did the same. He's recently gotten a Steyr SBS in (gasp) .270 and it came with a spiffy ali tube on the front for not much cash and it's a step up on class all around over what he replaced the first .270 with.