Thread: .270 is the best caliber ever made.

Originally Posted by Mooseman

Most my hunting life I have had a 270 Win, at present a Tikka T3, the calibre has performed well. Accurate , hard hitting , not to bad on recoil make it a good all rounder. Are there better…….. yes there are, I prefer the 30 cal now days, the 30 06 will always kill a little quicker than the 270 , my 308 within its range capabilities is a good performer, and then the 300 Win Mag is at another level.
The range of projectiles available for 30 cal today is vast , a lot better than for the 270 but that has improved in recent years, which makes the 30 cal a lot more versatile.
Over the years I have noticed the killing effect of the 270 compared with the 30 06 and its a lot more noticeable in favour of the 06. You seem to get more animals running a short distance after a well placed shot compared to the same placement of a 30 06 bullet , especially a 180 gr.
All that said and done the 270 will continue to hold its place in the shooting world for a long time yet. You can’t go wrong with a nice accurate 270 for NZ hunting conditions.

Yes.
All of the 270's Ive shot along next to have had that runner thing. They died, but went for a trot first. Interestingly I haven't noticed it with my 270wsm. Bias?

I own and use one.if I didn't I would own another .308 or a 30/06 I need say no more.

Originally Posted by Shearer

A moot point to all the Tikka owners out there.

Which is why i no longer have a Tikka / Tikka .270

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings all,
Back in the 1970's I bought my first new rifle. It came down to a choice between a Rem 700 in .308 and a .270 in .270. I knew next to nothing about cartridges. The price for the .308 was $243.00 and the .270 was $275.00 I chose the .308 on price alone and it is still here. Somehow a .270 has never managed to find its way into my gun cupboard and likely never will. My favourite hunting rifle is my seldom used 6.5x55 T3. It is loaded with the Hornady 129 grain SST at 2,820 fps, a sub max load. 2,860 fps should be possible which is almost as good as the.............. Oh dear never mind.
GPM.

A peculiarity about the 308 during the 60's and 70's (not sure of the exact period) was that the rifles and ammo in that caliber were exempt of sales tax. So they were a cheaper option.
This was because CAC made the 308 ammo here in NZ (that and 303). Later CAC started making .270 (firstly branded for the Forest Service) and .243 ammo and the sales tax went back on.

Why put up with the 270's long action, extra recoil and noise over a 6.5 CM which has higher BC bullets, kills just as well with less powder from a smaller case so less recoil.
An example would be the Hornady Precision Hunter line of ammo that uses the Hornady ELD-X bullet. The 6.5 Creedmoor load fires a 143 gr bullet with a muzzle velocity of 2,700 fps, while the 270 Winchester load fires a 145 gr bullet travelling at 2,970 fps.

In a rifle that weighs 6.5 lbs and given the above rounds, the 270 Win will have 26.01 ft-lbs of free recoil and 17.19 ft-lbs for the 6.5 CM. This means the 6.5 Creedmoor will have around 50% less recoil than the 270 when comparing similar bullet weights.

Originally Posted by Hermitage

Why put up with the 270's long action, extra recoil and noise over a 6.5 CM which has higher BC bullets, kills just as well with less powder from a smaller case so less recoil.
An example would be the Hornady Precision Hunter line of ammo that uses the Hornady ELD-X bullet. The 6.5 Creedmoor load fires a 143 gr bullet with a muzzle velocity of 2,700 fps, while the 270 Winchester load fires a 145 gr bullet travelling at 2,970 fps.

In a rifle that weighs 6.5 lbs and given the above rounds, the 270 Win will have 26.01 ft-lbs of free recoil and 17.19 ft-lbs for the 6.5 CM. This means the 6.5 Creedmoor will have around 50% less recoil than the 270 when comparing similar bullet weights.

Stop cherry picking,if you want to compare apples with apples do so.a immature granny smith is not the same as a crab apple. That 145grn is better than the 143.... And IF you really want to nit pick my 170s will shit all over the manbun/costsmore all day everyday. Why the hate on the costsmore??? Cause it's marketed as a long range round. It's not. It's medium range round full stop.no better or worse than many others if you stop drinking marketing coolaid.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Stop cherry picking,if you want to compare apples with apples do so.a immature granny smith is not the same as a crab apple. That 145grn is better than the 143.... And IF you really want to nit pick my 170s will shit all over the manbun/costsmore all day everyday. Why the hate on the costsmore??? Cause it's marketed as a long range round. It's not. It's medium range round full stop.no better or worse than many others if you stop drinking marketing coolaid.

There’s no denying that the 270 Win and 6.5 Creedmoor have impressive ballistics. The 270 is the obvious choice when kinetic energy is needed, as it fires similarly weighted bullets to the 6.5 CM at higher velocities.
This begs the question as to why the 6.5 CM is so popular? If the 270 has more case capacity, why then do we see the firing line at F-Class competitions flooded with 6.5 Creedmoor?... The answer lies in the barrel and bullet selection.

The 6.5 Creedmoor was designed to shoot long, high B.C. bullets. Long, heavy bullets require a faster twist rate to stabilize properly. Therefore, a 1:8 twist barrel was standardized for the calibre.

On the other hand, we need to remember what the 270 was designed to do; which is provide a flatter shooting alternative to its parent case, the 30-06 Springfield. Back in the 1920’s, it’s highly unlikely that ballistic coefficients were weighing heavily on the minds of rifle makers.

Back then, velocity was king and the 130 grain Spitzer fired by the 270 Win quickly became known as a flat shooting bullet. Therefore, the manufacturers standardized the 1:10 twist rate for the 270, which is good for bullets up to 150 grains, but not much heavier than that (unless you use your rounded low BC 170 grainers) This gives the 6.5 Creedmoor a clear advantage in terms of bullet selection thanks to its faster twist rate.

I started my hunting career with a 6.5x55. It was good. Then I bought my first 270, followed shortly after by a better .270. Being young and single, I also bought a 7mm Rem mag, a 308, a 223, a 280acklyImp barrel when I wore out the 270, a 30/06 which I shortly rebarrlled too 6.5/284, a 6.5 Grendal and another 223.

When I decided to shout myself a one great rifle for the rest of my career, there was really no contest. accurate, Less recoil than the /284,Mag or 06. Kills well, as flat shooting or flatter than any of them over the distances I wish to shoot. Ammo available everywhere and common /easy to get. Most projectiles are designed specifically for it.
I can pick it up and walk out the door with no need for a rangefinder or app or special scope of any sort. It was and will be the ideal rifle for NZ hunting for some time.

Originally Posted by Tahr

A peculiarity about the 308 during the 60's and 70's (not sure of the exact period) was that the rifles and ammo in that caliber were exempt of sales tax. So they were a cheaper option.
This was because CAC made the 308 ammo here in NZ (that and 303). Later CAC started making .270 (firstly branded for the Forest Service) and .243 ammo and the sales tax went back on.

I suspect that this was the difference in price for the rifle. The dealer threw in two boxes of cartridges.

My t3x shoots 145 eldx and 130 grain fusions roughly into the same ragged hole and drops big stags with authority.
My experience with 270 and I own 308 is the modern powders, projectiles have upped it's effectiveness.
There's a good reason why the 270 is still high on the list of preferred elk cartridges. You pair them up with a 145 eldx or game king, tmk, 150 nosler partition it's game over. 308 doesn't make the cut so much.
Point and shoot to 400 without twidling dials.
I'm a big fan of 308 and never shot 06 but the 270 with 140 and 150 is still good medicine. I found it hit harder, killed faster than my 7mm08 too. Suppressors have made it more enjoyable.

My first rifle, which is still own, love and use regularly, is a Tikka M695 in .270 Winchester. A lot of people whine and moan about things like the fact that .270 win rifles need the longer barrel for velocity, the long action adds weight, and that there is a bit more recoil.
While all true, they neglect the perks of the .270win.

With a well developed handload and a 150m zero you can practically shoot out to 300 meters distance or more with no need to make major adjustments for drop. Components and ammo are also relatively cheap given how common of a caliber it is.
I have dialable scopes on other rifles in other calibers, but I find myself going back to the .270 time and time again because it is just a great generalist rifle because of that flat trajectory and swift velocity. This flat trajectory means that for most hunting applications you don't need a big dial up scope, which again saves weight on your rifle and makes it easier to handle.

Thanks to modern technology, we have limb-saver recoil pads and light suppressors which remedy recoil concerns. Modern bullets like the Hornady SST 130gr, when paired with the speed of the .270win that can be gained from handloading, make it a really effective and humane hunting rifle.

Yes I agree that the longer barrel can be a pain in the tight stuff, no doubt about it, but where I grew up in the South Island it was something I was willing to put up with because that same length gave me the speed and flat trajectory that allowed me to take animals across a variety of hunting situations. I've used it on red deer in the bush, Tahr in alpine situations, and fallow on medium range farmland shooting. You could begin a hunt in the bush, climb to the open country, and know that the rifle had you covered no matter how open or tight the country was.

If you reload with lighter projectiles it makes a great varmint rifle also.

I think the .270win gets so much undeserved hate because people do not recognise it as the generalist cartridge it is. It is the do-it-all cartrige. It is a great chambering especially if you reload. If you want a cartridge that can do it all, it is a very solid contender.

Originally Posted by Floundering Around

My first rifle, which is still own, love and use regularly, is a Tikka M695 in .270 Winchester. A lot of people whine and moan about things like the fact that .270 win rifles need the longer barrel for velocity, the long action adds weight, and that there is a bit more recoil.
While all true, they neglect the perks of the .270win.

With a well developed handload and a 150m zero you can practically shoot out to 300 meters distance or more with no need to make major adjustments for drop. Components and ammo are also relatively cheap given how common of a caliber it is.
I have dialable scopes on other rifles in other calibers, but I find myself going back to the .270 time and time again because it is just a great generalist rifle because of that flat trajectory and swift velocity. This flat trajectory means that for most hunting applications you don't need a big dial up scope, which again saves weight on your rifle and makes it easier to handle.

Thanks to modern technology, we have limb-saver recoil pads and light suppressors which remedy recoil concerns. Modern bullets like the Hornady SST 130gr, when paired with the speed of the .270win that can be gained from handloading, make it a really effective and humane hunting rifle.

Yes I agree that the longer barrel can be a pain in the tight stuff, no doubt about it, but where I grew up in the South Island it was something I was willing to put up with because that same length gave me the speed and flat trajectory that allowed me to take animals across a variety of hunting situations. I've used it on red deer in the bush, Tahr in alpine situations, and fallow on medium range farmland shooting. You could begin a hunt in the bush, climb to the open country, and know that the rifle had you covered no matter how open or tight the country was.

If you reload with lighter projectiles it makes a great varmint rifle also.

I think the .270win gets so much undeserved hate because people do not recognise it as the generalist cartridge it is. It is the do-it-all cartrige. It is a great chambering especially if you reload. If you want a cartridge that can do it all, it is a very solid contender.Attachment 260786

I think it appeals to those of us that really just want one rifle to do everything in a simple system.

I must admit I get a feeling of superiority if Im hunting with someone and I have my 270 draped across my daypack, reticle on the animal, and am waiting for the other person to range the animal and dial. Knowing I could have it dead all ready...

270 cause noone sense to want them much anymore and they're dirt cheap to buy a lot of rifle for not much in real good nick with a few years on them but not a lot of use. Hard to go past. Besides short actions go with short actions lol

Greetings,
What we need to do with the 270 is to speed up the twist a bit to say 8.66" so it can stabilise heavier projectiles. Perhaps move the shoulder forward a bit and sharpen the shoulder slightly to increase powder space. Maybe change the bore from .270 to .276 as better projectiles are available. You would then have a better cartridge. You would have also invented the 7x64 Brenneke from 1917.
GPM.

Haha but the 7x64 wasn't invented by US gunwriters making up bullshit at the behest of their local firearms industry to sell shit to unsophisticated folks . . . .