Thread: 270 shooters

Some 270's are horrible to shoot - (read Tikka with factory stock) and boot like mules.
With the right stock they are very easy to use with 130's and less. Recoil steps up with heavier bullets cranking.
Killing power is a step up compared to smaller calls and a 270 is very forgiving on a poorly placed shot.
I like harder bullets like accubonds that blow a hole right through but in factory the Winny Powerpoint 130's are hard to beat for run of the mill pigs and deer and maybe the 140gr Sako would be a good factory option for stags.
If you can have a couple of shots out of it before committing that will tell you what you want to know.

Nah they are junk. Tell they guy it is worth about 50 cents.
You grab it and give it to me to dispose of.

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

Some 270's are horrible to shoot - (read Tikka with factory stock) and boot like mules.
With the right stock they are very easy to use with 130's and less. Recoil steps up with heavier bullets cranking.
Killing power is a step up compared to smaller calls and a 270 is very forgiving on a poorly placed shot.
I like harder bullets like accubonds that blow a hole right through but in factory the Winny Powerpoint 130's are hard to beat for run of the mill pigs and deer and maybe the 140gr Sako would be a good factory option for stags.
If you can have a couple of shots out of it before committing that will tell you what you want to know.

Have to disagree, if you are over 80kg then a .270 is easy to shoot with a 130 grain bullet, in fact a .308 will have more free recoil with most factory loads.

Unfortunately the .270 is for the most part under-loaded, as it is quite an old cartridge. Hornady rounds probably loaded the hottest of most major manufacturers.

This was the 6.5 CM of it's day (1925), with a 130 grain proprietary .277" bullet (unless you want to count some whack Chinese chambering) going around 3,100 fps, according to Winchester.

Avoid the heavier 150 grain .270 bullets, as the 6.5 and 7mm's quickly eclipse them for BC.

Personally shoot 110 grain copper (Barnes TTSX, loaded by Sako as the 'Powerhead II') and this does around 3,200 ish fpd out of a 20" Tikka, handloaded you could probably push them to 3,300 (Barnes claims 3,400 fps out of a 24" barrel). Not sure what my handloads do but they'll toast the brass (loose primer pocket) after two firings.

The .270 is a great deer cartridge but more efficient designs have come along since, even the .243 was knocking on the door of the .270 in 1955 (also a Winchester cartridge).

The .270 was a favorite of Jack O' Connor, and having a pre-64 Win chambered in one gets many cool points...

Originally Posted by Boar Freak

Thanks for all the info and opinions guys.
The rifle isnt suppressed, still have full lenght barrel.
I will be using factory ammo with whatever rifle I end up getting, too many things going on for a while so selling the reloading gear.

Pop your head out the window and you'll see the vultures are already circling

@Boar Freak You will not go wrong with a 270 for our hunting here,when l started guiding in the Top End of Oz & Africa l would take 2 Pelican cases with my 270& 06 & 300Wby Mag & 458Mag ,so if my missus, (who like any married bloke knows l would never hazard a guess to her weight ,but she is no Rugby player),wanted to hunt she would use the Sako 75 Finnlight in 270 unsuppressed. She has hunted with it around the world & she came to love it that much she refused to let me sell it when l got offered a deal on a 270WSM l could not refuse & she has used it now for over 2 Decades now ,taking 100's of game with it, with never any need for heavy for caliber bullets that increase recoil in any caliber .

We have just finished a few days away hunting & Jet Boating & she uses the 270 unsuppressed on our Jet Boat hunts all the time, due to cutting down length & us wearing ear protection any way,in the last few days she has taken Deer,Pigs & Goats with it & mostly off hand unsupported with absolutely no problems & out to a lazed 320mtrs .

The proven hunting loads l have come to settle on for the Finnlight for decades now are - For light game like Goats ,Pigs , Fallow &Chammy is the Hornady 110gn Interlock doing just on 3250fps,my KISS all round load for everything that walks in Kiwi land is the 130gn Barnes TSX doing just over 3050 fps which is devastating in the 270 & she has taken Reds & Tahr out to 450mtrs with .That KISS load is point & shoot out to over 300mtrs.Those loads are mild in the Finnlight as l had to allow for Tropical heat & the rifle being carried in Dash racks in the jeeps in full sun.

I have not brought factory ammo for years but any in those bullet weights doing around that speed will do everything you need here , with easily handled recoil .

Here is the Missus a few days ago with a Velvity Red she dropped off hand with her unsuppressed 270 Finnlight at 145 mtrs .You can see why l am not guessing her weight



And winning a bottle of wine off a mate pointing out the 270 had hit exactly where she called it at 235mtrs at last light .

Used my BSA Majestic .270 for nearly 55 years. Shot the barrel out in late 1970s and rebarrelled rather than selling it because it suits me so well. Still use Hornady 130gr Interlock no frills projectiles. Suppressed now as hearing buggared and originally had a muzzle brake for the 5.25lb bare rifle.

Over the last 50 +years I have used the the 270 Win in several different rifles. In the early days I loaded the Noslar 130 gr Partition and solid base and shot quite a few animals with them. The 270 will handle all our game with ease and is a reliable long range caliber.
Currently have a Tikka T3 which is one of the most accurate rifles I own along with a few others, even decked out with a dial up scope it's not to heavy. I use the 145 gr ELDX now which are very accurate and are capable killers. Over the years I have used the 270 I have also used the parent to the 270 the 30 06 which is another fine performer. I have found even with good chest shots the 270 gets the odd runner even when there is a perfect hit. I have noticed that the 30 06 with hits in the same places mostly drop the animals on the spot especially with the 180 gr bullet. But that's a different animal, the 270 will always keep your freezer full.

@Benji you are onto a keeper no doubt.
With knife skills like that you'll wake up with your balls in your mouth one morning if you piss her off lol
I seem to notice a common usage of the barnes projectiles. 300mag, 8x57 and now 270.
Must work ok

@csmiffy Yeh she is bloody handy on a blade as she grew up on a farm around horses all her life & her family made a well known Saddle & Tack she does a bloody good job sharpening any gear as well .She has the painting bug now but l keep egging her on to get back into leather work, her old man made me a couple of fantastic woven leather belts still going strong over 30 yrs now,l wish l had got him to make me a leather rifle scabbard.

Yep love my Barnes ,when we were in Africa & Oz we saw a lot of clients using totally unsuitable gear ie light calibers for the job /their ability on big critters & the Barnes were stand outs for getting the job done .When you are not spending all your time just punching paper, but putting the lights out on living creatures you owe it to them to get the job done properly, the small extra cost in using the best available is nothing when you take in all the other costs of hunting & it means you get better eating meat in the deal .

She is a keeper alright over 35yrs now,our 4th date was 2 day hunting trip & she shot her first ever Chammy & over the years l took her into some of the most remote & dangerous areas in the world .We often wonder if we were among the last Westerners to hear about the 9/11 Twin Towers attack ,we were away Spearfishing & Hunting on a remote Island off the Arnhem Land coast, that was country for a tribe l was " adopted " into ,we never knew anything about the attack till l think it was 18 days later & never saw any pictures until about 24 days after when we got the supply plane to bring newspapers of when it happened.

I was very lucky in that she loves hunting & my daughters still do as well ,she proved what a good sort she was on my Birthday hunting trip when l offered her to sneak off for a romantic over night stay in $200+ per night AirB&B ,but she wanted to do a Jet Boat, Fly Camp Hunt seeing the fucking Lock Downs had meant it had been so long since doing one .

So we snuck off from the party crowd at the Bach,with a couple of bottles of fizzy stuff & a couple of cray fish & oysters in the chilly bin & camped by the river just around the bend from a productive river flat l knew & she got that deer first thing in the morning ,who said l am not romantic & even at 52 she still has a more adventurous spirit & get up & go than most blokes .

I love barnes in the .223...in the .270 not so much...yip they work,but didnt see any advantage over conventional cup n core loads.
now them 110grn interlocts sound interesting...but funnily enough my 270 gets other end of spectrum treatment and Ive still got a hundy of the awesome 170grn speer RN to keep it going....

When a friend said he wanted to give hunting a go, he asked what he should get. My immediate responce was .270 it will do everything you ever want in NZ.
I have had 3 in different disguises and has been said very forgiving for not quite on the spot shooting. It has had a bad rap for being a booter but that is down to stock design and noise mostly. Often negated by better recoil pad and or supressing.
9 years on my friend is still on the 60 odd rounds I reloaded for him, but quite a number of animals in amongst those shots fired.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

...but funnily enough my 270 gets other end of spectrum treatment and Ive still got a hundy of the awesome 170grn speer RN to keep it going....

What on earth are you hunting with those?

My .243 is really gonna hate to share, but I am about to start over again with .270, basic work horse load is going to be the 130 Speer Hotcor at 3100fps. Because I know that out to 400yds, that pill is a dependable deer killer. Be about my 6th or 7th .270, lost count, it's gonna have it's work cut out to keep the .243 down though.....

anything that walks Gods green earth mate......the SD is right up there with 200grn .30 cal and surprisingly,out to 300 yards trajectory isnt as bad as first thought...not that they get used past hundy....

Also at the moment it’s pretty easy to get ammo for them.