270 Winchester better than 7mm mag?

[gajie270]

on paper the difference between hand-loaded 7mm rem mag and hand-loaded 270 Winchester is minimal. 270 with a 150 at 2900-3050 and the 7mm with a 160 at 2950~ of a 150 at 3050-3100~. so with that in mind what would you guys rather hunt with?
edit: the 270 180 grain bullets pushes them anywhere from 2400-2550 or a 160 at 2800-2900 and 7mm rem mag is pushing a 175 around 2700-2850 if your into the heavier weight stuff for both.

 

[slam8031]

I go up to 175 grain in the 7mm rem mag for plains game at slightly lower velocities than you stated with great results. I drop down to 143 grains for southern white tails. I prefer the 7 mag!

 

[Hunt anything]

I’ve used both, killed many more animals with the 7 mag, my problem with the .270 wasnt so much the cartridge but the rifle a old interarms bolt gun that when you started squeezing the trigger on Monday it wouldn’t break until Tuesday. It was the only rifle I could afford with my trapping earnings during Christmas break in high school. About 3 years later I bought a Remington 700 in 7 mag and haven’t looked back.

 

[Rocco490]

From what I have read both are excellent! And either way you will be happy. The 7 mag does outperform the 270 but not by a large margin I would step up to the 300's or larger if I needed more terminal performance than the 270. I chose to go 270 because it is similarly flat shooting and very close in bullet weight and frontal area with less cost, less recoil, less blast, no belt, possibly better barrel life, and I thought it might be slightly more compatible with 22" to 24" tubes.

 

[Red Leg]

I truly love the .270. In spite of my appreciation of the 7x57 and recent infatuation with the 7x65R, the old .270 with the 130 gr loading has always seemed the perfect deer, North American plains, and mountain rifle. I currently own four .270's and never had a 7 mag last longer than a few months in the safe. So, my favorite is obvious.

However, for African PG I would prefer a 7mm with a 170 gr bullet like the Oryx - whether in a 7 mag, 7x64, or 7x57.

 

[C.W. Richter]

The 7 is a larger cap, longer range cartridge, with even better BC/SD bullets to get that job done. http://ammoguide.com/?tool=bcompare&it=107-1390147549|13-1158556112 Nearly 1000 ft-lbs more muzzle energy. Despite what O'Connor may have achieved w/ the storied .270 prior to my lifetime, for any sheep or goat hunts, or other longer range deer, antelope, etc. I'd rather have the steam of the 7. (I don't own a 7 mag, but my son does and I have the slightly lower po 757AI.) The 270 and 280 would be a better comparision, but again due to wider bullet choices (higher BC/SD), the 7 will win again. I see someone makes a 180 gr 270 bullet now (that would be high BC/SD, but the longer pill will eat up powder space and limit V.) Apples (60 gr case) to Oranges (70 gr case).

 

[gajie270]

ad David Petzal puts in this article the difference between the cartilages at Ethical Hunting Distances(400/350 and in) is so minimal standard barrels why even put up with the enhanced recoil and muzzle blast of the 7mm over the 270 Winchester.270 vs 7mm rem mag article

 

[gillettehunter]

I like the .270 and killed a LOT of animals with it, however; it does give up some energy. I have reloaded for both and shot both a bit. My .270 with a 150 gr bullet was running around 2900 fps (2850??) which gives a muzzle energy of 2800 fp. My 7 mag will readily run a 180 grain Berger at 2900 fps for a muzzle energy of 3362 fp. 20% more energy is a bit noticeable.
In flat out killing power either will work well on the medium and smaller plains game animals. If looking at the Kudu and larger animals I'd take the 7mm. Bullet placement is always king, but occasionally almost everyone makes a less than ideal shot. The 7mm will help cover small placement errors better than a .270.
Sectional density of the 150 gr bullet in the .270 is .279. The 180 in the 7mm is .319 so 14% better. Sometimes the best choice is whichever you shoot best with a bullet you trust.
Bruce

 

[Ridge Runner]

I have owned, hunted, and shot 7mm mags and never a 270. Thus I prefer the 7 mag as my choice between these 2 calibers.

The 270 is a .277 diameter bullet, the 7mm is a .283 diameter bullet, I lean toward the bigger diameter bullets.

I also look at versatlity and variety of bullet choices when choosing a firearm caliber.

On paper and using math caliber comparisons can be debated what really counts is in the field and the individuals ability to handle recoil and placing the first bullet in the kill zone consecutively.

 

[C.W. Richter]

ad David Petzal puts in this article the difference between the cartilages at Ethical Hunting Distances(400/350 and in) is so minimal standard barrels why even put up with the enhanced recoil and muzzle blast of the 7mm over the 270 Winchester.270 vs 7mm rem mag article

the 7 mag is far from unpleasant to shoot! it's a shortened .300 win mag case (or further shortened 375) typically featuring a fairly light 140ish gr bullet. I agree if <400, but for tough-angled shots on larger stuff (some whitetails are 325 lb, same for goats, argali more like 500-i'd prefer the 7. But, in reality, I'd have a hot 300 or 338.) Those guys get paid to sell stuff in stories. I love the sound of echoes in the canyon in the morning (of those beloved, belted cases!) A neighbor had me sight in his brand new featherweight M70 270 when i was a kid. It was very nice. When he passed away I later inquired about the whereabouts of the gun (and sadly, his extended fam told me he hocked it to pay medi-bills.) It's a fine whitetail/antelope caliber in typical conditions. I'd prefer more gun on PG in Africa, too (though the heavy-for-caliber bullets would be ok.) No advantage to shorter bbls in 7mag (and that's where you're going to get the blast. 22" which a lot of the short mag cartridges feature.) I'd say if your game is avg deer at 350 or less, fine. We have a concurrent deer/bear season here and hunt some large farms (some bucks are huge and shot angles not ideal, some very long fields and open wetland meadows; bear get to be just <900 lbs-i prefer the mag!) I think Kevin Robertson touts the 7mag as wonderful for PG (but the 300s, 338s and 375 as well.)

 

[C.W. Richter]

'Totally fictitious, of course, but...If P Co. owns chest-beater outdoors magazine (sponsored by gun/ammo mfrs,) the publishing co., and rights to an old-timer's books featuring his favorite caliber gun, then that's what the employees of P Co. are paid to do, for continued gainful employment, the stories sell the guns and the circle is never-ending.

 

[curtism1234]

I vote 7mag. When you need a medium size animal to go down in its tracks, it will do so with amazing violence.

 

[TKessel]

Just personal preference, and being fortunate enough to witness a lot of animals harvested over the years. I’m a huge fan of the 270 and would personally use it over the 7 any day

 

[CoElkHunter]

I have taken a number of mule deer and pronghorn (and one pig) with my mid '70s Winchester M70 .270 Winchester. I'm sure the 7mm RM would be fine too, but I have never owned one.

 

[Ryan]

I've scratched my head about these two and the 280 AI for another rifle. But for my purposes there's not a whole lot of difference between them. And my 30-06 does just about the same thing.

Honestly if I really wanted a 7 mag I'd go with a 7mm Weatherby Mag. As someone I read once put it it's everything the 7mm Remington Mag wanted to be.

 

[C.W. Richter]

why they used the shorter 338 WM case I'll never know. they simply should've made it even-steven w/ the 300 WM case (the 7 Rem). Lower production cost? COAL for max performance?? 300 WM is std length.

 

[CoElkHunter]

why they used the shorter 338 WM case I'll never know. they simply should've made it even-steven w/ the 300 WM case (the 7 Rem). Lower production cost? COAL for max performance?? 300 WM is std length.

Actually, the .338WM, .300WM, 7mm RM, along with the .264WM and .458WM are all the same case (2.5" length) necked up or down and based on the parent .375 H and H case.

 

[C.W. Richter]

With the exception of the 300 I believe you are correct, dimensionally. The loaded case capacities are not the same. Esp. so w/ the longer case 300.

That's the Mags; .264, 7, 300, 338, 458 (threw my DG Fav in at the end: 416 Chatfield-Taylor! Same velocity as the Rigby, Rem and way more efficient use of that case.)

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

The 300 WM case is actually a bit longer and a bit more capacity than the 7mm mag or 338 WM.

 

[Rell]

I prefer the 7mm rem mag and 175gr over a 300 win mag and 180gr for penetration and longer shots.

That’s why I skipped the 300 win mag and went to a CZ from AHR with 26 inch barrel in 300 Weatherby.