270 WSM or 7 Remington Magnum

[ARHinAK]

Specifically for the animals you mentioned, and at any reasonable hunting distance, I’m gonna stand up for the 270 WSM, (sort of).
A buddy and I both have M70s in 270 WSM and both of us have killed very large Alaskan bull moose , in the 1000 to 1200 pounds category with 160 grain Nosler partitions . A superb shooting bullet in both rifles. No problem.
The 270 WSM is everything the old .270 Winchester ever was but with harder to find ammo, poor brass life and reduced magazine capacity, all for a few FPS more. I like my rifle.
All that being said, if I were hunting roe deer and goats, a .270 Winchester, 1925 version would be hard to beat and a pleasure to shoot. A stainless Tikka T3X (cuz they’re so dang accurate),comes to mind. I might have talked myself into getting one !

 

[HWL]

I have thought about purchasing a rifle with a smaller diameter cartridge and I want to choose between a 270 WSM or a 7 mm Remington Magnum. I plan to use it to stalk animals such as roe deer, goats and the like.

I think, both are unnecessarily powerfull for the intended purpose. For the little roe deer or even goat, a 6,5 or 6mm is way enough. But before choosing a cartridge, I first would look for the "light rifle" that fits your demands. A "Kipplauf" like a Blaser K95 or K77 is a great stalking rifle.... or the Krieghoff Hubertus, or the Haenel Jaeger 9.

HWL

 

[oscar1975]

I think, both are unnecessarily powerfull for the intended purpose. For the little roe deer or even goat, a 6,5 or 6mm is way enough. But before choosing a cartridge, I first would look for the "light rifle" that fits your demands. A "Kipplauf" like a Blaser K95 or K77 is a great stalking rifle.... or the Krieghoff Hubertus, or the Haenel Jaeger 9.

HWL

All the rifles you mention are high-end and way out of my budget. I have a budget of around €2,000.

 

[colorado]

For nothing larger than any deer or goats, I would go with the .270 Winchester. I use my .338WM for elk.

I moved up from a 243 to a 270 for elk and bear lol

 

[CBH Australia]

I moved up from a 243 to a 270 for elk and bear lol

But you were using a .243 successfully right?
I think it's not a bad calibre for Australia

 

[CoElkHunter]

I moved up from a 243 to a 270 for elk and bear lol

I hunted with a guy once who was using a 6mm Remington. I believe he was using 100gr Core Lokts. He told me he had killed six elk with it over the years. Seems too light for me at least with any distance involved?

 

[JimP]

I hunted with a guy once who was using a 6mm Remington. I believe he was using 100gr Core Lokts. He told me he had killed six elk with it over the years. Seems too light for me at least with any distance involved?

It would all come down to bullet placement. A friend has been using a 243 and hasn't lost a elk yet. He took around 10 before I got him to switch to a muzzle loader, but if he doesn't draw the muzzle loader tag he reverts back to the 243

 

[Tra3]

I moved up from a 243 to a 270 for elk and bear lol

I used a .270 win for elk for over 20 years with great success. Then an africa trip came along and a new gun was “needed”. Now I am a 7 Rem mag fan.

 

[C.W. Richter]

why not go apples-to-apples (7 WSM)? The bullet choice is undoubtedly better for all species in 7. For roe deer I'd use a .257.

 

[HWL]

All the rifles you mention are high-end and way out of my budget. I have a budget of around €2,000.

Money always is a factor..... but nonetheless, it is important to choose the perfect fitting rifle first,..... than you can look for the calibers, available in your rifle.
Caliber discussions are nice. But rifles do the job.
Every cartridge/bullet from .223 to 338 can kill your roe/goat properly. As long as you hit them right....

HWL

 

[oscar1975]

why not go apples-to-apples (7 WSM)? The bullet choice is undoubtedly better for all species in 7. For roe deer I'd use a .257.

The 7 WSM is not in Spain. Here the one that has had the most success has been the 270 WSM and more discreetly the 300 WSM.

 

[oscar1975]

I moved up from a 243 to a 270 for elk and bear lol

I am a magnum maniac. I run away from standard cartridges. Rare I am.

 

[oscar1975]

Money always is a factor..... but nonetheless, it is important to choose the perfect fitting rifle first,..... than you can look for the calibers, available in your rifle.
Caliber discussions are nice. But rifles do the job.
Every cartridge/bullet from .223 to 338 can kill your roe/goat properly. As long as you hit them right....

HWL

When the time comes I will visit gun shops to see how the rifles I can afford fit me. When the time comes I will visit gun shops to see how the rifles I can afford fit me. But I still have months to save.

 

[ofbiro]

I have heard about "braless" but never "brassless"....I am willing to learn more about each one.......FWB

I prefer "braless", provided that the potential content is inspired to Korean, not to European neither to African standards

 

[CBH Australia]

The 7 WSM is not in Spain. Here the one that has had the most success has been the 270 WSM and more discreetly the 300 WSM.

I know the WSM family were introduced to Australia but I don't think they have a big following. They were well advertised and promoted on introduction but the original .300wm has done well and is holding on.
My mate has a .325wsm and has actually had 2 but sold one.
I still think the standard cartridges stack up well.

The most obscure chambering I have is a .280ai but I think that is becoming readily available in factory rifles.

 

[7mmFan]

As my Moniker suggests I would go with the 7mm Rem Mag. I have rifles chambered in both cartridges and reach for the 7mm every year for deer hunting. It also performed flawlessly on plains game in Africa using 160 gr. Barnes. Best of luck with your decision!

 

[Ragman]

@oscar1975 - 7mmRM without question.

270WSM was the answer to a question no one asked...much like the rest of the WSM family. Why your gunsmith is leading you that direction? He might have a rifle in that caliber for sale and no one else wants to buy it.

This! I have a dislike for all the WSMs similar to other guys dislike for the 6.5 Creedmoor. As I read through this thread I was going to say how the WSMs were an answer to a question that nobody asked, but @BeeMaa beat me to it!
You can't go wrong with the 7mmRM. I've had two and loved them both...my current one is a Tikka T3 and it is a fantastic rifle.

 

[Red Leg]

Thank you very much for your answers. I think I lean towards the 7 Remington Magnum, I am a magnum maniac and I do not usually choose standard cartridges. As I said about the 270 WSM, I like that its brass does not have a belt and that the rifles that fire it are more compact, and I like everything about the 7 Remington Magnum. But my gunsmith recommends the 270 WSM. On the other hand, in Spain we do have the 280 Remington and the 7-08 but not the 280 AI. Weatherby cartridges are hard to find and very expensive, otherwise I would go for a 257 or 270 Weatherby.

I tend to be a traditionalist, but had the opportunity to play around with the .270WSM in Spain earlier this year. It is a very impressive option, and has a bit of a following in Europe. As others have noted, it is essentially a .270 Weatherby in a very compact package. On both my roe and ibex, recoil was a non event, accuracy was phenomenal, and trajectory was like using a laser beam. It would be my choice in a platform like a R8. If you have any mountain hunting in your future plans for ibex or chamois, the .270WSM might indeed be the answer to the question of whether or not to take the shot.

 

[NTX]

Talking with my gunsmith he recommended the 270 WSM but he has not explained why. The 7 Reminton Magnum has been giving satisfaction to its users for decades and that weighs heavily on my possible choice. Although the brass without a belt seems to me a success. A better design.

It does not have a belt, but it feeds very poorly in most rifles, especially compared to the .300 and .325 wsm. That’s not necessarily a deal breaker, just another factor to consider.

 

[1dirthawker]

@oscar1975,

i had a 270 wsm, it was a flat shooter, was a bit tough to source ammo for. pretty accurate, and did not feed from the magazine particularly well. i sold it because it was hard to find ammo and relatively expensive to buy. it did kill a caribou with it and it did a fine job.

i had a 7mm magnum (tikka t3 and a rem 700) i have shot a lot of game with the 7mm. my rifle was semi finicky about what ammo it liked (my brothers gun was very accurate with anything) regardless, the 7mm mag is a very fine round and i shot it well, shot coyotes to yukon moose with it. it will kill a moose but i believe the 338 win i bought is a better choice for large game. i hot rodded the 7mm a bit since i was in my magnum speed craze, in hindsight, i should have loaded my ammo throttled back just a bit. lighter bullets (cup and core and noslers) are VERY destructive to meat, so slowing it down or shooting a barnes in a light bullet might be the best way to go.

in africa we rented a 7x64 and i was very impressed with its performance on the kudu and blue wildebeest that were shot with it, along with lesser plains game. it about identical to the 280 rem cartridge, a fine round.

if you want to avoid the belt, get a 7x64/280. heavier bullets are available and if you just have to hot rod it, you could use a 130/140 gr bullet that will shoot very fast.

the 7mm would be my choice of the two you submitted. the belt is just not a big deal and it has plenty of speed/power with ANY bullet weight you are likely to feed it. i used 160+ grain bullets in it, it think it does its best work with the heavier bullets.

good luck with your search for a new rifle.