Resurrecting the 270 Win

[CoElkHunter]

I gave this post a like.
I would like to give it 4 more.
the above has also been my experience.
I might add that our Australian donkeys weigh about 600 lb, and are extremely tough.
I have had consistently lacking performance from the 9,3x64 using 286 gn partitions.
I stand by my statement that nosler partitions are of more use in making a big gun into a little gun.
the varmint style nose blowing up can be handy on smaller animals, but the penetration of the lightened base can be handy on lighter game.
however swifts and other bullets make them go down as if electrocuted.
bruce.

I would like to see a photo of one of those donkeys? I'm trying to picture one in my feeble mind, but I keep seeing the small ones (jackasses) ,we have here in the states? My father-in-law had a 800lb. donkey/Percheron draft horse cross pack mule, but I can't picture your Australian donkey? Thanks!

 

[Red Devil]

In an article in the current issue of "American Rifleman," Craig Boddington states that,

"In my opinion these three similar 6.5mms (6.5x55, .260 Remington, and 6.5 Creedmoor), despite the magical properties currently attributed to them, do not equal the 96-year-old .270 Winchester as a hunting cartridge."​

He then goes on to describe why in four pages.




Red

 

[bruce moulds]

coelkhunter,
600 lb is not average, but a big jack.
they look pretty much like any other donkey.
the grey and black ones have a cross on their hides when skun.
I remember hunting a white one relentlessly, but it was too smart for me.
my friends labelled it as MOBY DONKEY after moby dick the whale.
prior to hunting them I thought the 270 was a do all cartridge, but they proved its nemesis on all but the best shots.
they are tough out of proportion to their size.
bruce.

 

[Dr Ray]

My preference is the 270 using good 130 grain bullets. These should be driven fast and have a 8relatively flat descent profiles and more energy than the 308 and 30/06.
I have had all three but my preferred cartridge is the 270.

 

[Dr Ray]

My preference is the 270 using good 130 grain bullets. These should be driven fast and have a 8relatively flat descent profiles and more energy than the 308 and 30/06.
I have had all three but my preferred cartridge is the 270.

 

[bruce moulds]

Doc,
wait till you get a 280.
you will be absolutely ecstatic.
bruce.

 

[Dr Ray]

Stop encouraging me lol

 

[Hogpatrol]

Went with a friend who took a .270 factory Savage rifle to RSA. Helped him dial in the 140 Bergers HVLDs. He practiced a lot and IIRC, he shot fourteen PG, all one shot but within 250 yards. The bullet selection today is much better than in recent years. I would not hesitate to use a .270 for all PG in Africa.

 

[CoElkHunter]

coelkhunter,
600 lb is not average, but a big jack.
they look pretty much like any other donkey.
the grey and black ones have a cross on their hides when skun.
I remember hunting a white one relentlessly, but it was too smart for me.
my friends labelled it as MOBY DONKEY after moby dick the whale.
prior to hunting them I thought the 270 was a do all cartridge, but they proved its nemesis on all but the best shots.
they are tough out of proportion to their size.
bruce.

OK thanks! I was just curious as I wasn't familiar with them.

 

[dfm]

Anyone who thinks a .280 is a better killer than a .270 doesn’t have much field experience with either. They perform exactly the same with the latter having a slighter flatter trajectory. To move up in lethality you need a stoutly loaded 7mm Remington mag. Even then some of the factory ammo for it isn’t loaded to what the round can really do.

 

[bruce moulds]

dfm,
your statement does not apply to me.
2 barrels of 270 win and 2 barrels of 280 rem all shot at game provides a fair statistic.
add to that 2 barrels of 7 mag.
the 7 mag is definitely more powerful than the other 2, but at a price.
to be significantly so, it needs a 26" barrel and to be as shootable it needs a slightly heavier rifle.
looking at bullets of similar sectional density, the 7mm bullet will always be 10 gn heavier than the 270 bullet.
admittedly all my ammunition was handloaded, and as such was loaded to similar pressure.
factory and saami spec for 280 is much lower pressure than 270.
apples and apples pressure gives

Anyone who thinks a .280 is a better killer than a .270 doesn’t have much field experience with either. They perform exactly the same with the latter having a slighter flatter trajectory. To move up in lethality you need a stoutly loaded 7mm Remington mag. Even then some of the factory ammo for it isn’t loaded to what the round can really do.
similar velocity with similar sectional density bullets to the 270 and the 280.
then we come to readily available bullets.
for hunting, 7mm goes from 120 gns up to 175 gn, while 270 goes from 110 gn to 150.
this gives an extra sectional density slot at the top end to 7mm.
I went from 270 to 7 mag and it was a noticeable step up.
then to 280.
for most of my shooting I could not tell the difference between the 280 and the 7 mag, other than a slightly longer point blank range for the mag.
the difference was so small with comparable 24" barrels as to be unnoticeable.
so similar in fact that I found that it took a 7mm stw with 26" barrel to show a real benefit.
the 30/06 was also used in this time and was a fine cartridge.
however its trajectory was found to be noticeably less in the field than the 280/270.
this with 140 gn 7mm vs 165 30 cal similar sectional density.
25/06 had the best trajectory, but burned barrels so fast it was not funny, and lacked relative killing power.
all in all, the 280 seems to be closer in killing power to 30/06 than 270, but closer to the 270 in trajectory.
a wonderful balance.
bruce.

Anyone who thinks a .280 is a better killer than a .270 doesn’t have much field experience with either. They perform exactly the same with the latter having a slighter flatter trajectory. To move up in lethality you need a stoutly loaded 7mm Remington mag. Even then some of the factory ammo for it isn’t loaded to what the round can really do.

 

[Dr Ray]

Doc,
wait till you get a 280.
you will be absolutely ecstatic.
bruce.

I’m weak willed and easily lead. And according to my wife I’m encourageable - I think she means incorrigible! (Maybe)
lol

 

[Dr Ray]

I hear good reports on 284 but interested in hearing about the 28s.

 

[PaulT]

I "grew-up" with a .270.
Pigs, goats and 6 species of deer plus Chamois & Tahr.
A magnificent calibre when the operator is up to it.

I shot so many rounds through my .270 that when it was time to replace it, it was virtually unusable.

I then moved up to a 30/06.
Another fine performer. Hit hard and did the job every-time I used it.
Again, I shot hundreds of pigs, goats, Chamois, Tahr and 6 species of deer and used it in Africa as well.
The only time I had problems with the '06 was directly due to the projectiles I was using and not the calibre.

Now, in my fourth decade of hunting I have a FN Mauser in 7x64 and I am absolutely tickled pink.
Kind of like a hybrid of the .270 and 30/06 after a wild night of drinking.
Flat shooting, like the .270, and hard hitting like the 30/06.

Yes, you can have your cake and eat it too with a 7x64mm.

Not as "wild-cat" as several years back with several commercial manufacturers of factory ammo and cases from many makers readily available.

Certainly nothing wrong with the .280, or the .270, or 30/06 for that matter.
Just load them right !
The cartridge stays in the chamber !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's the PROJECTILE that does the damage !

 

[JPbowhunter]

Nothing like having uninformed politicians writing game laws.

Swedes and Norwegians have been killing moose, stag, and caribou with 6.5x55 for more than a century.

I've tried to find information regarding the reasoning but there's really nothing. I believe it was purely arbitrary as a means for drawing a line in the sand. I can only assume it's bullet diameter that they're aiming at but it's not explicitly stated as such.

 

[Ray B]

 

[Ray B]

So I guess because the above rifle, built by Al Biesen on a 1951 M70 action is chambered for the 270 Win and has the "slow" 1-10 twist so shoot the 130 grain bullets best, I should retire it and look for something that will be able to kill deer and sheep deader. I was unaware that there was more dead than those it had previously dealt with, but then even I can learn something every day.

 

[Red Leg]

So I guess because the above rifle, built by Al Biesen on a 1951 M70 action is chambered for the 270 Win and has the "slow" 1-10 twist so shoot the 130 grain bullets best, I should retire it and look for something that will be able to kill deer and sheep deader. I was unaware that there was more dead than those it had previously dealt with, but then even I can learn something every day.

Now that is a rifle!

 

[Mekaniks]

So I guess because the above rifle, built by Al Biesen on a 1951 M70 action is chambered for the 270 Win and has the "slow" 1-10 twist so shoot the 130 grain bullets best, I should retire it and look for something that will be able to kill deer and sheep deader. I was unaware that there was more dead than those it had previously dealt with, but then even I can learn something every day.

Very Nice rifle

 

[Mekaniks]

So I guess because the above rifle, built by Al Biesen on a 1951 M70 action is chambered for the 270 Win and has the "slow" 1-10 twist so shoot the 130 grain bullets best, I should retire it and look for something that will be able to kill deer and sheep deader. I was unaware that there was more dead than those it had previously dealt with, but then even I can learn something every day.

That rifle is the gold standard that all others have been compared against for the last 50 years