The .270 Winchester in Africa

[Quaticman]

My son and I are planning a father/son plains game hunt. His only centerfire rifle is a Mauser chambered in .270 Winchester. I will be using my Mauser chambered in 9.3 x 62. We will be hunting Springbok, Warthog, Gemsbok and Kudu. Will the .270 with premium bullets such as the Barnes TSX or Swift A-Frame do the job or should my son consider upgunning?

 

[Hogpatrol]

A friend of mine killed springbok, blesbok, waterbuck, black and blue wildebeest, and warthog with his .270. All but the warthog were one shot kills and in between 100 and 250 yards. The cartridge is perfectly adequate and both bullets placed properly will do the job.

 

[Deleted member 43267]

If you are doing a 2 on 1 hunt and your PH is OK with it, both of you can each carry your own rifle and hand the shooter the one that is right for the animal and conditions. Both of you should have premium bullets and could practice with both guns beforehand. The PH will call for the gun he or she thinks would be better.

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[BRICKBURN]

Bring the 270 and have fun.

I've taken everything from Steenbok to Giraffe with 130 grain TTSX.

130 TTSX .270 Thick skinned Giraffe at 80 yards. One in the heart (typical shot placement) and the other into the heart lungs after a departure up hill. Down within 50 yards.

https://www.africahunting.com/threads/270-for-plains-game.39501/#post-377762

 

[Art Lambart II]

The 270 is a fine round and will work well for the game you listed. My own personal experience with the 270 in Africa was not very good and it was all my fault. I made a less than perfect shot on a Zebra and a Kudu, in my opinion the 270 is too light for follow up shoots on larger plains game.

 

[HWL]

160 grain Nosler Partition is the answer...

HWL

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

I agree with HWL.

 

[superdutch]

That 270 will work just fine. I've brought a 270WSM on three safaris, I took 338 win or 375 ruger as companions. I took a zebra through the brisket at 100 yards a few months ago and was impressed with the performance of the 140 grain Nosler Accubond. The zebra collapsed in about 40 yards. Heavier bullets, as mentioned make it even more formidable.

 

[johnnyblues]

I agree with what has been said. My experience with the 270 has been long and fruitful. In Northern America I’ve taken moose,caribou,Dallas sheep, my goat, and the list goes on. I was in Africa last year and took black wildebeest, vahl rhebok with my 270 wsm. I used 140 grain accubond bullets. If you use a quality bullet with proper bullet placement you’ll be just fine.

 

[bruce moulds]

150 gn swift aframes and bullet placement will go a long way to getting the most from the 270 win on all sized game with one bullet.
bruce.

 

[JPbowhunter]

I've read many times how tough African pg are to put down and I've often wondered if there's any truth to it or if it's a self perpetuating myth.
Are they really hard to put down or is it that people believe and hear they are, so take larger calibres that they're not comfortable with believing they need it, put a poor shot on because they can't confidently shoot the rifle and then have a big follow up therefore confirming what they've heard?

I ask because we have the exact same thing with sambar in Australia, which a very big animal. People always talk about how hard they are to put down so guys go after them with 300wm and up as a minimum, flinch at the recoil, hit em in the guts, and maybe once up the arse as they run away never to be seen again and think "sheet they're tough". Whereas I've put more sambar down with a 270 and 130gn projectiles than anything else. Biggest follow up was 100 metres, most die within sight. I shot a lot of sambar with 300wm, 9.3x62 and 30-06, none died any deader than the 270 shot ones. Sometimes wish I never sold her! Put a bullet in the boiler room and nothing will run too far.

I reckon 270 can handle pretty well any non DG on earth, and even there my old man and his mate hunted water and buffalo with a 270 back in the 80s when farmers welcomed you on to their place just to shoot the buggers and had no problems.

 

[cagkt3]

Wife used a 270 Win shooting 140gr A-Frames and did just fine. As others have said, good shot placement and the 270 w/ premium bullets will handle everything you are going after.

 

[Firebird]

I would love to see a handful of ph’s reply here and best answer is the one your ph will give you. I think the .270 with a high quality bullet would be excellent for most plains game.
My limited experience is that African game that is hit correctly the first shot will go down just like any other animal. The toughness occurs when they get hit poorly or by poor bullets and then they become unbelievably tough! I saw this resilience with gemsbuck, zebra and alas-duiker. I honesty think that’s where the heavy for caliber comes in-makes the most of poor hits or flinches. Remember, some guys flinch just from the noise. . .

 

[bruce moulds]

nosler partitions make a big gun handle small game better.
aframes and x bullets make a little gun go up a notch.
bruce.

 

[Rock375]

I and my son hunted plains game in Namibia last year. He and I own very accurate 270 Win’s. I read that a 7mm is the minimum legal caliber allowed in Namibia so we took a 300 and 375. When we arrived I discovered my outfitters loaner rifle was a 270 Win. He said his clients have killed everything from impala, Giraffe and Eland etc. Sure made us wish We would have brought our 270’s. I’ve killed more game with a 270 then all the other caliber s I own. I am a gun as much as a hunter and I own many. Take your 270 and use quality bullets ( Swift or Barnes) and you will do fine!

 

[ve7poi]

Take what you have and save the price of a new firearm for another trophy you can take

 

[bassasdaindia]

Your .270 will work just fine with a premium bullet . I can only recommend practicing shooting from the sticks as much as possible before hand .

 

[HWL]

....... I read that a 7mm is the minimum legal caliber allowed in Namibia so we took a 300 and 375. When we arrived I discovered my outfitters loaner rifle was a 270 Win. He said his clients have killed everything from impala, Giraffe and Eland etc. Sure made us wish We would have brought our 270’s. I’ve killed more game with a 270 then all the other caliber s I own. I am a gun as much as a hunter and I own many. Take your 270 and use quality bullets ( Swift or Barnes) and you will do fine!

7mm only is a recommendation, made by namibian professionel hunters.....

https://www.africahunting.com/threads/namibia-hunting-information.14219/

HWL

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

The .270 Winchester in Africa is just as good as .275Rigby.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

My son and I are planning a father/son plains game hunt. His only centerfire rifle is a Mauser chambered in .270 Winchester. I will be using my Mauser chambered in 9.3 x 62. We will be hunting Springbok, Warthog, Gemsbok and Kudu. Will the .270 with premium bullets such as the Barnes TSX or Swift A-Frame do the job or should my son consider upgunning?

The .270 will be fine for the animals listed and using good bullets. If it's TSX, I'd go for a little lighter but faster. But whichever your choice, use the most accurate.

Are you a hand loader?