Is the 270 Win going the way of the 280, and slowly dying?

[Oncorhynchus.nerka]

I have always been a 270 Win fan, it is my one gun for game from antelope to elk and it has never let me down, but I have noticed fewer and fewer rifles being chambered in this caliber. Using conventional bullet killing formulas (for what they are worth), at 400 yards (my personal maximum hunting distance) the 6.5 PRC is arguably more effective on game with less recoil. The 6.5 PRC’s energy, speed, HITS score, Optimum Game Weight, Momentum, and Killing Power scores are higher at 400 yards, and for any longer ranger hunters with the 6.5 PRC’s higher BCs, the advantage only grows when comparing ELD-X bullets for both. Compared to the old standby, the 30-06 is more powerful, versatile, and has a longer barrel life albeit with some added recoil. Additionally, it seems that more and more new gun owners are into target shooting and not hunting. The 270 Win has always been associated with hunting. Its slow 1:10 twist rates prevent the stabilization of the new higher BC bullets thereby keeping away the new wave of long-distance hunters. All this has me thinking:

Is the 270 Win going the way of the 280, and slowly dying?

 

[christian1]

Yes. The 270 is a great cartridge, but IMO it is a one trick pony. It drives 130 grain bullets fast and flat. If that is all you want, go for it. I think there are so many other more versatile choices out there. Maybe I'm wrong.

chris

 

[Mykolaivka887]

I have always been a 270 Win fan ..... Is the 270 Win going the way of the 280, and slowly dying?

No.

 

[FLS]

Hell no. The 270 is not going anywhere soon. Most of the gun talk on these forums is pure fantasy. Nail biting over perceived advantages most never utilize. An accurate 270 with good ammo will kill anything anywhere in NA. People are suckers for good marketing. Social media seems to have exponentially magnified that fact and have people constantly chasing the next shiny thing. That said the 270 has witnessed a lot of new shiny things come and go.

 

[CoStick]

Sure was nice to own one the last couple of years, easy access to ammo and cost efficient ammo. Mine is my most accurate rifle.

 

[Tod osier]

If fits a need for me pushing monos of what a consider a reasonable weight fast enough to open up to a decent distance with recoil that I can manage. My needs are different than most, but I think it will stick around quite a while.

 

[Pony Soldier]

Growing up in the west, the 270 was an also ran. You never knew anyone who had one and there weren't a lot in the stores. I think the biggest issue was the lack of choices in bullet weights. The 06 provided just about everything a person could ask for.

During world war II my father got his brother to send him ammo when there was none. Great ammo? No but some beat none.

I remember some articles during the 80s that listed the 06 as the minimum acceptable cartridge. Only Oconner wrote about the 270. We never saw one and still don't.

 

[Wvroach]

I don't think the 270 will ever cease to be in production. I can see it being throttled down some as it becomes less popular. It is a classic cartridge along with 30-06 I don't ever see going away completely.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Nope

 

[Montana Slim]

Growing up in the west, the 270 was an also ran. You never knew anyone who had one and there weren't a lot in the stores. I think the biggest issue was the lack of choices in bullet weights. The 06 provided just about everything a person could ask for.

During world war II my father got his brother to send him ammo when there was none. Great ammo? No but some beat none.

I remember some articles during the 80s that listed the 06 as the minimum acceptable cartridge. Only Oconner wrote about the 270. We never saw one and still don't.

You live in the West/MT and never knew anyone that hunted with a .270???

 

[SCHUNTER73]

Heck no. I’ve had an old Ruger M77 tang safety for 30 + years and is my fav to take I tot he whitetail woods. That being said I did just build a 280AI for when I get back out west again. Entirely different applications, though.

 

[InkedElkSlayer]

The 270win and other .277s aren’t going anywhere. The bullet manufacturers are just getting around to spending millions of $ in developing a diverse line of high BC bullets for the .277. A guy said it above… marketing. Marketing and research/development actually. Why did the 6.5 take off in the US finally 10 years ago when the Europeans had been shooting it for decades? Remember, the .264 “shot barrels out”. The 6.5 caliber died on the vine in the US in the 60s/70s, so there was a niche in the market. The bullet manufacturers picked the 6.5 because it was fairly obscure in the US. They dumped tons of $ in research and development, designed a huge selection of bad ass bullets, then the rifle manufacturers followed suit with faster twist rate rifles, etc. to accommodate the bigger bullets. Now they go caliber by caliber, introducing new lines of bullets. Each caliber is superior than the previous one… just look at the ballistics.
When I put together my ultra light mountain gun, I went 6.5 due to bullet selection, 4.75 pounds, 1:7.5, etc. Given the choice, what if I could have gotten a 270 that shoots a variety of huge 165-175gr bullets with BCs through the roof out of an 18in barrel? No way I would have screwed around finding all new components for the new caliber during a hoarding epidemic.
What I’m saying is the 270 will always be here. There’s just going to be the 27creed, 27prc, 6.8western, 270wsm, 27this, 27that to choose from also. Most of us are gun nuts, we buy into this shit…and we also buy guns. Yes, I have a 270win, it was my first rifle ever I got at 11 from my dad.

 

[BRTreedogs]

Once boomers start dying off so will the 270

 

[rclouse79]

Just in case, I bought enough components that I should be able to reload a lifetime supply. I hate it when a company goes out of business, or you can't find the ammo that shoots best out of your gun.

 

[roadrunner]

Already been stated, the .270 Win ain't going anywhere soon. I would expect to see the newer flashier calibers/cartridges falling by the wayside first.

 

[WV Mountaineer]

The 270 is a good caliber. It ain’t going no where.

 

[5MilesBack]

Love my .270. All my other calibers just sit in the safe these days. I have enough .270 components to last for the rest of my lifetime, so I don't really care what everyone else does with the .270.

 

[FLS]

I have always been a 270 Win fan, it is my one gun for game from antelope to elk and it has never let me down, but I have noticed fewer and fewer rifles being chambered in this caliber. Using conventional bullet killing formulas (for what they are worth), at 400 yards (my personal maximum hunting distance) the 6.5 PRC is arguably more effective on game with less recoil. The 6.5 PRC’s energy, speed, HITS score, Optimum Game Weight, Momentum, and Killing Power scores are higher at 400 yards, and for any longer ranger hunters with the 6.5 PRC’s higher BCs, the advantage only grows when comparing ELD-X bullets for both. Compared to the old standby, the 30-06 is more powerful, versatile, and has a longer barrel life albeit with some added recoil. Additionally, it seems that more and more new gun owners are into target shooting and not hunting. The 270 Win has always been associated with hunting. Its slow 1:10 twist rates prevent the stabilization of the new higher BC bullets thereby keeping away the new wave of long-distance hunters. All this has me thinking:

Is the 270 Win going the way of the 280, and slowly dying?

Using Hornady own numbers at 500 yds.
270 Win 145 ELDX 2157FPS / 1497 FT-LBS / -37.6 inches
6.5 PRC 143 ELDX 2248 FPS / 1601 FT-LBS / -36.2 inches
If one wanted they could cherry pick components to make either look better, but those are similar bullet weights in factory ammo. Doesn’t look like enough difference to worry about IMO. The PRC is new and shiny though.

 

[Oncorhynchus.nerka]

The 270win and other .277s aren’t going anywhere. The bullet manufacturers are just getting around to spending millions of $ in developing a diverse line of high BC bullets for the .277. A guy said it above… marketing. Marketing and research/development actually. Why did the 6.5 take off in the US finally 10 years ago when the Europeans had been shooting it for decades? Remember, the .264 “shot barrels out”. The 6.5 caliber died on the vine in the US in the 60s/70s, so there was a niche in the market. The bullet manufacturers picked the 6.5 because it was fairly obscure in the US. They dumped tons of $ in research and development, designed a huge selection of bad ass bullets, then the rifle manufacturers followed suit with faster twist rate rifles, etc. to accommodate the bigger bullets. Now they go caliber by caliber, introducing new lines of bullets. Each caliber is superior than the previous one… just look at the ballistics.
When I put together my ultra light mountain gun, I went 6.5 due to bullet selection, 4.75 pounds, 1:7.5, etc. Given the choice, what if I could have gotten a 270 that shoots a variety of huge 165-175gr bullets with BCs through the roof out of an 18in barrel? No way I would have screwed around finding all new components for the new caliber during a hoarding epidemic.
What I’m saying is the 270 will always be here. There’s just going to be the 27creed, 27prc, 6.8western, 270wsm, 27this, 27that to choose from also. Most of us are gun nuts, we buy into this shit…and we also buy guns. Yes, I have a 270win, it was my first rifle ever I got at 11 from my dad.

I agree that the .277s are here to stay, especially with the new investments in bullets for the likes of the 6.8 Western and the 27 Nosler. But from my understanding, the 270 Win's 1:10 twist is unable to take advantage of these higher BC bullets and I have yet to hear of a factory 270 Win with a faster twist rate or even the heavy for caliber bullets being available without handloading.

 

[Pony Soldier]

No I never did. Never knew anyone with a 308 until the late 90s. A lot started hunting deer with a 30-30. By the early 70s you started to see 300s and 7mm showing up.