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

[sylvest]

I've never been a 270 fan but lots of my friends are. I wouldn't consider myself a 270 hater however. I don't see it going anywhere. The 6.5 marketing campaign is real these days.

 

[Happy Antelope]

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 grew up in Montana and I don't know a single person that doesn't own a 270.

 

[KenLee]

Was the 280 Rem ever fully alive?
Great round and I occasionally hunt with one, but that round seems to have never left the hospital neonatal unit after birth. If it did, it returned to the ICU fairly quickly.
If you ask 10 hunters of average experience about the 280, 8 or 9 will have never heard of the chambering.
The 270 is too effective, popular and widespread to die off.

 

[KenLee]

For those who love the 270 Win, how did you get started on this caliber? For me, I was looking to replace an old hand-me-down 303 British. I went to the store primarily seeking a 280, 30-06, 308, or a 270 Win, and the 270 was on sale. I only included the 270 as a few people at my deer camp swore by them.

My 270 Win has done everything I have ever asked of it. I have never felt over or under-gunned in any hunting situation, and as I now own the reloading components, if I ever shoot out the barrel, my next gun will be a 270 as well. That being said, I still believe that on paper, there are now better options and if I were starting from scratch I would go another avenue, either a 6.5 PRC or a 280 AI.

Jack O'Connor's writings when I was a little kid and handling a friend's 270 a-bolt in 1988.
It shot a little flatter than my 30-06 and we were hunting powerlines often.

 

[Lou270]

Browning introduced a few 270 Win rifles with 1-7.5” twist at shot show this year. See if that takes off

Lou

 

[BarCO]

It is my favorite rifle. .270 win Fieldcraft basically made for mountain hunting, I did have some modifications done on it.

 

[roosiebull]

I bought a 270wsm the year it came out. Factory offerings were 130 gr ballistic silvertip and 130 gr power points. The silvertip often left no blood trail on big deer and the ballistics of the power point stunk.
Along came the hot loaded Hornady Superformance SST in 270 win and made up most of the difference in speed with a better bullet. I picked my 270 back up. That was 22 years ago and I still have and use both, but the 270 more often.

I always thought the 270wsm is a very cool cartridge for the hand loader, I would be content with one as my only hunting rifle. You could just hunt with it setup for mpbr with 130gr partitions, or shoot some heavier bullets pretty quick as a very versatile weapon

I still like the 270 too, I have always been impressed with their performance, I shot sst and partitions with mine, and it just seemed to wreck stuff, and I wasn’t a dialer at all and it’s a pretty easy rifle to hunt with a set and forget scope. Saw several elk killed with them and it was the same on elk, out of probably a dozen roosies I’ve seen shot with a 270, I don’t recall one making it 30 yds. I have no clue why it’s historically been a semi controversial elk cartridge

 

[LaGriz]

The 280 is more popular now then it ever was.

There are so many ‘06, 308 and 270 rifles out there they’ll never die. I can get 270 ammo cheaper then just about any other cartridge.

Once you get away from sites like Rokslide most hunters just go get a regular old caliber in a middle level rifle.

I don't think the ,280 can be that popular, if they are not making ammo for it. I have been the owner of a Remington ,280 Mt. Rifle since 1994. Ammo is mostly nonexistent of late, while the .280 AI is only slightly more likely to be found. My rifle likes .160 grain loads and not much else. Have had good success with Norma and Federal premium loads. It kills well (with Fail Safe loads) and has resulted the majority of my game taken in the last 30 years. One shot kills on elk and deer are common. The 160 grain AccuBonds and Norma loads are grouping tight with nearly the same zero. Always a plus!

LaGriz

 

[MTgunguru]

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?

I say it isn't going anywhere. With the coming of the 6.8 Western it has opened the door to heavier, higher BC bullets. Which is turn now has brought about some companies like Browning producing factory fast twist rifles for the .270 Winchester caliber. The is already people online(some YouTubers) that have put out videos showing the old 10 twist .270 barrels stabilizing the 165gr ABLR bullets out to 770 yards and being a tack driver. Putting these high BC bullets in a fast twist .270 Winchester will be a game changer for hand loaders for now and hopefully eventually factory ammo shooters as well.

 

[Marbles]

Edit: Bloody necro thread. I really need to check the date before replying. End edit

Like the 300 H&H, it will take 30-50 years, but the 270 will fade out to cases designed for modern bullets and powder's.

In the end, the 270 does nothing notably better than the older 7x57 Mauser or 6.5x55 Swede. It was just the shiney new kid on the block based off of the 30-06, which ripped off the 7x57.

So, 270 fanboys are no different than 6.5 PRC or 6 Creed fanboys. We could just update 7x57 with modern twist rates and pressures and kill everything just fine.

 

[BCD]

How does the recoil compare between a 270 and 6.5PRC? How about barrel life?

 

[Southern Lights]

I think where the 270 may have a resurgence is the requirements to use mono-metal bullets. These bullets require very fast speeds and going down in weight. Impact velocity of 2200fps is a good cut-off. A 110gr TTSX at 3400 fps in a 270 is no joke and provides a 400y working range vs. other smaller calibers.

High BC bullets are bit of a myth as most shots I've missed on hunts for instance have had nothing to do with wind, but everything to do with bad position, etc. The fixation on ultra-high BC is just not reality at ethical hunting ranges.

 

[Southern Lights]

How does the recoil compare between a 270 and 6.5PRC? How about barrel life?

My hunting mate burned out his 6.5 PRC barrel in well under 1000 rounds. He has his 270 with thousands of rounds that is still going. Just as one data point.

 

[Mykolaivka887]

In the end, the 270 does nothing notably better than the older 7x57 Mauser or 6.5x55 Swede. It was just the shiney new kid on the block based off of the 30-06, which ripped off the 7x57 ..... We could just update 7x57 with modern twist rates and pressures and kill everything just fine.

I'm a huge, huge fan of the venerable 7x57 Mauser. I absolutely love mine. Seriously considering using it on my upcoming Arizona elk hunt

 

[BCD]

My hunting mate burned out his 6.5 PRC barrel in well under 1000 rounds. He has his 270 with thousands of rounds that is still going. Just as one data point.

Wow that’s pretty poor. I shot about 500 rounds before my last trip out west.

 

[Southern Lights]

Wow that’s pretty poor. I shot about 500 rounds before my last trip out west.

Mostly again I say that the chasing highest ultimate BC bullets for hunting is a waste. There are these fantasies of elk sniping across 800 yard ridge to ridge shots, but I've done a lot of long range comps even ELR out to 2K, and there is nobody reading this thread right now that has any business shooting at animals past 600y max. And really, it's more like 300y max in field conditions.

So with those criteria for me, basically any caliber will work for hunting and a 6.5 PRC isn't doing anything the 270 or even 308 is going to do at those ranges.

 

[tony]

Recoil - shoot cheap factory ammo in my rifles. I think it kicks harder than my .45/70 (ported barrel).
Not unbearable, but noticeable, if I have the urge to burn through a box afterwards.
My .270 is an older Remington 700 ADL model

 

[Mykolaivka887]

There are these fantasies of elk sniping across 800 yard ridge to ridge shots ..... and there is nobody reading this thread right now that has any business shooting at animals past 600y max. And really, it's more like 300y max in field conditions.

Speaking of which, I was just speaking with a guy that's headed to Alaska this fall and he said that he's "prepared" and even planning to shoot his moose at 1,000 or 1,200 yards. I was like; "Really? Is the allure of the Instagram photo post so all-consuming that you can't have fun and actually stalk an animal, fair and square?"

 

[Southern Lights]

Speaking of which, I was just speaking with a guy that's headed to Alaska this fall and he said that he's "prepared" and even planning to shoot his moose at 1,000 or 1,200 yards. I was like; "Really? Is the allure of the Instagram photo post so all-consuming that you can't have fun and actually stalk an animal, fair and square?"

Hijack time.

These LR hunting influencers are full of BS. I hear the horror stories down here in NZ (small country). Some of these guys have shown up to shoot vids of LR hunting and wounded/lost heaps of animals. Guess what parts they show on their channels?

I have mates that run LR shooting schools for comp shooters and hunters. Their opinion is the same that they see field condition hunting most people are 2-3MOA at BEST. That immediately limits the distance of most shooters to 300y max to hit 12" target reliably in the field.

I enjoyed watching this vid recently of even good shooters and their miss rates even at close ranges. But the best part was the end where they wouldn't admit they shouldn't be shooting animals at range and still think they can pull off 600y shots if needed.

 

[Marbles]

Speaking of which, I was just speaking with a guy that's headed to Alaska this fall and he said that he's "prepared" and even planning to shoot his moose at 1,000 or 1,200 yards. I was like; "Really? Is the allure of the Instagram photo post so all-consuming that you can't have fun and actually stalk an animal, fair and square?"

Moose are not exactly hard to get close to. No stalking needed to get within easy rifle range.

It would really suck to shoot one at 800 yards, then realize 500 yards of that is bog, so 5 to 10 trips through ground that wants to swallow you whole with a heavy pack on and as many trips unloaded added to it.

That said, Alaska makes a good case for high BC, fast bullets because when your DA is -2000 ft, range for terminal velocity gets short and wind drift is much worse.

In those conditions a 7mm 175 gr ELDX with MV of 3300 fps drops below 1800 fps before getting to 1200 yards, what is he shooting to justify those ranges?