Why is the .270 dying?

whoami-72

Lil-Rokslider
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TLDR: retailers and internet traffic is showing that while .270 is still popular with the existing crowds. It is getting blown out of the water on gun sales by new comers like 6.5 prc and is slowly going to die off. Why?

Background: I've got a couple of rifles that shoot fairly well but aren't the most flat shooting (.308, 6.5 creed, .30-06, etc.) I got looking into new calibers for bucking the wind more to serve as a primarily desert based antelope/mule deer gun where the wind is brutal. I took to the internet and everyone was ranting and raving over the 6.5 PRC which almost got me to buy one until I saw ammo costs. I then went to sportsmans ammo section and filtered by lowest cost and found out that the 270 is nearly the same cost as my current calibers. I then got to researching it and immediately was shocked by how good of a cartridge it is and wondering why I had never heard of it before other than old guys with their wood stocked 1970's beauties claiming it can hit a tick on a coon hound. I realized for my hunting distances is effectively the same as the 6.5 prc and fits my goals pretty well. So, the shopping for a .270 rifle began and I realized very few of the higher end brands are making rifles in .270. In fact, across a few different retailers I've seen 2x the offerings of new rifles in 6.5 PRC vs .270 and only medium to budget rifles (tikka or below) offered in .270. I then asked around and couldn't find any hunting friends under the age of 45 who owned a .270. And none under 50 who actively hunted with it. I tried doing research on the caliber and could find many current posts or marketing for it. The ones I did find just talked about how it hasn't modernized as well as the legacy 30 cals. In fact, everyone points back to jack o conner who died 20ish years before I was born and I had never heard of. This ultimately lead me to believe that while the cartridge is still popular with certain shooters. The internet and retailers are showing that new sales and future generations are moving towards other options.

So, ammo is way cheaper, more plentiful, and it's ballistically equivalent to the modern 6.5 prc for hunting distances, and the same recoil. The only downside is a longer action and lesser chamber tolerances. So, why is it slowly dying? Is it just the marketing machine of "new"? Is it really that much easier to be accurate with the tighter tolerances of newer calibers?
 
I was at Scheels the other day picking up some powder. With people starting to think about Fall hunting, they had approximately 10 choices of 270 ammunition on the shelves. People are still buying 270 ammo. People are still buying 270 rifles because just about any rifle made (with a long action variant) can be had in a 270.

New "hot" cartridges like the 7PRC (2 choices) and 6.5 PRC (2 choices) may be popular for gun nuts, but average Joes are out there shooting god knows how many 270, 308, or 30-06 rifles.

The only modern cartridge with similar ammunition options is the 6.5CM.
 
I was at Scheels the other day picking up some powder. With people starting to think about Fall hunting, they had approximately 10 choices of 270 ammunition on the shelves. People are still buying 270 ammo. People are still buying 270 rifles because just about any rifle made (with a long action variant) can be had in a 270.

New "hot" cartridges like the 7PRC (2 choices) and 6.5 PRC (2 choices) may be popular for gun nuts, but average Joes are out there shooting god knows how many 270, 308, or 30-06 rifles.

The only modern cartridge with similar ammunition options is the 6.5CM.
Sad day, seekins doesn't make anything in a .270. Their PH2 is my current favorite.

Agreed on ammo availability. However, sheels has over 2x the amount of 6.5 prc rifles for sale than they do .270.
 
270 is a great round. My first rifle I bought (when I was 16) was a wood stocked Ruger MK II in 270. I regret selling it!
My first was the first generation savage axis in .30-06 that i also got at 16. I keep dumping money into it every now and again and still hate shooting it lol.
 
My first was the first generation savage axis in .30-06 that i also got at 16. I keep dumping money into it every now and again and still hate shooting it lol.
if you don’t like shooting you 30/06 a 270 or 6.5 prc won’t be much better, obviously stock design matters as well. A 243 or a 224 cal with the right bullets are plenty for deer and antelope, they’ll be easier to shoot well also.
 
My very favorite rifle I own happens to be a .270 and despite it losing favor among new hunters/shooters I will no doubt go to my grave shooting it......and no I'm not that old
 
The prc, etc have been popular for last couple of years but the 270 Win has been popular for the last 100 years. Before the prcs, it was the creedmoors, wsms, ultramags, short actions (260/708), 7mags, 280, 284 etc... All predicted to kill the 270 when introduced compounded by Jack O’Connor dying and shooting press singing the praises of new stuff vs Jack’s round. Despite that, the majority of that time the 270 remained in the top 3-5 in rifle and ammo sales. The 270 is still a top 10 in new rifle and die sales (handloader mag ranked it 7 in a special edition a few years ago). The reality is there are 100+ 270s in circulation world wide for every 1 of the new rounds introduced in last several years. So while the PRCs get a lot of hype in the trendy long range high end stuff there are probably more 270s actually getting used in a few counties of big # deer states like PA or TX than all the PRC in Western states combined. It will take decades for anything new to catch up and history has shown something shiny and new will knock most of the new stuff off for those who chase the latest greatest

So as new cartridges come and go the old 270 hangs on and due to long history of popularity will be well supported for a long time. All of the new ammo/bullet lines offer something for the old 270 (135 Sierra Matchking X for ex which is brand new). These new higher BC offerings compare well with 6.5 prc as you have discovered plus you still have the cheap stuff which due to high velocity of the 270 due pretty well out to longer ranges even with mediocre BC of older bullets

Lou

PS I will note that my local Cabelas which is a big market (dfw) said majority of new rifles they sell are .308 Win. Next are 6.5 creed/243Win/270). They said sell very little prc or 6.8W, etc…. Go to Sheels in same market and all they have are 2k+ rifles in PRC though I didn’t ask the guys there what is selling. Don’t know what any of that proves…
 
I'd guess that buyers of "high end" rifles are also looking for the latest and greatest chambering in said rifle...and 10 Savage Axis/Ruger American/ect rifles chambered in 270 Win are sold for every one of them. Like you say though, a great cartridge.
 
Well for one, it doesn’t have a metric moniker like the 6.5s or 7s. So people won’t think it’s as cool based off that alone.

It’s purely a hunting caliber and doesn’t try to be anything else like the 6.5 Creedmoor for example.

The .270 is the greatest purely hunting cartridge ever made. All other rounds in its popularity range have military histories, but the .270 has always been the hunter’s best friend.

The cartridge is better than the 6.5 PRC up until 450ish yards or so when loaded correctly. The animals haven’t changed or adapted so the .270 will only get better with age and modern technology.

It’s not performance that’s the reason for the .270s slow demise, it’s purely marketing hype. The caliber has done and will continue to take ALL North American game… just in a more humble and quite manner.

Long live the .270 and it’s purely American heritage!
 
Consider this, all bullets fall to the earth sometime. So what difference does it make if it bucks the wind or is flatter shooting than another cartridge? If you cant shoot a 308 to a thousand yards you cant shoot a 7 PRC or a 6.5 PRC either, cause they all fall down. It comes down to your ability to shoot a rifle.
 
I'd guess that buyers of "high end" rifles are also looking for the latest and greatest chambering in said rifle...and 10 Savage Axis/Ruger American/ect rifles chambered in 270 Win are sold for every one of them. Like you say though, a great cartridge.
Not sure if you would consider a Cooper western classic high end or not but that's what I picked for my .270
 
A better question would be “why is the .270 so great at making stuff die”!

But the simple answer to this question is slower barrel twists that do not accommodate more efficient modern bullets. But screw on a faster twisted barrel and the .270 lacks nothing.
 
I'm about to be shooting 133 gr bullets at 3100....out of a 25 cal!

My 25 prc is just a 270 that's a little slippier.

6.5 prc is just a more modernized choice that pretty closely duplicates a 270 to most practical distances, but beats it further.

Any of the medium cartridges ('06, 308 or their derivatives) will do 98% of what all hunters would ever need....but these new ones have a few features that make them a better choice.....i.e... factory available heavy for caliber ammo that goes into modern chamber designs.
 
For me, it's not dying and I shoot mine often. It brings back the best memories because for some reason, my dad did not own a single 30-06 growing up, and always said that it was because the 270 was better in every way. I inherited that piece of his brain because I end up extolling the virtues of the 270 when I can and I've owned one ever since. It's what I took my first several deer with.

But I had a chance to field test the 7PRC with the Weatherby group and it's hard to deny the benefits of that cartridge... It's a laser beam of a round and when suppressed, it's a dream to shoot.

But I also think marketing has a lot to do with it. Look at the 6.8 Western... by all measures that round should have been a welcome 270 upgrade. It packs a punch above the 6.5 PRC yet maintains the short action. Its biggest downfall was that it was not designed by Hornady.
 
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