Why is the .270 dying?

[wind gypsy]

The first box I bought in 2012 did not have the EOL name attached. It was a 170 VLD Hunter. I no longer have the box.

Jay

The 170 was released in 2016. I’m pretty sure there was never any other Bergers that heavy prior. I recall the Matrix VLDs in the 160 gr plus range being the heavy 27 cal options of the day prior to that.

 

[Steve O]

If Industry just increased the 270 Win barrel twist rate to 8 and did a 270 AI with higher BC 160gr - 170gr bullets, it would be fine for next 100 years.

The 270 Win I shoot 150's at 2850fps will kill everything I want to just fine.
As long as I own the brass, bullets, it isn't fading away in my lifetime.

I have thought long and hard about a fast twist .270 and 165g LRAB’s. But the standard 270 with 140s has done more than I could ever ask. It should reach out there nicely!

 

[Midnight Mallard]

The .270 may be less popular now by default of newer rifles, faster twist barrels etc but for 80% of the hunters 0ut there today it would work 100% of the time. My first rifle was a .270 Win ruger M77 tang safety, shot everything from ground squirrels to bighorn ewe with it including the muley in avatar photo. It will never be sold but I do have a 6.5 prc as my main rifle now because I liked it and wanted it, but either one will do what I would need it to do. Just my 3 cents.

 

[Lou270]

I think that is fair question. I think the guys who really shoot a lot are shooting 223 and 308 compared to anything else. I shoot a lot of different cartridges so I don’t shoot my 6.5cm more than others because that is what interests me but I recognize I am an exception. I think there are definitely better rounds to shoot volume than a 270 or any other significant case capacity round.

Lou

 

[Lou270]

Backfire and Randy Newberg both recently did polls on their youtube for favorite hunting cartridge of their followers and old 270 was number one. I can hear the old girl yelling… “I’m not dead yet….”

Lou

 

[EastTX Jess]

Backfire and Randy Newberg both recently did polls on their youtube for favorite hunting cartridge of their followers and old 270 was number one. I can hear the old girl yelling… “I’m not dead yet….”

Lou

I just watched that Backfire video. I was glad to see the 243, 7mm-08 and 280 AI on the viewers’ list. The 270 at #1 proves what has been said many times in this thread—most hunters aren’t posting on RS.

 

[timbernomad]

When I first started elk hunting, the choice (according to people I knew) was 30-06 or 270. I went with 270 for a number of reasons. It's obviously effective.

I say that as a preface to this: I can't think of anything that I can get done with a 270 that I can't also get done with a different cartridge with less recoil.

 

[nm.otter]

what about the people who DO shoot more? Are they mostly shooting 270’s?

Any hunter who buys a 6.5 CM can (on some level) play NRL Hunter with a reasonable chance of some success. Also lots of free, local coaching on technique -- with everyone involved understanding that failures are most likely not the fault of either the rifle or the cartridge.

 

[The Guide]

The 170 was released in 2016. I’m pretty sure there was never any other Bergers that heavy prior. I recall the Matrix VLDs in the 160 gr plus range being the heavy 27 cal options of the day prior to that.

If you go look on LRH, we were talking about them and the release in 2012. I got a box as part of a group buy. I was going to have either Len (owner of LRH) make me a 270WSM with an 8 twist barrel or Kirby make me one of his Allen magnum cartridges in 270 caliber. Kirby talked me into a 338 Allen Xpress so I never shot the bullets and sold them on LRO a couple years later since my factory Winchester M70 in 270 is a 10 twist and will never get a new barrel because it was a gift from my father for Christmas when I was 12. In 2016 they may have become part of the EOL line but in the beginning, they weren't labeled as such.

Jay

Edit... I found my old threads on another forum and it was Bob Beck that initiated the 170 grain EOL bullet and it was the first bullet designed for the EOL lineup. The first discussions and field use for testers was in 2012.

 

[Southern Lights]

I run a 270 a lot and at any practical hunting distance does what the PRC does. I have considered buying a PRC barrel, but those I know that have them show factory loads are very anemic (2800-2900fps). They also have been having to clean frequently, have had feeding issues, and burned out their barrels in under 1000 rounds.

The 270 case feeds reliably, does an honest 3150fps with 130gr factory, or 2950 with 150 class bullets. Plus, ammo is common and cheap for practice and you won't toast the barrel as fast as the PRC.

 

[eloybac]

I got pushed into a .270 vanguard because my local gun store had no more vanguards in 30-06. Friend of mine loves his 30-06 vanguard. Shot both over the years and find the .270 to be better in every way.

 

[Smithb9841]

I was really surprised at the velocities these guys got out of a new X bolt with the faster twist barrel and the 170 Berger’s EOL.

 

[Dan Carey]

Who watches that guy

 

[Deere_Man]

Who watches that guy

lol. Lots of folks. He has 40 YouTube videos that have over 500K views. He has several that were over the 1 million mark. I enjoy watching some of them. Per always, watch the ones that you think you may like, scroll past the others.

 

[Capt.Gene]

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 have a Benelli LUPO in 270 Winchester and it’s a beauty and it really shoots. It likes 130 gr bullets.
It has a 1:10 twist rate and maybe this limits max bullet weight And stops me from loading higher BC, heavier bullets.
Rom Spomer , a UTube guro did a story about rifle manufacturers
building with higher twist rate barrels.
I was on the Christensen web site and noticed their least expensive model, about $1000, the Evoke, is available in 270 Winchester with a 1: 8 twist barrel.
If I were shopping for a 270 that might push me that direction.

 

[Dan Carey]

I'll watch one.

 

[Seeknelk]

I

George Gardner is still a businessman in the business of selling things, and has a very close relationship with Hornady, also very much a profit driven company. Again, if the intent were to only cater to a small group, the most serious of which already use custom barrels in whatever cartridge and twist they desire, it would be a very small market. Between George and Hornady they very carefully estimate potential markets and calculate the viability (profitability) before investing heavily on marketing any of them. It was surely a marketing selling point to have even less taper than any other “modern” cartridge - less than the Winchester short mags, RUMs, SAUMs, Rugers, etc. There’s no practical purpose to such straight walls other than to appear on paper as even more modern than the most modern of the competition.

If they wanted to benefit the shooting public, they could have supported the trend toward faster twists in standard cartridges and it seems every six months someone brings out another group of fast twist rifles without their help. To suggest legacy guns aren’t fast twist only applies if someone is only shooting legacy rifles, or the person doesn’t shoot enough to burn out barrels.

Marketing and advertising works - it’s actually genius for a reloading company to convince a generation to not reload and buy the much more profitable loaded ammo.

Trouble with simply starting to sell 270 ammo with 170 Bergers intended for newer 1-8 twist 270 rifles is all the clueless dudes who buy it to shoot it their SAMMI SPEC 270s.
Saami spec is there for a reason, you can't just go changing the spec because of all the existing old stuff.
Updating twist rates of rifles, like Tikka and the 1-8 243 however has no downside for the most part tho.
Those are the big reason for totally updating stuff like the 260 is now the 6.5 creed etc. It's the proper way to do it.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

When I first started elk hunting, the choice (according to people I knew) was 30-06 or 270. I went with 270 for a number of reasons. It's obviously effective.

I say that as a preface to this: I can't think of anything that I can get done with a 270 that I can't also get done with a different cartridge with less recoil.

I used a 270 for everything from elk to pronghorn. And all the mule deer and black bear in between. I never used a 270 once I loved to AK but there’s no reason I wouldn’t. I use a 30-06 more than anything right now.