.270 Win Ammunition performance

[RustyJr]

The 30-30 Cull post that 86er had from a few years ago made me think. Does anyone have any experiance with the 270 winchester and its use on game with some of the "regular" walmart brand ammuntion such as Remington Core-lokts and Winchester powerpoints? My main curiosity is how they do at ranges under 100 yrds. I believe I've heard 86er talk about clients having issues with some of the higher velocity rounds such as the 270 and 243 at close range and was wondering if it was an issue with shot placement or bullet construction or both.

RustyJr

[Pisgah]

I have had excellent results, and I have seen excellent results for friends with .270 rifles, on deer at ranges from 5 yards to 300 using both the Remington and Winchester loads.

[M. M. Wright]

About 10 years ago, I bought a Ruger N0. 1A in 270. Loaded some 139 or 140 grain bullets at below max charge and developed an accurate load. First deer I shot was quartering slightly to me. A very nice 145" or so. Shot him right on the shoulder and watched him run off with his right front leg flopping over his back at each jump. Followed the blood trail about half a mile but lost him and never recovered him. Had another similar experience on a much smaller buck and decided to quit the 270 even though one of my heros, Jack O'conner was very high on the caliber. I'm sure the bullets were Hornady, not my favorite Noslers. I believe the bullets blew up on the surface, creating huge surface wounds that probably were eventually fatal. Very disappointing! I've killed a lot of deer with 6mm and 25-06 and had very good results. Nearly all one shot kills. I now prefer 308 Win with 150 grain Sierra bullets or my Browning Hi-wall 30-06 and 165 grain Sierra spitzer bout tail bullets.

[jerry b]

I never had any problems with either of two .270 Wins over the years. I no longer own one (waaa), but it has nothing to do with the cartridge, which is my all time favorite. I wouldn't worry about it.....

I'd suggest 130 gr bullets in whatever brand you buy. I prefer Remington Cor-Lokts, BTW, when I buy cartridges, which isn't often.

Take this with a dose of salt.

[iceman]

I have only killed 1 deer with a 270. It was fairly close ( inside 50 yds). It was a spine shot with a 140 gr Hornady. It took out about 3" of spine, but a finishing shot was needed. I have very limited experience with this round but it sure dropped that 10 point right there.

[Bruce]

From my experience, the Remington Core Lokts perform at any range (w/ different calibers). The only problems I have had w/ close range (high velocity) shots has been w/ Winchester ammunition. I have had it explode (fragment) on contact and I've also had some of it fail to open/expand. The range of calibers runs from 30-30 through 300 Win Mag.

[243dave]

IMO the 270 is the most versatile deer cartridge made. Not much recoil and trajectory of a magnum round. My dad and brother have hunted with 270's for over 30 years a piece and the 270 always performs. I've seen them kill lots of deer with them and examined even more wound channels produced by the 270 and was usually impressed. There is a big difference in bullets though. Honestly I'm not a big fan of 130gr factory loaded remington core-lokts, over the years(since the early 80's)they seem to perform differently from year to year. Some years they perform very well, while other years they seem to be too tough and leave small exit wounds. I've noticed this in the 243 with 100gr factory loaded corelokts also. The best bullet I've ever seen in any caliber at dropping deer in their tracks with behind the shoulder hits is the 140gr Sierra HPBT Gameking out of the 270. It is NOT A MATCHGRADE BULLET. Its hollowpoint is bigger than a match bullet and the jacket is tappered giving it good weight retention. It always exits on broadside shots and leaves big exit wounds. My brother uses the 140gr sierra hpbt's while my dad still sticks with the 130gr Factory loaded corelokts, the 140's sierra's kill so much quicker(usually right there) than the factory loaded 130 gr corelokts I don't understand why my old man doesn't use some of my brothers reloads. Don't get me wrong I'm not slamming the core-lokts, deer don't go more than 150yds when hit behind the shoulder but those 140gr sierra gamekings kill so quickly when the same shot placement is applied its amazing. I'm a fan of the 270win but don't own one, I like to be a bit different and hunt with the little 243 or the 45 colt trapper. When I first started hunting with the trapper I heard comments like RED RYDER and TOY GUN and such but after I've killed a few with those stoutly loaded 300gr xtp mags I no longer hear those comments.
Dave

[Idiot]

I have had excellent results, and I have seen excellent results for friends with .270 rifles, on deer at ranges from 5 yards to 300 using both the Remington and Winchester loads.

Ditto. Loaded with plain old Core-locts, Power-Points, Hi-Shoks, or Silver Tips, straight from the Wal-Mart shelf, there is no better deer cartridge than the 270 Winchester.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

My short range experience with the .270 was on a shot at about 20 yards with a 130 grain Grand Slam. The bullet entered the center of the chest head on and was found back by the bladder. The front half of the bullet was smeared away and the jacket torn back but the back half was fully intact. I didn't weigh it but I would estimate that it retained about 2/3 of it's weight. The deer bounded off to his right and went about 50 feet before expiring. This was a factory Speer Nitrex load which is no longer produced unfortunately. I do miss the "pocket packs" that came in those boxes. A small shirt pocket sized box with 5 rounds inside with cardboard separators in between kept the cartridges from clinking together.

[Bigahh]

I do not use a .270, but have hunted with guys who have in my neck of the woods where shots are well under 100 yards. Unfortunately the round does not grade well in my book. I have seen well placed shots where the deer has gone much farther than it ever should. Just this past season we found a friends 150 class Buck 5 days after he put a 130 grain Remington a touch back of the boiler room. I believe the round is too fast for the Brush country we hunt in. I believe the bullets are tumbling, but cannot confirm it. Dont get me wrong the .270 is a great cartridge if used in open territory, and not where something like a 30-30 should be used.

[RustyJr]

I think that a 30-30 placed in the same place ( a touch back of the boiler room) would have probably resulted in the same results. I think that the lack of proper shot placement, not the cartridge were to blame for not recovering the deer. IMHO

RustyJr

[FWiedner]

I've shot one deer (maybe 100yds) with a .270. OTS silver-box Winchester stuff. Can't remember what bullet weight, it's been a really long time.

He died.

I guess they work OK.

[ollogger]

ive heard guys swear buy em, or swear at em

[O.S.O.K.]

What I've found is that the 130's (Rem Coreloct) will expand to the point of becoming a "ball" and often fail to exit - but they do just fine blowing through the vitals on a typical whitetail. This is at 100 to 130 yards.

If you want full penetration, go with the 150's or switch up to a premium bullet.

I'm currently hunting with 140 Federal Vital Shock. It's a premium bullet that expands well but not so much that it doesn't exit. A while back, Midway had this on clearance for $12/box! I bought 10 boxes. This is very accurate in my rifles too.

[getitdone1]

For whatever it's worth on 1 gallon, plastic water jugs filled with water it performed like this:

110 gr Hornady V-Max--Blew-up 2 and fragments into #3. Very explosive, as intended.
120 gr Barnes Banded Solid--Penetrated 4 with no mark on #5.
130 gr Winchester Power Pts Factory load--Broke back side of #4.
150 gr Nosler Partition--Blew-up 5 and into #7. I was impressed! Gun writer Jack O'Connor called this his bear load with the 270.
130 gr Barnes Triple Shock X--Blew-up 3 and penetrated 5.
(In case you're wondering, I did not try Remington Corelokt.)

When I say "blew-up" I mean it did more damage than usual and split jug wide-open. Sometimes blowing jug totally apart.

Don

[86er]

I've always joked that the 270 was hexed in my company. It has been one of the worst performers overall of any cartridge clients have ever used. I really don't blame the cartridge, it is a bit more than coincidental, but in a much broader sample throughout the years it has performed better than my data would indicate. Interesting to me is that my Uncle that is a retired PH used a custom Sako in 270 Win shooting 160 grain bullets at close to 2800 fps. He always said between the rifle, cartridge and excellent optics he could place his bullets with surgical precision out to 300 yds and could fire a second shot quickly and accurate enough if necessary. He's taken N.A. 29, all of Africa's spriral horned and a bunch of other animals with that cartridge/load/rifle combo. The data listed in the booklet 1000 Tags Filled by Joe Riekers and John C. Clark shows the following for 270 Win:

41 animals killed

9 needed 2 shots
4 needed 3 shots
2 needed 4 shots

Shot distances: 50% under 100 yds, 4.5% over 200 yds. Everything else between 100 and 200 yds.

Average distance travelled after being shot = just over 100 yds. Furthest was 330 yds with 2 others at or around 250 yds. 15 dropped where they stood. Only two 140 grain loads were represented and there was about an equal # of 130 and 150's. The 130's and 150's did not indicate any decided advantage with one over the other. There were also three 160 grain loads used on bison, moose and bongo and they show very effective. There was one 180 grain Woodleigh used on a water bufflo.

The Remington brand 150's (does not indicate if they were core-lokt bullets) actually performed below the other brand 150's in # of shots required to kill animals and distance animals travelled after the shot. The Remington 130's performed the same as other brands with that weight. Among the 130's the Winchester brand proved to have the best performance but among the 150's the performance was about equal between 5 different brands.

Of the 130 grains, 19 animals were taken with 23 shots. 13 exited, 6 did not, 4 are unknown. Of the 150 grains, 16 animals were taken with 26 shots. 10 exited, 13 did not, 3 are unknown.

Statistically - 57.5% of shots exited animals, 37.5 % did not. 77.5% of animals shot were recovered in less than 75 yards. 35% of animals shots dropped where they stood. 20% went more than 100 yards before being recovered. None of the 41 animals shot were lost - all were recovered.

Compare to a 300 Savage: 22% needed more than one shot. 33% went more than 100 yards. 44% dropped where they stood. 44% exited and 55% did not. 150 grain, 165 grain and 180 grain performed similarly to one another.

Compare to 25-06: 35% needed more than one shot. 10 % traveled more than 100 yards after being shot. 35% dropped where they stood. 10% of animals shot were not recovered. 40% of bullets did not exit, 20% did, 40% were unknown. (normally unknown means there was no obvious exit hole but no bullet was found in the carcass either).

Any other comparisons you need, let me know.

[Old Savage]

Joe, it would seem with the numbers there is a decided advantage with the 130. O'Connor wrote late in career that he thought the 130 was better. I will say that on antelope on the shooting I saw the 130 Partition was not better than the 100 Gr Pro Hunter in a 6 MM Rem in the outcome though the animals were not large. I think bullet construction might make some difference in this cartridge. Your thoughts?

[Pisgah]

Here's a true story --

Long ago I had an aquaintance who hunted with me for a season. He had a brand-new Ruger M77 in .270, and at the time my go-to deer gun was a well-worn Marlin 336 .30-30. During the first two weeks of the season, I killed 3 deer, all with single shots, while he missed two and wounded two he never recovered. He was cursing his luck, but mainly cursing the deplorable accuracy of his rifle and the lousy performance of the Core Lokt ammo he was using, and he expressed the opinion that he maybe ought to go out and get himself a new .30-30, since mine seemed to work so well.

I made him an offer -- you use my gun for the next few weeks, and I'll use yours. That way, you will know if the .30-30 is right for you before you make a trade, and maybe I will be able to "work out the bugs" in your rifle. He agreed to this, and the upshot is that over the next month I made 6 more clean one-shot kills, while he missed three more and wounded (and lost) three more. The only one he bagged was a small doe shot at a range of about 15 yards.

Now, let's see -- was it the gun, the cartridge, or the shooter that was lacking???

[86er]

True story - a few months ago a good client of mine named Sterling bought his nephew to hunt. We found an axis deer and at 80 yards broadside he rested his gun, took his time and squeezed the trigger. The deer showed a hit but I immediately said it was not a good one. We found blood. Tracked the deer and jumped it twice, neither time he could get a shot off. About that time I said "You must be shooting a 270". This was said in jest since Sterling knew of the 270 hex. Sure enough, he was using a 270 WSM! The next day Larry Simmons Sr and Jr hunted with me. Senior made a decent shot on a huge axis buck that was just short of 100 yards out. It walked off about 50 yards and stood in some brush. Again, I jokingly said "Let me guess, that rifle is a 270". It was! We got close to the deer and it walked off a little further. At the time I was carrying a Remington Model 81 in 300 Savage. Senior couldnt get on the deer when it was moving because it was hard to keep the scope on it. I handed his the Rem and told him when the deer walked out to let him have it. Well, he did and the buck went down right there. Senior commented that he couldnt believe he was shooting a new, modern, expensive rifle with premium optics and couldnt kill a deer but my antique rifle shooting an obsolete cartridge knocked them dead. Believe me, it was not the cartridge in either of these cases. It was the shot placement and bullet that was to blame. I heard the nephew bought a 300 WSM and Senior borrowed a 7mm Rem Mag when he shot his elk two weeks later.

[kasTX]

I hunted a lease for three years with a couple of guys who used the .270 Win. They both spent an inordinate amount of time tracking deer, even those that were hit really well. Never really understood why this was, because in most cases, the damage done to the deer was massive - shoulders pulverized or blown off, internals liquified, etc. The damage aspect alone turned me off of the round. I used mild 30.06 rounds, 30-30, .357, 7.62x39, and 30 Carbine with much better results.

Fast forward a couple of years, and I get my brother into hunting. He finds a great deal on a Stevens 200, but instead of getting the 7mm-08 like I suggested, he gets the .270 Win. I did talk him into the reduced recoil Remington, though. The first deer he shoots drops on the spot without so much as a twitch. The next day he shoots another, and despite less than stellar placement, that one drops on the spot too! Damage to the deer wasn't that bad either. Only real problem is that now my brother thinks they always drop dead at the shot.

All of the shots mentioned above were at 150 yards or less.

So I'm not sure what to tell you about the .270 in general, but in the (admittedly too limited) sample of deer I've seen taken with it, results can vary, with the reduced recoil load performing the best.

[Old Savage]

Jokes and humor aside, there is a maybe soccer ball size death zone in the heart lung area and the 270 has plenty of power. I think people give themselves credit for being better shot than they are and seeing their shots many times as better than they were. SO that leaves room for a lot of how did this turn out blame the rifle/cartridge. And some people shoot some rifles better than others. The lots of destruction but it didn't kill sort of idea is puzzling - destruction where. I do know if the bullet is too heavily constructed like a Partition it will not be devastating on lighter animals if nothing substantial is hit and lighter bullets like a Sierra 243 will produce as much or more destruction. Might be interesting for Joe to more closely categorize just where the hit was and what was destroyed. Animals can certainly travel with near there hits.

[86er]

In 1000 Tags Filled each shot is broken down by placement and whether or not it penetrated and exited. It also shows how far the animal travelled after being hit. You can easily analyze the data by reviewing it.