“Long Range” .270 Win?

[83cj-7]

So I’ve built quite a few rifles for long range hunting and shooting in various cartridges. Last year I got thinking about the new, high BC .277 bullets and wondered what could be done with a plain old .270 win with a 8 twist barrel. I collected the parts and built a 700 with a 25” Brux 8 twist and have just finished load workup with the 165 ABLR and RL26. I settled on 58.5 grains which got me 3000fps with no pressure signs and easily 0.5 MOA or better.

This is quite interesting to me because I had previously built a 25” .280 Rem and used the same 58.5 grain load to shoot a 168 ABLR at 2800fps. Now I’m shooting virtually the same weight bullet with the same BC at 200fps faster. It was a fun build and I’m sure it will do fine as a long range hunting rifle.

This is the 165 ABLR:


This is a 150 SST:

 

[NRA4LIFE]

That is spectacular. Nice work. I just got back into the .270 reloading world after a 25 year layoff (looooong story). Shooting a 165 is in my dream world.

 

[Unckebob]

What are you going to use it for?

It's funny how people have different goals in builds. I have a 280AI barrel, but decided to add a 270 barrel to my mix. Why? I wanted a lighter, shorter threaded barrel and wanted to use a light, fast bullet to take deer with. I cannot wait until deer season open's up and I can see how the light fast 130-140g (I am still testing loads) bullets perform. If I go for bigger game or want to shoot long range for fun, the 280AI barrels is going back on the action.

You have to post a picture once you get your animal.

 

[Loper]

Having a fast twist 270 shooting 165 grains at 3000 FPS sounds pretty ideal. You get the benefit of high BC bullets, speed, and easily accessible brass.

 

[rifletuner]

Thats interesting because I have been thinking along similar lines but havent actually done anything about it as yet. I have an action that would work for a build like this, but fast twist 270 barrels are pretty much non-existent in Australia. 270 is our minimum legal calibre for sambar deer, so something like this could work really well as a deer rifle here.

 

[83cj-7]

Having a fast twist 270 shooting 165 grains at 3000 FPS sounds pretty ideal. You get the benefit of high BC bullets, speed, and easily accessible brass.

Brass for reloading was a major consideration in doing .270. My primary hunting rifle is an 18” Kimber Hunter in 270 and I have accumulated quite a bit of 270 brass. The higher BC bullets are a bit hard to find but persistence paid off and I stocked up when they came available on SPS.

 

[puppyhat]

I use a 270 for long range target and hunting. I load ELD for match and partitions for hunting. For your use within 500 yds, a 270 will be pretty hard to beat. The 270 is flatter shooting and a better performer in the bush.

 

[handwerk]

Sounds like you’ve put together a very nice, practical rifle.
Having several .270’s myself kept me from wanting a 6.5 prc for the reason’s you brought up.

 

[Forestryguy]

I was just going over this in my head the other night. After a lot of thinking I have almost decided to make the 270/6.8 my all around caliber, even if I were to go for Grizzly/Browns. I know there would not be much gain from going with an AI cartridge, but would it gain anything?

 

[EastHumboldt]

I understand the advantage of the eight twist shooting long high BC bullets. Is there any advantage, or disadvantage to the eight twist when shooting lighter bullets like 145, 150g ?

 

[gerry35]

I understand the advantage of the eight twist shooting long high BC bullets. Is there any advantage, or disadvantage to the eight twist when shooting lighter bullets like 145, 150g ?

Can't see why it would cause any issues, no downsides in going with a fast twist in my opinion.

Thats interesting because I have been thinking along similar lines but havent actually done anything about it as yet. I have an action that would work for a build like this, but fast twist 270 barrels are pretty much non-existent in Australia. 270 is our minimum legal calibre for sambar deer, so something like this could work really well as a deer rifle here.

You won't be disappointed in it if you do. I went with the 6.8 Western but the 270 Win is no slouch either. I tried a 1 in 9 twist 270 Win but wish I would have gone to the faster 1 in 8. Got over 2800 fps with the 170 gr Berger from a 23" barrel though.

 

[gerry35]

I was just going over this in my head the other night. After a lot of thinking I have almost decided to make the 270/6.8 my all around caliber, even if I were to go for Grizzly/Browns. I know there would not be much gain from going with an AI cartridge, but would it gain anything?

I had the exact same thought with the 6.8 Western, the 165-175 gr bullets would be impressive. Will work awesome for moose and grizzly.

 

[rmarshall]

I've felt all along the O'l 270 win with faster twisted barrel would be awesome. This just proves it. I love it! Maybe my 270 win will have to get a 1:8 twist barrel. The 270 win can hang with them now

 

[B23]

Curious, why would you go 8tw over a 9tw? Even the 170 Berger only calls for a 9tw to fully stabilize it.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Interesting topic and thank you for posting. Anybody ever built a .270-08? I'd never heard of it before reading an article in Field and Stream the other day. With all the love out there for the 7mm-08, I'm surprised more guys haven't built out the 270-08, especially with the new bullets and fast twist barrels.

Some benefits include:
Long, skinny, high BC bullets
Short action
Less recoil than standard .270
Cheap and readily available brass

For that matter, and not to derail the thread, but why not a .25-08? NVM, just found article on the .25 Souper

 

[Forestryguy]

Interesting topic and thank you for posting. Anybody ever built a .270-08? I'd never heard of it before reading an article in Field and Stream the other day. With all the love out there for the 7mm-08, I'm surprised more guys haven't built out the 270-08, especially with the new bullets and fast twist barrels.

Some benefits include:
Long, skinny, high BC bullets
Short action
Less recoil than standard .270
Cheap and readily available brass

For that matter, and not to derail the thread, but why not a .25-08? NVM, just found article on the .25 Souper

Im pretty sure a "270-08" has been done. Not sure what it was called. I know recently it would be considered a slower .277 Fury from SIG. That is mostly due to the Fury being a hybrid case and allowing much higher pressures.

 

[BDWMT]

I built a 270 AI this spring and have been shooting it the past few months. 23” barrel is giving me up to 3025 with the 170 Berger. The accuracy load seems to be around 2970. Accuracy is slightly below 1/2 MOA out to 800 yards with a 6.4 lb rifle. This build has exceeded my expectations for velocity and it’s low recoil make it a joy to shoot compared to the 7 magnums.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Im pretty sure a "270-08" has been done. Not sure what it was called. I know recently it would be considered a slower .277 Fury from SIG. That is mostly due to the Fury being a hybrid case and allowing much higher pressures.

It's definitely been done, and I'm just curious why it's not more popular. That 170 grain Berger with .662 BC out of a .308 case sounds like a sweet short action with minimal recoil and plenty of downrange pop. In comparison, the 175 grain Terminal Ascent in .308 has a BC of .520. I would think necking down and loading with the heavy 270 would give it some longer legs.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I built a 270 AI this spring and have been shooting it the past few months. 23” barrel is giving me up to 3025 with the 170 Berger. The accuracy load seems to be around 2970. Accuracy is slightly below 1/2 MOA out to 800 yards with a 6.4 lb rifle. This build has exceeded my expectations for velocity and it’s low recoil make it a joy to shoot compared to the 7 magnums.

View attachment 564874

My long term project is a fast twist .25-06 AI for many of the same reasons. The long skinny 135 grain Berger EOL have a BC of .65 and should be laser beams. I'm looking forward to tinkering once I can afford a new barrel and dies.

 

[Forestryguy]

It's definitely been done, and I'm just curious why it's not more popular. That 170 grain Berger with .662 BC out of a .308 case sounds like a sweet short action with minimal recoil and plenty of downrange pop. In comparison, the 175 grain Terminal Ascent in .308 has a BC of .520. I would think necking down and loading with the heavy 270 would give it some longer legs.

My guess would be that 270/6.8 heavy bullets are just newer and not many have messed with them yet. Plus the fact that I don't think the 6.8 Western got the marketing hype the PRC, specifically 7 PRC, got. This seems to be the down fall of a lot of Federal and Winchester loads historically.

I think the 6.8 SPC/SPC ii did not turn out as well as most had anticipated and may be reluctant to tinker more.

I have thought for awhile now that most anything built off the '06 case can get the job done just about as well as a magnum without the magnum downsides. I am almost to the conclusion there is no real reason not to use the '06 and .308 cases as the bases for almost anything.