.270 & 30-06 discussion

[Keedman]

I had the same conversation about a year ago. So I bought 300wm instead lol.
I love my 270 grandpa taught me with his rifle and I harvested my first animal with it.
It was 7mm vs 300 and I wanted a 30 cal

 

[S.Clancy]

We've killed a lot ( well over 30) elk with a .270 at between 20-400 yards, cows to 330" bulls, so I'm biased. I'd stay .270 because the ballistics are better. Nothing wrong with the 06', but .270 is better overall, in my opinion.

 

[bluetick78]

I love this! 270 vs 30-06....reminds me of an Outdoor Life cover from 1987 or Jim Zumbo squaring off with Jack O'Connor in the 60's. As a kid, my dad shot the '06 and his best friend shot the 270. My dad used a Rem 700 and his friend used a Win model 70. I listened to this debate all year around, at summer picnics, at church, weddings, camping, boating, fishing, ect. I always assumed a 30-06 was better because my dad said so....right? It shoots a bigger bullet, has been around longer, and probably smells better. Then I started to understand math better, and became a teenager. I was ready to experiment with all the junk my parents told me to stay away from. First up...you guessed it.....270 Win. A friend had one and he lived within walking distance of some Muley hunting. I tried that 270, and I'll be damned if it didn't kill that buck dead with one shot....just as fast as an '06 even! I couldn't believe it. A few years later I started guiding. My first one-on-one client brought a 270 in a Browning A-bolt. 3 days into the hunt he tumbled a heavy 5x5 with one 130 gr Ballistic Tip. I couldn't believe it...I thought only the '06 was capable of such glorious one-shot kills on elk sized game. The proof was on the ground in front of me though....I'd seen it with my own eyes. I casually told my dad that story one day a few years later on the drive to a fishing hole. I could see the anger and spite well up in him. His own son? Liking 270's? This was gonna change everything, Will's needed re-written, estates reorganized.....but then I assured him that an '06 would've handled the job better, and he calmed down.
I own many 30-06's, and a few 270's; and I can assure you of one thing.......no Americans gun safe is complete without both. Now git on and do your patriotic duty and don't ever show up here without owning both again!

 

[lynntelk]

Jonathan Hemlock said:
I can tell you from personal experience that you should not hunt elk with a 270.

I’ve hunted elk with my 270s for several seasons and they have not killed a single elk. It doesn’t matter how far I carry them, how nicely I cradle them while glassing, how gingerly I slide them over mossy logs when I’m still hunting—this caliber just won’t get the job done on elk. It’s a great deer caliber and has filled my freezer many times over with venison, but it isn’t effective on elk for some reason. If I had a 7 mag it would be totally different. I’m currently rebarreling one of those 270s to 30-06 in the hope that it will bring me an elk next year.

In all honestly, you should go 280ai, from my experience the 280ai brings elk in better than any calling during the rut. 7x7 380 class bulls will line up to get shot by an ackley.


Wrong, amazingly wrong. I have harvested 18 elk in my life and over half of this number was taken with a 270 Winchester. I used 130 gr. Partitions, 140 gr A-Frames and 130 gr TTSX. Just to understand, you are saying .007" of an inch larger diameter bullet makes all the difference in the world when suggesting the 280 AI. Wrong. It ain't the arrow, it's the Indian.

 

[livingandlearning]

In all honestly, you should go 280ai, from my experience the 280ai brings elk in better than any calling during the rut. 7x7 380 class bulls will line up to get shot by an ackley.


Wrong, amazingly wrong. I have harvested 18 elk in my life and over half of this number was taken with a 270 Winchester. I used 130 gr. Partitions, 140 gr A-Frames and 130 gr TTSX. Just to understand, you are saying .007" of an inch larger diameter bullet makes all the difference in the world when suggesting the 280 AI. Wrong. It ain't the arrow, it's the Indian.

I could be wrong but I’m fairly certain he was joking about the 280 AI....

 

[kcm2]

The elk won't know the difference. Both will be reliable at 400 yds with any good bullet. But by all means, buy another rifle. New rifles are fun. Redundancy is good. And this is all supposed to be fun.

 

[Spoonbill]

I could be wrong but I’m fairly certain he was joking about the 280 AI....

I was never the best writer in english class, but I thought the sarcasm was pretty evident.
To clarify, yes I was joking.

 

[lynntelk]

LOL. Got me, but you would be surprised by the people that will swear by a 280 or AI over a 270. That .007" makes all the difference in the world.

 

[Squincher]

Trying to talk myself out of another rifle I don’t shoot past 400 yards, have used a .308 successfully on elk previously. I currently have a .270 Fieldcraft that shoots amazing for elk. Can get a deal on a kimber MA 30-06. Any real advantage with the 30-06? I use 129lrx , would use 168 or 175 barnes. Thank you

You're completely missing the boat here. You need two more rifles, not one. With a 400 yard limit, you need a larger non-magnum of some sort such as a .35 Whelan or .338 Federal, and a .30-06 to back up that and the .270.

 

[Scooter37]

Have you heard of a 6.5........

Kidding!!! (someone had to say it)
I would say a 30-06 is never a bad choice but that’s just because I have one and like it, and currently have no plans to hunt with anything else. Both are a really solid choices I appreciate the topic it made me realize I don’t have a 270. I’m going to work on that. What’s not up for debate is the fact that it’s always a good idea to have another gun.

 

[Montana Craig]

I've carried a 30-06 around for 5 years and never got the chance to pull the trigger on an elk. This year I got a new 270win I don't know if it's the 270 cartridge or the new gun smell but every animal I took this year seemed to be attracted to me with a death sentence.

First hunt was for sheep, I was set up for a 300-yard shot across the drainage and all of a sudden they started running towards me and I was able to get a sheep at 120 yds. Two weekends later I went antelope hunting, I started stalking in and they were around 500 yds a few got curious and they started running towards me. I took the antelope a little less than 200 yds. Then went deer hunting I spooked these doe and they took off but sure as shit they did a U-turn on the logging road and I took one at 80 yds. The very next day I was walking down the mountain heading back to the truck and two bull elk were walking up the mountain towards me. I got within 80 yds and didn't have a clear shot. All of a sudden they took off but they must have caught a whiff of the 270 or the new gun smell they stopped around 200 yds and I let him have it....

So to conclude I think I need to do more research and get a new rifle for next year to see if the new gun smell or if it's the 270 that really was the animal attractant.

In all honesty I got a 270win to try something different but in reality all these animal wouldn't have never known the difference between the 270 and 30-06.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[Cahunter805]

If you like the 270 and it’s a shooter I’d stick with it. If you wanted to step up to a heavier bullet I’d look at the 140gr accubonds or 150gr Berger VLD.

 

[Burnt Reynolds]

I have an off the shelf Winchester featherweight 270 - wood/blued with a vx3i and leupold rings & mounts, Timney trigger. LOVE it. It's my fair weather classic All-American setup. Balances perfect and carries well even with its Harris bipod.

I also have a stainless Ruger 30-06, Timney, vx3i, Shilen barrel, HS Precision stock. I love it too...was my late fathers rifle that didn't shoot for crap until I made an investment in it. It's my nasty weather All-American setup. It's a bit heavy with its 24 inch magnum contour (I believe 3b) barrel and Atlas bipod. But I don't care. Hardly any recoil and it stays on target.

Barnes 129 LRX for the 270, Barnes LRX 175 for the '06. Both are very accurate and I have CDS dials for both. Both accompany me on every hunt and happily serve as the primary or backup.

In all my years of fussing with different rifles & calibers I came full circle to this pairing and, I know it's blashpemy but, I'm completely satisfied with these two. I've sold every other hunting rifle and haven't looked back. I have no issue pointing one or the other at elk, deer, bear, moose, sheep...

The 270 is zeroed at 170 yards and the turret gets me to 700 yards - with room to spare regarding LRX minimum expansion velocity, the '06 is zeroed at 200 and also gets me to 700 yards and well within the LRX expansion threshhold. My maximum comfort range for live undisturbed game is about 550 yards so there's not a whole lot to be gained in my world by anything else.