Is the 270 Win going the way of the 280, and slowly dying?

[sylvest]

I've never been a 270 fan but lots of my friends are. I wouldn't consider myself a 270 hater however. I don't see it going anywhere. The 6.5 marketing campaign is real these days.

 

[Happy Antelope]

The 270win and other .277s aren’t going anywhere. The bullet manufacturers are just getting around to spending millions of $ in developing a diverse line of high BC bullets for the .277. A guy said it above… marketing. Marketing and research/development actually. Why did the 6.5 take off in the US finally 10 years ago when the Europeans had been shooting it for decades? Remember, the .264 “shot barrels out”. The 6.5 caliber died on the vine in the US in the 60s/70s, so there was a niche in the market. The bullet manufacturers picked the 6.5 because it was fairly obscure in the US. They dumped tons of $ in research and development, designed a huge selection of bad ass bullets, then the rifle manufacturers followed suit with faster twist rate rifles, etc. to accommodate the bigger bullets. Now they go caliber by caliber, introducing new lines of bullets. Each caliber is superior than the previous one… just look at the ballistics.
When I put together my ultra light mountain gun, I went 6.5 due to bullet selection, 4.75 pounds, 1:7.5, etc. Given the choice, what if I could have gotten a 270 that shoots a variety of huge 165-175gr bullets with BCs through the roof out of an 18in barrel? No way I would have screwed around finding all new components for the new caliber during a hoarding epidemic.
What I’m saying is the 270 will always be here. There’s just going to be the 27creed, 27prc, 6.8western, 270wsm, 27this, 27that to choose from also. Most of us are gun nuts, we buy into this shit…and we also buy guns. Yes, I have a 270win, it was my first rifle ever I got at 11 from my dad.

I grew up in Montana and I don't know a single person that doesn't own a 270.

 

[KenLee]

Was the 280 Rem ever fully alive?
Great round and I occasionally hunt with one, but that round seems to have never left the hospital neonatal unit after birth. If it did, it returned to the ICU fairly quickly.
If you ask 10 hunters of average experience about the 280, 8 or 9 will have never heard of the chambering.
The 270 is too effective, popular and widespread to die off.

 

[KenLee]

For those who love the 270 Win, how did you get started on this caliber? For me, I was looking to replace an old hand-me-down 303 British. I went to the store primarily seeking a 280, 30-06, 308, or a 270 Win, and the 270 was on sale. I only included the 270 as a few people at my deer camp swore by them.

My 270 Win has done everything I have ever asked of it. I have never felt over or under-gunned in any hunting situation, and as I now own the reloading components, if I ever shoot out the barrel, my next gun will be a 270 as well. That being said, I still believe that on paper, there are now better options and if I were starting from scratch I would go another avenue, either a 6.5 PRC or a 280 AI.

Jack O'Connor's writings when I was a little kid and handling a friend's 270 a-bolt in 1988.
It shot a little flatter than my 30-06 and we were hunting powerlines often.

 

[Lou270]

Browning introduced a few 270 Win rifles with 1-7.5” twist at shot show this year. See if that takes off

Lou

 

[BarCO]

It is my favorite rifle. .270 win Fieldcraft basically made for mountain hunting, I did have some modifications done on it.

 

[roosiebull]

I bought a 270wsm the year it came out. Factory offerings were 130 gr ballistic silvertip and 130 gr power points. The silvertip often left no blood trail on big deer and the ballistics of the power point stunk.
Along came the hot loaded Hornady Superformance SST in 270 win and made up most of the difference in speed with a better bullet. I picked my 270 back up. That was 22 years ago and I still have and use both, but the 270 more often.

I always thought the 270wsm is a very cool cartridge for the hand loader, I would be content with one as my only hunting rifle. You could just hunt with it setup for mpbr with 130gr partitions, or shoot some heavier bullets pretty quick as a very versatile weapon

I still like the 270 too, I have always been impressed with their performance, I shot sst and partitions with mine, and it just seemed to wreck stuff, and I wasn’t a dialer at all and it’s a pretty easy rifle to hunt with a set and forget scope. Saw several elk killed with them and it was the same on elk, out of probably a dozen roosies I’ve seen shot with a 270, I don’t recall one making it 30 yds. I have no clue why it’s historically been a semi controversial elk cartridge

 

[LaGriz]

The 280 is more popular now then it ever was.

There are so many ‘06, 308 and 270 rifles out there they’ll never die. I can get 270 ammo cheaper then just about any other cartridge.

Once you get away from sites like Rokslide most hunters just go get a regular old caliber in a middle level rifle.

I don't think the ,280 can be that popular, if they are not making ammo for it. I have been the owner of a Remington ,280 Mt. Rifle since 1994. Ammo is mostly nonexistent of late, while the .280 AI is only slightly more likely to be found. My rifle likes .160 grain loads and not much else. Have had good success with Norma and Federal premium loads. It kills well (with Fail Safe loads) and has resulted the majority of my game taken in the last 30 years. One shot kills on elk and deer are common. The 160 grain AccuBonds and Norma loads are grouping tight with nearly the same zero. Always a plus!

LaGriz