270 WSM

[bjmaas]

Hi fella's, just looking at a new deer rifle and like the idea of a 270 wsm, for long range red, and fellow deer out to 350 yrds.
What do you see as the pros and cons of this calibre. I also want to use it as a super varminter with 90 grain projectiles on foxes and goats.
I understand a 1 in 10 twist will cover 110 to 150 grain projectiles but for lighter 90 to 110 grains a 1 in 12 twist barrel would be more suiting

Regards Ben Maas

[204Shooter]

It may be too late to comment on this but I decided to anyway.

In 2004, I bought a .270 WSM. What do I think about it after 5 years? Well, I have shot 3 deer and 3 elk with it and it's terminal performance has met or exceeded my expectations. I like the gun. But I do have two things about the gun that I don't like.

1. It is not very accurate. I have had one load, and one load only, that I have been able to keep around 1 moa. All others range between 2 and 5 moa. It is probably the gun and not the caliber, but it is the least accurate gun that I own none-the-less. FYI: The accurate load included very expensive bullets, the Barnes TSX! This load is what I used on the two biggest elk. Although expensive, they work!

2. Due to the short, fat nature of the cartridge, all things being equal, it will not feed as smoothly as longer cartridges. I have experienced this. It has not cost me an animal yet, but on my first elk, the gun jammed after my first shot. Luckily, I didn't need a second shot but I was frustrated anyway. After doing some checking, I found that longer, skinnier rounds will feed smoother than the short, fat cartridges.

Are these two things enough for me to get rid of the gun. No! This is my primary big game gun and I like it. I have found that if I am more "authoritative" when racking the bolt, I can get it to feed reliably. (My friend has a .270 WSM in a Winchester and a .300 WSM in a Remington and they both feed smoother than my Ruger.) The TSX work well and are accurate but expensive.

Just my take on the little magnum! Hope it helps.

[acloco]

Do you reload?

Personally, I would go with a 270 if you are stuck on this caliber.

I have personally shot, in excess of, 30 different rifles in 270. ALL of them kicked my butt in the recoil department.

One day, at the local gunshop, a nice, lonely looking Remington 700 in 270 Win caught my eye...most because of the low mileage and the price. I bought it. Reloaded for it...and added a GOOD recoil pad. Problem solved. Shoots 150 gr bullets at 1/2 MOA at 300 yards with H4831.

My reasoning....brass is a LOT cheaper than WSM and factory ammo is a LOT cheaper as well.

Shooting buddy of mine once posed this question...in regards to picking the next caliber to purchase..... "Can you walk in to ANY Coast to Coast, Gambles, Walmart, or mom-n-pop gunshop and BUY ammo in stock?" I pass the lesson on to you.

[glenn asher]

I completely concur with acloco on this. To prove it, I own two .270 Winchesters, and am more than satisfied for my hunting needs with them. Both shoot very well with the same load, so it's not complicated to load for them (that's probably dumb luck, but I'll take it). There is something to the long, skinny cartridges feeding smoother than short fat ones, too. I sometimes have to look to see if there's a round being fed into the chamber from the magazine.

After shooting .204s a lot, the recoil seems like a lot, but compared to other cartridges, it's tolerable, too. The whitetail deer I hunt haven't complained about killing power, so that's not an issue, but I sincerely doubt 200 fps difference between the WSM and Win. cartridges will make a big difference on red or fallow deer, either. Just use a good bullet and watch them drop dead.

[Hotshot]

I have a nephew and a close friend who also suffer accuracy problems with 270 WSM. Over the years 270 Winchester experience has been good accuracy with very little trouble. I vote 270 Winchester also.
I didn't know acloco had a good one, or I'd have tried to trade him out of it.

[Rick in Oregon]

Not that it matters, but I'll throw this in:

I started using the .270 while in high school hunting mule deer. That was a long time ago...I still use the .270 to this day, seeing no reason to chance, but was tempted with the 270WSM when it came out. Tried one, went back to the Winchester version, and I'm still hunting with my pre-64 Model 70 that I've had all these years. It's killed well over 200 deer, and I just don't know how another version could have done any better (while living in BC many years ago, we could shoot ten each season, so they really stacked up back then). My .270 was made in 1958, still wears her factory barrel, and still plunks my Sierra 130 grainers into .6" about every time at 100 yards. I've had the old girl since 1970...paid $300 for it back then.

Plus: less recoil, less blast, shorter barrel, more rounds in the magazine, easier to find ammo if that matters too. Usually a slightly lighter rifle too as a bonus.

The WSM is probably a decent caliber, but I'll never trade off my .270 Win for one. Here's my trusty Model 70 in .270:



This rifle is like an old friend.....oh wait.......she is! Calibers come and go, but the .270 Win will be with us for a very long time to come.

[ADH]

i can't comment on the 270 version, as i have a 300wsm. accuracy out of it with handloads in moa. using both 180g and 200g partitions. the gun is a winchester classic. only upgrade is a custom stock that is pillar bedded. had to do that as my LOP is near 16" and a proper fitting stock makes recoil manageable.

ammo is expensive for the wsm, and sometimes hard to find. would i get rid of it for something else, no.

by the way rick, you need to power wash that deck. surprised PA is not all over you about that. less time is the gun room, more time on the honey do!!

[stevecrea]

I have been interested in the WSMs, and especially the .270 WSM. However, I have not been interested enough to buy one, and I do not think there is a compelling argument to replace my Weatherby Mark V Deluxe in 7mm Weatherby with one, despite some of the advertising that suggests that the WSMs will outperform some of the older magnums. Also, as Rick indicated above, the .270 Winchester still works very, very well.

There was an interesting article in Guns & Ammo that tested a number of loads for the .270 WSM in a Browning A-Bolt Hunter. I do not have it in front of me, but one of the conclusions, for that particular rifle, was that it liked to have the bullets .030 to .050 inches off the lands, rather than close and tighter. The writer stated that accuracy improved dramatically when he increased the distance off the lands to this range

[Critter]

In my view there is nothing seriously wrong with the .270 except for the lack of availibility of bullet variation. Something that the 7 WSM does really well.



Problem is for some reason Winchester has apparently dropped the 7mm WSM in it's current M70 lineup.

On the otherhand if you already have a 7mm Weatherby, unless you are violently opposed to the belt, you might as well stay with it. It is a fine hunting cartridge for medium game at ranges including Long.

I also find the 7mm WSM very accurate with the heavy 180 match bullets at moderately high velocity. (say 2900 or so.)

[TONK]

Rick your a man after my own heart! I have several of those model 70 pre-64's in the vault and fancy everyone of them too. Now that is a nice looking model 70 you have pictured in your post!
I have a model 70 sporter in the .270 caliber and the wife has a stainless featherweight model 70 in the .270 caliber. It is just real hard to beat a .270 if going out West, lots of ammo for it out there.

I also have a Klinegunther in a model .270 which came out of Texas back in the early 70's! It shoots a .400-MOA with a 130 grn bullet and .625 with a 150 grn bullet. I do not hunt with this rifle though, just take it to the gunclub 3 or 4 times a year to knock the dust off the gun.

I once tried shooting very lightweight Sierra BT bullets out of both the Winchester and Klinegunther but the Winchester did not like those little pills and they would disenegrate on blades of grass it seemed. The Kline shot them into 1 inch groups. I just decided to put the Kline up and stay with those 130 grn bullets for mule deer, then changed to the 150 grainers to help cope with the wind.

[Griffy]

I have a 270 WSM Savage Weather Warrior. The rifle shoots less than 1/2" three shot groups. The shells stack and feed very well, no issues at all. This is a non accustock model and I really like the accutrigger. This stock in nothing great but I will see how the new 270WSM with the accustock shoot shortly. I am using RL-22 and 130g Nosler BT. The rifle has a 24" barrel which helps with velocity etc, whereas most of the 270's now have a 22" barrel. The flat shooting, high stepping characteristics appealed to my. As a matter of fact this is very similar to a .204! Check the ballistic profile of a 34g winchester 204 vs a 130g BT wincherster 270 WSM. They kind of match!