243 vs 260 vs 270 for longrange small/medium game hunting in south africa

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i realy love the 243 but want a littel more weight but simmular recoil. I have decided on a howa 1500 .243 whith laminated thumb hole stock. When its barrel is shot out i wil rebarrel it to a 260. I like the 270(dislike a 30-06,shotgun and 9mm pistols. Probabily more to do whith there owners but stil...). Wont go for the 270 or 25-06 for 2 reasons. Nr1 its case is bigger than my 303.(i know im weird but i dont whant my "small" rifle to have a bigger case than my medium rifle). Nr2 is recoil. I want minimal recoil,for culling,varmintin and begginers. My 303 is a short and light rifle and i load it reasonably hot,so its recoil is 2 much 4 a begginer. Btw i have no problem taking a eland whith my 215gr handload! The 270 is 2 much as i dont want 2 use it 4 big game at long range.. I would rather use a flat shooting 250gr load in a 375 for gemsbuck,eland,kudu and bluewildebeest at long range. The rifle wil be used for springbuk,blesbuk and simular size game. Wat do you guys think about the 90gr ballistic tips in the 243 for all round use?
 
The .260 sounds perfect for what you're trying to accomplish. I personally would want a 257 Roberts but it just comes down to do you want to buy 6.5 bullets or .257 bullets for loading.
 
For the purposes stated it seems a no-brainer to me that the .243 is the superior caliber. Little deer and varmints. Perfect. Barrel life? Well, that's a function of how hot you load it, how fast you shoot it and the quality of the steel it's made of.

I load 100 grain Hornady atop 40 grains of H4350. Smokin' hot but simple. Tune it down a little for the vermin. Yep, the .243 is the no-brainer choice in my view.

I like to keep it simple.

Conrad
 
260 by far

I would say that , based upon your needs, the 260 is by far the best choice - I get 2900 fps using 140 grn bullets and lapua brass. you can load 85 grn hp bullets for varm at silly speeds and not eat up the barrel. The section density of the 6.5 almost yields overpenetration - you need a bullet that will dump on that game. 243 is next as good as gold on antelope and also best for varm. 270 is a distant thired - and I mean distant! much more recoil, not as good bullets, too much case capacity.

The 260 will be hands down the best lr cal - not even close. another great one is the 6.5-06 not mentioned in op. The 6.5 can take anything less than dangerous game class, and do it with less powder, higher bc, best sectional density and readily available componnents. Oh, did I mention it is great on barrels? Get one with a 1-8 twist .

Anyone saying a 270 trumps a 260 has not shot a 260 and not at game. Sure all thing equal, but all things are not. The efficiency of the 260 allows powder loads for 140 bullets sim to 100 bullets in 243. Forget about the 270- just throwing powder down that barrel. The only thing the 270 allows is heavier bullets, but this op does not need them.
257 rob, 260, 260 ai, 260 creed all good choices and good on barrels.
 
.243 win cannot be beat for the purposes you describe, with modern bullets. Flat as a laser, enough penetration to easily do the job on the "medium" game you describe.

But agree that 6.5x55, .25-'06, or .260 rem would be just as good - not really a lick of difference in the real world, once you learn your drop and drift.
 
Properly handloaded, a .270WIN with a 1:10" twist barrel will suffice for everything from the size of a prairie dog to a bull elk. 90 grain hollowpoints to 150gr Partitions ..... mine shoots them all better than I can hold to in field positions .....
 
the 25-06 would be much better suited for the purpose that you are looking for.
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.270 is a 25-06 on steroids. Yes we all know they use the same parent case.

A .270 with a stout load can push a 130 grainer to 3200fps
.25-06 will shoot 100 grainers at about 3200fps.


On top of the .270 shooting a heavier bullet at the same speed. That bullet tends to have a higher sectional density and ballistic coefficient compared to .25 cal.

100 grain .257 SD= .216
130 grain .277 SD= .242


The .270 is so underrated for what it is. Load 83-90 grain bullets, and it's essentially a .243 win, .22-250, .204 ruger on steroids. Similar velocity, similar BC and SD bullets, but the .277 bullets have roughly twice the mass of those other cartridges.

a 180 grain .277 cal bullet has a SD of .335
That's superior to a 250 grain .338 caliber bullet. You'd need a .338 cal bullet at 270 grains to have a comparable sectional density to a 180 grain .277 cal bullet.

IMO .270 Winchester is by far one of the most versatile, handy cartridges ever made. It's arguably more versatile than the .30-06 even though .308 has the widest range of projectiles. The 6.8mm seems to have better light weight spitzers for varminting than compared to .308
 
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