.270 vs .308

I used to run 220 Grain bullets through my '06. Anybody ever do that with a .270?
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A valid point. You can also shoot 200-220 gr bullets through a 308 which folks rarely consider. A 200/308 can be fired at about the same speed as a 220/30-06. A 220 or 250 gr bullet can be loaded in a 308. It won't be fast, but speed isn't necessary at close range. On the really big stuff, 1000lbs +, this could be an advantage that the 270 cannot match.

But this be realistic. The only game animals in North America where this would be a factor are Alaskan Coastal Brown bears. While it gets discussed a lot on the internet very few of us will ever be in truly big bear country. A hunt for those animals will cost $30,000-$40,000. If someone can afford the hunt, they can afford a much bigger gun.

For most hunters deer or possibly black are the primary game hunted and almost no one hunts game larger than elk. A 270, 308 or 30-06 are all more than enough for elk.
 
A valid point. You can also shoot 200-220 gr bullets through a 308 which folks rarely consider.
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Actually we were discussing 220gr bullets from a 308 Win for the purpose of dispatching beached whales with a British gentleman not too long ago. Ended up recommending the Woodleigh solids around 2000 fps...

The sectional density of a 220gr 308 bullet is 0.331. Woodleigh also makes a 180gr .277 caliber bullet with an SD of 0.334, although it is a protected point and not a solid.

But either way, with comparable bullets, you get comparable performance.

Jimro
 
Well....kinda sorta, well they were really only 195grs, but they were .277" in diameter.:D They were bumping along at a modest 3250fps...oh never mind not the same critter....;)

In the context of this post however, I have run some 170gr Partitions out of my standard .270 Win, and they were pretty much more than I would ever have a use for. Even at the modest 2400'ish FPS I had them going they wold penetrate my whole hickory log backstop. The only other rifle I have had do that was my 7mm STW shooting similar weight bullets.

As for which one rates first in my book, none to be honest. As mentioned they all have an edge in one way, form, or fashion, but in the field performance is so similar that really doesn't matter.
 
I just discovered the Berger EOL Extreme heavy hybrid 170 grain .277 cal bullet, today. Apparently it's a limited run bullet. They're over 1.5'' long and a 1-8.5'' twist is recommended, but I saw a thread on longrangehunting.com where the OP shot them out of his .270 weatherby, and apparently they went into the target straight, so they seem to be stabilized at the velocity he was pushing them at. The G1 BC is supposed to be over .7
11432d1343179545-berger-277-eol-extreme-heavy-hybrid-170-grain-img_0104.jpg


There's also 200 grain bullets available here and there, which will stabilize in 1:10 twist barrels because of their relatively short length for their weight. I don't see it very useful unless you're going after elephant or something. IIRC they are solids.

I believe Barnes also makes a 120 grain solid, for anyone interested in solids for the .270
 
I prefer the .270 to the .308...as has been said, flatter shooting by quite a bit actually...if you compare bullets of equal ballistic coefficient the .270 is definitely a step up. Also, a difference of a few hundred fps may not seem like much IF your starting from 0 fps...and we're not. This is admittedly quite subjective but all hunting bullets have what we call minimum impact velocity...a velocity below which the bullet cannot be expected to expand reliably and do its work. There is a lot of variation between projectiles of differing designs and toughness but needless to say its waaaaay above zero, generally between 1600-2400 fps. If 2000 fps is your cutoff point then the .270 has a very noteworthy head start indeed. The .308 is a much better choice for target shooting though for reasons that others have explained.
 
JDOXO,

You post about 270 170 gr bullet was posted 2012

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Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 397
Berger .277 EOL Extreme Heavy Hybrid 170 Grain.
Over the last couple days I have been able to begin the initial testing of the .277 170 grain Berger EOL Extreme Heavy Hybrid bullet. For the testing McMillan was able to put together a prototype EOL MTN Xtreme Rifle chambered in 270 WSM. This is not the exact configuration we intend on going with in our rifle line, but would work for the initial testing.

Now to confirm, this bullets is 1.520" in length and 170 grains, with a estimated B.C. of .703. This is one slick bullet for sure!

Our testing is planned for 3 steps. 1st is to test the bullets at the speeds we consider on the lower end. 2nd is to absolutely try to destroy them at the most extreme speeds we can push them. 3rd is, if the bullet make it past step 2, to push them at conventional speeds. Currently step 1 is complete!

Today wrapped up, a success in my mind, pushing the bullet 2825 FPS out to 1000 yards for function, and accuracy, also checking the estimated B.C. calculations. I shot approx 100 rounds through the 1-8 twist bbl and hit dang near everything in sight! With the occasional bad wind call, a miss or two were claimed as well! But the point being at the initial test speed of 2825 the B.C. estimate stayed true, accuracy was in check, and function was perfect.

I will attach a couple pics of the average groups during testing. One is at 600 yards, which I consider closer long range shots, and the second is at the 1000 yard mark. The conditions were: 85 degrees with 60% humidity and was 28.20 barometric pressure. Definitely some parallax to deal with. We (Bob Beck, Eric Stecker, Bryan Litz) strongly believe when we ultimately begin to optimize the velocity for this bullet, the results will only stand to improve significantly. So I am excited to get to the next round of testing!
Attached Thumbnails - Click to View Larger
Berger .277 EOL Extreme Heavy Hybrid 170 Grain.-img_0105.jpg Berger .277 EOL Extreme Heavy Hybrid 170 Grain.-img_0104.jpg


Berger selling jackets to matrix and they been making 270 bullet 165gr/175gr
http://www.matrixballistics.com/.277-Caliber-rifle-bullets.html


I wouldn't count on Berger for heavy 270 bullets their two years behind on trying to get out 7mm 195grVLD
 
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As others have stated they are all the same for the most part. I am partial to the.270 because i have hunted with one most of my adult life. In reality all three are well suited to almost any game you can find in the lower 48.
 
I hunted for years with a .30-06, but found an old county road (that's now a snowmobile trial) that allows a 500 yard shot on deer, but time is a big factor, since deer don't tend to stay in the path for more than a few seconds.

That required minimal trajectory corrections and the .270 Win fits the bill better than the '06 or .308 Win.

My .270 Win, field-tested trajectory, based on a six-inch point-blank range (3" above or below point of aim) out to 320 yards, Using 130 grain Hornady GMX handloads:

MV 3,200 fps (chronographed)
50 yds 0"
100 +2.4"
150 +2.9"
200 +2.3"
250 +0.6"
300 -2.3"
350 -6.6"
400 -12.3"
450 -19.6"
500 -28.6

Note that I don't often shoot deer beyond 350 yards, but have beyond 400, time permitting a good estimate of the range. (I keep the trajectory chart taped to my stock.)
 
Something that should be considered aside trajectories and ballistics is barrel life, the .270 burns its barrel much quicker than the .308.
 
Something that should be considered aside trajectories and ballistics is barrel life, the .270 burns its barrel much quicker than the .308.
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Depends on the loads and pressures used. But you are correct, that with max loads, the .270 win will burn out barrels quicker than .308 because it operates at a higher pressure, and is more 'overbore'

I think for 90% of shooters it wont matter. I think the general ballpark is 3000 rounds until .308 accuracy starts to fall off, and 2500-2600 rounds, for the .270 win. Not really a big deal, to hunters, that are shooting a box or 2 each year. And that number is just a guess, because depending on how sharply the accuracy falls off, you could probably get another 500 rounds through each, maintaining tight enough groups to ethically hunt with. (I'd bet a .270 with 3000 rounds through the barrel is still more accurate than a 91/30 Nagant with a decent bore, which some people do hunt with, especially overseas)

Barrel life is more important to target shooters and people putting a lot of ammo through their gun. Most hunters don't ever have to replace their barrels unless they damage them or are shooting 'barrel burners' like the Weatherby and RUM type cartridges. Still I don't think $400-500 maintenance for a new barrel is too bad considering how much meat you could harvest with 3000 rounds of either .270 or .308
 
considering how much meat you could harvest with 3000 rounds of either .270 or .308
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I am sure that my knife will wear out before my barrel harvesting that many deer (LOL), I know my arm would.

Jim

My 270 results
 
For me, my preference will be the .270 for deer and Antelope. My 30-06 for Elk or when hunting deer in big bear country. And my .308 just because it's a model 88 Winchester and is really sweet to carry.
 
Given the choices, I prefer the .308 because of brass availability. As long as the military is using 7.62 NATO, brass is going to be cheaper than the other choices. The only rifle I have in that caliber though is a M1A.

I have a .300 Win Mag barrel for a Thompson Encore that I got as part of a package deal and even though I didn't particular want that caliber, I've decided to use it for hog hunting with a 230gr cast bullet that was originally for the .300 AAC. Well, assuming that I ever get around to developing a load for it...
 
Sounds like a fun project navyvet. I myself have acquired some 220 grain hornady round nosers that I also have an itch to try out on a pig or two, maybe black bear. Shoot a .300 win mag out of a wby vanguard.
 
What's the difference?
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You can hold in the hair to 400 with that zero.

Your son needs to re-zero: He's 2 inches right @ 200.

@ 400, he's gotten right close to out of the kill zone with that .... and has to hold over the animal to boot ....
 
I've had my .270 Win for about 20 years and have only shot about 500 rounds through it. The .270 sees only about 10 rounds per year. Being 70 years old, it will surely last the rest of my hunting life.

Other centerfires, including two .223s, and two .243s take the bulk of my CF rifle shooting. I usually shoot less than 20 rounds with each rifle when I go to the range, since I don't compete much anymore.
 
You can hold in the hair to 400 with that zero.
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And with a BDC reticle found on a lot of hunting scopes you can hit even more precisely, whether with a 308 or 270 Win.

I guess if you were going to hunt with an old K4 scope with fine cross hairs (a bad choice for a hunting reticle if you ask me) then maybe the 270 would get the nod for having a slightly longer point blank zero range.

Of course if all we cared about was max PBR zeros, we'd all be shooting Weatherby's and Lazeroni's.

Jimro
 
Pressure; 308 has 62Kpsi and the 270 has 65Kpsi. Not much and their spread will overlap by about 50%. The 30-06 has 60Kpsi.

Sierra Bullets' ballistic tech said their 308 test barrels went about 3000 rounds before their reference bullets' groups opened up 50% from when new. .30-06 test barrels went about 2500 rounds and 2000 for the 270 ones.
 
That's an interesting data point regarding the 30-06 being harder on barrels despite a lower max average pressure than the 308. Says to me that the powder quantity (more heat, more mechanical scrubbing) is a bigger factor than 2k psi.

Jimro
 
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