.270 vs .308
- Thread starter Ruger480
- Start date
Been Done:
http://www.chuckhawks.com/270_Savage.htm
Granted, it's based on the 300 savage case, but so is the .308 .....
Not different enough from everything else out there- there's the .260Rem and 7-08 on both sides of it ......
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All the stories
Having worked in a local shop for almost 15yrs I've heard most all the "theories" about caliber, action, scope etc..... It often seems whatever the local hero (big deer contest winner) uses or reported to use becomes the next craze. I've seen years when would could not give 06's away however, 300WM would leave at top prices. Saw the same for 7mmRM during their period of glory. 308's & 270's always sell and sale well.
What always amazed me was when we would be getting down to just the 06's and start making great deals on them to move along we would hear every excuse you could think of. Knowing there is very little one cannot hunt in N. America with off the shelf ammo it would appeal to me if I could only have 1 big game rifle it would be an 06. I think the age of technology being what it is and the amount of information/opinion available the 06 is often viewed as "your grandfathers gun".
It is my opinion that most hunters would be better served to choose one of these calibers and stick with it. In that if they invested as much time in honing THEIR abilities as they do chasing the "best round" they would find a lot less stress.
Having worked in a local shop for almost 15yrs I've heard most all the "theories" about caliber, action, scope etc..... It often seems whatever the local hero (big deer contest winner) uses or reported to use becomes the next craze. I've seen years when would could not give 06's away however, 300WM would leave at top prices. Saw the same for 7mmRM during their period of glory. 308's & 270's always sell and sale well.
What always amazed me was when we would be getting down to just the 06's and start making great deals on them to move along we would hear every excuse you could think of. Knowing there is very little one cannot hunt in N. America with off the shelf ammo it would appeal to me if I could only have 1 big game rifle it would be an 06. I think the age of technology being what it is and the amount of information/opinion available the 06 is often viewed as "your grandfathers gun".
It is my opinion that most hunters would be better served to choose one of these calibers and stick with it. In that if they invested as much time in honing THEIR abilities as they do chasing the "best round" they would find a lot less stress.
THIS^^^ in my inexperienced opinion... and also total cost involved... is why I've limited my calibers to: .22 cal pellet rifle (a powerful one), .223 Rem and .30-06 Sprg. HERE... that's all I'll ever need. Plus I know that my skills are severely lacking so I must keep things simple.
RaySendero
New member
armsmaster270
New member
All I can say is my aunt took a 2nd place Boone & Crockett Mtn. Caribou in the 50's with a Win Mdl. 70 .270, one shot.
My weapons are a 308 M-1 Garand, 30-06 Remington 740, 7mmWSM Browning Stalker, a 30-30 Marlin and a custom 300win Mag with a K98 receiver if I remember right.
My weapons are a 308 M-1 Garand, 30-06 Remington 740, 7mmWSM Browning Stalker, a 30-30 Marlin and a custom 300win Mag with a K98 receiver if I remember right.
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myfriendis410
New member
I was interested to read a couple of months back a retrospective on some of the legendary gun writers of the past. Of course we all know Jack O'Connor and his love for the .270 win. but I was very surprised to learn from one of his fellow gun writers who knew him well say that he actually used the 30-06 more than he did the .270. The venerable -06 is should be in everybody's collection. (I gave mine to my brother for deer in Nevada)
4runnerman
New member
The difference between tthe 2 at the range most people shoot is so small that it really makes no difference. Me I will and did go with the 308 all the way. Better bullet selection.
Sometimes.
There were ALWAYS .277" bullets on the shelves at the local stores during both of the recent Great Ammo Shortages. .308" bullets? Not so much.
Also, powders commony used in .308 and .223 vanished. Slower powders like my favorite for heavy bullets in .270WIN, IMR 7828, were always available around here. The only part of my hunting load that got hard to find was primers, and I had more than enough of those .....
There is much to be said for diversification.
4runnerman
New member
Jimbob86- That is true I guess. I never had a issue around here. 308 Bullets- Shelves had Serria match in 168 or 175 almost monthly and Hornady 168 always. I never did have a problem getting Varget or 4895. RL-15 was gone for a longgggg time,but managed to snag 10 lbs of that last week now. The only problem I have now is 6mm/243 bullets in 107 Serria.
Roadkill2228
New member
Where I live the opposite is true when it comes to powder. The slow burners are hard to come by. My 2 favorites are h4831 and rl22 and I can never find any of them anywhere. I've had a bit easier time finding imr7828 which is a tad slow for my .270 but works well in my .300 win mag. I've also used rl19 and imr4350 with good results but, as was the case with rl22 and 4831, I was only able to acquire 1 canister of either of those powders in the last year.
mxsailor803
New member
I've shot a bunch of .308 and .270 in my lifetime. For me it really depends on my mood on which to grab. We aren't talking about a huge difference in performance in hunting applications.
.300 Weatherby Mag
New member
Why would you use 220 grain bullet on deer sized game?? There is no good reason to do so unless you pride yourself on estimating holdover..
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NavyVet1959
New member
Well, some of us hunt in areas where the brush is thick enough that we only have to worry about 50-100 yd shots at the very most. The only way I could make a 500 yd shot would be if the deer or hog was in the middle of the roadway and I was shooting down it. Of course, there are some regulations against that sort of thing (or even shooting *across* a roadway) around here.
Besides, even if I was able to find an area where there was a 500 yd shot and I made it, that would likely be 500 yds more that I would have to haul that hog back to my pickup. I'm getting too old for that sort of thing.
Here in Maine, we had a rule of thumb for deer cartridges. For bolt actions, the .270 Win and .30-06 were kings. The .308 Win was the cartridge of choice for semi-autos and pumps because it was shorter and fed better. After all the .308 was designed for the M-14 and works quite well in semi-autos and full-autos.
The .270 Win was the longer-range rifleman's cartridge, since it had a flatter trajectory and maintained it's energy for greater distances than many other non-magnum cartridges. It can be handloaded to near 7mm Mag ballistics, without the need for a belt.
I switched from the .30-06 to the .270 because we have a great deer stand that allows shots to almost 500 yards and I've shot deer to about 450. We limit shots for most newer hunters to 200 yards and for relatively good shots to 300, and encourage accurate shooting at, or just behind the shoulder in the heart-lung kill zone.
The .270 Win was the longer-range rifleman's cartridge, since it had a flatter trajectory and maintained it's energy for greater distances than many other non-magnum cartridges. It can be handloaded to near 7mm Mag ballistics, without the need for a belt.
I switched from the .30-06 to the .270 because we have a great deer stand that allows shots to almost 500 yards and I've shot deer to about 450. We limit shots for most newer hunters to 200 yards and for relatively good shots to 300, and encourage accurate shooting at, or just behind the shoulder in the heart-lung kill zone.
myfriendis410
New member
Now just a minute, Picher: my favorite 7 mag handload using a Barnes 140 TTSX and RL22, over the chronograph I get 3,250 fps. That's a considerable step above what the .270 can do. Ballistically though there is really not much difference WITHIN THE SAME WEIGHT between the .270, 30-06 and 7 mm magnum. It's not a fair comparison though because the .270 shines with a 130, the 7mm mag with a 140-150 and the -06 with 165 to 180 IMO. And there is something to the extra momentum a heavier projectile delivers....
That said; one can do anything they want with any of those three cartridges. They are three of the top four or five most popular cartridges.
That said; one can do anything they want with any of those three cartridges. They are three of the top four or five most popular cartridges.