The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - 270 win vs 30-06 ballistic question

Winchester_73 · June 19, 2009, 03:05 AM

I was telling a friend of mine a few days ago I'm close to acquiring a winchester model 70 in 270. He jokingly asked why I don't want something more powerful, or so I thought. He went on to say that the 270 is a fine gun but when compared to a 30-06, the dropoff is tremendous at longer ranges. I told him that I always thought it was the opposite since the 270 is a lighter weight bullet thus having a flatter trajectory. He said after about 300 yds the 270 has a huge dropoff compared to the 30-06 (which I know it has some dropoff) and he said the 30-06 vastly outperforms it at longer ranges IE 300 to 500, +. I'm wondering which of us is actually right. I think this to be basically a ballistic coeffecient question. This would obviously also depend on the bullet grains used. For a 270, we can use 130 grn and for the 30-06 150 grn? Is that popular for the 30-06? Since the 270 is a necked down 30-06 I don't understand how he could be right since the velocity would be higher on the smaller bullet of the 270. He suggested its because of the momentum advantage 30-06 has due to the heavier bullet. Who is right? Thank you.

June 19, 2009, 03:05 AM	#1
Winchester_73 Senior Member Join Date: December 20, 2008 Location: Pittsburgh PA Posts: 2,863	270 win vs 30-06 ballistic question I was telling a friend of mine a few days ago I'm close to acquiring a winchester model 70 in 270. He jokingly asked why I don't want something more powerful, or so I thought. He went on to say that the 270 is a fine gun but when compared to a 30-06, the dropoff is tremendous at longer ranges. I told him that I always thought it was the opposite since the 270 is a lighter weight bullet thus having a flatter trajectory. He said after about 300 yds the 270 has a huge dropoff compared to the 30-06 (which I know it has some dropoff) and he said the 30-06 vastly outperforms it at longer ranges IE 300 to 500, +. I'm wondering which of us is actually right. I think this to be basically a ballistic coeffecient question. This would obviously also depend on the bullet grains used. For a 270, we can use 130 grn and for the 30-06 150 grn? Is that popular for the 30-06? Since the 270 is a necked down 30-06 I don't understand how he could be right since the velocity would be higher on the smaller bullet of the 270. He suggested its because of the momentum advantage 30-06 has due to the heavier bullet. Who is right? Thank you.