practice load for 270 and bullet drop 130, 90-100g

[aandy767]

The goal is to have a practice round we can shoot at 100 yards, our range also has a 200 yard lane, without any changes to our scopes. Its a kick in the a$$ to shoot a hot load in a 270, but a little tiresome.

My son and I load 61g of h4831 behind a 130g bullet. Nearly a max load I would guess. Book says about 3050 fps.

If we load a 90 or 100 grain at 3000 fps (a little slow for 90g), would we still be pretty close, ballistically, at 100 yards? A little high 2-3ths?

How's this logic. 44% less mass at the same velocity, a round you could shoot all day. Yes I know we could go buy another gun in a lighter caliber.

So, if there is any soundness to this. What powder and what bullet. We could use the round on a coyote. Probably not, would stick with the 130 g the rifle is sighted in at.

Would this be close enough ? We load some hand gun loads but would need a new powder for the lighter bullet. All we have is h4831.

Thanks Andy

[totaldla]

Dumb idea. Really dumb idea. Practice with what you are going to shoot, or get a different caliber. The 270 is already a super-easy shooting cartridge.

[Clark]

And practice at the ranges you might shoot.
And practice in the positions you might shoot.
And practice in the wind conditions you might shoot.
And practice at the elevation you might shoot.
etc.

For years I practiced bench rest at 100 yards here in the city, because that was what was available.
Now I drive 900 miles to hunt. I get there early and practice and scout. It is amazing how many times I have to go to the range with a new rifle to get myself competent at 400 [270] or 500 yards [7mmRM].

[SSA]

Sounds like a fine idea. Wouldn't hurt to try. My first choice of powder would be a 4895 at about 85% of max. Any Speer, Sierra, or Hornady bullet you want to try.
Can't predict how close to the same zero it'll be. Don't know why it would be a problem to adjust the scope a few clicks.

[Pathfinder45]

I think you're. 1.0 grains over maximum with that 130 grain bullet. Not a real big deal if it's super accurate and you dont mind a short case-life. You could stay with the 130's and throttle them back a little, maybe with a slightly faster powder like IMR 4831 or one of the 4350's, Reloder 19 or 17, aim for right around 3,000 fps more or less. I use 54.0 grains of W-760/H-414 with 130's for a mild plinking load. H-4831is best with heavy bullets at maximum pressures. It's OK with 130's but closer to ideal with 150's. I'm not exactly recoil-immune, but I can shoot a lot of 130's in one sitting and not reach my limits. My pet load is a hot one launching 150 grain bullets at 3,000 fps. I don't shoot a lot of them, mainly because the utilize a more expensive bullet. But a load that shoots like a magnum also recoils corespondingly.

[FrankenMauser]

The above advice about shooting 130s is sound.

But if you're dead-set on using a lighter bullet for practice, my personal favorite is the Speer 100 gr HP. Works well. Devastating, explosive expansion on reactive targets (and varmints). And you can run just about any powder behind them.
I, personally, use H4895 or IMR4895.


One of the most incredible "disappearing prairie dog" events that I have ever witnessed involved a .270 Win launching Speer 100 gr HPs at more than 3,500 fps, into a prairie dog at about 25 feet. It took us almost 5 minutes just to find an ear. The rest of the varmint was gone. No red mist. No flying chunks. Just a strange hazy cloud that blew away, leaving bare ground and the one ear...

[Pathfinder45]

Rereading this I see that I missed that this is your first posting, Andy. Welcome to TFL, and Happy Holidays to you and yours. For what it's worth, I did not see anything dumb about your ideas. It's never dumb to ask advice in matters of uncertainty. Perhaps Totaldla was having an unhappy holiday. There are a lot of folks here that are more helpful than that. Regards, Pathfinder.

[jimbob86]

The 270 is already a super-easy shooting cartridge.

Depends on the gun and how it's loaded.

A light weight rifle loaded like the OP is loading his would not be "super-easy shooting" in my book.

To answer the OP's question..... I used to shoot prairie dogs with my .270WIN ..... a couple hundred rounds a day of full house loads would have been too much for me, so I loaded 90 to 110 grain bullets to around 3K ...... I used mostly IMR4064 (47gr, IIRC) ..... some H335 .....

I did have a pretty significant shift in POI with the light loads compared to my hunting load ...... you will still need to sight in in the fall, and practice in field positions, at the ranges you intend to shoot with the hunting load .... but for volume shooting, the lighter practice loads are a lot easier on the shoulder.

As for "Dumb idea"? ??? In what way is additional trigger time a bad thing?

The best I have ever shot my deer rifle in November were the years when I spent several days in June and July shooting several hundred rounds at prairie dogs ..... when you can loop up, cop a squat and cut a grass rat in half at 300 yards, center punching bambi is a cinch!

[Pathfinder45]

For high-volume reloading of such practice-plinking-whatever loads, that will not be loaded near maximum, I prefer consistent-metering ball/spherical powders, where I weigh the first ten or so charges and then every tenth charge, but most will not be weighed. When I want maximum long-range and accuracy loads, I prefer extruded/"stick", powders and I weigh every charge.

[BumbleBug]

I decided to try some Sierra 115gr HPBT MK bullets in my rifle. These bullets were originally designed with the 6.8mm SPC in mind. My .270 Win with IMR4350 put them into one jagged hole at 100yds! The recoil is noticeably lighter than my 130gr standard. A coyote hit by any .270 bullet, at any range, is pretty much history in my experience.

FWIW...

...bug

[aandy767]

OK, thanks guys. Cableas has some IMR4350 and I have a line on some 4895.

hodgdon shows a reduced recoil load with 4895 also.

It may take a while to get back with details, but we'll work something up and get back with details.

Jim's on to what I'm thinking about. Throwing a lot of lead downrange. I want my son to be comfortable in any position he may need.

We're having a lot of fun.

Thanks

[totaldla]

Buy your son a strap-on recoil pad. I paid $20 for mine and I use it when shooting long strings of hot loads from my Guide Gun. My youngest uses it when shooting the same carbine.

Most people never learn how to mount a gun properly which is why they have trouble with a mild cartridge like the 270W. When taught how to mount a gun, suddenly recoil isn't noticeable. But if a gun doesn't fit, it just doesn't fit.

I always start a kid/noob on a 22lr.

I've been down this road trying to teach someone to shoot with reduced loads and I'm convinced it is a waste of time. Protect them from bruising, get them into correct form so they don't get scope bit, put them on a rifle with a decent trigger, and work with them on trigger control.

[jimbob86]

Buy your son a strap-on recoil pad.

If you do, make sure the gun still "fits" ...... the add-on recoil pads add to the length of pull ..... too long a length of pull for a small statured shooter makes good position difficult, and poor shooting position magnifies percieved recoil: a gun with a poorly fitting stock and full house loads will kick the hell out of a new shooter.

I've been down this road trying to teach someone to shoot with reduced loads and I'm convinced it is a waste of time. Protect them from bruising, get them into correct form so they don't get scope bit, put them on a rifle with a decent trigger, and work with them on trigger control.

My experience has been just the opposite. When my kids were just starting to shoot centerfires, I made light loads for them in all the calibers they shot, from .38Special to .30/30 to .270WIN ....... my oldest daughter took a couple of deer when she was 12 with 130gr soft points downloaded to 2800 f/sec, and dropped them DRT. The most popular deer gun with the younger kids is a short barreled 7-08, with reduced loads (140's @2400).

[Unclenick]

Aandy767,

Welcome to the forum.

Here's the fly in the ointment: When a rifle fires, since the bore line is a little above a parallel line from the point on the butt stock at which the rifle is supported by the shoulder, recoil moves the barrel up. That sets up a flexing motion in the barrel such that the muzzle angles up and down a little, giving it the opportunity to let the bullet exit at slightly different angles if the barrel time of your bullets isn't consistent. Well, your light loads are going to take a lot longer to exit the barrel, so the chances are they won't exit at the same phase of the flexing. That is in addition to the fact the lower velocity trajectory will have more drop and the lower recoil will reduce the amount of muzzle flexing overall. So, the chance your light load will happen to need the exact same sight setting as your full power load is slim, and if you can tune one for that same setting it will be one that is individual to your gun and not something from a recipe any of us can give you. What might do it in my gun probably won't do it in yours.

Once you accept that you'll have to adjust the sights, it isn't too bad as the adjustment change should be the same number of clicks in both directions, as long as you remember to make it. Alternately, you can just accept a change in point of impact for the light load and change your aiming point to compensate. For example, if you zero the high power loads at the center of a target at 200 yards (a good hunting sight setting, as it keeps you within minute of deer from point blank range to almost 250 yards without needing a sight adjustment or hold-over) then run the light loads at 100 and find they impact, say, six inches lower and two inches right, just paste a sighting target sticker six inches above and two inches left of the center of the target at 100 yards. Then you never have to change the sight setting from its 200 yard zero or worry about forgetting to move it back.

As to what load to use, if you want something really light, get some Trail Boss powder (if you can find it) and follow Hodgdon's instructions for making light loads with it. Recoil is so low with TB loads that there is very limited barrel flexing and the accuracy therefore tends to be good and not too critical as to the exact charge weight. It's not as light as a .22, but your shoulder will think so, and the accuracy is just fine for practicing positions and trigger control.