130s vs 150s vs 110s in .270 Win.

[chewie146]

Here's my question for you all. Is it true that the .270 rifles tend to be picky on bullet weight? I've heard this from a couple sources, but wanted to extend my question to the people here. My 700 really likes 130s, but 150s tend to pattern rather than group. They're more along the lines of a bad mil-surp than a modern precision rifle. However, with 130s, it groups sub-moa. I'd like to load some 110s for coyote for the .270, but I'm concerned the groups may open up again. Do you have any suggestions? Any info would be much appreciated.

[Jim Watson]

Suggestions:
1. Buy one box of 110 grain bullets and try them out. Nobody but you and your barrel can tell if they will shoot well in your rifle.
OR
2. Shoot everything with 130 grain bullets and spare yourself the expense and agony of trying to have a separate load for everything.

[kraigwy]

I agree with Mr Watson 100% and only want to add this.

In the the LE Counter Sniper Guide, put out by the USAMU, they recommend varmint hunting, such as prairie dogs for LE (or any other) sniper counter sniper practice. You learn to shoot in all conditions, and distances.

I concur, but wouldn't that work for hunting also. If you have a certain hunting bullet that you and your gun like, would it not be practical to use that on your coyotes also. It would help you to learn (and practice) with your hunting rifle, so you would know what it would do in all conditions and distances.

[Brian Pfleuger]

It's unlikely that your groups would open appreciably, not "pattern" anyway. The 150s are probably marginally stable with your barrel twist rate (guessing). Anything lighter will probably be fine. They may not be as good as 130s, maybe better, Shoot and See is the name of the game. As the others said, 130s would certainly work for 'yotes and save you the hassle... unless you enjoy finding new loads, as many do.

[Doyle]

I had a .270 once that I tried 4 different flavors of bullets in. The 3 flavors of 130 grn all shot to about 1MOA. The 150grn shot to about 1 Minute-of-barn.

[603Country]

I have just one load that I use for each rifle, though I do have a lot of load data on other bullets and powders. I could switch to 140's or 90's in my 270 and know pretty much where they'll print - if for some reason I wanted or needed to use those bullets. I'm trying to keep it simple so that I won't get confused under pressure or over time.

[SL1]

I have found that 90s shoot even better than 130s in MY .270, at least until I push them too hard.

SL1

[JerryM]

No way to tell except trial and error. I have two, and neither are picky about bulllet weight. The are picky about bullets.
Jerry

[Elkins45]

The 270 and 130 grain bullets were made for each other.

[chewie146]

Thanks for the replies, all. I appreciate the insight. I may just stick with 130s for now.

[Colorado Redneck]

My Model 70 shoots 90 gr Speer TNT pretty well. And at darn near any velocity above 3000 fps. It only costs a few peso to buy a box of bullets and load few to try out. IMR 4064 works best, but Accurate 3100 works pretty good too.

[Pathfinder45]

My 270 Winchester Model 70 shoots best at 300 yards, (by a wide margin), with this recipe: Federal brass, CCI-200 primer, Nosler 150 grain Partition bullet, and 58.0 grains of Norma N-205 powder. It's a warm load and clocks right near 3,000 fps. It's too much for a starting load for a minimum chambered rifle. Oh, yeah, the C.O.A.L. barely fits the magazine at 3.390". 59.0 grains shot equally well but primer pockets got loose after 2 or 3 firings so I backed off and groups were identical.

[castnblast]

It is likely a powder change that is needed. I had some 100 gr bullets that I couldn't get to group well. I switched to a faster powder h4895 and proble was solved. Secondarily with the 150 it may be that the bullet you chose is too long and not properly stabilizing for your twist rate

[Paul B.]

I find it interesting that some people have a problem getting 150 gr. bullets to shoot well in their .270s. AFAIK, most rifles chambered to the .270 have a 1 in 10" twist which is just fine for 150 gr. bullets. I have four rifles chambered to the .270 Win. and the only one that is not sub-MOA with 150 gr. bullets is my Ruger #1A and eve it is a consistant 1.25" which is more than adequate for big game.
I quit using 130 gr. bullets, even Noslers not because of poor accuracy but because they tore up way too much good eating meat.
As the OP was asking about 110 gr. bullets, my experience is from a long time back and very thin. Back in 1973, a friend sold me a commercial FN mauser in .270 for $75. Don't ask me why it was so cheap because I don't know and didn't bother to ask. I quickly worked up a 130 gr. load that was very accurate from the first try and then tried to get a varmint load with 100 and 110 gr. bullets. I don't remember which bullet and powder combo finally worked other than the powder was H4895 and I'm thinking the bullet was a Sierra. When we moved from Nevada to Arizona, somehow all my reloading note books disappeared. I ended up shooting only one coyote with the load at roughly 300 yards and that bullet literally turned him inside out.
In truth, I haven'y shot much game with any of my .270s, two deer in Nevada with the first one and an antelope in August of 2009 in New Mexico.
For the ecord, the first deer was shot with a 130 gr. Sierra pro-Hunter; deer number two with a 130 gr. Nosler Partition and the antelope with the 150 gr. Sierra Game King. Damage one deer number one was massive as shot was at about 50 yards. Number two still had more mangled meat than I care to see and was shot at about 150 yards. The antelope was shot at 75 yards and the bullet hit just behind the ribs on the left side and exited behind the right shoulder. The "goat" ran in a thirty foot half circle and expired. Meat damage was minimal considering one rib was hit and the bullet was doing 2930 FPS at the muzzle. I was planning on using that load on deer this year but didn't draw a tag. No elk or antelope tag either. We're supposed to have some feral hogs down bt the San Pedro River so maybe I'll take a drive down that way and see what I can dig up. I'm gonna hunt something this year even if it's nothing more than coyotes. All I need to do now is find the time.
Paul B.

[William T. Watts]

My 270's have all handled Nosler 150gr Solid Base & Partition bullets with superb accuracy, they also group well with the 130 grain S/Base bullet also, I prefer the 150 grain partition because no matter the angle there will be massive tissue damage. William

[desert.bunny]

Any information on 110gr in 30.06. I bought some 110gr bullets, b/c I wanted to see how they shot through my '06. But I am curious to know if anyone else has any experience with this weight, which is rather light for this caliber. Any problems you guys see with this combo?

Any insights...greatly appreciated

[SFW]

My Rem 700 in .270 loves Hornady 130gn SST factory loads. I also load Sierra 90gn hollow points with some H380. The 90gn bullets group identical to my 130 deer loads. I mean spot on, don't touch the scope. I can put ten rounds through a hole the size of a quarter consistently.

[black mamba]

The only .270 I ever had was a custom Mauser with 24" barrel. Jaeger's of Pennsylvania did the metal work, and they did it right.

My handloads of Sierra 110s @ 3300 fps, Sierra 130s @ 3100 fps and Hornady 140s @ 2950 fps all shot within 1.5" of each other at 100 yds. without changing the scope! All three loads used IMR-4350.

I'd say definitely NOT picky on bullet weight. BTW, the smallest group I ever fired was with the 110 gr Sierra Spitzer FB. 3 shots covered completely by a dime at 100 yds.

[black mamba]

Any information on 110gr in 30.06.

BTW, bunny, a friend of mine shot a deer at about 80 yds with some factory 110 gr 30-06 on the shoulder. It made a terrible surface wound but failed to penetrate . . . and ended in a lost deer. Varmints only with the 110s.

[Will Lee]

110 gr in 30.06

Hey bunny, check out my post 270 Win & Barnes 110 TTSX.
Federal makes the 30.06 with the Barnes 110 TTSX.

[Rifletom]

Well, I'm glad a few shooters finally said some good things about the .270/150 combo. Like Paul B mentioned, the 130's just seem to tear up too much meat, so switched over to Hornady Interlock FB 150's years ago in my Sako Finnbear and have not looked back. Here is my load for my rifle:
Said 150
57.0gr H-4831sc
Win. cases
Fed 210 primer
OAL of 3.270"
MV avgs. 2900-2925 over the screens from the 24" barrel.
Extremely accurate![or I wouldn't keep the rifle!]

[nate45]

Originally Posted by JerryM

No way to tell except trial and error.

No other way I know of either.

One of the main reasons I hand load rifle cartridges, is so I can tailor loads for different rifles.

A 150 grain bullet might shoot fine in your rifle, if you find the right powder/bullet combination.

What different powders and projectiles have you tried so far?

[cornbush]

I have used everything from 90gr to 160gr in my 270 with no issues, the POI may shift a little but the accuracy is just fine.

[jimbob86]

I found my rifle will attain published velocities with the 150gr SGK's, but not with the Hornady or Speer's 130 BTSPs ...... both weights (as well as 90, 100, and 110 gr) will group fairly well, though the boat tail bullets all group considerably to the right (like a foot!) compared to the flat based bullets, regardless of bullet weight (90 to 150 gr) ........

Next I think I'm going to try Berger's 150 VLD's ........

[edward5759]

I used to shoot nothing but coyotes with a 130 grain.
Have one 270 with a 1 in 12 twist that was made for the 90 grain pushing hard it was only OK.
When I was young in the 1950s I wanted a 270, just like Jack O'Connor
I shot everything with that rifle.
My father just died the day before my 13th birthday and my mother wanted me to have a gift that would occupy me all summer. so with a lee loader and money from pushing shopping carts for bullets, powder ETC.
I put over 5000 rounds through that rifle.
I could hit anything!

Came the saying:
Beware of the man with only one rifle, he probably knows how to use it!