I hate to do this but I guess it'll work.

[taylorce1]

For the first time in nearly 10 years I'll be hunting with factory ammunition. I just moved to a new place in April of this year and an 1890's farm house in the Southeastern plains of Colorado needs a lot of attention. I've been unable to set up an area to reload as keeping the wife happy with around the home fix it up projects and keeping the boss at work pleased has left little time to set up my reloading room.

So my 4th season deer hunt is fast approaching and I've decided to just not worry about rushing to set up my reloading bench and just got shoot more to practice for deer season. I decided to pack my M70 EW in .270 Win on this years hunt. The rifle weighs in at a nice to pack around 7 lbs 13 oz with 5 rounds in the magazine and nylon speed sling.





I'll be honest I chose the Federal Blue Box 130 grain ammunition because it's usually shown decent accuracy when I help sight in a new rifle for buddies who don't reload. So I went to the local Big R store and picked up 100 rounds of the same lot for around $100 plus tax. Price was also a deciding factor as I wasn't wanting to buy 100 rounds of something more expensive.

1st group was off of sand bags.


2nd group is off of a Harris 6-9" swivel bi-pod.


3rd group is just adding the two and throwing out the clean bore shot. I'm going to go back and see if it'll repeat this group on Friday and hopefully run it across my chronograph. I'm hoping I'll be in the neighborhood of 3000 fps.


If the ammunition is doing well, I'll start practicing hard from field positions out to 300 yards. There is a good chance I'll shoot my largest deer ever this year. Have a buddy that's scouted located me some deer in the 175+ class in my unit and is going to help me get on them.

[hooligan1]

Man I would have thought you'd have a surplus of custom handloaded ammo, sometimes things get hectic and simply some things get put on hold.
If you were to send me your spec's I could probably get something done for you. We're probably running out of time.....
Anyway that factory stuff isn't awful, just pricey.
Good luck buddy, hope you fill a tag with that 175 class buck, it would be cool.

[1stmar]

How does this compare to your reloads? Does the cold bore shot concern you? Seems quite a bit off then the group and would assume the shot you'd be taking would be cold bore? I don't hunt so just curious how you approach that.

[Panfisher]

Looks to me like you next concerns are sharp knife and freezer space. Win Mdl 70, in .270 Win, with a Leupold Scope a very classic combination, just need him to walk out in front of you now.

[ZeroJunk]

Well, the difference in the number of animals you kill with pet loads versus something bought off the shelf is probably zero. Might not have been the case 40 years ago.

[taylorce1]

Originally Posted by 1stmar

How does this compare to your reloads? Does the cold bore shot concern you? Seems quite a bit off then the group and would assume the shot you'd be taking would be cold bore?

Cold bore shots don't bother me, it's clean bore that worries me. I've had very few rifles that stack a clean bore shot on top of fouled bores. I did very little testing before the move but I'm sure with a little seating depth changes I could tighten these groups up.

Originally Posted by hooligan1

Man I would have thought you'd have a surplus of custom handloaded ammo, sometimes things get hectic and simply some things get put on hold.
If you were to send me your spec's I could probably get something done for you. We're probably running out of time.....
Anyway that factory stuff isn't awful, just pricey.
Good luck buddy, hope you fill a tag with that 175 class buck, it would be cool.

Thanks for the offer buddy, but money isn't important right now. I went away from the .270 for awhile and I don't have any ammunition for that on hand. I have other rifles that I could use, but I'm trying to get back to my roots so to speak with this rifle.

[Unlicensed Dremel]

Something tells me you'll pull through. With meat.

Man I love that rifle - you and jmr40 have the best hunting rigs I've ever beheld. Hon. mention to Mystro.

[jmr40]

you and jmr40 have the best hunting rigs I've ever beheld.

Thanks for the compliment, I will say we have similar tastes. Mine is in 308.

[tahunua001]

until two years ago I hunted with nothing but factory ammo. now I hunt almost exclusively with reloads. I can select the exact bullet I want, velocity I want and if I don't like the accuracy I can try different powders to get the accuracy I want. factory ammo doesn't offer as much modularity but it is not impossible to get a good combo from factory ammo.

[hooligan1]

Taylorce1' s right that the clean coldbore can be fishy, I take my rifle (clean) to range a week before season to prove zero, and leave it fouled, it will hit within a gnats antler of my zero usually.
My .270 is a Savage 110 "flat top",22"1-10" twist, factory stock that I have pillar bedded and plastic steel bedded the action, timney trigger, wolf speed spring, oversized bolt knob.
It has a serious love for the 130 grain Accubond, using h4350. It shoots to poa,with fouled coldbore, and its consistant a rifle as anybody could ask for....damn I love my .270, but my neighbor will borrow it opening day and I will carry my 700 rem,3006, at least the first day then my 7mm rem mag, model 70 gets the nod.,,,
But I digress, Good luck brother get a big one!

[Husqvarna]

I am in the same boat as you

was going to load up a bunch with a proven bullet only to find that the box of bullets on the shelf was almost empty, we got 10 moose to bag and I had a mag of 5 bullets, sure I don't have to shot them all but It is nice to have the possibility

no store nearby had them, didn't want to chance it and order them so I bought a NORMA box of ammo, darn thing shot a threeclover on the first try, just an inch higher then my own load

[AllenJ]

I've not hunted big game with factory ammo in I don't know how many years but a deal came up a few weeks ago that I could not pass up. A friend of a friend thought he had ordered a case of 7mm Rem Mag but when he got it, it was 7WSM. I took it off his hands and am going to use it in Colorado in a couple weeks. Good stuff, Federal Premium 160 grain Nosler Partitions, and my rifle shot a 3 shot sub MOA group with them yesterday so feel very confident if an opportunity presents itself I can get the job done.

[Doyle]

Cold bore shots don't bother me, it's clean bore that worries me.

Simple. Just clean your bore after hunting season is all done and leave it fouled during season. I've been doing that for years.

For what it's worth, I love Federal Blue-box ammo. I've never had it shoot bad. I only wish they made it in more calibers (like the ones I currently shoot).

[reynolds357]

I hunt with a fouled bore in all my rifles except my 7wsm coyotee. It literally has the identical poi from clean to fouled. It is an exceptional rifle for a factory rifle.

[skizzums]

you must be the only hand-loader in history that doesn't have a end-of-times stockpile stash hidden somewhere. looks like your going to survive though, I sure would hate to have to buy ammo though

[reynolds357]

I have a stock pile of components, but almost no loaded ammo on hand. I have a stash of 5.56 and 7.62X39 loaded, but not much else.

[Husqvarna]

store bought worked fine

got a moose calf and cow today

the cow was semicovered by some brush but I was on a slope and took the shot, aimed pretty high and got spine and exit thru lung on the other side

the calf was trotting at some distance but I split its heart good for the ethical hunt but not good for the smoker

[taylorce1]

Originally Posted by skizzums

you must be the only hand-loader in history that doesn't have a end-of-times stockpile stash hidden somewhere. looks like your going to survive though, I sure would hate to have to buy ammo though

I haven't hardly shot the .270 in probably 10 years and this rifles a new one so I just don't have any on hand. I have more than enough components on hand to manufacture several 100's of rounds of .270 ammunition. What I don't have is time right now to finish fixing up my reloading room, build an accurate load, and spend time at the range.

The only ammunition I stockpile is my .223 and 6X47 for use on prairie dogs and coyotes, and pistol as that's what we as a family shoot in high volume. I don't see much of a need to stockpile a bunch of different types of ammunition. I usually only load enough to get me through the season after I found a decent load.

[bamaranger]

Taylor, please fill me in on your rifle a bit. Is it a production model, etc. What is "EW"? What barrel length (it looks kinda short)? I've always thought that the flutes to just short of the muzzle was an attractive look.

I'd say your're set for the season.

[taylorce1]

Originally Posted by bamaranger

Taylor, please fill me in on your rifle a bit. Is it a production model, etc. What is "EW"? What barrel length (it looks kinda short)? I've always thought that the flutes to just short of the muzzle was an attractive look.

It is a M70 Winchester Extreme Weather (EW) rifle same as jmr40's above, so it is current production and you can buy one though it won't look anything like mine. The EW comes with a 22" for standard chambers and 26" for magnums and Bell and Carlson synthetic stock and look like this from the factory.





The B&C stock with it's full lengthy bedding block adds a lot of thickness to the wrist and forearm of the stock. It made it feel like I was carrying a club in my hands and not a light weight rifle (7 lbs 2 oz bare bones rifle). It didn't help as well that I had a 21 oz scope mounted on top with Warne steel bases and rings, but that was what I had on hand when the rifle showed up and a guy has to shoot his new toy.

In these pictures you can see how the B&C stock compares to a McMillan Hunters Edge Compact stock on my .30-06. You can see the difference in sizes even though the B&C weights only a couple ounces more when removed from the barreled action. It just takes a bit more area to cover that bedding block as I already mentioned.





I'm a member on several forums and I found the McMillan stock that I put on my M70 EW as well as the VX3 3.5-10X40 on a different sites classified adds. The stock is a Winchester M70 FWT pattern with Edge fill and that stock weighs 25 oz on my scale before I had the rifle bedded to it. IIRC the B&C stock weighed in at 26 oz un-bedded and my McMillan Hunter stock weighed 24 oz with bedding.

What I ended up with was a very nicely balanced 7 lbs 13 oz hunting rifle. I shaved about a pound off the total weight of the rifle with most of that weight coming from the scope and mounts I was using before and ended up with this.





I was on the verge of selling this rifle before I found the stock and was able to change the balance and feel of the rifle. I know a lot of people who are on this forum like to shoot or hunt with cheap accurate rifles, and I have no problem with that. However, it amazes me that everyone wants a quick handling easy pointing shotgun and is willing to spend the money to get it but ignores the same when choosing a hunting rifle.

To me how well the rifle shoulders and points is more important to me than accuracy and initial price, as I've found with very rare occurrence a factory rifle I couldn't make shoot well with a little work. I've found out as well that a hunting rifle that feels well balanced and natural in a persons hands is usually a very accurate rifle for that shooter. I have a lot of rifles and most go to the range but very few go hunting as they just don't handle as well as some of my other rifles.

[taylorce1]

Took it out to 300 yards today still needs a little adjustment but I'd say I'm pretty happy with how it's shooting from prone bi-pod. Speed is real close to 3060 fps as listed on the box maybe a little faster. Running it through JBM ballistics at 3060 and 4000 ft ASL gave me 3 MOA of drop so that's what I adjusted up from my 100 yard zero.

[pathdoc]

the calf was trotting at some distance but I split its heart; good for the ethical hunt but not good for the smoker

Smoked moose heart, eh? Sounds interesting.

Oh well, next best thing is a good, clean kill.

[Husqvarna]

Yeah it is tasty

our moosehunting is a communal one, we hunt together, the team takes up position in different blinds and I follow the dog

, we share our "tags" if you like. and everybody shares the meat but the shooter gets the heart/liver by tradition and first dibs on tongue and other stuff and the trophy if there is one of course

[hooligan1]

A rifle that shoots that good and looks that good,,,your living right man.

[taylorce1]

Found a box of hand loads for my .30-06 after unpacking a few more boxes. Went to the range today and looks like I have my back up. 300 yards with 150 grain Hornady Interlocks at 2900 fps.