.270 Winchester, Best mid-range load?

[mxsailor803]

I tend lighter bullets than most, Sierra ProHunter 110gr. Now I don't go for max speed either, 2650-2700fps. I've taken quite a few deer beyond 200yds with my setup and I will continue to use it. It may be a "old school" setup but it worked back in the 70's for my grandfather, 80's to currently for my dad, and early 90's to currently for me. For reason people in the southeast want those 150gr bullets or bigger for our whitetail. Do they work? Sure. But its also overkill for our deer.

[Jimro]

A little off the topic, but handloaders can duplicate the ballistics of a lot of good old standby hunting rounds with the 270, such as the 25-20 or 7-30 Waters. Not exactly "mid range" rounds but for most hunting just fine.

I'd still want a boat tail spitzer bullet with high BC for shots out to 500. The wind plays hell with my shooting at that range.

Jimro

[2ndtimer]

I went out and did some load testing in my FN Deluxe 270 which has a 24” barrel. Most barrels on 270's today are 22 inches. I was surprised that only Federal factory broke 3000 fps with 130’s and none of my early attempts with 130 reloads broke 3000 fps. A number of combinations were less than 2900 fps.

The 150 grain bullet was the most accurate in this barrel but the velocity was only 2704 fps. Now I have not gone out and tried to load test to primer piercing loads, (yet) but I can push a 150 grain bullet faster in a 308.

I think 130’s are the best overall bullet in a 270 Win. I shot a 270 Win a couple of times in Silhouette matches and the match director would fuss at me for pitting the 200 yard targets with 130’s. It seemed those bullets arrived at 200 yards instantly after the trigger broke. Bang!, Clang! My recollection the 130’s were running out of gas around 400 yards, but up to that distance they were flat and fast. Four hundred yards is about 100 yards further than most people should be shooting at game anyway.

Thanks for that post, Slam-fire. I appreciate someone posting actual velocity numbers for a common .270 Win with a 24" barrel. A lot of people diss my pet .270WSM's because "they don't do anything that a standard .270 Win with a 24 " barrel can do." I typically load my .270WSM to milder levels, very close to .270 Win levels, a 130 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip at 3000 fps. It did a very nice job on a couple of large Montana whitetail bucks the last 2 years. My son wanted me to load up some long range rip snorter loads for my older Model 70 Super Shadow for "cross canyon" shooting and was curious how fast we could push the 130 gr Ballistic Tip. I loaded up some with 74.5 gr of Accurate Mag Pro powder and they tripped the skyscreens at 3226 fps with decent accuracy. (and that rifle is 9 years old and has a fairly worn throat) That load is 1 grain under Accurate's maximum for a 130 gr bullet although it is 2 gr over Nosler's listed max. (I did work up to it, and while it didn't show any excessive pressure, I see no need to go to 75.5 gr). I guess my point is, that you don't need to push a 130 gr bullet over 3200 fps to be effective on deer size game. But if you feel you need to, you may want to consider a .270WSM or a .270 Weatherby. I liked my original Super Shadow .270WSM so much that I bought a new Model 70 Ultimate Shadow. Looking forward to trying Reloder 17 in it for my "mild loads".

[Mohave-Tec]

GunSmith, I LOVE that bullet. I've just found several pounds of H4831sc I've been hunting for for a few months and have worked up a string of loads from 56grs to 59 grs. I'm going to try them out at the 100 and 200 yard range next weekend.

[reynolds357]

140 Berger VLD Hunting is awesome in the .270 Win. As far as that goes, Berger is awesome in everything.

[LOUD]

My favorite has been 130 gr hornady psp over 54 gr of H4831 . I dont have a chronograph but they are deadly accurate. I have over seven .270 rifles ,mostly mausers but every rifle I have loves this combination . Good Luck ..........LOUD

[Shootin4fun]

Mxsailor, that sounds like a pretty light load for the 110 gr Sierra Pro Hunters. I load those for target practice with 760 and they are very accurate at 3150 - 3200. But I have heard not-so-good things about them blowing up on shoulder shots and other situations so I haven't used them for hunting. Maybe its the high velocity, I don't know.

[Shootin4fun]

Thank you Slamfire for your chrono results. I have seen only sub 3000 velocities in the few factory 130gr rounds I've tried, but I thought that might be because mine is a BAR (autoloader) with a 22" barrel. My understanding is that autoloaders shoot slower because some of the pressure is used to cycle the action before the bullet leaves the barrel but that may be wrong.

I rarely shoot factory loads; really only to get prepped brass. But I have yet to break 2950 with 130s and keep accuracy. So far my best hunting load is a 130 TSX going out at only 2870 using H4350. Its very accurate. This has been HIGHLY effective on boar out to 200 yards, regardless of angling shoulder or a broadside boiler room shot. I'd like to boost that to 3000 if possible in order to keep higher velocities at 500+ yards and possibly for elk some day (though maybe jump to 140s for elk).

Has anyone tried a slow powder like IMR4831 or H1000 in an auto loader, and if so, what are your results?

[Mike / Tx]

Has anyone tried a slow powder like IMR4831 or H1000 in an auto loader, and if so, what are your results?

You might not find the slower powders to work well with the auto loaders. Most need a medium'ish burn rate to keep from slamming the bolts back too hard. I doubt that anything slower than IMR or H-4350 is really needed though, and definitely not the slower ones.

I personally don't have any experience loading for the BAR, but I know that a couple of Remmy's didn't like anything slow that we tried in them. Really slammed the bolts back hard.

[mxsailor803]

Shootin, the Sierras will blow up if you run them too fast. My grandfather has collected more data on the ProHunter than the average reloader could use in 3 lifetimes. That's the main reason why I listen to the old coot lol. But we've played around with the 6mm's, .277's, and .308's in so many different configurations to the point it will make you cross eyed. For this bullet, speed is not your friend.

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

Never had the need to shoot 150 out of my 270 only 130s . Besides I have a 30-06 dedicated for 150 gr. if I feel there's a need. To date my 30-06 has a layer of dust growing on it to show how often its used. (Like never.Y'all.)