Now that I'm in my "golden years" I do more sitting than walking. I also find myself really becoming a whitetail fanatic with hunts from Texas to Michigan. Obviously this presents a variety of shots from 50 yards to 350 yards. After looking over what's out there and convincing myself I need a new gun the 270 WSM looks like a good choice. Plenty of power, long range capability and modest recoil. It will be just for my whitetail trips so I don't need something to handle moose, elk etc. What is the opinion of the group on this caliber? I'm thinking a Kimber Montana with a Swarovski 4x12 would be a dandy combo!

It sounds like a good choice. I have one in a Browning A-bolt with a 30mm 4.5x14x40mm Leupold Long Range scope with the Boone & Crocket Reticle. I had the stock replaced with a 1 pound Lone Wolf Stock to reduce the weight. I am left handed so there are not a lot of lite weight options out there. I shot two Montana Pronghorns with it. Both at 300 yards using factory 130 grain Ballistic Silver Tips.One was a bang flop neck shot and the other was a heart shot with complete pass through and a short blood trail that looked like it came from a water hose with red water. The scope weight 15.5 ounces and I think I will replace it with something smaller and lighter. Maybe a 3x9 or 3x10 that weights no more than 13 ounces and the Control mounts with some ultra light weight Talleys (2.5ounces). That should get the loaded weight dowm to about the current un-loaded weight. It does have a bit of recoil so I would not go much below 3.5" inches of eye relief on the scope. I have not reloaded for it yet but is shoots all Factory brands and weights of bullets well. Good luck.

LJS I think you are making a good choice. My brother oredered a 270 WSM while working out of town and had it shipped to me last fall. I set it up with a Leupold 3-9x40 VX2 and a couple boxes of Win 130 gr Ballistic Silvertips. Got it on the paper and centered 2" high at 100 yards and shot a 3 shot group that measured less than .5" !
He took a huge Mule Deer with it this Novemeber here in Colorado. One shot in the lungs and he dropped on the spot and not hardly a kick, dead right there.
So far I'm impressed with it's accuracy and killing power, it was easy to shoot also. It didn't kick as bad as my lightweight 30/06 but had more muzzle blast but still pleasant to shoot.
Get one and have fun.....................

I reload for my friend's 270 wsm with 150gr Nosler ballistic tips. It is also a Browning A-bolt stainless stalker, and it's quite accurate.

I on the other hand found the noise excessive and recoil more severe than I would have thought. You can load a 150gr 308win round to virtually the same speed and no deer would know the difference. Not to mention you'd have more frontal area.

After a few rounds I found his barrel to be very hot to the touch where mine could still be shot with greater accuracy.

I'm not trying to discourage you with your decision, just more food for thought.

As far as whitetail deer hunting goes what will this round do that a .270Win can't besides kick an old man harder in the shoulder?

Terry

I've used a cheap M70 Black Shadow in 270 WSM to hunt whitetails from south Texas to northern Wisconsin; 20 yards to 300 yards.

I've taken perhaps a dozen in the past three years, mostly with the 130gr TSX. None were shot twice.

I think it is one of many excellent choices for an all around whitetail outfit. Just do your part, it will do the rest. I am sure I could have done the same with my .308, or an -06 or a 7/57 or a .280 or ....

Tim

LJS,
If 350 yds. is your max range; the .270WSM will do everything you need and a lot more. If you feel the recoil is modest and easy for you to deal with, you will be very happy with the rifle. For myself, I would feel better with the Montana in .260 Rem. with a smaller scope. It is equally deadly to 350 yds, a lot less recoil, has a longer barrel life expectancy and a shorter barrel cooling time between shots than the .270WSM, allowing for more of that all-important practice time. Because of the Montana’s stock design, a scope that would fit into low-mount rings and bases would make it much easier to position your cheek when sighting. All of the components and the caliber you mentioned are top-quality choices, but my opinions for my taste are slightly different FWIW.
Best of luck with the new rifle,
Dave

LJS, I think the 270 WSM is absolutely ideal for what you're proposing. It is ideal on whitetails. I have several set up to shoot different bullets depending on my whim, but the 140 gr AB and 130 TSX have been total hammers on whitetails, including a couple of big ones at 250 plus yards.
It did take a little tweaking of the loads with 2 of them to get the accuracy level I wanted, but they do indeed shoot VERY well.
One of my hunting partners has the very rig you mention, and it was a little bit finicky on load development, including a sticky bolt a couple of times with various factory ammo. He sent it back to Kimber, and it came back with a tag on it that said 'check headsapce, and polish chamber'. We new headspace was within tolerance, so we assume they did indeed polish the chamber, at any rate, once he got it back, there has never been any more issue with the rifle, and it shoots Federal Premium factory BT's into an inch or less, and handloaded TSX's or AB's into consistenly under an inch. Of note, it liked both of those bullets way back off the leade, which is recommended with the TSX's of course, but proved to be the case with the AB's also--I have noticed most of my WSM's like the bullet to have a bit of jump--

In closing, my friend and I have both had better luck with SAKO rifles in the WSM's, I in fact got rid of my Kimber short mag, The SAKO's I have shoot really well, with less effort--130 Win factory ammo does less than an inch out of all of them.

I think you will love the caliber, it is very easy to load those cases, and will shoot splendidly with a little care.

Good Luck--Don

Go with a 270 Win instead. Burns less powder and it is an ideal whitetail cartridge. The 270 Win is already slightly overbore so there really isn't anyreason to burn more powder.

A deer is not going to know the difference in fps anyway.

I am also in my golden years and considering a 270WSM. Would the recoil of a 270WSM be on par with a 7mm Rem Mag? Things being as equal as possible?

Shooting a 140 grain bullet at +/- 3150 fps MV, in an 8# rifle both the 7mm RM & the .270WSM have around 22.5# of recoil

Argali: I agree with your mathematics but when I recently shot a 300WSM and a 270WSM the perceived recoil was much lighter than my 7Mag with 160 grain bullets. All guns weighed about the same. The gentlemen who volunteered their guns for me to try all felt the recoil was milder than they expected with their new short mags.

Fish30114: I fell in love with a Sako Finnlight today at my local Sportsman's Warehouse and tomorrow it's coming home with me! I'm tall and the stock dimensions fit a little better than the Kimber.

Thanks to all for the help!

I have 2 Kimber 8400's in 270 WSM. Both shoot 140gr Accubonds and RL-22 into 1/2 MOA or better when I'm shooting good and the wind isn't blowing too hard. Both have Swaro 4-12's on them. They will fit in Talley lows or even Leupold low rings with the Kimber bases. Superb whitetail Combo's IMO................DJ

LJS, you will love the Finnlite. I still have one that is bone stock, and it shoots great. The other ones I have, I put into a McMillan stock, it's just a better stock than any factory synthetic, including the SAKO's. It may weigh a skoche more though, it's light enough I never checked.....

One interesting thing, I don't remember how many cartridges you are supposed to be able to put in the mag on the Finnlite (and other Sako 270 WSM's) but I always put 1 less than I can actually get in the mag, maybe that is the recommended number--but it feeds perfectly that way. The Barnes TSX is a real accurate bullet in that rascal, I'd give em a try!
I'm working up several loads with the new 130 gr .277 Accubonds, they look promising as well.

Let us know how you get her set up, and how she does.

quote:

Originally posted by Argali:
LJS,
If 350 yds. is your max range; the .270WSM will do everything you need and a lot more. If you feel the recoil is modest and easy for you to deal with, you will be very happy with the rifle. For myself, I would feel better with the Montana in .260 Rem. with a smaller scope. It is equally deadly to 350 yds, a lot less recoil, has a longer barrel life expectancy and a shorter barrel cooling time between shots than the .270WSM, allowing for more of that all-important practice time. Because of the Montana’s stock design, a scope that would fit into low-mount rings and bases would make it much easier to position your cheek when sighting. All of the components and the caliber you mentioned are top-quality choices, but my opinions for my taste are slightly different FWIW.
Best of luck with the new rifle,
Dave

When you are in your golden years like us; barrel life in not an issue you think much about.

The Finnlite WSM's hold 4 down in the Magazine. Kimbers and Winchesters hold 3..................D

The set up you speak of is fully capable of taking whitetail deer from Texas to Michigan or anywhere else. The issue I have is, why do people think they need a magnum rifle to hunt whitetail deer at modest ranges? A standard 25/06, 260, or 270 Winchester will take care of any whitetail deer in North America. Yup, it is your money.

Fine cartridge, even nicer rifle...though the scope may be a bit large for the svelt Montana. It will, however, aid to reduce felt recoil.
My own Montana is in 7/08. Scoped with a Leupold 1.75-6 VX III it weighs just 6.5 lbs, loaded with 5, plus sling. Recoil is easy on my resectioned shoulder. Loaded with 140 gr Barnes TSX at 2900 fps from it's 22" barrel it gives me 300 yard point-blank-aim capabilty, while the TSX give me the big gun terminal performance I need for our largest northern MN bucks.

quote:

The gentlemen who volunteered their guns for me to try all felt the recoil was milder than they expected with their new short mags.

It's no wonder, they are not much faster than their "old" counterparts. Don't believe me? Look up the comparison velocities between 270 and 270 SM. And as for the 7mm mag and 7 SM the latter is even slower with some loadings. But hey, new (as well as hype)sells!

quote:

Originally posted by Cossack2:
Fine cartridge, even nicer rifle...though the scope may be a bit large for the svelt Montana. It will, however, aid to reduce felt recoil.
My own Montana is in 7/08. Scoped with a Leupold 1.75-6 VX III it weighs just 6.5 lbs, loaded with 5, plus sling. Recoil is easy on my resectioned shoulder. Loaded with 140 gr Barnes TSX at 2900 fps from it's 22" barrel it gives me 300 yard point-blank-aim capabilty, while the TSX give me the big gun terminal performance I need for our largest northern MN bucks.

A Swaro 4-12x50 weighs only 13.9 ounces, less than several 3-9x40's in common use. The 1.75-6 leupold at 11.2 ounces is indeed lighter and may be a good choice for a 7-08 but 2.7 ounces is hardly going to make a difference in recoil. Most Slings weigh far more than the difference. There are often vast misconceptions about how much scopes actually weigh. It's a good idea to check out the facts before assuming that just because a scope has a 50mm objective or a 30mm tube it's heavy. A Swaro 2.5-10x42 PH 30mm tube scope is lighter than many 25mm tube 3-9x40's.
The Swaro's can also be mounted low enough to still have a decent cheek weld:




Some might not like the looks, but I like em and the 50mm scope is really nice optically......................DJ

While i can't fault your choice of a .270 WSM,
It sort of falls into that catagory of being a deer round witch is limited only by the ability of the shooter to hit the animal. Obvioulsly it should be able to kill deer at 400 yards, and if you are good enough to shoot that far , its a fine choice. But so is a .270 win 7mm Mag 25,06 .257 weatherby 30,06 and even some of the rounds on the .308 case.
of cores the trajectory on .308 will not be as flat , but if you can hit a deer good at 400 yards with a 308 .7mm,08 or even a .260 it will do the job well.
I like the .270 and 25,06 myself.

I have a .270WSm in a savage rifle. Its nice extreeemly accurate. I dont reload so its getting hard for me to find ammo around my parts. Also ammo is on the expensive side for me $37 a box im not too happy with that... So ima stash it back for a while, and ima go get a remington .270win today. Its gonna be my birthday present. Yippy for 18 years old! OH and this will make my 10th firearm. (just had to brag)

Critter Killer, damn right whoopee for 18 years old, that was a long time ago....for some of us...
Getting a 'regular' 270 is always a great idea! I've got a bunch of em, love em all! Check on Midway on the web, they often have a lot better prices on loaded ammo, but getting set up to reload would be an especially good idea with the ammo prices where they are... it is a really easy cartridge to load for, and the brass really seems to last a long time.

Cossack2, 2900 fps, out of a 7mm-08 with a 140 TSX, did I read that right? That is unreal, especially with a 22" barrel! Have you actually chrono'd that load at that speed? If so, I would sure like to get that load data--if it's not way past max anyway!!!!

As usual, DJ has it right on on the scope, and the AV series from Swaro has been just great for me. I've got them on all my WSM's!

Cossacck2's performance in the 708 looks normal to me. I shoot a 20" tube at 2840 with the 140TSX with Rem brass, CCI BR2 primers and 44.5 gr of Varget which is not my max load.
The 120 TSX goes 2990 with 45.5 gr varget.
All speeds chronyed.

Dwight, thanks for the feedback. I don't have a 7-08, but all of the data I have says you're pushing it to max with a 24" barrel to get 2900 fps with a 140 gr. pill. Sounds like a great reason to buy another rifle!

Thanks again--Don

another cartridge that will be obsolete in a few years - no need for it at all.

a 270 would suit your needs perfectly

or a 300 win mag

either is far better than that pipsqueak round
that you'll not be able to pick up ammo for easily,.

LJS ----- Get the .270 WSM and don't look back. I gaurantee you that someday the WSM will be more in demand than the old .270, and there will be plenty of brass, it is just that good. My Model 70 Winchester shoots the 130 grain 3460 fps, the 140 grain 3300 fps and the 150 grain 3250 fps. Those speeds approach the 7mm Wby performance. The recoil is very reasonable, but then again I shoot a lot of larger chamberings, and by comparison seem very mild. My final point is with the WSM you have a very versital round, I even packed mine this year as a backup for Elk. Good shooting.

I did a cartridge comparison and used some of the more gentler rounds such as 308win with 150gr bullet, and the 7mm-08 with the 150gr bullet. There was no info available for the 270WSM with 150gr so I used 140gr bullet to keep the speeds similiar. There is little difference between the three rounds.

The WSM would be a better round after say 400 yards but how many of us can actually use that trajectory?

On the other hand, like my friend did, I did a comparison for him also before he purchased his, he loves his, doesn't regret the decision and loves the cartridge, so it really doesn't matter which is more efficient, faster, hits harder, hits you harder or costs more to operate, at the end of the day it's what you like to be holding!
http://ammoguide.com/?tool=bcompare&it=92-1161398726%7c...000619%7c15-02000348

beretta96 ----- I am just curious, do your comparison with the 150 grain WSM bullet doing 3250 fps and see what you come up with. Good shooting.

I have an HS Precision Light Weight Pro (5.5 #'s) in .270 WSM and it shoots factory Federal 140 partitions in a ligitimate 3/8 inch group at 100 yards. I have a Zeiss Davari 3 X 9 with Tally rings. I bought this rifle for the purpose of using it on whitetail and caribou. I have taken 3 Caribou and 5 whitetails, all one shot kills, with this set up and would really recommend it for this type of hunting. The HS synthetic stock was impervious to the wet and cold of Quebec as well as the nasties in Kansas, Missouri and Texas. Is it more gun than neccessary for deer and caribou? Probably. I like the rifle and the calibur and it's worked for me.

Larry Sellers

phurley5,

Here is a different comparison. I chose the
270 WSM with the 160gr bullet and added the standard 270 Win with 150gr bullet. I can't choose the WSM with 150gr bullets since there is no load data in their database using this bullet weight. The velocities they publish comes from various manufacturers and I cannot change that either. I do believe some of the loads on this site are anemic since I reload my friend's 270WSM with 150's and I'm not at max powder charge and we're getting 3050 fps.

http://ammoguide.com/?tool=bcompare&it=92-1161398726%7c...229%7c107-1110880137

beretta96 ----- I have been shooting my Model 70 Winchester a year now, 200 plus rounds fired. I shoot over an Oehler 35P chronograph. My 130 grain bullets average 3460 fps, that is not top end, it is an average with many groups fired, and that load has one hole group accuracy. My 140 grain bullet averages 3300 fps and my 150 grain bullets average 3250 fps, once again that is averaging many groups, not top end. The 140 grain bullets have one hole accuracy and the 150 grain bullets .5 inch accuracy. Throw those in your system and see how they compare. As you know the manufacturers and manual figures are funny papers, my speeds are actual tests with many groups averaged. Granted this is only my rifle, but I do not think it would be that out of line from the average barrel. A look at the powder capacity and it will tell you the story of the possibilities. Good shooting.

Still trying to make up my mind between 270 w and 270WSM

quote:

Originally posted by Oldguns:
Still trying to make up my mind between 270 w and 270WSM

The 270 WSM is about 200fps faster in the same bullet weights and fits into a short action.
The 270 Win is an all-time classic.

Buy a rifle that you like and fits you in either caliber and you'll be good. You can't go too far wrong either way.................DJ

As usual, well said by DJ!