I'm looking for a new deer/antelope rifle. I've found a gun I like and its offerd in either 270win or 7mm-08. Which would you recommend?

quote:

Originally posted by mark65x55:
I'm looking for a new deer/antelope rifle. I've found a gun I like and its offerd in either 270win or 7mm-08. Which would you recommend?

Based on my own experience Mark, I've had great success with the 7mm-08 with 140 gr. FailSafes and RL-19. Last year my son got his elk with that rifle at 240 yards.

Either one would be a good choice. I don't think you could go wrong with either as afar as whitetails are concerned. I use a 7mm08 to deer hunt with in southeast TN & North GA with very good results. I don't have any experience with antelope yet but I am guessing the 270 might out perform the 7mm08 at distance, maybe not.

Mark, the 270 and antelope go together like carrots and peas. It also has the added advantage of being able to push heavier bullets at decent velocities making it a fine elk cartridge as well. A 22" bbl'd 270 will push 140's at 3,000 fps... the 7-08, no matter how nice a round, will not match that. The 270 is simply the bigger engine while remaining very shootable.

Is it really the exact same rifle? Many are made in long and short actions. If it's a long action it makes sense to fill it up. Thus a 270 or 30-06 would be good choices.

Some report high velocities from 22" tubed 7mm-08's. The one we have here does only what the manuals say. On the other hand it's a lightweight and very handy.

There isn't a down side to either really... Just based on desire for a short action or not....

A 270/08 has never been a factory round as the short action case will pretty much duplicate the longer case... more closer than the 30/06 and 308... and remember the 270 does not have the extensive bullet selection that the 30 caliber lines have....
but a 308 and 06 are equal up until you hit 180 grain bullets...

Both rounds are more capable than most shooters are....

and "Confederate American"..... Right ON!
A Virginia Born 'Confederate American'... 18th generation American...from 1607 Jamestowne onward!

cheers
seafire

I would go with the 7mm-08. I wouldn't allow a .270 to cross my threshold.

7 mm-08. Better selection of bullets.

7mm-08 is all you need, Jay

I'm kind like M16, I have no use for the .270 so it would be the 7-08. I think it's a phobia or something?

HP Shooter's right.

I recentlty did a straight swop of a 270 for a 7mm-08 and am glad I do so.
None the less the 270 is a mighty fine cartridge. I just won't be buying another now I have gone over to the 7mm-08.

I own a 7-08, my buddy had a 270 that was stolen. We use to argue this ad-nausem. Of course, I was right, hehe. If I buy a 270, it would only be for the gun it was in a Pre 64 M70 or a Fn mauser. capt david

I prefer the 7mm-08 or even better the 280rem.

I own a .270, I own a 7mm-08, IF I had to sell one, I would probably sell the 7mm-08. Sure, the 7mm-08 is light and handy, but the .270 will do anything the 7mm-08 will do, plus reach out to ridiculous distance the 7mm-08 is not designed to do. Jack O'Connor and Winchester got it right the first time!!! (imho)

LLS

Lots of poor reasoning going on such as the 7-08 has a better bullet selection, may by one or two but both have plenty of available bullets....

Bottom line is the 270 is more powerful, shoots flatter and jsut out classes the little 708, not to say the 7-08 is not a fine caliber it is, but even so I would opt for a 7x57 that holds more powder and is a better round..but even the 7x57 won't out do a .270, Jack told me so....

I'd take, and did choose, the 270Win.

My choice: http://www.remington.com/firearms/centerfire/700mtnls.htm

I have killed lots of goats in my time.


If there was a picture in the dictionary of an antelope hunter he would be holding a .270 winchester Or a .25-06'

The 7-08 is outclassed on this one.

I don't think you could go wrong with either. 270 isn't as much more powerful or flatter shooting than some here may think. We're talking approximately 120fps with max 140-150gr. bullet loads. Which is something though. The 7-08 is more efficient and IMHO more inherently accurate. Not that there aren't plenty of accurate 270's out there, but I would bet all day long that there are more innaccurate 270's than innaccurate 7-08's. For whitetail hunting alone, I think the 7-08 is the best cartridge there is. When i need to really reach out and touch someone I opt for my 270wsm. There is more of a diiference than it and the 270, and far as being flat shooting, than there is between the 270 and the 7-08 methinks--2MG

It's a toss-up! Both are great, but the .270 offers a little more flexibilty if you handload. I think in this case and it's application as a deer rifle, it's a matter of which action length of the rifle and which balances better for you. These are 2 of the best choices for deer you'll find!

.270.

IV

I recommend both! It all boils down to, long action vs. short action. Which action do you want?

.270 is my pick. With what I felt were reasonable pressures, I have not been able to match the velocities many claim the get with the 7mm/08. It's pretty obvious by looking at them side by side, when loaded to equal pressures - the .270 Winchester will shine.

These cartridges are actually pretty close in real terms with only about 50fps or so to the 270,which isn't much in real terms.

I'de take the 7mm-08 simply because you have a good range of heavier bullets than the 270win.

I particularly like the 160 accubonds launched at just over 2700fps & the 162 hornady sst's at around the same speed do offer an advantage over anything I can think of from the 270.

For me it depends on action length. I have used both and to my mind they are equal. However, I prefer short-actions and would go with the 7-08.

The past couple years I have used a Kimber 84M in 7-08 to fill my antelope tags. It worked very well out to 400 yards with 140 gr NBTs.

Fip the damn coin and take which everone you like. I would look at the avalibility of factory fodder for each and go with that one. I suspect that .270 will be found in more out of the way places than 7mm-08 so that would influence my choice.
Judge Sharpe

A no brainer. The .270 of coarse. You only need two bullets for it, the 130gr and the 150gr period. It keeps things simple, I like that.

Better SD, more down range energy, shoots faster and flatter than the 7-08. Just a better round.

Compare it to a .280Rem and things start to get interesting though

Terry

I've had both I sold the .270 I have killed deer at 312yrds. with my 7-08. I saw a young boy on the outdoor channel take a elk right at 100 yards with a 140gr 7-08 I shoot a 24 in barrle rem. with 44 grs. of RL-15 with 140 sierra b.t. at 2944 shot over a croney. both will do the same if hit in the same place.why do you need that extra recoil. after 300 yrds most people won't hit it anyway

Yip!!

Both are great rounds, so flip a coin for which to buy....but, if you had a choice how about a .25-06, or a 6.5-06 or a 7-06 instead of a .277-06? And, they are all available in great guns too!! Those are all magic rounds...when you put the bullet in the right spot!!

Just a sample of the bullets available.
The Speer manual shows; '
in 270,
90 grains one bullet
100 two bullets
130 three bullets
150 three bullets

7mm
110 one bullet
115 one bullet
120 one bullet
130 two bullets
145 four bullets
160 four bullets
175 two bullets

To my mind the 7mm shows greater variety.

The 2005 Remington catalogue shows

270 130 grains PSP 200yds zero at 300 yards drop 7,0 inches energy 1472 f/lbs
7mm-08 140 grains PSP 200yds zero at 300 yards drop 7.8 inches energy 1490 f/lbs.

Now I dont know how good you guys are, but I for one cannot judge 0.8 inches at 300 yards. The energy is just in favouer of the 7mm-08 but is in term of effect, nil. To say one is better than the other is all phooey. QED
They are both good

I dont think that data is right however. The bullets on the market for the .270 win have been, for many years, totally tuned to the .270's speed. The heavier bullets for the 7mm08 are for the magnums in my opinion and at extended ranges may not have the umphh needed for the bullet to perform to its full potential. I would go with the .270.

I like the .270 out of those two !!

I think you'll find that if you look at the numbers from both, the energy and trajectory are really surprising similar. The 7mm-08 has the advantage of being in short action, along with some really great bullets available to reloaders. On the other hand, you'll find that the factory ammunition selection is much better for the 270. I personally chose the 7mm-08 for my deer/all-purpose hunting rifle. My first medium-caliber rifle was a 270, though. Both have always served me well. Either, however, are sufficient for animals up to and including elk. You'll find good arguments for both cartridges, but whichever caliber you choose will certainly serve you well.

I was hunting a stand last fall. Had a 270 Winchester with me due to a possible 300 yard shot. However a large doe stepped out at 80 yards. She didn't know I was there. She was quartering towards me with her head down. Put the scope on her left shoulder but the shot looked too far back. Pulled onto her chest and fired when she lifted her head.

She was knocked off her feet backwards about 8', did a 180 degree flip and landed on her back. Never kicked or moved at all. Best Bang-Flop (actually Bang-Flip-Flop) I'd ever seen.

On autopse, The bullet shattered the sturnam, took out the arties over the heart, mushed the right lung, and exited from the middle of the right rib cage leaving a solid blood trail about 20' long 8" wide from the spot were she last stood.

Now tell me again what a 7-08 would do better?????


PS: Didn't need all the bullets from the list above - It only took ONE 270 Winchester.

Ray, I love it. All this crap about, "my rifle has a bullet selection greater than yours", like I said crap! How many times do we have to repeat, that most shooters/hand loaders, find a bullet that does what they want, and they stick with it. Of the 8 elk I have killed in the last ten years, the one that went down the hardest, and didn't twitch, was with a 270 Winchester. Hell it wasn't even a "Premium" bullet, just a plain old Winchester PSP.

Jerry

I had this very same quandry earlier this year. I wanted a long range rifle for deer hunting up here in NY. Buddy has a 270, and it's performace on deer has been impressive. I got to looking at the 7mm-08 and realized that it's performance is just a shade behind the 270 out to 300 yards. Also, since I would be handloading for it, it uses less powder than the 270.

I now have a Savage model 11 in 7mm-08. It likes 41 grains of Varget and 139gr SSTs. I am very happy with it on paper out to 300yds. It hits the paper at 300 just a wee bit lower than my buddies 270, with an equivalent 100 yard zero. I'm sure an animal wouldn't notice the difference.

TO RAYSENDERO If you had a 7-08 you could have made the 300 yrd. shot. with the same results. Any round will kill a doe at 80 yrds. even a 30-30. I dropped a nice 6 point with a single shot at an honest 312 yards with my 7-08

Mr Eden ,
In my day we were taught not to be autobiographical and it has not my habit to go in for self advertising, however times have changed, I've retired and can relax a little, so here goes.
I hold an Honours Degree and a Masters Degree in Forestry.
The Masters is in Environmental Forestry, majoring in Deer Management. Over the years I have shot in excess of 2,500 head of deer; I don't have complete records. I don't know how many pigs and goats I have shot, but combining them with the deer I have accounted for in excess of 4,500 animals.
In doing so the following cartridges were used;

222 Rem
223 Rem
243 Rem
257 Roberts
6.5x54 Mann
6.5x55 Swe
260 Rem
270 Win
7mm-08
7x57
7x64
308
30-06
8mm Mauser
9.3x57
375 H&H but not very much


Given the above I think I can say what is a good deer cartridge.
The 222 is too light and the 375 is too much gun.
Any of the above cartridges between the 6.5x55 and the 8mm mauser can be relied upon to take deer. The 243 is, in my, view a round for the experienced shot. The 257 is acceptable but only with the heavy bullets.
Some years ago I formed the view that for deer a rifle should fire a projectile between 120 and 150 grains at 2800 fps. This is not absolute, but is a fair guide to what is needed to reliably take deer

My listing the 9 270 and the 15 7mm Speer bullets was a direct response to a statement that "there may be one or two more 7mm than 270". It was wrong. This has nothing to do with saying mine has more than yours, An error is just that, an error.
The list corrected that.

The 7mm-08 is a good cartridge, it will take any deer any where in the world.

Telling me that the 270 is a better cartridge the the 7mm-08 is like telling a blind man that blue is a better colour than red. It's would be meaningless to both of us.

I hold a preference for the 7mm-08, it is not better than the 270.

Gerry, just out of interest, what's your favourite colour?

.270

OLDUN:

My favorite color, probably purple, but I also like shades of blue, green and orange. I have to say though, those that like the reds and blacks, just don't know what they are about,LOL!

Now back to the issue at hand, I did NOT say the 7mm-08 was not a good cartridge! What I did say was the 270 is my favorite. I also made reference to the bullet selection argument, not a hot button of mine, as I choose a cartridge/bullet weight to do a particular job, and I am not interested in how many different bullets are available in a given caliber. I feel that is not a valid issue for a hunting cartridge, with all the good bullets we have available today! Also, the ballistic coeffcient argument, for a hunting rifle is way off base, given most high performance rounds. At the ranges most of us shoot critters, 250 yards is a long shot. I own 6 different calibers built on the 06 case, I enjoy them all.

Jerry

Jerry,
When I placed my initial comments supporting the view of HP Shooter, it was my intention to engauge in nothing more than light badinarge, a thread which runs through these, in the main, delightful pages.
However your denegration of my views by the use of the word crap, twice, was to my eye offensive. I know the word is in common use in America, but really, is it necessary to commit such words, outside a novel, to print.
You are not going to persaude any one of the merits of your position when you dismiss the views of others via the use of vulgar language.
You might think me a pompous old sod and to some degree I am, but my position has been earned by years of studying and practicing my craft.
There was no use of the word favourite in you initial comment.
Now, let us forget this crossing of words and try to be a little kinder to each other. OK?