Just an observation, but I've noticed that while many gun stores and wal-marts around here are cleaned out of ammo, there is plenty of 270 to be found.

Anyone able to explain this anomaly? I'm thinking my spare M98 in the safe might become a 270 as it would seem I will always be able to find ammo for that caliber around here.

People that use a .270 are like those that used a .30/30 when I was a kid(a looong time ago) They'd buy a box of shells every 20 years and get "their" deer every year.
The stores don't profit much from them. But...some day they will get it done for their three son's .270s, and pretty soon the store will have to restock more shells. lol
You'd never guess that I carry a .270...huh?
(even if it's a .270AI)
Have fun,
Gene

The 270 is an underappreciated round in these current times. However, it is as good as it ever was, and better with today's bullets and powders. The fact that it isn't "new and improved" has nothing to do with performance.

I think you are looking at it backwards. I think the 270 Win is so popular that stores buy more of it than other cartridges and therefore have more of it on the shelves b/c they know it will sell---at least in the US. The local big box SG store has 5-6 different loads for the 270 while only 1 for many other cartridges.

quote:

Originally posted by Texas Killartist:
I think you are looking at it backwards. I think the 270 Win is so popular that stores buy more of it than other cartridges and therefore have more of it on the shelves b/c they know it will sell---at least in the US. The local big box SG store has 5-6 different loads for the 270 while only 1 for many other cartridges.

That's true for my store. We have at least 7 loads for .270, but even that is not enough for some customers. They always want the one load you don't have and won't settle for anything else-even in this time of shortages. We are more fortunate than most, and have a good supply of other common calibers.

I have noticed the same thing. My thoughts are that it is a very popular hunting caliber, but not used much for target shooting, varmits or plinking. Therefore it is very much in production and yet still available since shooters/hunters aren't running to the stores to clean off the shelves because they have what they need.

I have a 270 and love it. I also think it is a very under appreciated caliber. It shoots flat and has plenty of knock down power.

It should be popular, it's almost as good as a 30-06.

Obviously, .270 shooters must be better shots---- they use less ammo
Just kidding, I think it's a great groundhog gun.

The .270 is nearly as good as a 7x57...

our local store has 2 boxes of 7X57 ammo on the shelf a little 30-06 and some dusty boxes of 270 with something like 12.99 on the tag, nobody will buy them.

quote:

Originally posted by buckeyeshooter:
Obviously, .270 shooters must be better shots---- they use less ammo

that there is a true statement.

In southern Missouri just about deer season the local Walmart will load up with the popular 4 for these parts

30-30
.243
.270
30-06

My only other thought was that 270 shooters are the ultimate ammo hoarders, have all bought their fill, and thus have no more need to hoard.

Got to keep and eye on those 270 shooter - sneaky devils they are but we're on to you.

They're making a comeback. I just bought one.

quote:

My only other thought was that 270 shooters are the ultimate ammo hoarders, have all bought their fill, and thus have no more need to hoard.

Got to keep and eye on those 270 shooter - sneaky devils they are but we're on to you.

Shhhooooosh!

I'm always hoarding .270 ammo....270 brass... .277 bullets...so PM me if you'd like to move some! (Also 7 RM stuff too...)

friar

I wonder, if after the past 15 years, the gun makers and their new renditions of the latest and greatest have succeeded in starting some calibers into has beens. .270 was always a fine rifle and continues to be. May not be as exciting as some of the new creations for the new shooting crowd though.

Not sure if they are not popular anymore, but I notice that when I draw a once in a lifetime tag, I choose the old original ADL in .270. It has seen many critters drop out of the crosshairs over the years-that builds confidence. This from a guy who shoots everything from a .17 to a .500NE.

quote:

I'm always hoarding .270 ammo....270 brass... .277 bullets...so PM me if you'd like to move some! (Also 7 RM stuff too...)

Odly enough, 7mm Rem Mag is the next most common caliber available at the local walmart.

I got my eye on you friar ... what do you know that we all don't.

quote:

Originally posted by Blacktailer:
They're making a comeback. I just bought one.

Me too...

Glad to hear there's ammo out there as well.

I brought my first one 2 years ago.

The military calibers got bought up.

All of the .308's are gone etc.

The local Walmart has 270's and 7mm RM like you say.

Same with bullets. The .308" bullets are gone. Lots of 277 and 7mm.

Some shotgun shells are there but no .22 LR.

I find very little need for a .270 when I own a 7x57. With the 7x57 I can go up to 175gr bullets and still get great results. Or I can load it down to 139 and get more velocity.

I've owned a few .270's and they've all shot well. I have always preferred the 150gr's out of a .270. I prefer 150-175 out of a 7x57. I think the lack of versatility has hurt the .270, and that's not criticism, just the facts, Jack. (NO PUN INTENDED)

With all due respect, my 22" BDL consistently clocks 3150 with 130-grain Grand Slams, and knocks on the 3K fps threshold with 150s. I dare say you won't get that out of a 7 X 57...

My son's first rifle was a 7 X 57, and it is a wonderful caliber. But it never was and never will be a .270. FWIW, there is very little a 7 RM will do that a 270 won't, in my mind. And I have both.

I asked my local gun shop about this. They said they have no demand for 270 ammo, or guns for that matter. He said the rifles sit on the shelf for months. He only takes them on consignment and does not have any new for sale.

I suspect it is regional.

Yeah, but that's Kansas. Not too many smart people in Kansas - nothing there but wind and smelly stockyards! Actually, if you erased Kansas from the map, our coast to coast flights would be 20 minutes shorter.

When I was a younger man, I lusted for odd stuff like the .220 Swift, .264 Win Mag, misc Weatherbys, etc. Wanted nothing to do with the snoozefest calibers like the .270 and 30-06. Now, I've come to realize that most light skinned animals really don't know the difference between a .90 cent .270 round vs. a $4.00 .264 Win Mag that I had to mail order in from afar....

I expect that reloading is a factor. I know lots of 270 shooters and they all reload.

I've been killing stuff with a 270 win since 1986, and though I now own guns in other calibers, 270 is still my go to hunting round.

Tired, moldy old cartrides like the .30-30, .35 Rem., 7x57MM, .270, .30-06 are only popular with real hunters, LGS cowboys rarely pay any attention to them.

quote:

Originally posted by Savage_99:
The military calibers got bought up.

All of the .308's are gone etc.

The local Walmart has 270's and 7mm RM like you say.

Same with bullets. The .308" bullets are gone. Lots of 277 and 7mm.

Some shotgun shells are there but no .22 LR.

Exactly what I was thinking. No black rifles in .270. My local stores have a fair amount of most of the cartridges that are only chambered in hunting rifles, but absolutely zero boxes of .308, .223, 7.62x39, or any pistol cartridge.

Very popular in my part of the world though I suspect the 243, 223 and 308 probably outsell the 270 and in that order. The 30-06 seems to be not quite that popular here, though they are of course about.

FWIW I like the 270 more than the the 30-06 despite the fact I have both.

quote:

Originally posted by mdstewart: I think the lack of versatility has hurt the .270, and that's not criticism, just the facts, Jack. (NO PUN INTENDED)

Not sure how you figure that!

A good 3300fps plus with a 110gn Barnes TTSX is very FLAT - and hits hard!

There is not much that a 270 win with a 130gn TTSX at 3100 fps wont handle that you would normally use a 270 for.

A 150gn TSX for bigger stuff? Ever seen how looong that projectile is? Great penetration!

Or how about a 180gn Woodleigh Protected Point?

To me it seems pretty versatile and its flatter than the 7x57, or the 7mm08 or the 6.5x55.

If you had been comparing it to the 7x64/280rem THAT would be a tad more convincing!

quote:

Originally posted by Macs69:
When I was a younger man, I lusted for odd stuff like the .220 Swift, .264 Win Mag, misc Weatherbys, etc. Wanted nothing to do with the snoozefest calibers like the .270 and 30-06. Now, I've come to realize that most light skinned animals really don't know the difference between a .90 cent .270 round vs. a $4.00 .264 Win Mag that I had to mail order in from afar....

I've gone in just the opposite direction, I've sold all my .223's, .270's, and 30/06's. I've replaced them with .204 Ruger, 22 Hornet, and 270WSM.

A good friend of mine invited me to go elk hunting with him this fall. He is a great guy, and very successful hunting elk. He hunts elk the old fashioned way - rents horses to get to camp, then everything on foot from camp. Did I mention he is successful? Very successful; and hunts an area people would covet if they just did a little of their own footwork.

But that's a long intro to his comment the other day while we were having a beer. "You need to shoot that 7RM you just bought, and leave that .270 at home."

Now, my friend almost certainly realizes that my quiet response is largely polite stubbornness. I reminded him that my 150 gr. A-frames dropped an 800 lb moose in his tracks (granted, it was a high shoulder shot), and that any bullet forward the diaphram from my .270 is different only in the abstract from a .284 or even .308 bullet.

The difference, of course, would be just this:
.270 = 350 to 400 yards...
7RM = 400 to 450 yards...
.300 = 450 to 500 yards...

And I really shouldn't shoot at 400 for game to begin with, so my .270 will do the job nicely.

Now, I just have to get my beer-drinking-desk-sittin ass in shape ; and practice my field shooting positions!

Happy 4th!

friar

Just a guess but most 270 shooters are rifleman (like JOC was), not lemmings following the latest fad.

Therefore, they reload. Most "common on the shelf" 270 WCF like Winchester White box is crap. The last box I bought had a runout on my Hornady tool of 5 to 9 thou. The first group was 5 in 2.5". (Wallie World $18.00)
I "fixed" the rest with the tool (max 2 thou runout) and the groups shrunk to 1 MOA or better. They were the ONLY factory 270 WCF I have shot in 15 years.

That brass, only neck chamfered, reloaded in Redding dies, on a Redding press, with JOC's favorite 4831 load, thrown from an electronic RCBS dispenser/scale, fired off by CCI 250s, shooting a 150 gr Nosler Ballistic Silvertip drops 5 into 3/4 MOA or better from a late NH M70 Featherweight.

Also there are no ARs, M-1s, M-14s or any "assault rifle" made in 270.

If you have a 22Rf, a 270 WCF and a 375 H&H rifles, there is nothing on this side of the globe you are not all set for.

I'm in the hunting business and I think I probably see more .270s and 30-06s with our clients than other calibers in use in the USA, In Africa I see quit a number of .270s. I can't imagine myself not having a .270 and a 30-06.

Im fairly sure it still rates in the top 10 on sales and ammo sales.

I see 'ol Larry Root is back as 7x7royal.

How many usernames (lone_stranger, pigmaster, bumfarto, 4barexpert, artshaw, silverbullet45, 45-70shooter, etc., ect.) you've created specifically to circumvent the wishes of the Owner and Moderators have been banned so far??

I have a butt load of different rifle calibers, but I still love to shoot my 270s! My favorite round for it is a 140 grain bullet. I also like to shoot the high energy loads, as it gives the 270 some added versatility (Hornady or Federal)

Whenever I get bored with my 270's, I just go buy another rifle in....... 270 of course.

I can't remember the last time I bought a factory box of 270 ammo. My household easily shoots 500 rounds a year. Everything from 85gr TSX's to 160gr partitions.

The 270 and 30-06 are the calibers one chooses almost exclusively when buying there first rifle.
This is because they are just starting off and do not have a keen sense of shooting and hunting.
The 300WM would be a much wiser choice for someones who has graduated from the 270 and 30-06.
Why some people still admire them I cant understand.