I your opinion which 270 cartridge would you prefer. 270WIN, 270AI, 270WSM and all the others wild or not.

I'm a big .270 Win fan, so if I had to chose just one .277 cal., I'd go with the orginal. A ton of good factory loads to choose from if you don't reload. Speaking of reloading, the .270 Win is a very easy round to load for as I find it easy to reach the rounds reported velocities and it's not finicky when it comes to bullet weight. One other thing worth mentioning is every single bullet designed for .277 cal is designed for .270 Win velocities, which I think helps out in the accuracy and on game performance. Can't say the same about the .30 & 7mm cals that have to suit a wide & extreme velocity range (though I've never had bullet performance issues in my .280 or .300 mags).

Maybe if I didn't already have a .270 Win, I'd think that the extra 200-300 fps you can get with the WSM or Weatherby (or wildcat) would make a difference (and it might on game larger than deer or at extreme range), but all of the deer I've shot with the .270 dropped either in their tracks or within sight of where they were standing, so I just can't see how you can improve much on that.

-Lou

I'll personally stay with the original. The extra velocity doesn't take this bore size to the next level of power so why bother?

270 is great round. Doesn't kick hard and shoots flat.

Stick with the original. It does almost as well as the magnums, uses a lot less powder, and will last twice as long (barrel, that is!!)

Weatherby has already demonstrated that the world is not in need of a 270 magnum. I would go with the origional. It is one heck of a catridge and if you really need more power go to a bigger bore size.

NorthernNM

new toy's are always funny, but this time I have to agree with the forum leader

The original is the one I should have picked. It will do anything you ask. Cases are cheap and easy too find. No need to look for anything else, GOO for it

Cheers
/ JOHAN

I don't believe this! Everyone agrees! Even me and I'm about as cantankerous as they come sometimes.

Northern, like any cartridge you can squeek out a little more of this or that if you are willing to pay the price. The 270 is already max and beyond just a tad for this bore. So anything you do to try and go beyond its already formidable performance is NOT going to be cost effective or worth the trouble.

Stick with the original.

Ditto, Stick with the original.
My reasoning besides agreeing with everyone else is: If you are hunting somewhere way out in Deepest Darkest Outer East Podunk and need fresh ammo, the local gas station/mud wrestling emporium and general store isn't likely to have anything Weatherby, WSM or Ultramag on the shelf. But you stand a real good chance of finding 270, 30-06, 30-30, and/or 308 on the shelves.

ZM

Wow, concensus.

I agree with all the above. As the owner of a 300 WSM and the circa 1925 270 Win, you'd think I'd be open to the idea of the 270 WSM... I'm not. I happen to think the 270 is "just right" as is. Any more powder in a .277 bore makes no real sense to me. Mule Deer, Antelope and the 270 go together like ham and eggs.

BA

Stick with the original. I have had good success over the years with this caliber using Nosler Partitions and have taken deer, bear and moose with no problem.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

I have been a real fan of the .270 for years and think the original is perfect. But, when they came out with .270 WSM it peaked my interest. I never understood why they came out with a 7MM WSM since there are about ten thousand flavors of 7MM but the .270 WSM is at least interesting in that you now have 3 factory offerings to choose from. I like the original but I wouldn't throw the new cartridge out of bed.

Well, I'll confess to being just a hair biased, but from what I've seen, there's no need for anything but the original. Incidentally, this must be some kind of a record for posts that all agree.

Regards,

Chad

I have always been a fan of the 270 Win, I have three of them. But when the new 270 WSM came out, I couldn't keep myself from owning one. I couldn't be more pleased with it. Shoots great, kicks no more than my other 270 Win's. I have only killed one animal with the new WSM. I killed an old male blackbuck at the ranch the other day. I shot him with a 130 gr Ballistic Silvertip at about 200 yards. He was running, quarting away from me. The bullet enter the last rib on his right side and traveled through his body and ended up just under the skin of his neck on the left side. The bullet I found weighed 82 grains. If I were you I would get the 270 Win or the new WSM. I love them both.

Thanks for all the input. Both my Grandfather & Father were huge 270 win fan, he used it to hunt everything.
My brother ended up with the rifle so I took my old 8mm mauser to the gun smith to install a 270AI on that mauser98 action a few weeks ago. I kind of got into wildcats lately. I don't think I'll be disappointed with cartridge selection. I kind of modeled it after the 270AI in the reloading section on this site, a 25" shilen select match grade barrel. I am looking forword to the finished product.

I've gotta go with the crowd on this one--I'm on my 6th .270 and have another one being built. Looks like we all agree--maybe no one will suggest using .277 Matchkings for hunting!

Good Hunting,

NorthernNM, I guess I will have to go against the others and be a little different. I LOVE my 270 weatherby. I had a 270 win and liked it but I ended up trading up to the 270 weatherby mag and am glad I did. This thing shoots so good its scary. I also get awesome performance out of it with any gr bullet that I care to try. Try this 130gr @ 3400+ / 140gr @ 3300+ / 150gr @ 3250+. Yes my rifle does this with a 24 inch barrel NOT a 26 like most others have. I guess that I am lucky to have a fast barrel. But this gun will never leave me. I am the kind of person that likes to trade my guns in every once in a while so to find the one that I am totally happy with. I own three rifles one a 270 weatherby that will NEVER be sold and a 7 mm rem mag that is on the chopping blocks to be sold if I feel like it and a 338 win that is also on the chopping blocks to be sold and traded to something I might find that will be permanent. ONly the 270 weatherby has a permanent home with me not the others. Its a keeper.

Brian

Northern NM,

I think youll like your choice as long as you dont mind the extra effort fireforming and such for the AI. I find it doubtfull that there will be much velocity gain but with the long range capabilities of the 270 it can certianly benefit from better/improved accuracy.

Good shooitn..!

[ 08-27-2002, 05:30: Message edited by: Wstrnhuntr ]