The more I shoot my .270 WSM rifles the more I like them. I now have four, the reason for that many is all my grandson's want one to shoot Deer with them. All Model 70's and the reason for all the Winchesters is the first one was so accurate I couldn't find anything else that beat them. I have two New Haven models and two South Carolina models. The latest being a left handed New Haven model to be shared by my left handed grandson and grandaughter. A 130 grain bullet at 3455 fps, a 140 grain bullet at 3262 fps, and a 150 grain bullet at 3236 fps, all with pin point accuracy. I consider the .270 WSM the perfect Deer chambering and have used it for Elk with the heavier bullets. I have 4.5 X 14 Ziess Conquests on them all and couldn't be happier with their accuracy. Each has it's own personality and are quite bullet specific on accuracy and speed, this makes it a lot of fun to go to the shooting bench with new loads. If you want to shoot a flat shooting, hard hitting round, give it a try. Good shooting.

I have one also in a M-70 New Haven SS. And of all the dumb luck, it just loves 150gr. Nosler Partitions and Hornady I-Locks. However it will only push them around 3050 fps. but that's fine with me for as good as it shoots - 90% of the time under 1 MOA at 200 yards. It did not like any of the 140 grainers I tried except for the obsolete Failsafes. (Imagine that)

My 300 WSM M-70 Coyote is also pretty accurate.

My original .270 WSM is a New Haven SS Ultimate Shadow, it is still my fastest barrel. I lucked out and found 500 uncoated failsafe (it appears the grey coating had been removed by a well known national distributor) 140 grainers for a song that are quite accurate. I also managed to get several sacs of Nosler Ballistic Tip blems that are super accurate. I was getting the same speed you show with the 150 grainers until I discovered Magpro powder, now I get much higher speeds. I use a max load of 68 grains. I also shoot a lot of RL-22 and RL-25 powders, all loads with a Fed 210M primer. Good shooting.

I recently picked up a Savage (never fired) 270WSM with the bottom metal magazine. I bought a McMillian and beeded it. Can't wait to give it a whirl to see what we get.

Any of you try the 140gr Sierra GameKing spitzer? My 270Win loves em.

The 270 WSM is the only WSM I'm interested in. The others pretty much try to emulate their longer brethren, but in a short action (who cares). But the 270 WSM develops ballistics WAY BETTER than a 270 Win, with bullet weights that are more useful in "ordinary" hunting. I ordered a Montana in 270 WSM, but last night found a Rifles Inc (Lex Webernick...love his rifles!) in 270 WSM at a killer price, so now I have 2 on the way.

I am a fan of the WSM's as well. I got one as soon as they came out as I don't like the belted rounds for handloading. Got to have a 'magnum' though!

I prefer the 7mm WSM. I am just not a .270 guy. I go way back to O'Connor however back then the 06 made sense what with the free DCM stuff and the 270 cost more and did less.

Now I have WSM's in 7mm and 270. Both are good, to each his own.

Ross Seyfried wrote a two part article in Handloader several years back when the 300 WSM was introduced. He necked it down to .277" and built what was then a wildcat. He literally screamed about the round. I will stay with my standard .270 @ 3150 with a 130, but if I were to buy a WSM, the 270 is the only choice.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
The 270 WSM is the only WSM I'm interested in. The others pretty much try to emulate their longer brethren, but in a short action (who cares). But the 270 WSM develops ballistics WAY BETTER than a 270 Win, with bullet weights that are more useful in "ordinary" hunting. I ordered a Montana in 270 WSM, but last night found a Rifles Inc (Lex Webernick...love his rifles!) in 270 WSM at a killer price, so now I have 2 on the way.

Somehow I forgot about Webernick's rifles. They do cost however he makes them on the M70 design which I much prefer over the 700's.

http://www.riflesinc.com/rifles

I have Kimbers. Thats what I like. I can get three of them for the price of one Webernick!

Kimbers can be hit or miss....but are a great deal if you get a "shooter". With Lex's rifles, you don't have to worry about taking that chance.

I'm a .27 cal. slut as most of you know so after reading all of the "hoopla" about the WSM's, I had to try one. Knowing that Kimbers were "iffy", I decided to try one. Well, I lost out - big time & never again.
Shoulda listened to phurley5 & got a Win. from the git-go. I picked up my Extreme Weather last Oct., just before it begain getting too cold to really wring it out.
I've had 2 minor pieces of work done on it - a pressure pad under the barrel which it seems to like and, horror of horrors - a set of open sights installed for back up should something happen to my scope.
I use 150 gr. bullets exclusively in my .27 cal rifles and use Sierra's for load workup. I've gotten as much as 3225 fps with a near max. charge of Retumbo and close to that with IMR-7828 ssc. Rldr-19 & 25 velocities seemed to be rather anemic. After reading about Rldr-17, I've tried that and a max. charge has given me about 3150 fps. I tried both 57.0 & 58.0grs. of Rldr-17 at 200 yards for the 1st time yesterday & got groupings well under an MOA with 58.0 grs. being the best. Gonna try both 59.0 & 60.0 later this week. I've chrono'd the Rldr-17 loads & 60 grs. gave about 3150 fps. I could live with that assuming accuracy is there. It also seems as tho this rifle likes a CLEAN barrel - even to the point of no copper fouling. That's ok as long I know it.
YUP!!! Ol' Phurley is right- I too think the .270 WSM is a humdinger of a cartridge & it could replace my .270, Pre-64 Mod. 70 as my favorite. Hope ol' Jack O'Conner could forgive my transgression.
Ya'll have a good day & enjoy.
Bear in Fairbanks

Bear, PM me your Retumbo loads if you will. I just picked up the Kimber an hour ago, and have 4 lbs of Retumbo here. I just mounted a Leupold 4.5x14 on it, so I'm ready to start playing. I have some Federal 150gr Partitions and 130gr Solid Base ammo here to start with.

Biebs:
You have mail!
B.I.F.

My magic powder for the 130 grain North Forks, Nosler Solidbase, Barnes TSX and Nosler Partitions is RL-22, max of 68 grains. I also use Magpro on the 130 grainers for a fast load, max 73.5 grains. For the 140 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip, uncoated Failsafe, Barnes TSX is RL-25, max load of 68 grains. The 150 grain Nosler Partitions seem to like Magpro, max 68 grains. Prudence tells all to work up to those max loads in your rifles. My barrels vary in speeds, some by 50 to 100 fps. I have found all my barrels has their own personality, some getting max accuracy with clean barrels, some like 3-6 fouling shots before max accuracy is achieved. All mine will do three shots touching at 100 yards when the trigger puller does his part. It has taken many shots and lots of tweaking to get that accuracy. Good shooting.

Thanks all...no sense me reinventing the wheel!

In checking my bullet inventory and records I find I have also shot many 130 and 140 grain Nosler Accubonds (thank goodness for cosmetic blems), and Sierra 140 grain Gamekings. The gamekings are also relatively cheap and have taken approximately 20 Deer the last two years for my Tennessee grandsons. They can take 3 per day down there. When I go West to Colorado for Elk and Mule Deer, I use North Forks, Barnes TSX and the Nosler Accubonds or Partitions. Good shooting.

A few years back I found a used lefty Winchester Featherweight 270WSM in a local gunshop, with a Buckmasters 3-9X mounted as well. They threw in a box of ammo for $550 out the door.

I've been loading 130 gr Sierra Pro Hunters at 270 Win velocity, which is all I need here in the east. Took a black bear in 2009 with it. Very accurate gun.

Phurley5, I've found the Sierra Gamekings and even ProHunters to be about the best-kept "secret" among low-cost bullets. They are generally a lot more accurate than they have a right to be for the money.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
Phurley5, I've found the Sierra Gamekings and even ProHunters to be about the best-kept "secret" among low-cost bullets. They are generally a lot more accurate than they have a right to be for the money.

I believe if you check around in the bench rest circles, you will find that that secret has been out for years not to mention Sierra's MatchKing bullets.

I have long considered the Sierra bullets the standard for accuracy. When I work on a new chambering I will start with a box of Sierra's and work from there. After finishing loads for other bullets I may use them as practice fodder. For deer sized game they are as good as anything you can shoot, for larger game they are also good if the shooter uses his knowledge of speeds and size wisely. For the larger game in dangerous game country I will be shooting North Forks-Barnes TSX-Nosler Partitions-Nosler Accubonds.

I have worked loads up for the 2 270wsms that we have. using RL22 and RL25 best groups .51 but now I read that the RL powders are not tempature stable. and the POI can be as much as an inch or two off in cold weather. has anyone else had experience with this problem, or am I worring too much?

quote:

Originally posted by swwildlife:
I have worked loads up for the 2 270wsms that we have. using RL22 and RL25 best groups .51 but now I read that the RL powders are not tempature stable. and the POI can be as much as an inch or two off in cold weather. has anyone else had experience with this problem, or am I worring too much?

I can only speak for RL19, I use it in my 7mm-08's and .338 WM's and I haven't run into that yet.

Guys, I am curious. In the WSM line, which do you think is more popular, the 270 or the 300?

The 300 is probably more popular, but the 270 is the one that shines.

swwildlife ----- I have shot RL-22 and RL-25 in Africa at 100 degrees, and in Alaska and Colorado at -22 degrees with no problems whatsoever. Remember when the naysayers said the .300 Winny had a short neck and it would never fly. Now we know the rest of the story, it still shines at the 1000 yard matchs. Good shooting.