I have a .270 winchester model 70 i bought this week. i have not shot .270 much but i have hunted and shot and reloaded a lot, and the idea was that i could use the .270 for all-around varmint use, coyotes, targets, groundhogs, and maybe deer if the chance arises.

i had a .243 but had to sell it when money got tight. i liked it a lot but the .243 is kinda limited, whereas the .270 can do pretty much anything i would ever wanna do.

i am looking for advice on varmint loads for the rifle, for my various uses, and for opinions in general.

-Matt

The .270 is a great round. It shoots flat, hard and the recoil is not excessive. The standard bullet weight is 130 grains. jack O'Connor wrote about it often.
It will do easily what you are asking it to do and is one of the best deer cartridges available.
Standard bullet weights used for hunting go from 130 to 150 grains. There is a vmax bullet for varminting and I believe it's 110 grains. I'm sure you'll get lots of feedback on the round. Good luck and keep us posted.

From your post "deer if the chance arises" I will assume you do less deer hunting than any of the others mentioned. That being the case I would see if I can get that 243 back. If i'm wrong and you do alot of deer hunting I think the 270 is hands down the best deer gun ever made. I have 2 a model 700 270win. and a custom 270 WBY built on a model 700. I shoot the same bullet in both with great success. Nosler 130 ballistic tips. I have shot 150's but the 130's work best for me. Hate to say it but for what you described as your shooting wants the 243 in my opinion is hands down the better choice.

you can use the 270 for everything you mentioned you wanted to shoot.... the only reservation i have is coyoted if you want to save the hide... the 90 grain bullet of sierra's is supposed to be very accurate and would work for your varmit work.. i would lean for 110 grain in hornady, but i shoot in alot of wind.... sometimes i just shoot the 130 .... the 270 with 130 grain will take any no. amer. game.... accuracy is the name of the game not speed or huge magnums....jmo

I had one, my son now has it. Great gun for deer and antelope and also elk. I shot many deer and elk with mine before giving it away.

If you are using it as a walk-a-bout varmint rig it will probably work out ok but it is tough on hides if that is a factor. If you need to use it in a higher volume varmint shoot I think you will find the blast and recoil adding up as the number of shots increase. I would be adding a pure varmint shooter in the .223 or 22-250 mold to start to round out your battery.

Mine was an early Ruger 77 with a barrel that was so-so and I could only get it down to groups of 1.25-1.75 with a bunch of different loads. The standard load of 130 grin and H4831 still holds up pretty good for deer and elk.

You may wish to try the Speer 100 grain hollow for a varmint load. These have shot excellently in 2 different 270 Win rifles I own, but as for deer, they are probably a bit light and explosive. Try a 130 grain spitzer for deer and you won't be sorry.

I have a pre 64 M70 that shoots the 90 gr. Sierra very well-----47 or 49 gr. 3031 will give me sub 1" groups at 100 yds---velocity ? I didn't have a crono then ! The 100 gr. Hornady did about the same----this was a long time ago when I didn't have as many rifles and the bullets were not as good as they are today!

Hipshoot

yeah, my thoughts were i could use my .204 for most varminting and the .270 could pull double duty.

-Matt

Stick with the 130 gr bullets, might not be much left of squirrels, but they will be dead. The 110s may be back a bit from the lands and the rifling may be a bit light on the twist to get the accuracy you want...

John

I have loaded 130 gr Hornady SP w/ IMR4831 for deer and a buddy I load for has had great success using 110 gr Sierra's on deer and Varmints. If I were going to use one for strictly varmints I'd stick with the 90-100 gr bullets although the 110 V-max would be a good choice.

The last coyote I shot was with my 270. I use a 130 nosler partition. Hit him right behind the shoulder. The exit wound was less than the size of a quarter. If it makes any difference the range was about 60 yards. I have the model 700 Sendero.

My first store bought brand new centerfire was a Rem 700 in .270. That rifle was my ground squirrel to elk, do everything firearm and it worked wonderfully for many years. So well in fact, it still has a place of honor in my gun safe and is the last rifle I would ever part with.

For varmints, there is little better than the sierra 90 gr hollow point bullet. It's been very accurate in every .270 we've driven it in. My old load was 60gr of IMR 4831...but you should find your own load by working up carefully.

hi i have used the 270 with great results with 110 vmax for foxing with n160 flat shooting hard hitting also 130 sst for deer work sika hybrids and fallow and the odd red good rifle